Appearance / Gallery goes private

[wynode]

Hi all,

Just a quick headsup to let you know that I have made the Appearance / Gallery hidden to guests (this does not however apply to the Car Care / Detailing and the Photoshop forums).

This is in an effort to stop non-members from seeing details of user cars such as modifications / rego etc which could encourage theft. It's not the be-all-and-end-all solution but we feel it is a step in the right direction.

Post back if you have any issues.

[dc2dc2dc2]

top work winnie.

[SiReal]

Wyn, have you considered making the whole forum private?

[dc2dc2dc2]

u gotta give people free teaser jeff
i think model specific is plenty
if they like they can join after that.

[SiReal]

True, perhaps model specific as open access only, for those who want answers but do now want to sign up. other than that, good move Wyn.

[wynode]

Yeah I have been considering that actually!

[95civic]

Wyn, have you considered making the whole forum private?

Thanks Jeff, as we spoke about before I think it would be a great idea.

If people have a reason why they would not like the system to go private I would like to hear it.

I can only give my own view here, but I believe we cant go wrong by making the forum private. We talk about theft prevention etc, I dont think it is really going to be that bigger issue or a step forward in prevention but it really can't hurt.

People can join up if they want/need to, so I cant see a reason why private isn't a good idea.


Campbell [ TOSHY ]

[Q_ball]

I say make the whole forum private.
The less guests we have browsing, the less load on the server, thus meaning a more stable and quicker experience for signed users.

[panda[cRx]]

I say make the whole forum private.
The less guests we have browsing, the less load on the server, thus meaning a more stable and quicker experience for signed users.

word :thumbsup:

[zco]

I say make the whole forum private.
The less guests we have browsing, the less load on the server, thus meaning a more stable and quicker experience for signed users.
wouldnt that mean we'd have shitloads more ppl creating an account and there for creating more load on the server when they browse ?
then wyn would have 30,000 accounts to look after rather than 15000

[SiReal]

It would also deter alot of people from making accounts because they simply cannot be bothered. i.e. having to provide an email address that isn't public, filling in online forms. I know for a fact that if I have to sign up to get information, I hesitate and look elsewhere.

[Chi]

Make the whole forum private.

And make the appearance and gallery visible to ppl only who have been here a certain amount of months or has accumulated a certain amount of posts.

Alot of forums do this to deter ppl checking up pics of cars, even if they just sign up randomly.

This way you can tell if someone is actually here on the forums to benefit their car for knowledge rather than browse for potential cars to steal.

[mars_panas]

I say make the whole forum private.
The less guests we have browsing, the less load on the server, thus meaning a more stable and quicker experience for signed users.

I agree with Q_Ball :thumbsup:

[spacepants_fb]

I'm going to have to agree with the consensus of making the forum private. As other people have said, it's not the be all or end all solution, but it will act more as a deterrent (ie. those who could not be bothered signing up usually don't). Hey at the end of the day, if it helps in the prevention of theft, I'm all for it.

[kn1ghtm4r3]

good stuff =)

[rawr]

Good to see the mods and stuff fixed this asap :thumbsup:

[bennjamin]

a step in the right direction.

[yfin]

If people have a reason why they would not like the system to go private I would like to hear it.

If we did that no other forum or place on the internet can link to something on Ozhonda without people registering to see the link. What is so private about the technical threads anyway?

I have also sometimes sent Ozhonda links to friends - can't do that anymore unless they want to go through the sign up process.

Also - if we go private would our technical threads be captured by search engines - eg google? We would get a lot of people around the world finding ozhonda by doing a search engine thread for a specific technical issue they have. I actually found Ozhonda in January 2004 by doing a search on the Accord Euro on google!

If someone wants to post up a picture of their own car they do so at their own risk. I fail to see how making the forum private has any correlation to reducing theft. If someone is a serious thief and wants to come on here to profile a member and scope their car - it is not that much effort to sign up. Making it private does nothing in my view.

This sounds like we are doing something to be seen to be doing something. In reality what does it achieve?

If we are doing it to make the forum faster - go for it. But the reducing theft argument is weak!

[hoey888]

maybe we can setup ozhonda to be invite only... more exclusive and then it sorta becomes private that way. just a suggestion

[wynode]

If we did that no other forum or place on the internet can link to something on Ozhonda without people registering to see the link. What is so private about the technical threads anyway?

I have also sometimes sent Ozhonda links to friends - can't do that anymore unless they want to go through the sign up process.

Also - if we go private would our technical threads be captured by search engines - eg google? We would get a lot of people around the world finding ozhonda by doing a search engine thread for a specific technical issue they have. I actually found Ozhonda in January 2004 by doing a search on the Accord Euro on google!

If someone wants to post up a picture of their own car they do so at their own risk. I fail to see how making the forum private has any correlation to reducing theft. If someone is a serious thief and wants to come on here to profile a member and scope their car - it is not that much effort to sign up. Making it private does nothing in my view.

This sounds like we are doing something to be seen to be doing something. In reality what does it achieve?

If we are doing it to make the forum faster - go for it. But the reducing theft argument is weak!

Some very valid points. The theft comment was more in relation to the appearance/gallery forum and as said...it is not the be all and end all solution. I see it more as a deterrent.

Valid points also about the search engines not being able to index Ozhonda. At the moment I'm thinking of making only the model specific and technical forums viewable by guests and making everything else private. One thing that I would like with that is that search engines / bots won't pickup on the OH email addresses which will help with the 100 odd spam emails I get and have to sort through.


maybe we can setup ozhonda to be invite only... more exclusive and then it sorta becomes private that way. just a suggestion

Then that makes it hard for people who want to learn/share information.

[Q_ball]

Make only the noob/model specific/tech threads visible then...and perhaps the lounge.
Everything else, hide.

[mrwillz]

maybe we can setup ozhonda to be invite only... more exclusive and then it sorta becomes private that way. just a suggestion

no thanks

[dc2dc2dc2]

lol @ invite only
wtf is this
a 21st b'day party
'name'
'who's guestlist'
'your not on the list'
'GTFO'
ahahahahaha

[SiReal]

Make only the noob/model specific/tech threads visible then...and perhaps the lounge.
Everything else, hide.

Agreed with noob/model/tech only.

I guess in the midst of all this, we musn't forget that this forum is to help people, so if someone who isn't a user , stumbles across this site via Google, they can obtain whatever info they need from the visible forums.

if they see value in signing up, they will sign up.

[wynode]

I'll have to sort this out in a few weeks. But Q.....the Lounge will remain members only as per some of the issues we discussed some time back.

But apart from that what Jeff has mentioned sounds about right. If anyone else has feedback please post here.