Anything for a bit more forum activity?

[ldcdc]

Hi,

I don't know if this has been discussed before, (didn't find anything via search) but here I go.

My forum is small and lacking activity, so I'm thinking about allowing guests to post. I thought of several possible scenarios (see the poll).

I'm looking forward to hear your thoughs, and see your votes! :)

[Scott]

I used to let guests post in the introductions forum, to see if maybe they were having problems registering. Spam bots soon found this so it had to be turned off.

Can't hurt to give it a try in certain forums and see how it goes, just be ready for spam.

[SoftWareRevue]

Yeah. I'd consider creating that special forum for them and see how that works out. ;)

[00100b]

My views on this are a little different, and I'll play devil's advocate.

If a guest is allowed to post, then I believe that you are only going to gain some short-term activity. If the guest really wants to participate, then he/she will register.

If you open the door to guests posting, then what would be a person's motivation for registering?

I'd also consider the extra effort that will be needed to moderate the forum and the difficulty enforcing your forum's posting guidelines (ie., how do you ban a guest if needed). Do you want your forum to remain a forum or become a chat-room?

Personally, I vote No.

[ldcdc]

If you open the door to guests posting, then what would be a person's motivation for registering?Yes, allowing them to post in all forums is indeed something I don't really plan to do unless there are some serious arguments for it (that I didn't think of).

If the guest really wants to participate, then he/she will register.That's the thing, I came to think I'm not in the position where the forum is so valuable that people would really want to participate. Hence the idea of making it easier for them to post.

[.k.]

Get or design yourself a great theme. I just have to say your forums look not very attractive with all the green. I always get compliments about how my forums look, just regged members even sometimes say they registered because of the nice theme...!

[bear]

.k., can we see that theme, perhaps?

[.k.]

No, I am sorry. As I stated in my introduction topic, I wish to stay anonymous.

[bear]

'k...:d

[.k.]

You've got a PM...!

[ldcdc]

Thank you for the feedback. I tend to be fond of minimalism, and that skin fit my tastes just fine. It may be that the board lacks a "professional look" though. That's indeed worth some reflection time on my part.

[Wojtek]

I voted no. If someone would like to say something or contribute to the forums, then the person would register. It takes half a minute :)

[Jan]

I believe you should start a forum with a plan in mind. If you want to allow anything goes, then let guests post. They won't show in the registered user tally though and probably 85% you would remove anyway. Is it worth the extra work?

If you want a quality forum, then don't even consider allowing anonymous users to post. Forums take time to build up, if you keep it clean, it will grow. Slow and steady wins the race :angel:

[senaia]

Guest Posting = Spam Bots

Hard to keep up with and moderate. You can't ban them and you cant track them. Interested visitors will notice the spam in your forum and will not register.

I vote No.

[Webmaster7]

Hello ldcdc,

As I wrote in your forum, I don't think guest posts are good. Any really interested person can register under 1 minute. If that person is so lazy that he/she can't spend 1 minute, well maybe he/she wouldn't make good posts anyway.

[Jon]

I vote no. I don't know the type of forum you operate, but something like this would destroy ours.

We have about 70000 members, but the majority of those would probably be gone due to asking one or two quick questions and hitting the trail. Forcing registration before allowing posting privileges allows them the opportunity to experience our actual "community". Many will stick around for that.

Plus, the spam, as mentioned, has the means to get out of hand too.

[intelliot]

I voted no. However, I did allow guest posting in the early days, and until the spammers started coming, it was a good thing. But you must have a lot of incentives in place to get them to register. If guests are not pushed really hard to register, they'll post their spam, leave, and never come back.