Hi Guys

I have set up this Poll to get the communities input on something.

Would people like to see a small forum section that is only available to TIG members?

(This would mean the section wont be viewable to guests or search engines such as Google)

If the majority was in favour then a new members only section could be place above vintage chat. If TIG members wished to gain access to the section they would just need to reply on a thread in vintage chat to have thier name added.

The members only forum would not be visable to guests, members who havent requested access or search engines such as Google.

Anyways please feel free to vote as i said its just to gauge the communities thoughts on this. Also feel free to post comments / opinions on this thread

I'm up for giving that a try.

But is it true members will have to wear a funny hat, recite songs and drink goat's blood to join?

I am also happy to give this a go!
Assuming the main purpose of this is for discussing things members don't want in the 'public domain'. Would it be automatically open to all existing & new members who apply, or will there be criteria to meet e.g. a minimum period of membership or Kudos score?

cantina_patron wrote:

I can see some advantages to this idea.
Would it be automatically open to all existing members who apply, or will there be criteria to meet e.g. a minimum period of membership or Kudos score?

A minimum score of posts or kudos is a good call imo. I don't say that in any way to discriminate against new members, but how many people have joined up here, especially lately, just to make For Sale threads or don't even post at all?

I think there was a recent numbers purge so the figures are better now.

I like that there could be a section for members that's free from timewasters, Goo*le, and the people who sign up just to open mini online shops.

Artoo_Detour wrote:

cantina_patron wrote:

I can see some advantages to this idea.
Would it be automatically open to all existing members who apply, or will there be criteria to meet e.g. a minimum period of membership or Kudos score?

A minimum score of posts or kudos is a good call imo. I don't say that in any way to discriminate against new members, but how many people have joined up here, especially lately, just to make For Sale threads or don't even post at all?


I like that there could be a section for members that's free from timewasters, Goo*le, and the people who sign up just to open mini online shops.

I have been a little pissed off on all the people that just sign up to make FS posts aswell . Så why not just make it that you have to have made x posts before you can post i the FS part of the forum .

I think that if we split it up , so all the good stuff are in a "secret " part of the forum . Then the rest of the forum will die .
And we will not get many new memebes . As new guys will look at the forum at say there are no good info here . So why sing up ?

The same with the search engines ,: you tell the new guys to go do your own research . But now we are about to not make all this info public . By makeing this a closed party .

So keep it open and maybe make the FS part closed so people have to make say 10 post before they can spam the FS part .

Soren

I first found TIG on google and all the good info there was here made me join .

its a good idea to lock some parts of the forum to keep the members active,but im one of the new guys and i wanna share info about sw.
if its only gonna be party pictures and protosales its ok for me.

If you oldtimers wanna have your own section where you can start "tig inner circle" i can keep on hanging out at RS.

Voted yes.

Jay can we see some close up pic's of your girlfriend's tat's??? i see a few on her arm in your avatar??????

One benefit is that it could be a good section to discuss finer aspects of the hobby free from lurking scammers looking for the slightest bit of info. There was a post the other day where it was suggested going to PM for the same reason. Having said that I think certain "guarded" info will always stay PM only. Other than that I'm looking forward to swapping recipes and travel anecdotes

The idea of a separate section sounds appealing....

But I am afraid the most interesting, informative and fun discussions will take place in that section after a short while, thereby running the risk of devaluating the main forum.

With respect to new members which use TIG only as a market outlet: I agree with Soren, just rise the barrier to entry for the Classifieds section, and the problem will be solved.

I voted Yes to it. Its got nothing towards new memebers, google search or anything like that. The info would still be on the main forum, but we could use the members only section for more private life things that we wouldnt want to make public. The main forum would still be used as is, just not everything said would be for everybodays viewing pleasure. And for certain info that does NOT need to be made public cause of scammers. The ratio of guests online compared to actual members is growing everyday. Like right now, theres 14 members and 27 guests. If you want to see the naked lady pix, join up and post. Also, it could be done by invite only like some clubs on FB. You cant get in unless you got an invite or drink goats blood (which my glass is empty guys. ).

As Soren, Paul and Marco said, it would be good to see the traffic of sellers only cut down. But the only downside to that is just like for the contests we used to do here. You could tell someone you need X amount of posts to be able to enter. They would post up to that point, enter, and you wouldnt hear a peep from them again until the next one. Does Awesome Blossom Extra Awesome ring a bell? To me, if you cant contribute to the site, no need in selling here. All that does is take away space that actual active members could use. But thats just me.

