Hello,
ElieEstephane wrote: ↑Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:34 pm
Regarding the new members... i'm a member of the french forum cactuspro.com and they have a handy little feature.
Thanks for mentionning this Elie. I am Yann, the creator of
cactuspro.com. If you have any question about our forum (it is mainly in French), do not hesitate to ask.
People are asked an email to participate without creating an account... but they could use a false one, there's no check. The server stores the IP address, that's automatic and done everywhere, but that's the only thing which prevent me to say that forum participation could be 100% anonymous.
Aiko wrote: ↑Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:42 pm
How is that helpful to anyone but the one doing the identification request?
That's lowering the bar for more one-off visits to get what they want and run off again. At least let them do the effort of signing up...
Yes, that's the point: being helpful to people in need of information / help. Lowering the bar so they can come, and not get stuck outside.
Why would I make them do the effort of signing up? Which value would we get out of this? With the experience, I can answer: not much. People who have a quick question / an ID can get an answer fast, and never come back. Those who come back (because they see we are fast to answer, polite, fun, etc.) often create an account later. The number of accounts advertised on the front page of the site (15.000) is missleading, as some did not connect for a long time.
But actually, if I allow anonymous participation on the cactuspro.com forum, that's because I am a strong believer of openness, freedom, etc. I use and produce free softwares (free as in "free speech", not "free beer"), and information should be free too, IMHO.
The only problem is spam, which is harder to control. We have a spammer maybe once a week, so we have to do some cleanup... But as I have 3 active moderators to help me, it is quite manageable.
Any questions?