Anyone wish this sub-forum were for registered posters only?

[twotimesblue]

I read that the shoe deal had been taken off here and posted on Slickdeals. I can't count the number of times a BBBer has posted a code on here, only to have a lurker use it and not say they've done so. I wish it could be for registered posters only, so people who actually contribute have more chance of getting in on the deals. Gymbofriends is for members only, and it is still a very popular forum. Thoughts?

[TwinFoxes]

Do you mean the 1776 sale at 6pm? That was posted on slick deals around 3am, well before it was posted here, it's a yearly sale I believe. The other 50% off shoe sale was lifted from gymbofriends. Codes posted here could be used by registered users, I'm not sure how you can tell lurkers are using them. Regardless, please post in "suggestions" so the Fields can see it. There may be a way to make this sub-forum members only that I'm not aware of.

I do find it gutsy when a newbie posts asking for gym bucks or kohls cash or the sort.

[citymama]

I'm with the OP - I would love if posts here didn't show up in public searches and that only registered users could view/contribute. I'd pay an annual fee for that prerogative/privacy!

[kep]

Well, I think it would be nice if certain forums, such as the bargains forum and bitching, were private or registered members only. C-S.org has certain forums (the more personal ones) that are available to senior members only that which seems very appropriate. However, the whole point of the BBB is to be a resource for parents to come to and search for information. Privatizing it would defeat the purpose, IMO.

And back in the "old day", it was almost completely unheard if for any non-established member to ask for Gymbucks or the like. You just didn't do it.

[wellyes]

If you want to give a code freely, do so.
If you want to give a code to an established poster, just say "PM me for details".

[mom2binsd]

I agree, there have been a few times were I've seen newbie's asking for codes, which I think is kind of bold, I mean if it's a code searchable on the internet it's one thing, but a one time use code or one you get because you've bought stuff but aren't using, I'd rather give to a known or established boardie like wellyes suggested.

While I agree that the premise of the is board is "bargains" I agree that sometimes I get a bit protective of this community as I've been here so long (and my post number is about 3000 short as I lost a lot of posts during an earlier switchover).

[twotimesblue]

If you want to give a code freely, do so.
If you want to give a code to an established poster, just say "PM me for details".

I get it, but a lot of times people are going to bed/are too busy to check PMs so they just post the codes and regulars who try them say they've been used. I'm sure if a BBBer used the code they would post and say so, it's just good etiquette, isn't it? It has to be lurkers.

I also wish the bitching posts were private.. sometimes a thread will have many hundreds of views (presumably not all from BBBers) and only a couple of replies, which puts me off posting sometimes.

[ckso]

While I agree that the premise of the is board is "bargains" I agree that sometimes I get a bit protective of this community as I've been here so long (and my post number is about 3000 short as I lost a lot of posts during an earlier switchover).

I feel that way too. I post deals I see on SD here all the time but I would never post deals I find here on SD.

I offer codes here all the time and never thought about whether I'm giving it to a regular or a lurker/newbie. That's a good point though. I think I'm going to start looking at the number of post....how does one do that by the way?

[Snow mom]

Number of posts is in the bar that shows the user name of the poster. On the left I see your user name and on the right I see your join date and number of posts.

ETA: if you've ever filled in your location that shows on the right also.

[TwinFoxes]

I'm with the OP - I would love if posts here didn't show up in public searches and that only registered users could view/contribute. I'd pay an annual fee for that prerogative/privacy!

Do you mean all forums, or just bargains? I'm not speaking for the Fields, but they are authors and want people to buy their books. I'd assume hiding the forums from public searches would cut down on their books' exposure/sales. I found the forum through a search. Anyway, OP posted in suggestions, so who knows? :)

[Nechums]

I consider myself a semi established member and even I rarely ask for codes. I'll only ask for something if I feel like I deserve it (like if I recently shared a code).

[123LuckyMom]

I don't know that I've ever asked for codes, but I have given them, and I've given away Gymbucks, too. I did it through PMs to avoid more than one person using them, but I gave them away to the first person to PM me. I thought that was the fairest way to do it.

I'm not as long-term or prolific a poster as many others, but I love this community. One of the things I love most is how welcoming, generous, and forgiving this place tends to be. It's hard when you don't know any better not to misstep. The bargain poster yesterday apologized profusely for posting the deal mentioned here on slickdeals. Now she knows better, and so do I (though I don't currently use slickdeals.) Sometimes you need to learn by making mistakes.

