Location and profile details

[Scrit]

I'll hold my hands up and admit to being guilty of a misdemeanour here in that my location is up in the frozen north, however I have noticed an increasing number of new joiners who don't give a location, email address, occupation or interests. Most certainly some of these are Trolls, but when a member requests information about local suppliers knowing where in the UK (in general) they are can be a great help - it also saves the frustration of posting only to find you've wasted time and effort on a fools errand. Oh yes, and why was the email facility changed so that you could no longer see someone's email address, only send them a mail?

What do the team think about this?

And if the powers that be would like me to put a more realistic locatiuon rather than a state of mind ( :roll: ) I'd be happy to oblige

Scrit

 

[Charley]

Hi Scrit,

I don't think there's a need to make the 'location' field required when signing up. Some people don't want to disclose their whereabouts which is fair enough. If a member does request information on local suppliers, etc then hopefully they'll have the sense to mention the location if it isn't already in their profile.

Oh yes, and why was the email facility changed so that you could no longer see someone's email address, only send them a mail?

I changed the email option a couple years ago when a bot was collecting the members email addresses for spam. Now all email is done via the forums to keep the email addresses hidden..

 

[DomValente]

I'm with Scrit on this one.
Most of my suppliers are close by and if a member is in the Outer Hebrides there is no pint in my suggesting them.
Perhaps just a county, bearing in mind very few people put their surname up, so how could they be traced.

Dom

 

[Paul Chapman]

I'm with Scrit and Dom on this. Sometimes you try to post a helpful reply about where to get something, only to find that the original poster doesn't even live in this country :? :? I realise that a few people will have very good reasons for not revealing their whereabouts but it seems to me that the majority of new members wish to remain completely anonymous and I really can't understand why :?

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[DomValente]

Because they've been banned??????

 

[Gill]

I think it's much more likely that members who don't give too many personal details are just trying to protect their privacy. You never know who's reading our posts and how they might behave if they could physically track us down.

Gill

 

[Scrit]

Because they've been banned??????

Never a truer word? :wink:

 

[Gerry]

never, ever allow guest posts in a forum! That is just asking to be hacked...
It is nice to see where members are from but that is and should remain their choice.

Gerry

 

[Shultzy]

Gerry, Although I agree that guests should not be allowed to post; I think that the location field should be mandatory, either the nearest town or at a minimum the county. As most people don't sign on with their real name this info should not be a problem.

 

[matt]

I don't include my location and I don't mind explaining the reason why... It keeps things simple.

I'm a member of several forums and, without exception, someone always wants to meet up if they get even the slightest whiff of where you live. To make matters worse, they don't seem to mind driving ridiculous distances if they've taken a shine to you.

I keep a few select friends - I don't want any more imposing on my time. On-line is good - I get to choose when I share my time. You can't call or visit me. I don't need to "be there" for you and you can't borrow things from me. You'll not decide that my holiday destination sounds good and book the same place/time. You can't buy me gifts that I don't want, nor will I get unsolicited opinions. I don't have to participate in conversations that bore me and you can't stay overnight. Forums are great - you can have "friends" that you can switch off. Why oh why do people ever want to meet?

If I need something, and location is relevant, then I'll make mention in the post.

 

[Charley]

I’ve been thinking about this again. I could make the location a required field when signing up but the way I see it is, if the member doesn’t want people to know where he/she is they’ll just put anything down (e.g UK) – There won't be any point in doing it?…

never, ever allow guest posts in a forum! That is just asking to be hacked...

Guest posting has been disabled for a few years, again due to spamming. Guest posting should be disabled on all the sections. Have I missed one?

 

[Newbie_Neil]

I am in favour of making the location a mandatory field, but I don't think there should be any validation. My reasoning is that more people will choose to put their nearest town or even county, this information is very helpful when responding to questions such as this where a new member does not have the location filled out and neither does he have a location in his post. (Apologies to Robin W, as I could have picked any one of twenty or thirty posts, his was just the most recent.)

I don't include my location and I don't mind explaining the reason why... It keeps things simple.

I have no problem with this, as it is your choice which I respect completely.

I’ve been thinking about this again. I could make the location a required field when signing up but the way I see it is, if the member doesn’t want people to know where he/she is they’ll just put anything down (e.g UK) – There won't be any point in doing it?…

For the above reasons I think the location should become mandatory.

Guest posting has been disabled for a few years, again due to spamming. Guest posting should be disabled on all the sections. Have I missed one?

Off-topic did allow guest postings but that was changed a few months back.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Scrit]

.......without exception, someone always wants to meet up if they get even the slightest whiff of where you live. To make matters worse, they don't seem to mind driving ridiculous distances if they've taken a shine to you.

So do you have a problem, then?

Guest posting has been disabled for a few years, again due to spamming. Guest posting should be disabled on all the sections. Have I missed one?

This may refer more to someone who was banned for bad behaviour and who's posts were subsequenlty visible as "Guest"

Scrit

 

[wizer]

Again I think that this is a matter for the moderators. Perhaps a gentle reminder to new members when being welcomed. It is then their choice whether to enter their location. I don't think it should be mandatory.

 

[Mike.C]

Scrit,

however I have noticed an increasing number of new joiners who don't give a location, email address, occupation or interests. Most certainly some of these are Trolls, but when a member requests information about local suppliers knowing where in the UK (in general) they are can be a great help - it also saves the frustration of posting only to find you've wasted time and effort on a fools errand.

I understand exactly what you are saying and I agree it can be very frustrating to find out you have wasted your time, but I do not think that entering your location should be mandatory.

The plain and simple way of dealing with anyone who asks for location type information, such as the nearest tool supplier, but is not prepared to state the area they live in, is not to answer their question. You do not have to be funny about it, all you have to do is explain that without this info you cannot hope to help them. Either that or just move onto the next post.

What about Charley putting a notice on the form that new members fill in, saying something like, if they do not wish to give the rough location they live in, members will not be able to answer certain questions?

Cheers

Mike

 

[matt]

.......without exception, someone always wants to meet up if they get even the slightest whiff of where you live. To make matters worse, they don't seem to mind driving ridiculous distances if they've taken a shine to you.

So do you have a problem, then?

Scrit

Please expand. Thanks.

 

[Scrit]

I was just wondering if you'd had a problem with anyone here at all. I get the bit of "behaviour" because I'm high-ish profile and for a long time I had my approximate whereabouts, personal email, etc available on my profile, although I think I'd prefer it if it were visible only to members.

Scrit

 

[matt]

I was just wondering if you'd had a problem with anyone here at all. I get the bit of "behaviour" because I'm high-ish profile and for a long time I had my approximate whereabouts, personal email, etc available on my profile, although I think I'd prefer it if it were visible only to members.

Scrit

No problem with anyone here and, to be honest, no significant problems in other forums because I never include my location.