Why can't 'guests' view the site?

[RS200]

Why is it that non-registered users can't view the best parts of the forum, such as members' rides? I can understand not allowing guests to post, that makes sense, but why can't they do something as harmless as navigate and enjoy the site?

 

I can't show my thread or anything to any of my friends, because they jump on there and tell me, oh, I have to register and I can't be bothered. Very few websites do this, and I'm actually contemplating switching all my Renault forum activity over to Clio.197 just because of this annoying and unnecessary restriction.

[Dish]

It's more a privacy thing, and to a lesser degree a way to get people to sign up and be involved. On the contrary to your observations, I have seen *plenty* of other forums that are even more extreme, so personally, I don't see the issue.

 

At least we do not charge for memberships to access those areas, unlike many other sites. Your choice if you wish to leave, but unless there's a serious show of hands to back your request to change the settings, I can't see that changing.

[RS200]

I can't think of a single other site that does this. I thought we were posting stuff for the world to see, but apparently it's only for our exclusive coterie of Renault owners. That's a pretty small audience!

 

I've tried to show this site to dozens of people, and none of them have gotten past the registered users hurdle.

 

I can't think of a single reason for preventing the public from viewing the content on this site.

[Clio2.0]

I can't think of a single other site that does this. I thought we were posting stuff for the world to see, but apparently it's only for our exclusive coterie of Renault owners. That's a pretty small audience!

 

I've tried to show this site to dozens of people, and none of them have gotten past the registered users hurdle.

 

I can't think of a single reason for preventing the public from viewing the content on this site.

 

Almost all the biggest forums do it.

 

Keep it private, better that way

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my Lumia 925 using Tapatalk

[RS200]

Clio.197 doesn't do it.

 

There's so much good content on this site, I don't see why it has to be hidden from the world, like it's classified or something. It's quite frustrating when I meet another car guy or someone interested in Renaults, and I can't even show them anything on here.

[Dish]

When you say you can't show them, why not log in with your own username?

[Treza360]

All the useful how to threads on Clio.197 are paid access as well as other sections. I like that this is a private forum. Much easier that way.

 

Cheers,

Trent

 

Tnes Morf Klatapat

[Numbnut]

I get how that could be annoying but you could just register on 197.net as well if you really want to share your ride with people you know.

[m0nty]

I'm a member of JDMST and they hide members rides to reduce the risk of theft. The same is in play at VWGolf.net and a few others I know of. I think it should be hidden and support Dish on this one.

[DerrickC]

Prefer to be kept private.

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[RS200]

Sheeze...had no idea I'd joined a secret society...

[acrRS250]

Sheeze...had no idea I'd joined a secret society...

surprise!

[RS200]

When you say you can't show them, why not log in with your own username?

 

 

Because it's a pain and an unnecessary step. If I send someone a link, or I tell them, hey, you should check out the Ozrenaultsport site, they should be able to just click into it like any ordinary website and start browsing. As soon as you have to register and enter username/passwords etc no casual user can be bothered doing it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love this forum and everything it has to offer, I just wish didn't have to be all Freemason about sharing and access.

[slav888]

Sheeze...had no idea I'd joined a secret society...

surprise!

 

 

When you say you can't show them, why not log in with your own username?

 

 

Because it's a pain and an unnecessary step. If I send someone a link, or I tell them, hey, you should check out the Ozrenaultsport site, they should be able to just click into it like any ordinary website and start browsing. As soon as you have to register and enter username/passwords etc no casual user can be bothered doing it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love this forum and everything it has to offer, I just wish didn't have to be all Freemason about sharing and access.

 

Why dont they join themselves? They obviously have some interest in the cars if you're showing them links and we'd be happy to have them regardless of what car they own/drive.. They too could provide insight, like in the audio or car care threads..!

[portal]

Sounds like you need to start up your own website.

 

How about http://www.mydemon200.com ?

 

You can share your images with whoever you like, because it's YOUR website and not a community site.

 

[RS200]

Sounds like you need to start up your own website.

 

How about http://www.mydemon200.com ?

 

You can share your images with whoever you like, because it's YOUR website and not a community site.

 

 

Great idea! A website that practically no one else looks at because it's all restricted. It's all mine! Or maybe I'll let six other people look at it but only if they register.

 

But wait, I already have that here...

 

Thanks for the sarcasm dude.

[RS200]

Sheeze...had no idea I'd joined a secret society...

surprise!

 

 

When you say you can't show them, why not log in with your own username?

