Should Only Registered Users Be Allowed To Post?

Originally Posted by ExERAC656

LOL we must think alike because you posted that while I was composing my post.

Are you guys gonna kiss?

[gp65:(]

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Here's another possibility: What if I converted all the current forums over to "anyone can read, must be registered to post" and then created a special new forum called "Unregistered/Anonymous" where the rules were "anyone can read, anyone can post"?

This would still allow unregistered users to post, but would encourage registration.

Is this a reasonable compromise?

I really like it the way it is. (Not trying to sound like ERAC Management or anything.:))
It is a little bit confusing to have Unregistered users you can't distinguish, but so what? Their thoughts and ideas are still very good.

Actually, do you remember when someone recognized me on the board and put my name and I asked you to delete it? I still have no idea who wrote that. Of course, my username does include my group and one's username does not have to provide such details. But still... If I gave more of a shit about my job right now, I might not have registered.

The choice of to Register or not to Register gives FailingEnterprise.com
a sense of freedom and democracy, something the ERAC employee longs for.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by realitycheck

You already encourage registration but do not require it. I still don't understand the push to have people register.

There are benefits that flow to everyone else as more people register. I get complaints that it's too hard to hold a conversation with someone when they're one of hundreds of anonymous posters; you never know if you're talking with the same person.

Originally Posted by realitycheck

I said this a while back...I honestly think making it a requirmement to register will hurt the amount of posts that you like to brag about.

I agree this will happen. However, it might also increase the amount of posting by some other members as it will be much easier to get a sense of community by "knowing" whom you're dealing with.

Originally Posted by realitycheck

Many current eracers are scared of posting in fear of Erac finding out and that fear is probably not going to go down. For me persoanlly, I really don't feel like spending addtional time typing in a login and password eash time I come to this board.

But you won't have to! You'll log in once, and then your credentials will be cached in an encrypted form either in a cookie or by your web browser. You'll have to log in once every couple of weeks, at most. Every time you go back to the site, you'll already be logged in! And it will only require you to be logged in if you wish to post.

Originally Posted by realitycheck

As it is, when I have a few minutes I jump on and jump off. It's simple. Not that typing in a username and passeord would take a helluva lot more time, but you would lose out on many of the people that come here to just check it out. Slap a requirment to register and they are less likely to add to the discussion. I've only been on a few discussion boards similar to this and most of them require registeration. Guess what? Those boards had few posters and it bored the shit out of me because of that reason real quick. They sucked. I wonder how many people registered on this board just to post maybe once or to check things out, and I wonder how many of those registered users you see post on a consistent basis. It sure doesn't seem like a helluva lot in my opinion. It's really not that difficult to simply type in a consistent username and not register.

If you were a registered user, you'd never have to type in your username while posting again. You'd actually speed things up!

Originally Posted by realitycheck

It's really not that big of a deal. If people want to do that, who cares? If people that post consistently under 'unregistered' want credit for what they post and actually would like to have consistent discussion, then it's not rocket science to simply delete the default 'unregistered' name and type in some new name. Why DO you want people to register so badly? You've been on this tangent practically since this site began. And save me this unregistered user name line. Ya never really had this unregistered username issue before on the original webapge and you still pushed for registeration.

Yes, I push for it because I want to nurture and grow the community and people like it better when they can start to build up a consistent identity for whomever they're conversing with. Two-thirds of the people at this party are unnecessarily hiding in the shadows. Actually, from what I can tell, 90% of the users read and never post. 10% post, and of those, most do so anonymously.

I think the most important thing eBay ever did was require everyone to register and log in, and then ask for a thumbs up or thumbs down from both parties after every transaction. It allowed people to earn a reputation in the community which solved the problem of strangers not trusting each other. I want the same sense of community here.

By the way, you occupy a unique position here at Failing Enterprise. You're the only person who has an unregistered consistent identity. I wouldn't consider the public discussion complete until you had weighed in on it.

Think of the benefits: you sign in once, and then every time you come back, you're already logged in.

Here, do an experiment for me: Create a registered username (reality_check_kicking_and_screaming is available) and just try it out. See for yourself the extra privileges you get by being a registered user. If you don't like it, just click on "Log out" and you'll be back to where you started.

You have nothing to lose. Will you give it a try?

Admin,
Heres the reason why this is not a good idea.
The requirement of having to register and choose a username will make it much easier for people to be tracked down, be it they choose a username such as surferguy29 (while it doesn't make any sense at all, you will get some people doing this) and the person happens to be a surfer buff and they're around 29 years old and they talk about something specific. This will just make it way to easy to be caught and I'm sure that you had this in mind when you setup up this message board knowing that people need to keep their anonymity, especially on a board like this.
So for the record, I am against this.
Thank you.

This thread reminds me of Enterprise Rent A Car......Complicating the shit out of an uncomplicated situation.