I think it would be unfortunate to privatize parts of this forum. It sends a message (at least to me) that there is a hierarchy here, and that can dissuade people from becoming more involved. It's like when you meet a group of moms IRL who are already a close-knit group. It can be intimidating to try to become part of that group. Unless somebody invites you in, or you have a high level of self-confidence and friend-making skill, sometimes you might not even try.

We're all parents here with differing outlooks and levels of experience, but a newbie might well have something just as helpful to offer as a long-time and prolific poster. S/he might get here looking for a bargain and stay here to give me step by step guidance and support as I potty train my kid! ;)

I hope the whole board stays public.

[wellyes]

I consider myself a semi established member and even I rarely ask for codes. I'll only ask for something if I feel like I deserve it (like if I recently shared a code).
Awwwww, semi established my butt. I'd give you my code!!!

Honestly I usually give away codes by PM but it is first come first served too. Why not?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I think giving away a one time use code via PM makes a ton of sense that way it can be better managed. I do first to respond gets it. Sometimes I wish I had a caveat about being an established member ("only posters with 500+ respond") but truly it doesn't matter that much and I'm happy if it helps someone.

[rin]

I think it would be unfortunate to privatize parts of this forum. It sends a message (at least to me) that there is a hierarchy here, and that can dissuade people from becoming more involved. It's like when you meet a group of moms IRL who are already a close-knit group. It can be intimidating to try to become part of that group. Unless somebody invites you in, or you have a high level of self-confidence and friend-making skill, sometimes you might not even try.

I don't usually participate in the bargains section, but I agree with this. I've felt this way about the spin-off groups, like the stroller group or the facebook group, that have minimum post requirements. When the stroller group first formed I was very much in stroller-world and had been posting pretty regularly to the stroller subforum, but didn't have enough posts to join the private group. I remember feeling like I'd been left out of a party that everyone else was going to, and even when I did get enough posts I never did end up joining that group.

All that said, if it were something that you automatically got access to as a registered member vs a lurker (but with no minimum post requirement) I don't think it would have the same effect. Frankly, I imagine it would motivate more people to register.

[krobbin]

I don't know that I've ever asked for codes, but I have given them, and I've given away Gymbucks, too. I did it through PMs to avoid more than one person using them, but I gave them away to the first person to PM me. I thought that was the fairest way to do it.

I'm not as long-term or prolific a poster as many others, but I love this community. One of the things I love most is how welcoming, generous, and forgiving this place tends to be. It's hard when you don't know any better not to misstep. The bargain poster yesterday apologized profusely for posting the deal mentioned here on slickdeals. Now she knows better, and so do I (though I don't currently use slickdeals.) Sometimes you need to learn by making mistakes.

I think it would be unfortunate to privatize parts of this forum. It sends a message (at least to me) that there is a hierarchy here, and that can dissuade people from becoming more involved. It's like when you meet a group of moms IRL who are already a close-knit group. It can be intimidating to try to become part of that group. Unless somebody invites you in, or you have a high level of self-confidence and friend-making skill, sometimes you might not even try.

We're all parents here with differing outlooks and levels of experience, but a newbie might well have something just as helpful to offer as a long-time and prolific poster. S/he might get here looking for a bargain and stay here to give me step by step guidance and support as I potty train my kid! ;)

I hope the whole board stays public.


Yea, so that was me. It's nice to know that my mistake has started a thread complaining about it. I am relatively new to this site (I've been here at least one year longer than sd). I didn't know that sd'ers are trolls and ebayers because I am very new to that site. What *I* saw was someone, who took the deal from ANOTHER site and posted it here. I thought it would be okay to share it with other parents in the sd children's forum, because that's who I thought would be browsing that forum, not trolls...

As soon as people freaked, I had the deal removed, I didn't post it for any other reason than to share it with other parents just like you guys do here.

While I've found nothing but kind people here, knowing that this forum has some people with an elitist attitude makes me feel even worse than I did for an honest mistake. I have given many people codes and only asked for one or two since I've been here.

I frankly feel that starting a whole thread to bash people like myself is rude and is something I have never experienced before. I'll be happy to delete my account and move on so that only high level posters can share deals with each other.