 

 

Because it's a pain and an unnecessary step. If I send someone a link, or I tell them, hey, you should check out the Ozrenaultsport site, they should be able to just click into it like any ordinary website and start browsing. As soon as you have to register and enter username/passwords etc no casual user can be bothered doing it.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love this forum and everything it has to offer, I just wish didn't have to be all Freemason about sharing and access.

 

 

They're just curious, they don't want to join some club!

 

Jesus imagine if every time you Googled something you had to register for every individual website you visited? Annoying, no?

 

Why dont they join themselves? They obviously have some interest in the cars if you're showing them links and we'd be happy to have them regardless of what car they own/drive.. They too could provide insight, like in the audio or car care threads..!

[Dish]

Sounds like you need to start up your own website.

 

How about http://www.mydemon200.com ?

 

You can share your images with whoever you like, because it's YOUR website and not a community site.

 

 

Great idea! A website that practically no one else looks at because it's all restricted. It's all mine! Or maybe I'll let six other people look at it but only if they register.

 

But wait, I already have that here...

 

Thanks for the sarcasm dude.

I think you misunderstood. portal meant create your own website/blog, and gave a suggestion for the URL (portal, correct me if I'm wrong). The error message you currently receive when clicking the above link only means that it hasn't likely been registered (in theory).

 

[RS200]

Sheeze...

 

Why dont they join themselves? They obviously have some interest in the cars if you're showing them links and we'd be happy to have them regardless of what car they own/drive.. They too could provide insight, like in the audio or car care threads..!

They're just curious, they don't want to join some club!

 

Jesus imagine if every time you Googled something you had to register on each individual website. Annoying,

[RS200]

Sounds like you need to start up your own website.

 

How about http://www.mydemon200.com ?

 

You can share your images with whoever you like, because it's YOUR website and not a community site.

 

 

Great idea! A website that practically no one else looks at because it's all restricted. It's all mine! Or maybe I'll let six other people look at it but only if they register.

 

But wait, I already have that here...

 

Thanks for the sarcasm dude.

I think you misunderstood. portal meant create your own website/blog, and gave a suggestion for the URL (portal, correct me if I'm wrong). The error message you currently receive when clicking the above link only means that it hasn't likely been registered (in theory).

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, in that case I apologise.

 

Anyhow, looks like this cause is a dead end...

[griffyn]

Yes, I think you're outvoted. Thanks for piping up, I was interested to see what came about as I've wondered about the same thing once or twice before.

[m0nty]

RS200 I can assure you you would feel very differently if your car was targeted and stolen after you posted details of it on a public forum. Don't say it doesn't happen. It happens a lot more than you think. And secondly, you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

[antonyq]

RS200 I can assure you you would feel very differently if your car was targeted and stolen after you posted details of it on a public forum. Don't say it doesn't happen. It happens a lot more than you think. And secondly, you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

My mates very expensively and tastefully modified S2000 was stolen from his brothers garage.

It was his pride and joy. He had spent a lot of money and a lot of time modifying it and 'sharing' it with the world via his build thread. The car was never found, most likely stolen by someone browsing the forum and parted out online.

 

With the amount of money you've spent on your car mate, I think it's good that your build thread is kept private

[RS200]

... you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

Thanks. Real friendly.

[RS200]

RS200 I can assure you you would feel very differently if your car was targeted and stolen after you posted details of it on a public forum. Don't say it doesn't happen. It happens a lot more than you think. And secondly, you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

My mates very expensively and tastefully modified S2000 was stolen from his brothers garage.

It was his pride and joy. He had spent a lot of money and a lot of time modifying it and 'sharing' it with the world via his build thread. The car was never found, most likely stolen by someone browsing the forum and parted out online.

 

With the amount of money you've spent on your car mate, I think it's good that your build thread is kept private

 

 

Fair enough, I can understand that as a pretty big concern! Though there's nothing stopping any potential criminal from registering and browsing to their heart's content...

[pricey]

RS200 I can assure you you would feel very differently if your car was targeted and stolen after you posted details of it on a public forum. Don't say it doesn't happen. It happens a lot more than you think. And secondly, you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

My mates very expensively and tastefully modified S2000 was stolen from his brothers garage.

It was his pride and joy. He had spent a lot of money and a lot of time modifying it and 'sharing' it with the world via his build thread. The car was never found, most likely stolen by someone browsing the forum and parted out online.

 

With the amount of money you've spent on your car mate, I think it's good that your build thread is kept private

 

 

Fair enough, I can understand that as a pretty big concern! Though there's nothing stopping any potential criminal from registering and browsing to their heart's content...

 

Hopefully that extra step to register reduces the likelihood?

[m0nty]

... you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

Thanks. Real friendly.