It just seems like Admin just wants to brag about how many registered users he has on this site....Admin, I'm sure you'll deny this but that denial, to me, would seem like complete bullshit. Kind like when you say that you would gladly go back to renting from Enterprise if they changed their ways. In my humble opinion, you only say that because your attorneys tell you that you probably should so you don't come across as being overly bitter and veangeful. (I'm sure you'll deny the hell out of this as well). It is clear that you find Erac, the company, is completely retarded and you take absolute pleasure in that. (I do to, but then again, I'm not trying to recruit new registered users every month or so). The tone in your posts, to me, indicate that you really have no desire to go back to Erac. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm right. That's just what I've gathered from your posts. But what the hell do I know. I'm only unregistered AND I enjoy making fun of people that totally deserve it in my posts, which according to the board translates to 'low brow' humor and 'not earning board respect.' Ha. Talk about taking shit too seriously.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by gp65:(

I really like it the way it is. (Not trying to sound like ERAC Management or anything.:))
It is a little bit confusing to have Unregistered users you can't distinguish, but so what? Their thoughts and ideas are still very good.

Thanks for another well-considered response. You make a good point that maybe it's the ideas people are posting that are more important than being able to put together a series of their posts and starting to get a sense of who they are. Maybe ideas are more important than personalities?

Originally Posted by gp65:(

Actually, do you remember when someone recognized me on the board and put my name and I asked you to delete it? I still have no idea who wrote that. Of course, my username does include my group and one's username does not have to provide such details. But still... If I gave more of a shit about my job right now, I might not have registered.

This is a good point; your username does tell something significant about you. If you really wanted to hide, you should have used a different group's number!

Anyway, people who register can use whatever name they want. How about "GP23_GM_HLE_ARM_Admin_Progressive_LCAM". Jesus! We wouldn't be able to figure what the hell that was!

Originally Posted by gp65:(

The choice of to Register or not to Register gives FailingEnterprise.com a sense of freedom and democracy, something the ERAC employee longs for.

This is a really good point. Enterprise sure appears to me to be a mind-control cult and I like giving people freedom, information and opportunity. Allowing unregistered users to post is very, very appealing. But so is improving the quality of our community. These two goals are somewhat in conflict, and that's why I'm really asking for feedback from our community on this issue.

It sounds like maybe we need a compromise, such as "one forum just for registered users", or "one forum just for unregistered users".

I like the way this conversation is going. This is the way we build a community that really works for everyone.

Admin

[Last Word]

Since I'm so in to the mind control, cult thing...I'm officially registered!

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Admin,
Heres the reason why this is not a good idea.
The requirement of having to register and choose a username will make it much easier for people to be tracked down, be it they choose a username such as surferguy29 (while it doesn't make any sense at all, you will get some people doing this) and the person happens to be a surfer buff and they're around 29 years old and they talk about something specific. This will just make it way to easy to be caught and I'm sure that you had this in mind when you setup up this message board knowing that people need to keep their anonymity, especially on a board like this.
So for the record, I am against this.
Thank you.

But isn't the problem here not that they registered but that they revealed information about themselves in their username?

Why doesn't everyone just register as User0001, User0002, User0003, etc.? We'd start to get a sense of who you are after a few messages, but you wouldn't be giving hints about yourself.

Pick a username that doesn't describe yourself...

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

There are benefits that flow to everyone else as more people register. I get complaints that it's too hard to hold a conversation with someone when they're one of hundreds of anonymous posters; you never know if you're talking with the same person.

I agree this will happen. However, it might also increase the amount of posting by some other members as it will be much easier to get a sense of community by "knowing" whom you're dealing with.

But you won't have to! You'll log in once, and then your credentials will be cached in an encrypted form either in a cookie or by your web browser. You'll have to log in once every couple of weeks, at most. Every time you go back to the site, you'll already be logged in! And it will only require you to be logged in if you wish to post.

If you were a registered user, you'd never have to type in your username while posting again. You'd actually speed things up!

Yes, I push for it because I want to nurture and grow the community and people like it better when they can start to build up a consistent identity for whomever they're conversing with. Two-thirds of the people at this part are unnecessarily hiding in the shadows. Actually, from what I can tell, 90% of the users read and never post. 10% post, and of those, most do so anonymously.

I think the most important thing eBay ever did was require everyone to register and log in, and then ask for a thumbs up or thumbs down from both parties after every transaction. It allowed people to earn a reputation in the community which solved the problem of strangers not trusting each other. I want the same sense of community here.

By the way, you occupy a unique position here at Failing Enterprise. You're the only person who has an unregistered consistent identity. I wouldn't consider the public discussion complete until you had weighed in on it.

Think of the benefits: you sign in once, and then every time you come back, you're already logged in.

Here, do an experiment for me: Create a registered username (reality_check_kicking_and_screaming is available) and just try it out. See for yourself the extra privileges you get by being a registered user. If you don't like it, just click on "Log out" and you'll be back to where you started.

You have nothing to lose. Will you give it a try?

Admin, the more you push for this, the less likely it is for me to do it. One thing I learned is that when someone gets overzealous about something they clearly want it. The fact that you clearly want this, raises my eyebrows as to why. To brag possibly? (My opinion). Admin, you can argue this till you're blue in the keyboard, but I still stand by my first impression.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by Last Word

Since I'm so in to the mind control, cult thing...I'm officially registered!

Dude! Way to go! Welcome to the club!

(yes, I was specifically imitating Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times At Ridgemont High)

Please notice how you can now edit or delete your own messages, send and receive private messages, and you can close your browser and re-open and come here and you're still logged in!