Oh and by the way, I love how people get so mad for posting a deal to slickdeals, but have NO problem taking deals from their site to post here. I get the difference... now, but it sure seems kind of one sided. Lets take deals from other peoples forums, but let's not share with them....

[tarnator]

I wouldn't like to see this site closed either. I found it because I had originally read the books, but I think that a lot of people find it randomly. I like the variety of posters and like to see people sharing.

I also use SD, but do agree it is a lot more nasty sometimes. I also think that there are fewer people on there looking for baby stuff, so this thread wouldn't have even been noticed...

[Green_Tea]

I get it, but a lot of times people are going to bed/are too busy to check PMs so they just post the codes and regulars who try them say they've been used. I'm sure if a BBBer used the code they would post and say so, it's just good etiquette, isn't it? It has to be lurkers.



I will freely admit that I have used codes and haven't followed up, mainly because something happened - a kid fell down and got hurt, a pot boiled over on the stove, someone needed a glass of water - and I just forgot.

I find this thread to be rather passive aggressive and feel bad for krobin, who has already apologized. Taking codes from slickdeals and reposting them here (which posters here do ALL THE TIME) then attacking someone in a thinly veiled follow up thread for doing the reverse is not nice. It's a total double standard, regardless of how it's justified.

There are many private deal forums on the internet that people are welcome to join. I hope this doesn't become one of them.

Please stick around, krobin.

[sidmand]

Please stick around, krobin.

:yeahthat:

It was a honest mistake and she apologized. There are many unwritten rules that people would have no idea about! I think there was a post about that awhile ago. Some of the things that make this a great site can also make things easier for non-registered people sometimes but I think that's a fair price to pay. For the most part the people here are really considerate and friendly. I've never stayed on a site as long as I've been here because people are generally kind, respectful, and considerate (and helpful!).

[Multimama]

There are at least a few BBB spin-off groups that post bargains privately, right? And people are free to join those, or they aren't free to join them because they aren't one of the chosen few. I hope the Bargain Forum doesn't become one of those exclusive groups. Being part of an elite group feels great to the people who are privileged enough to be members, but it doesn't feel at all great when you hear of a deal too late that everyone else knew about but you were kept out of the loop on because you didn't meet some mystery criteria or win the popularity contest.

The Bargain Forum has changed the way I shop and allowed me to get more quality products for my children. I'm so glad that it is a freely available resource, an amazing bargain itself, and I hope it stays that way.

[ett]

Yea, so that was me. It's nice to know that my mistake has started a forum complaining about it. I am relatively new to this site (I've been here at least one year longer than sd). I didn't know that sd'ers are trolls and ebayers because I am very new to that site. What *I* saw was someone, who took the deal from ANOTHER site and posted it here. I thought it would be okay to share it with other parents in the sd children's forum, because that's who I thought would be browsing that forum, not trolls...

As soon as people freaked, I had the deal removed, I didn't post it for any other reason than to share it with other parents just like you guys do here.

While I've found nothing but kind people here, knowing that this forum has some people with an elitist attitude makes me feel even worse than I did for an honest mistake. I have given many people codes and only asked for one or two since I've been here.

I frankly feel that starting a whole thread to bash people like myself is rude and is something I have never experienced before. I'll be happy to delete my account and move on so that only high level posters can share deals with each other.

Oh and by the way, I love how people get so mad for posting a deal to slickdeals, but have NO problem taking deals from their site to post here. I get the difference... now, but it sure seems kind of one sided. Lets take deals from other peoples forums, but let's not share with them....

Please don't leave the boards over this. While it is an "unwritten" rule with regular members here, it is not officially written anywhere so you would have had no idea. People take deals from places and post them elsewhere all the time. Please don't feel bad. The problem with slickdeals is that while there are parents on there looking for good deals for their kids, there are also many non parent ebayers/trolls who will buy up everything to ebay. Those are the people that kill the deals for everyone.

[wellyes]

I didn't even see the thread this is a S/O from. I repost from Slickdeals all the time, and sometimes I take advantage when others do too. Someone posted a deal from here to SD? Sounds like an honest mistake, not a big deal.

I like that this place is open, I have been here a while and people come and go all the time. I miss some old posters but then a newbie comes along and cracks me up and it's all good. You need fresh air to keep a place like this from getting stale and stinky..........