 

You miss my point. OzRS puts rules in place for a reason. It isn't a democracy and revolutions are pointless. You clicked "I agree" when registering. Just because you don't read them it isn't an excuse to go on a crusade.

[m0nty]

 

Hopefully that extra step to register reduces the likelihood?

 

It's not registration that stops them. It's the fact that those pages do not show up on searches. Sure, these guys can go and register on every car forum and start trolling through them, but it's not how they do it. Searching on public forums is much easier and less time consuming for these guys. Putting one more obstacle between them and my car is something I'll never be opposed to.

 

The sightings threads should always be private too and I'm always against posting exact locations of parked cars.

[pricey]

 

Hopefully that extra step to register reduces the likelihood?

 

It's not registration that stops them. It's the fact that those pages do not show up on searches. Sure, these guys can go and register on every car forum and start trolling through them, but it's not how they do it. Searching on public forums is much easier and less time consuming for these guys. Putting one more obstacle between them and my car is something I'll never be opposed to.

 

The sightings threads should always be private too and I'm always against posting exact locations of parked cars.

 

Agreed. Sightings threads are good to keep an eye on but must be used appropriately

[RS200]

... you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

Thanks. Real friendly.

 

You miss my point. OzRS puts rules in place for a reason. It isn't a democracy and revolutions are pointless. You clicked "I agree" when registering. Just because you don't read them it isn't an excuse to go on a crusade.

 

Whatever, dude. I'm entitled to express an opinion in a thread entitled 'Website Feedback'. You don't own this site so you have no right to get all Stalin on me and tell me what I can and can't say.

 

I appreciate that I appear to be in a minority of one on the issue of opening up the site to the public, and that's cool, if that's not what the majority of users and administrators on here want then so be it, I never demanded it should change just because I said so.

 

But I don't appreciate your rude attitude.

[biologist]

Whatever dude. I'm entitled to express a viewpoint. You don't own this site so don't tell me what I can and can't say.

 

Exactly the admins point of view my friend,

and many of the forums members also.

 

Segue time...

[ace]

wouldn't the ideal solution be to allow the creator of a new members ride thread the option to choose whether it is private or public? I would like to make my thread public as I too have friends who are not registered who wish to view my build progress without having to register/login. I appreciate that some people don't want it all available to the public, particularly when they decide to sell their car maybe, but clearly there are members who want the option to be public.

 

Is this technically possible with the current BB software, if so why not ask if people would like to have the option of going public with their build thread whilst leaving the default as private?

 

I don't really subscribe to all the secret society nonsense as we all know it is just a matter of registering (for free mind you) and you get full access, that's not very secret or freemasonish is it, its not like there is an initiation ritual like showing you can drive a manual car is it. But registering/logging in just to see how your mate's car is progressing is a bit painful and as pointed out above you can go elsewhere if you want it public its not a very good proposition to recommend members go elsewhere, in business that's known as leakage and certainly should not be encouraged if you wish to retain or build a strong customer/user base and I'm sure most of us agree (despite some elitist reservations) a broader membership base is in the best interest of the RS community.

[buddy]

keep it private i reckon

[RS200]

wouldn't the ideal solution be to allow the creator of a new members ride thread the option to choose whether it is private or public? I would like to make my thread public as I too have friends who are not registered who wish to view my build progress without having to register/login. I appreciate that some people don't want it all available to the public, particularly when they decide to sell their car maybe, but clearly there are members who want the option to be public.

 

Is this technically possible with the current BB software, if so why not ask if people would like to have the option of going public with their build thread whilst leaving the default as private?

 

I don't really subscribe to all the secret society nonsense as we all know it is just a matter of registering (for free mind you) and you get full access, that's not very secret or freemasonish is it, its not like there is an initiation ritual like showing you can drive a manual car is it. But registering/logging in just to see how your mate's car is progressing is a bit painful and as pointed out above you can go elsewhere if you want it public its not a very good proposition to recommend members go elsewhere, in business that's known as leakage and certainly should not be encouraged if you wish to retain or build a strong customer/user base and I'm sure most of us agree (despite some elitist reservations) a broader membership base is in the best interest of the RS community.

 

The most sensible post on this topic so far! Wouldn't this provide the best of both worlds and keep everyone happy? And lead in the long-term to more interest/involvement/traffic on this site?

[Dish]

I don't think we can isolate individual threads within a sub-forum - we'd have to have 2 sub-forums, so one public and one private. That's the only way I could see it working, with the current platform at least.

 

Not sure if we will be implementing many changes currently given that we have a new platform under development. Progress has been slow, but it will be up an running in the coming months. It may allow for individual threads to be made public/private - I have no idea about that aspect though, just speculating.