YES!!!!!! I'm all for a members only section. And for it being by invite only. But I'm a snobby ass bastard.

I like the idea!

As mentioned before.... As long as the main site content is available for all!

I say go for it

I'm all for it, as long as I meet the criteria to get in

I voted NO for a 'members only' separate section, because of the reason below.

Dr Dengar wrote:

The idea of a separate section sounds appealing....

But I am afraid the most interesting, informative and fun discussions will take place in that section after a short while, thereby running the risk of devaluating the main forum.

With respect to new members which use TIG only as a market outlet: I agree with Soren, just rise the barrier to entry for the Classifieds section, and the problem will be solved.

So it seems I belong to the 26% minority here, and that is totally OK.
Democracy should rule, always. So go ahead with that separate section.

Oh wait a minute, it is already implemented?

Let me explain: About a week ago I noticed that it is not possible anymore to access TIG w/o logging in. So the 'members only' section we were discussing in this thread, has already been implemented and is now basically covering the complete TIG forum. That might explain the steep increase of new members in February. Or was that the goal?

Maybe I missed some communication about this, but to me this is something quite unexpected. I also don't like the idea, it would be better if TIG is open for everybody (maybe apart from some separate section which we were discussing in this thread). I am also a bit worried that all the valuable information in our threads will no longer be indexed by Google after a while.

In short, let's hope this is just a temporarily issue, and soon everything will be back to normal.

Let's keep TIG an open source!!

Dr Dengar wrote:

I voted NO for a 'members only' separate section, because of the reason below.

Dr Dengar wrote:

The idea of a separate section sounds appealing....

But I am afraid the most interesting, informative and fun discussions will take place in that section after a short while, thereby running the risk of devaluating the main forum.

With respect to new members which use TIG only as a market outlet: I agree with Soren, just rise the barrier to entry for the Classifieds section, and the problem will be solved.

So it seems I belong to the 26% minority here, and that is totally OK.
Democracy should rule, always. So go ahead with that separate section.

Oh wait a minute, it is already implemented?

Let me explain: About a week ago I noticed that it is not possible anymore to access TIG w/o logging in. So the 'members only' section we were discussing in this thread, has already been implemented and is now basically covering the complete TIG forum. That might explain the steep increase of new members in February. Or was that the goal?

Maybe I missed some communication about this, but to me this is something quite unexpected. I also don't like the idea, it would be better if TIG is open for everybody (maybe apart from some separate section which we were discussing in this thread). I am also a bit worried that all the valuable information in our threads will no longer be indexed by Google after a while.

In short, let's hope this is just a temporarily issue, and soon everything will be back to normal.

Let's keep TIG an open source!!

I can feel what you trying to say...or better what you are saying but IMO this is a good way (like its right now).

All these guys that just read here and get all the valubale information without giving a shit on this site doesnt help us at all!

If someone wants information he can sign up! Its free....its not that a site like TIG is a lifetime mebership with monthly rates!

If people are signed up they may even post, because they are already members!...more likley then just sneaking around here!

I can live with that very fine...more then that.....I appreciate like its right now!!

A huge: "NON-members stay outta here"....from my side!!

The way I see it lately again, yes I said again, we already lost alot of information without going to a members only section. JoeO and Uli no longer being here is a great lose. And I already see most of the top contributers here hardly contributing period any more, myself included. Sometimes its just not worth it anymore when you keep getting spit in your face day in and day out. But sometimes, certain info doesnt need to be released to the general public, like how to spot a DT. Theres alot of info out there thats never been made public. Why? Sorry ass scammers use every bit of info we all work our asses off doing so they can make a buck off our work. If anybody should be making the cash off that info, it should be us for doing the leg work. Not these fly by nights that sign up just to find out the latest info they can use so they dont have to do their own research or homework.

wbobafett wrote:

I can feel what you trying to say...or better what you are saying but IMO this is a good way (like its right now).

All these guys that just read here and get all the valubale information without giving a shit on this site doesnt help us at all!

If someone wants information he can sign up! Its free....its not that a site like TIG is a lifetime mebership with monthly rates!

If people are signed up they may even post, because they are already members!...more likley then just sneaking around here!

I can live with that very fine...more then that.....I appreciate like its right now!!

A huge: "NON-members stay outta here"....from my side!!