[rin]

Let's not get into finger-pointing/name calling here. I don't think that it's horrible to say that it would be nice to have some way to limit the bargains subforum to people who have *some* kind of buy-in to the BBB community. I don't think making it available to "established" posters is the way to go, but I don't think it makes someone terrible or "elitist" to suggest that. I think that limiting certain forums to registered users would be a good solution; it would maintain visibility for the "core" threads of the BBB (baby item threads) and could give people a slight incentive to register. Saying that registration is required for full access to a website is not, IMHO, elitist.

ETA: I say this as someone who almost never participates in the bargain subforum, so I don't really have much stake in this, but I get the sentiment. I can totally see it for the BP/other subforums where people sometimes put things that are more personal/emotional, and might like the idea that it's not coming up in Google searches.

[mom2binsd]

I did not know anything about the poster who posted on SD, I was just responding that sometimes I've seen brand new, like it says "newbie" posting looking for a unique code or gymbucks, that's all. I'm not a part of any spinoff groups but have seen my share of trolls show up here and am protective of this community. Like others have said, I guess there's unwritten rules too, like if someone posts in the Bitching forum, don't give any advise unless they ask for it.... Not long ago someone was asking about a "burning wax scented thing", and a rep for that company obviously joined and responded...this community doesn't take kindly to trolls as one of the nice thing is that most of the members really do want to help others with nothing to gain. Sorry Krobbin felt jumped on, honestly I only share code with folks here and occasionally on car-seat.org. (usually for car seat related codes) or something like Free shipping on Children's Place that is easily found on their website but the folks might not have been on the site that day.

[twowhat?]

Please stick around, krobin.

:yeahthat: Everyone is a newbie once. SO many unwritten rules here. You have to "break in" somehow, whether that's the bargains sub-forum, strollers, or whatever. And the easiest way to learn all the unwritten rules is to simply start posting and start getting to know the community. I love this community. There are private spin-offs that people could join but I really hope it doesn't come down to "only the good deals are posted in the private spin-offs..." It's a hard balance to strike because good deals are quickly killed when lots of people are looking. I have definitely been appreciative of the bargains posted here and hope that it continues to run that way and that it doesn't get out of control like slickdeals. I just don't have a good idea for how to preserve that.

As for coupon codes, if it's one-time use I will ask for a PM to get the code. I have asked for codes before and have been VERY VERY appreciative of them!!!! The last one I asked for saved me over $100 on a PBK furniture purchase and I was very grateful!! And I remember someone posted a bunch of Athleta codes from SD here during their F&F event which saved a lot of folks (who happened to be looking at the right time) 30% on their purchases. And remember the Gifting Grace thing?? So many cool things happen here!

[div_0305]

This is interesting--I've often thought this site should require registration to view posts. It's something required of almost any other useful site I visit, and I've never balked at the registration requirements at those sites. I totally understand the other side of the issue which is to have the information available to as many internet users as possible. Sometimes I'm searching for something on Google, and a post from here comes in the search results--but because I find the BBB search function so difficult for certain searches (word has to be long enough, not considered "common" etc), I didn't find the post from the BBB search function. For the "one time" use codes, it does bother me when I see them posted for anyone to see, instead of available by PM. It makes for a free-for-all, and I never attempt to use those codes as I'm sure my keystrokes won't be fast enough, and I don't know who I'm competing with to use the code!

[daphne]

While I've found nothing but kind people here, knowing that this forum has some people with an elitist attitude makes me feel even worse than I did for an honest mistake.

Oh and by the way, I love how people get so mad for posting a deal to slickdeals, but have NO problem taking deals from their site to post here. I get the difference... now, but it sure seems kind of one sided. Lets take deals from other peoples forums, but let's not share with them....

I don't think it's elitist here, so much as "protectionist." There really is a big difference between SD and here, and I think most members here try to share & protect deals for each other here, since SD does so often kill the deals.

[arivecchi]

I think this suggestion would make sense for some forums like the BP and the Lounge. Not the Bargain Forum though. A deal is not something that needs privacy protections IMO. OP can always add please don't post on slickdeals.