[puncher]

Another vote from me to keep it private. Some of us can write things that can get rather personal from time to time, and i'm sure those people generally would like to keep those comments 'private'. Well, reasonably private.

 

I prefer to keep my Face book account private as well. I don't need every bloke and his dog reading up on my life with just a click of a mouse. If some bloke out there really wants to troll my boring life. He can go through a bit of a head ache and rigmaroll and become a member.

[Dish]

Yep, speaking of facebook, I read today that someone I know in the USA had her home broken into while on holiday. She suspects that she was targeted due to mentioning her holiday plans online. So yeah, pays to keep a lid on things.

[Quadrastu]

Yep, speaking of facebook, I read today that someone I know in the USA had her home broken into while on holiday. She suspects that she was targeted due to mentioning her holiday plans online. So yeah, pays to keep a lid on things.

 

Yeah this has been about for a while now, a lot is down to the settings of your profile. When you "check in" or add a photo it will show the location ( you have to disable the setting) and they said it had become the new cyber crime. All your profile, life, kids pics, date of birth open for the world to see.......that's why newer versions of FB ask you for permissions all the time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wade]

RS200 I can assure you you would feel very differently if your car was targeted and stolen after you posted details of it on a public forum. Don't say it doesn't happen. It happens a lot more than you think. And secondly, you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

Dude..... That's a bit harsh..... No need to be all authoritarian about it (haven't had time to practice my goose step lately...) he was just stating an opinion. Also maintaining the status quo without questioning it is how stagnation and irrelevance begins.

 

As for the suggestion I would vote for considering having sections open if possible.

 

Really in this day and age if you are posting specifics about where the car is stored etc online then you are a bit of a goose......

 

Surprised how buddy wants to keep the forum locked down..... I thought he would like everyone to hear his deafening self proclamations of Hubris....

[BUSGO]

I think the current precautions are best and I'll give a reason.

During the recent Federal election campaign, the guy who hosted the Mini-Mods website was publicly humiliated and forced to a), take down the forum and b), withdraw from his party candidacy because a non forum member trolled through the pages and found a couple of sexist/racist jokes embedded within the "free duscussion" pages.

This was grossly misreported as being a PORN hosting website under his control and he suffered severely along with his whole family and the entire membership of the forum.

A huge injustice that resulted from a simple easy going attitude that the forum enjoyed!

[nisch]

I like to keep things private because you never know who might be reading. It also concerns me when people post specific things like:

"Saw the usual silver 182 parked on X street in suburb Y"

[puncher]

I like to keep things private because you never know who might be reading. It also concerns me when people post specific things like:

"Saw the usual silver 182 parked on X street in suburb Y"

 

Yeah have to agree on the 'sightings' threads. I honestly don't think they are necessary.

[SupremeMoFo]

Why is it that non-registered users can't view the best parts of the forum, such as members' rides? I can understand not allowing guests to post, that makes sense, but why can't they do something as harmless as navigate and enjoy the site?

 

I can't show my thread or anything to any of my friends, because they jump on there and tell me, oh, I have to register and I can't be bothered. Very few websites do this, and I'm actually contemplating switching all my Renault forum activity over to Clio.197 just because of this annoying and unnecessary restriction.

... you come here under the rules for THIS forum. There is a simple solution if you aren't happy with the rules in place....

 

Thanks. Real friendly.

You miss my point. OzRS puts rules in place for a reason. It isn't a democracy and revolutions are pointless. You clicked "I agree" when registering. Just because you don't read them it isn't an excuse to go on a crusade.

 

Whatever, dude. I'm entitled to express an opinion in a thread entitled 'Website Feedback'. You don't own this site so you have no right to get all Stalin on me and tell me what I can and can't say.

 

I appreciate that I appear to be in a minority of one on the issue of opening up the site to the public, and that's cool, if that's not what the majority of users and administrators on here want then so be it, I never demanded it should change just because I said so.

 

But I don't appreciate your rude attitude.

 

Other people are unfriendly for disagreeing with you, when your reasoning that everyone else should agree with what you're saying because otherwise you'll take your bat & ball and leave? You need to be reasonable here - you've gotten abrasive responses because your original post was abrasive. Then expecting everyone to back down because suddenly you feel offended won't work out very well for anyone either.

 

*shrug*

 

Regardless, I don't know why you're so worried about it. The car photos I want to share with non-OzRS people go on Facebook

 

*edits are to fix what Tapatalk broke

[ricknaz]

I didn't buy a renault until about a year after I registered here. I could have been a car thief and nobody would have known. People are way too paranoid and these privacy features are useless. If you really think thieves find cars through forums don't post your cars online at all. I know a bloke like that. I think he's paranoid too but at least his method will actually work.

