Let's Talk About Site Access

Eric Patterson

Eric Patterson

Moderator
Staff member
I'm putting some of the finishing touches on the new website. The developer has a few more things to do and then we go live. Hopefully this coming week we will make the move.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on what non-registered viewers should have access too? Should they be able to see pictures? Should they be able to access the Resources section that has building plans and some other cool things. Should they be able to view the media section that houses pictures, video, audio, etc.?

My gut reaction is no, you have to join to see the "good" stuff. We want members, not freeloaders. But then I put myself in the shoes of someone who ended up on a site through google and are looking for information. Do I sign up for a site just to see some picture, or do I skip the registration process and head back to google for the next search result? I usually do the latter, causing me to pause and think the closed door policy might not be the best for recruiting participation.

What do you think? How do you respond on other sites to membership requirements for full access?

Eric
 
[quote Eric Patterson]I'm putting some of the finishing touches on the new website. The developer has a few more things to do and then we go live. Hopefully this coming week we will make the move.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on what non-registered viewers should have access too? Should they be able to see pictures? Should they be able to access the Resources section that has building plans and some other cool things. Should they be able to view the media section that houses pictures, video, audio, etc.?

My gut reaction is no, you have to join to see the "good" stuff. We want members, not freeloaders. But then I put myself in the shoes of someone who ended up on a site through google and are looking for information. Do I sign up for a site just to see some picture, or do I skip the registration process and head back to google for the next search result? I usually do the latter, causing me to pause and think the closed door policy might not be the best for recruiting participation.

What do you think? How do you respond on other sites to membership requirements for full access?

Eric[/quote]

In my opinion, I'm not sure it matters. "We want members, not freeloaders", not sure I quite agree. A person who has signed up , just to see a photo or just to ask a question, does not always equate to a "participant". A member who does not participate, is every bit as much a "freeloader" as "Joe Blow" surfing the internet. I consider my participation in discussions and my sharing of what knowledge I can contribute, to be partial payment of the privilege of being a member here. The other payment is an actual cash donation every now and then. I figure I am still getting the better end of the bargain.

I would not consider lack of photo access to be "closed door". Most groups that I have "joined", require admin approval. A couple of these even require in "invite" by a current member before one can join the group. Personally, I think access to the "general" forum (with or without photos) is sufficient. If a person wants more, it is simple to join.
 
I don't mind people being able to see posts and resources.
But unless they join, they shouldn't be able to post.
 
I'd say full access (minus posting of course) to anyone. Many, myself included, browsed for a while before joining. When I've joined other forums it's been similar - lurk for a while, see if it's for me, then join.
 
I must be in the minority in that I think that if you want to have access to pictures and resources, you should at least login. Maybe you don't have to participate but you can lurk and be logged in with almost as much ease as not being logged in. Then you can quit coming to visit if you determine this site really isn't for you. At the minimum though, no posting unless you are a member and no posting in the classifieds unless you participate in the forum.

I don't have major issues with other sites that require membership for full access. There have been a few sites that I thought hmmmmmm maybe it would be worth getting a facebook page just so that I can sign up and see what's going on there. Ultimately though, what I have seen hasn't been enough so far for me to make a facebook page (I have many reasons for not having facebook). Forums though, the registration process is usually fairly simple, even if there is a time lag, so I would just sign up for the forums. Another forum I frequent requires you to login to view pictures. That's not a big drawback for me. One forum requires logging in just to be able to see the forum because folk who did not participate were threatening legal action over things that were being posted. It's a forum that I frequent as well so it's not a big thing to me to login.

Something to keep in mind about the closed door policy is that it may help to keep the bots out as well as shit stirrers or folk out to be no good. May not stop it completely but it might help slow that kind of moderating headache down.
 
Every decent website struggles with this question. The most difficult part of gaining and retaining potentially decent participants is getting a hook in them. They do a Google search for duck hunting websites, then surf. What makes DHBP stand out from the others if the most eye catching stuff is inaccessable?

I think it's true that the average guy/gal lurks for a while to get a feel for the place, before they're comfortable posting. In general, I also believe the most knowledgeable keep quiet longer than most. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool.....in the meantime, you need to maintain their interest.

Then there's the for-sale people, which I find the most annoying. I suppose the way you've been handling it is quite reasonable, with some minimum post count prior to selling. I like the seen elsewhere forum.

I've been moderating (one of many moderators) an icefishing website for a number of years. There are lots of pretty strict rules, especially regarding language and selling. Before I started moderating I wanted to change some rules to how I thought they should be. Now I'm happy someone else makes the policy decisions. It's a tough job. Thank you for your hard work. Whatever you decide, it will be great.
 
If you could just limit the whiners that have strong opinions, yet contribute neither time nor money in support of the forum. :).
 
My gut is that you keep it more open for people that visit to see things. And you can look at it every few months and change it if it is not working the way you want. It's not going to hurt to try different things in that respect, because until you sign up you aren't posting anything. I also think one of the main draws here is none of the junk that fills social media. Maybe people need to see that to decide if they want to join. They know what to expect from the people here and how they participate by the time they make that decision.
 
This may be a bit simplistic, but for the last 20+ years I've really enjoyed this site and consider us as guests in Eric's family room. What ever you all have been doing has worked well for me. Personally I don't see a benefit to changing access requirements. On the other hand if bots are causing issues or if there is a cost involved with providing visitors access to photos and other resources, then maybe forced registration and login make more sense. If lurkers don't cost anything extra I say let them lurk until they decide to register and post, or drift off.

Scott
 
Anything I post here I assume is available to the entire world, so I have no problem with non-members being able to see it. Lots of people these days are reluctant to join online groups for fear of being targeted by ads or spam.

OTOH, your house, your rules, and I've also got no problem if only members have access to some content.
 
All

Your comments are most appreciated and help me sort it all out. I think the access is going to remain similar to what it is now. Pictures posted to the forum are visible to non-members but certainly no posting. The Resource section will also be visible. One exception is you will have the ability to create your own photo albums and you have the choice to make them public or not. Greg and Richard, you guys prompted me to set up google analytics on the new forum. I never did it with this one because it wasn't designed for it and would have been difficult to implement. The new forum makes google analytics simple, so I registered with google so we will get data on site utilization.

As for the re-launch data I am simply waiting on the developer to move everything to this server. We've been working from his and pretty much have everything ready. I don't have a date, but it could be any time now. When it happens everyone will have to use the new forum to reset their password. Like I mentioned before the email in your profile will need to be valid. Recently I've learned some folks email servers reject mail from this server thinking it is spam or worse. If you request a temp password and the email never comes, simply shoot me an email, ep@duckboats.net, and I'll manually reset your password.

Lastly, I have put together a promo video for the re-launch. I will post it here and on the @duckboatsdotnet IG account when the new forum goes live. Please share it freely to your other social media accounts.

Thanks for all your support.

Eric
 
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This is awesome news Eric! Looking foward to the new look & again thank you and the team for all the hardworking efforts making the site such a valuable resource!
 
I seem to remember some message boards letting non members view Thumbnails, but only logged in members could click on and open larger pics. Not sure if it's an option or not on the new site, but it is a compromise. Wanting to open the thumbnails could be the thing that changes a casual surfer into an active member.
 
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