[Chitowngirl]

My son is 9 mo old and I only found this bb while I was pregnant. For those first few months I only read and would likely be called a "lurker". While I was't a registered member, I was beginning to get to know you all and I definitely started to feel like part of the community. During that time I learned so much helpful stuff about pregnancy, breastfeeding, sleep training, carseats, strollers, and on and on and on. I finally decided to register so now I both ask questions and leave advice when I can. I've also benefitted in more tangible ways - in fact I am writing this is tapatalk that I got for free since it was posted here! I am still ramping up my usage on this site but I would likely be excluded from any sub-forum that required a minimum number of posts.

I've never left a code, asked for a code, or taken a code, but any solution that shuts out all "lurkers" and "newbies" makes me a little sad.

[Globetrotter]

Krobbin, it was an honest mistake on an unwritten rule, and it would never occur to a new poster so not a big deal. We were all new once, and this is actually a very welcoming and supportive place! I think what PPs mean is this place is very different from SD and generally has a good vibe. After a while we are deceived into thinking it's a group of friends, when the reality is it's a public forum! I think if it matters to someone, they can give codes via PM and thereby monitor who gets them.

I would love to limit the Lounge and BP, if anything, but I doubt the Fields would want to.

[elbenn]

Krobbin, I hope you stick around. It was obvious that you were trying to do something nice by posting it on SD because you were trying to share a good deal with others.

[krobbin]

Krobbin, it was an honest mistake on an unwritten rule, and it would never occur to a new poster so not a big deal. We were all new once, and this is actually a very welcoming and supportive place! I think what PPs mean is this place is very different from SD and generally has a good vibe. After a while we are deceived into thinking it's a group of friends, when the reality is it's a public forum! I think if it matters to someone, they can give codes via PM and thereby monitor who gets them.

I would love to limit the Lounge and BP, if anything, but I doubt the Fields would want to.


I am sorry to have gotten so negative, and I wasn't trying to single people out, but I thought my mistake was done and somewhat forgotten and then I come back to find a thread bringing it all back up again. I honestly have only had positive experiences here and on slickdeals. I've had very nice people help me out on SD and really didn't know that there was such a negative feeling towards that site until now.

Anyway, I do find people here to be very nice and understanding. I usually just lurk and I guess I got so excited about the deal that I wanted to share it with a whole bunch of people and I didn't think about how it would kill the deal for the community here. I would alway see stuff like "I got this from so and so and saw this over at this site" and figured people had no problems with sharing deals on various sites. Since this seems to be a problem, maybe it should be in the "Please Read" section.

I do agree about viewing posts without registering, I didn't even know that you could do that. They should definitely make people register before they can view posts. Apparently, I had no idea what the original OP was really talking about, I really took it personally and perhaps that wasn't the intent...

Thanks for being understanding ladies (and gents?)

[TwinFoxes]

I am sorry to have gotten so negative, and I wasn't trying to single people out, but I thought my mistake was done and somewhat forgotten and then I come back to find a thread bringing it all back up again. I honestly have only had positive experiences here and on slickdeals. I've had very nice people help me out on SD and really didn't know that there was such a negative feeling towards that site until now.

Anyway, I do find people here to be very nice and understanding. I usually just lurk and I guess I got so excited about the deal that I wanted to share it with a whole bunch of people and I didn't think about how it would kill the deal for the community here. I would alway see stuff like "I got this from so and so and saw this over at this site" and figured people had no problems with sharing deals on various sites. Since this seems to be a problem, maybe it should be in the "Please Read" section.

I do agree about viewing posts without registering, I didn't even know that you could do that. They should definitely make people register before they can view posts. Apparently, I had no idea what the original OP was really talking about, I really took it personally and perhaps that wasn't the intent...

Thanks for being understanding ladies (and gents?)

Well, it's such an unwritten rule that I didn't know about! I don't post to SD because that place is too intense. And maybe I'm greedy, I want to keep the good stuff for us. :) I've honestly never thought about it as something we all did. Anyway, someone posted a few minutes ago in that thread that they got awesome deals, so you didn't kill it.

[elbenn]

I think BBBers generally like SD, but SD is huge and has many more people that buy based on threads there than the BBB. So generally speaking, I think most BBBers either only post deals here or they post it here first and then post it to SD after it has been on the BBB for awhile.

[sidmand]

Yeah, I don't think the OP was necessarily directed at anyone. I think what happened just made someone think of other issues that had come up, not that specific time but a bunch of things in general.