Thanks Wolff, I understand where you are coming from as well.

I think it is safe to assume that people who sneaked around here before, just continue doing so nowadays, the only difference is that they are official members now.

I think we both like the idea of getting more involvement from our members, making TIG "members only" is maybe just not the right solution.

Other initiatives like a competition for the best 1st thread for new members, the FOTW thread, and others, might be better solutions.

They are not wanting to make TIG a members only forum. That would def shut the place down in a heart beat. You have to have the forum open so new potential members can see whats going on so they can decide if they want to join or not. What Jay proposed was a simple section where members only can go to to ask or discuss things that we wouldnt want to be made public. Would you want some personal issues flying all over the board for all to know before your really ready to let the public know? I know several instances that the answer was no. The poster wanted only those he trusted enough to know about what was going on with them until the time was right to tell everybody else. Just like the Ledy guide. It was a members only section before. Just like the other sections that is/was in that part of the page. Theres just certain info that doesnt need to be made public until the time is right, if that time ever comes to being with.

I know what its like to get members to sign up to a site now. 98% of its word of mouth, the rest is when they come check it out. My place is full open to the public except the FS threads. I got it locked to members only and thats the way its going to stay. I actually had it all locked for members except one section, but decided to open it all up so the guests who have been checking it out can see the topics being discussed and make them want to sign up. But if you give them the full plate, why should they sign up? They get everything they want already without doing it. So if you have a certain section just for members, it would make them want to sign up more so they could feel like they are part of a group. But that still wont guarentee that they will post here. Theres several who've signed up recently I never seen a post from them yet in 2-3 weeks.

Chris_J wrote:

They are not wanting to make TIG a members only forum. That would def shut the place down in a heart beat. You have to have the forum open so new potential members can see whats going on so they can decide if they want to join or not. What Jay proposed was a simple section where members only can go to to ask or discuss things that we wouldnt want to be made public.

Dr Dengar wrote:

About a week ago I noticed that it is not possible anymore to access TIG w/o logging in. So the 'members only' section we were discussing in this thread, has already been implemented and is now basically covering the complete TIG forum. That might explain the steep increase of new members in February. Or was that the goal?

Maybe I missed some communication about this, but to me this is something quite unexpected. I also don't like the idea, it would be better if TIG is open for everybody (maybe apart from some separate section which we were discussing in this thread). I am also a bit worried that all the valuable information in our threads will no longer be indexed by Google after a while.

In short, let's hope this is just a temporarily issue, and soon everything will be back to normal.

Let's keep TIG an open source!!

Although an 'active' member, I used to browse as a guest up to a few weeks ago (if I wanted to post or PM I'd log in). As Marco said however, as a guest now you can't visit the "Vintage Star Wars Chat" section or the "Other Vintage Star Wars Collectables" board - you have to log in. Is this a purposeful decision (by Jay or the Mods)? or a glitch?

Rog.

I just logged out to check this. I can see all of it, vintage chat and other collectables. It must have been a glitch. But other than that, the only way it could be done is an admin to go to the admin panel and select members only to see certain sections. I explained that in the second part of my post you didnt quote, _Rog_. Just picking with you, mate. So the "already members only" is out the window.

Chris_J wrote:

I just logged out to check this. I can see all of it, vintage chat and other collectables. It must have been a glitch. But other than that, the only way it could be done is an admin to go to the admin panel and select members only to see certain sections. I explained that in the second part of my post you didnt quote, _Rog_. Just picking with you, mate. So the "already members only" is out the window.

Thanks Chris, so it's a glitch...
I just logged out & still can't access the top two sections! It seems Marco can't visit any board when logged out?
Have we been ip blocked (as guests)? Did you do it Chris
Is there anyone else who can't visit as a guest?

Rog.

If it was me, you would be ..............................never mind. I dont know the settings they have for here, but from what Im learning about running a site, it couldve been a glitch. Even when I get logged out by my computer every now and then, I can still see every section that members get to see.

I thought it might be a cookie issue but after deleting them just now I still can't see Vintage Chat or Other Collectables.
So, I tried a different browser, same glitch :scratch:

Help?

Rog

_Rog_ wrote:

I thought it might be a cookie issue but after deleting them just now I still can't see Vintage Chat or Other Collectables.
So, I tried a different browser, same glitch :scratch:

Help?

Rog

Stay logged in. You dont want to keep being a Peeping Tom do you?