PDA

View Full Version : suggestion. Locking down the forum.



Beowulf
11th-August-2006, 09:18 PM
Hi,

Something has come to my attention and somewhat concerns me. I understand there's a need for guests to be able to browse the site, see some of the dancing threads etc.. but there's a lot of personal information on this site.. albeit buried in the more esoteric threads such as the singletons sofa, the person below me etc etc..

I found out that all these sites are spidered by search engines and viewable;e by non registered guests.

I think non registered users should be able to see the main dance topics and perhaps the social events but everything else should be locked down to registered users only !!

A casual search for something on google actually brought up my own post on the singletons sofa.. and it's not really the sort of stuff I'd like viewable by every tom , dick and Harriet out on the web.

Other similar forums have a public area and a private members only area is it not possible for this one to be a little more secure??

I understand the need for openness and the feeling that we're not a clique but I'd rather not post and have my account deleted than have my life on the web for anyone to see.

quite disconcerting!

Piglet
11th-August-2006, 09:22 PM
I think that's a very good idea Beo!

It's a shame that we've got to be careful, but that seems to be the way of the world these days.

Beowulf
11th-August-2006, 09:25 PM
I mean, guests can't post here .. but I've just checked .. they can read everything we've posted. :really:

Piglet
11th-August-2006, 09:28 PM
Guests ruddy well can post under "Unregistered" - I shall see if I can find a thread where this has happened and let you know....

Tiggerbabe
11th-August-2006, 09:34 PM
Guests ruddy well can post under "Unregistered" - I shall see if I can find a thread where this has happened and let you know....
Guests can only post in the "testing" area of the forum, to post anywhere else you need to register.
In one of the valentine threads guests were allowed to post so that forumites could declare their devotion for one another without giving away their identity :D

Piglet
11th-August-2006, 09:36 PM
I take back what I said, but can you clarify...

only registered people could post on the valentines thread then? but could choose to be unregistered if they wanted?

Tiggerbabe
11th-August-2006, 09:43 PM
I take back what I said, but can you clarify...

only registered people could post on the valentines thread then? but could choose to be unregistered if they wanted?
Actually, I'm still checking as a couple of spam posters have posted in the beginners section and they were not registered. I have deleted their posts and another one that had been reported.

Re the Valentine thread, forumites could log out and then post as unregistered to keep their identity secret if they so wished. So, guests could have posted on the thread, too.

Piglet
11th-August-2006, 09:45 PM
Thanks Tiggerbabe! That's helped my understanding of things :hug:
See you next weekend (cross fingers)

El Salsero Gringo
11th-August-2006, 11:46 PM
It's not a new situation, although I remember that in the past fewer of the forums were open to public reading, whereas now it appears that only the Intermediate Dance and the Land of 1000 Dances are for registered users and members only. For instance, do a Google search for the username of pretty much any regular poster....

It does mean that you can use Google to search for posts though.

ducasi
12th-August-2006, 12:31 AM
Something has come to my attention and somewhat concerns me. I hope it didn't come as a surprise.

I always try to post with the thought that what I have written could appear on the front page of the Sun tomorrow in a "Sordid Dance Expose!" story.

If people really care to read what you've written, then registering on the forum isn't so hard, so making more of the forum private is fairly pointless.

Currently the forum has over 2,000 members. OK, many of them are not regulars, but there's maybe a few hundreds regular and semi-regular registered visitors. A load of them are lurkers – they're reading your posts and you don't know them from Adam. Maybe they know you. Maybe they know you and you don't know them.

If this bothers you, then you really shouldn't be on posting on the forum.

under par
12th-August-2006, 07:57 AM
Actually, I'm still checking as a couple of spam posters have posted in the beginners section and they were not registered. I have deleted their posts and another one that had been reported.

.

Please check out wierd posting by unregistered Reeve Angelique in "the hardest thing when you started to learn" thread,

Under Par

mrs_warwick
12th-August-2006, 08:55 AM
Please check out wierd posting by unregistered Reeve Angelique in "the hardest thing when you started to learn" thread,

Under Par

And Andrew Tyler in 'The Road to Ceroc'

ducasi
12th-August-2006, 09:04 AM
I've reported both as spam by clicking on the "http://www.cerocscotland.com/forum/images/buttons/report.gif" under the post.

Tiggerbabe
12th-August-2006, 11:13 AM
Please do report as (contrary to public opinion :wink: ) we're not on line 24/7.
I've deleted the posts in question, thanks Ducasi :hug:

David Bailey
12th-August-2006, 12:07 PM
I think non registered users should be able to see the main dance topics and perhaps the social events but everything else should be locked down to registered users only !!
On the other hand, the vBulletin search engine is so dire that Google can actually be the best option for searching the forum. The Aussie forum even has "search via Google" as an inbuilt alternative I believe.

Also, just because someone registers, doesn't mean they're automatically warm and cuddly - we've over 2,000 members now, so anything you post can be seen by a fairly wide audience anyhow.

Finally, having the forum searchable by Google is an excellent way of promoting the forum and Modern Jive / Ceroc in the outside world, so there are good business reasons to keep as much of it as open as possible.

That's not to say that there shouldn't be a "private" area - outside and upstairs are already I believe. Maybe there should be a restructure to have an unsearchable "Members only" section - including "upstairs", "outside", and, I dunno, "personal"?

But the best defense is to bear in mind that anything you post online, anywhere, will probably be accessible if someone wants to find it badly enough. I'm constantly amazed by the amount of detail people write about their personal lives here; I guess I'm just Mr Paranoid.


I understand the need for openness and the feeling that we're not a clique
:rofl: - who said we're not a clique? :innocent:

bigdjiver
12th-August-2006, 06:17 PM
I am not sure that locking the forum will much improve security, unless people are divulging data that would assist identity fraud. Perhaps we should keep an eye out for such behaviour and respond with PM's to the divulger and general warings on this thread. The divulger can then approach the moderators if they want any action taken.
To my mind the main danger that arises from forums in general is cyber-stalkers. Such behaviour is likely to come from insiders anyway. The moderatos can deal with such behaviour on this forum, but the perpetrator can extend the battle onto the internet in general, using information gleaned here, and there are unmoderated forums out there. The general advice is think about what you post. There are good reasons for using aliases.

Twirly
13th-August-2006, 12:19 PM
I wonder if people are more likely to post personal stuff on here as they've actually met quite a few of the regular posters and are inclined to forget that it's actually a wide-open public space?

On the whole I'm quite careful to only post what I'm happy for complete strangers to see.