[missym]

The idea of private sub-forums for various subjects comes up periodically, and while the Fields understand the motivation, they have always maintained that their intent is for all forums to be public. We will bring it up with them, but there is no way IMO that Bargain Alerts will be private - and I would argue against it. This forum is a major source of traffic and new member registrations. If you have a one-time use code to share, offer it via PM and choose the recipient who meets your criteria.

ETA: There is no rule, written or unwritten, against reposting deals on other sites. Sometimes the OP will request that it not be shared, but that is a *request.* As has been pointed out, we post deals from other sites here all the time.

[Corie]

I do find it gutsy when a newbie posts asking for gym bucks or kohls cash or the sort.


I totally agree!!

I prefer to give my unused coupons, codes, etc., to long time posters. I hate to say it but I do look
at the poster's name and how long they've been a BBB member before I give coupons out.

[Corie]

There really is a big difference between SD and here, and I think most members here try to share & protect deals for each other here, since SD does so often kill the deals.

Yes, I agree with you. It seems like once the deal is posted on SD, then the deal is abused, taken advantage of, ruined, etc.

[twotimesblue]

Yeah, I don't think the OP was necessarily directed at anyone. I think what happened just made someone think of other issues that had come up, not that specific time but a bunch of things in general.

I'm not sure why this post would have caused offense. I don't even have daughters, so the shoe deal in question was of no use to me, alive or dead - it just brought to mind something I've been thinking about for some time. I recently shared a bunch of Next codes via PM, but more often than not I just don't have time to log in and do that (especially if the codes are close to expiration). I am sure plenty of other BBBers have been in the same situation. There is nothing 'elitist' about having to register to access a forum - newbies can still 'lurk' to their heart's content, but I do feel that the action of signing up, getting a username etc would help incentivize a lurker to become an active member of this community. It's not like anyone would want a minimum post requirement, it would just add a layer of 'protection' - especially when, in places like the BP and the Lounge, people talk about sensitive subjects. I, for one, don't love thousands of strangers poring over the intimate details of my family dramas - the BBB ladies (and gents) ARE strangers, too, but after a while they feel more like friends.

I remember a while back, a BBBer kindly responded to my request for a code (I think it was for PBK), for some reason she couldn't PM but said the code was for me. I was so excited as I had a ton of things in my cart for my baby's nursery.. got all the way to checkout and of course, someone had used it. I'm sure it wasn't a BBBer, and I was felt badly that the person had gone to the trouble of posting it only to have it snatched by someone it wasn't intended for! It definitely puts me off posting codes when I don't have time to PM.

Forums like SD encourage lurkers as the website earns a significant revenue from click-though links in posts. That doesn't happen here which is one reason why registration wouldn't hurt.

[Gena]

I do feel that the action of signing up, getting a username etc would help incentivize a lurker to become an active member of this community. It's not like anyone would want a minimum post requirement, it would just add a layer of 'protection' - especially when, in places like the BP and the Lounge, people talk about sensitive subjects. I, for one, don't love thousands of strangers poring over the intimate details of my family dramas - the BBB ladies (and gents) ARE strangers, too, but after a while they feel more like friends.

I think this would be a completely false sense of security. I don't think it would add anymore "protection" at all. Although this can feel like a close group of friends, it's important to always remember that it is a very public form of communication. Requiring a username to read posts wouldn't necessarily be a deterent to anyone who really wanted to read about somebody's personal life. I disagree that it would be a huge incentive to make lurkers more active.

I'm fine with the board being public, since that is what the Fields want. I am grateful to them for hosting these boards and am happy to play by their rules.

[gatorsmom]

I am grateful to them for hosting these boards and am happy to play by their rules.

A huge :yeahthat: to Gina's statement. I buy the BBbook for all my pregnant friends and highly recommend it to others. The books and boards have been an enormous benefit to my life. I'm very grateful.

[TwinFoxes]

I think this would be a completely false sense of security. I don't think it would add anymore "protection" at all. Although this can feel like a close group of friends, it's important to always remember that it is a very public form of communication. Requiring a username to read posts wouldn't necessarily be a deterent to anyone who really wanted to read about somebody's personal life. I disagree that it would be a huge incentive to make lurkers more active.