[RS200]

Other people are unfriendly for disagreeing with you, when your reasoning that everyone else should agree with what you're saying because otherwise you'll take your bat & ball and leave? You need to be reasonable here - you've gotten abrasive responses because your original post was abrasive. Then expecting everyone to back down because suddenly you feel offended won't work out very well for anyone either.

 

*shrug*

 

Regardless, I don't know why you're so worried about it. The car photos I want to share with non-OzRS people go on Facebook

 

... Tapatalk has broken the formatting of this post twice, I'm not trying a third time

 

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk

 

 

I haven't been abrasive, and I haven't received abrasive responses. One person acted like a douche, and I let him know about it. Everything else has been a civil discussion with differing opinions. Ok, granted, maybe my opinion vs. just about everyone else's!

 

Now, seeing as lots of people feel very strongly about keeping their member's ride private, despite the fact that I disagree with this for all the reasons outlined above, I am not deluded enough to demand it should be changed just so it can be the way I want it and screw everybody else. Ideally, this site should provide freedom and choice for members to control their own content, so if some members, in this case the majority, strongly disagree with going public, then no way should that be imposed on anyone. The only way to do it (going public) fairly would be to give members a choice, so they can go public if they want, or keep things as they are now.

 

Please do not put words in my mouth: I am NOT "expecting everyone to back down", I am definitely not "offended", and I'm not about to "take my bat and ball and leave".

 

Again, my only interest here is to share my passion for RS cars with the world. My frustration, when I have a friend buying a car and I'm trying to turn them on to a Renault, is that I can't tell them, hey, jump on Ozrenaultsport, and check out all the cool stuff on there and see how much people enjoy these cars. Having to register just to see some pretty basic threads and sections kills it for most people, they can't be bothered. My frustration is that at most there's me and six other Renault anoraks in the whole country looking at a particular thread at any given time. I wish there was more involvement, more people reading from all around the world; making more of the forum public might be one way to lure people in.

[RS200]

I didn't buy a renault until about a year after I registered here. I could have been a car thief and nobody would have known. People are way too paranoid and these privacy features are useless. If you really think thieves find cars through forums don't post your cars online at all. I know a bloke like that. I think he's paranoid too but at least his method will actually work.

 

 

True dat.

[ace]

I didn't buy a renault until about a year after I registered here. I could have been a car thief and nobody would have known. People are way too paranoid and these privacy features are useless. If you really think thieves find cars through forums don't post your cars online at all. I know a bloke like that. I think he's paranoid too but at least his method will actually work.

 

 

True dat.

 

+1, show some common sense guys, any random with an email address can register and gain access whilst hiding behind a proxy server..... besides when was the last time you heard of an RS being stolen in Oz, let alone being targeted and stolen. I'm pretty sure Johnny 5 finger discount doesn't have a Renault on the top of his/her list when they decide to steal a car. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

All for things like drive days and the Nats being restricted to known participants for good reason, but hiding threads from unregistered users is a little pointless. If its such a big deal then charge a fee for membership, institute 2FA (subsidised by membership fees) and do background checks on us all if privacy is actually valued above convenience, I could be some mad car thief for all you know, how else did I get so many cars in my garage?

[SupremeMoFo]

Yes, but if the current settings are maintained, the threads in question can't be brought up through Google either, giving undesirables less cause to sign up in the first place.

[m0nty]

Yes, but if the current settings are maintained, the threads in question can't be brought up through Google either, giving undesirables less cause to sign up in the first place.

 

My point exactly. I don't want my car visible to Google searches. I post about it because this forum is private. If someone wants to view these forums they can spend 2 minutes registering. We all did after all. I can't believe it's an issue that someone wouldn't click to register if it was something they were genuinely interested in. That's their shortcomings, not this forums.

 

I acted like a "douche" because RS200 did in fact fail to see the point of my argument which explained why the forum is private. He was the one that threatened to pack up and go if things didn't change. It's all there in the earlier posts. Don't expect me to talk someone back down off that ledge. I'm not going to pander to the needs of the few just because he has a highly modded car and a busy build thread.

 

I've said my piece just as RS200 had.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RS200]

Yes, but if the current settings are maintained, the threads in question can't be brought up through Google either, giving undesirables less cause to sign up in the first place.

 

Kinda throwing the baby out with the bath water though, isn't it? It also prevents anyone with an interest in Renaults from discovering this site.