Gena makes an excellent point. You guys don't see the amount of spam we get from registered posters. Registering doesn't deter them in the slightest. They register, post spam, the filter catches most of it, but not all, we get rid of them. We spend a lot of time as mods getting rid of posts filtered from spammers. (some of the spam is so cray-cray it makes us laugh!)

[rin]

I think this would be a completely false sense of security. I don't think it would add anymore "protection" at all. Although this can feel like a close group of friends, it's important to always remember that it is a very public form of communication. Requiring a username to read posts wouldn't necessarily be a deterent to anyone who really wanted to read about somebody's personal life. I disagree that it would be a huge incentive to make lurkers more active.

I'm fine with the board being public, since that is what the Fields want. I am grateful to them for hosting these boards and am happy to play by their rules.

:yeahthat:

I think it's very important to remember that anyone could google any post here, and come across what you've written; registration doesn't change that. It's not like there are background checks to become a registered member! I try to remember that any one of my RL friends/family members/classmates/neighbors/etc could potentially come across some post I've made and figure out that I'm the poster "rin", look through my post history, etc.

That doesn't take away from the fact that this board is probably the single most valuable online resource I've found for parenting advice (not to mention occasional personal advice/support). A big thank you to the Fields!

[Globetrotter]

I think BBBers generally like SD, but SD is huge and has many more people that buy based on threads there than the BBB. So generally speaking, I think most BBBers either only post deals here or they post it here first and then post it to SD after it has been on the BBB for awhile.








:yeahthat: Once it's on SD, the deal doesn't last long given the huge volume over there. I definitely think the Bargains forum should be public, though maybe to registered users at least. That is the whole point of the book and brings folks to the website :)

[Multimama]

I think it's very important to remember that anyone could google any post here, and come across what you've written; registration doesn't change that.

A website like thebabywearer.com requires registration to view content. Anyone can register, but the content of people's posts is not on google and does not come up on google searches. I'm not advocating for that setup here, but I just wanted to say that registration does make a difference. I think that has its drawbacks too though because many people casually looking into babywearing are not going to discover TBW and miss out on that resource because you have to join to know what you are missing.

In my previous post, I was thinking more about forums like c-s.org where access to the hidden forums is based not only on registration, but also on getting "reputation."

[MontrealMum]

Gena makes an excellent point. You guys don't see the amount of spam we get from registered posters. Registering doesn't deter them in the slightest. They register, post spam, the filter catches most of it, but not all, we get rid of them. We spend a lot of time as mods getting rid of posts filtered from spammers. (some of the spam is so cray-cray it makes us laugh!)
:yeahthat:



:yeahthat:



I think it's very important to remember that anyone could google any post here, and come across what you've written; registration doesn't change that. It's not like there are background checks to become a registered member! I try to remember that any one of my RL friends/family members/classmates/neighbors/etc could potentially come across some post I've made and figure out that I'm the poster "rin", look through my post history, etc.

That doesn't take away from the fact that this board is probably the single most valuable online resource I've found for parenting advice (not to mention occasional personal advice/support). A big thank you to the Fields!

I'm going to put my librarian's hat on here for a moment :) I highlighted the above part of rin's post not to make the point that she did, though it is a very important one! But to discuss "being found" on the internet. The thing that I think many people don't get because they're not SEO experts - and why would they be? - is that it's mainly searches on search engines that brings people here. And the hits produced by the bargains board is a large part of that. Because the Fields wrote a book about bargains! That's what Missy was referring to in her post above.

I do not personally have access to the GA for this site, but I'm quite sure someone does because that is what site and blog owners do to track hits/clicks/traffic. They know how this site has been found, by how many people, from where, and with which keywords...and that's just the surface. When Missy says the bargains board is bringing people in, that's not just theorizing. These boards - just like any other site on the internet - have been optimized for certain keywords, and it doesn't take much thought to realize that one of those is probably "bargains". Making the bargains board private would severely reduce those hits, and the boards' chances, as a whole, of being found. Fewer people will read and register and fewer people will buy and talk about the books. Which is a problem, because that's why these boards exist :)

The Fields have written some wonderful books. That's how many of us got here, including me. Many more found this place through internet searches and had never before heard of the books. Either way, these forums are an extension of those books, and they are linked closely. We all benefit from something that is privately run, free...and free of ads and pop ups. Not all internet forums are the same. They do not serve the same purposes. Just because they do something elsewhere does not mean that it would be the best choice for those who own any other particular boards.