Private board?

I've been talking to someone about this - a private board where only people who are registered members can read the threads. A lot of us post photos of family and such... and you never know just who is looking at the photos. At least with a private section we can be relatively secluded and know most of the folks who are reading about our family -- whether its woes or triumphs.

Anyone else think this is a good idea? I know a lot of other message boards provide a private section for more personal threads.

While it may sound like a good idea, ANYONE can register and see it as well. There are many registered members who have never posted.
So, it's kind of pointless, IMO.

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Originally Posted by Kfamr

While it may sound like a good idea, ANYONE can register and see it as well. There are many registered members who have never posted.
So, it's kind of pointless, IMO.

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Very good point. Is it possible to be limited to members who have "x" number of posts, or people who have been a member for "x" number of months. Or even a combination of both? (I ask because I don't even know if this is a real possibility)

I love, love private boards. I go to another forum and after a certain number of posts (I think it's 50) you're allowed to a private area, and after you have 100 posts you can see the next level. It just makes me feel much more secure if posting about personal issues or pictures knowing that only the members can see it.

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Originally Posted by jenluckenbach

Very good point. Is it possible to be limited to members who have "x" number of posts, or people who have been a member for "x" number of months. Or even a combination of both? (I ask because I don't even know if this is a real possibility)

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The only problem with this is for members like me. I don't post much, but I'm always reading. And I believe I'm a pretty trusted member here. :/ So those private boards would prevent members like me to view them, which wouldn't be very fair, IMO.

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Originally Posted by buckner

The only problem with this is for members like me. I don't post much, but I'm always reading. And I believe I'm a pretty trusted member here. :/ So those private boards would prevent members like me to view them, which wouldn't be very fair, IMO.

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Well if it's a time issue (as in, you've been a member for X months, etc) then # of posts wouldn't be a problem :)

I forgot to add, I think this is a GREAT idea, and I also think it should be based off of how long you've been a member and not by the number of posts (if this is implemented). :)

The only problem with being allowed on said private board after X many months - ANYBODY can still read them.

Someone who has 1,000 (just an example) usually isn't just anybody, although we've had our fair share of creeps and liars.

Do you want me to make one? I know where to make one.

Private forums are not usually as private as some people think. Most forum software can be hacked, in fact all forum software can be hacked, some are just easier than others.

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Originally Posted by Reggie

Do you want me to make one? I know where to make one.

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They are talking about a private board here on Pet Talk, exclusively for active members. Not on a seperate forum. :) It was nice of you to offer, though.

Another forum I'm a member of has an upper room, where only members with 500+ posts of substance are allowed. The admins allow people in on an individual basis.

I have a PHP forum (private, special topics) on a domain I own.

Yes, it is possible to have special groups and subgroups that only have permissions for people that are given administrative permission to be on certain groups - sample groups can include board members of a club for discussion of club related issues; special committee chats such as rescue fund raiser discussion groups; genetics discussion; sections of the forum where only members of the club can chat, and sections where nonmembers can ask everyone else how to train a livestock guardian dog (for example) or solve a problem, and so on. Special permissions can be given to guest speakers, such as someone who might discuss wolf conservation among members who ask to join a private discussion group on the one board after being polled.

People with special permissions automatically see the -hidden- topics when they log on. Everyone else just sees the generic areas.

This board, Pet Talk, for example may have special subjects that only Moderators can see (this is most common), and special subjects that only certain other groups see.

This is posted with due respect to Karen and other admins. I think they have every right to administer as they see fit and fits their resources.
I think they are very generous with their time! :D

The only issue I'd have with special request groups on my forums is that it is more work for the admin(s). So the value of the special group and their "group" & "permissions" depend on priorities and resources available.

I know on the cat site I belong they have a premier lounge but you have to pay to be a member, which is cool with everyone because it helps keeping the site running and its not even that much a month. :) it's just a private lounge where people are comfortable sharing stuff with another. :)

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Originally Posted by Whisk_Luva

I love the idea :D I know I dont post pictures of my self because you never know whos looking..........

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I agree... Even if others can register, I would still concider posting pics of me.

At first I thought it was good idea, but after thinking about it, I'm not sure it is. There are some things to consider.... if I want someone who is not a member, and don't intend to join, to see a thread here, then I wouldn't be able to send a link to that thread. I sometimes send a link to John's family about Fister, instead of explaining it one more time and sending them the photo's in an e-mail.

As someone pointed out, anyone can just register and VIEW what they like anyway. I think we should all be careful not to post anything we don't want the world to see. ;)

I think what we all want, is to avoid trolls coming here and posting BS, and Karen has already made changes to prevent that in the New User Policy.

I think nobody can just get to use the private board. You should be a member for a certain number of weeks or a certain number of posts. OR Karen could get to decide who gets to go in the private board.

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Originally Posted by KittyGurl

I think nobody can just get to use the private board. You should be a member for a certain number of weeks or a certain number of posts. OR Karen could get to decide who gets to go in the private board.

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That's a good idea, but I think it'd get confusing

That's a good idea but also a bad one at the same time. While we'd all feel more comfortable posting pictures of ourselves or family and other personal issues, there are some things to take into consideration. If you have to wait a certain # of months then someone who is a weirdo can just wait until their account is old enough and just go on the private board without caring about anything else on the forum such as pictures, debates, and general forums. If you have to wait till you have a certain # of posts, well I don't think that would be fair, because as buckner pointed out, some TRUSTED people don't post as much and such. As Kay, said anyone can register. So, there are some things to consider. While it is a good idea, it can be negative one as well.

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Originally Posted by Maltese_Love

If you have to wait a certain # of months then someone who is a weirdo can just wait until their account is old enough and just go on the private board without caring about anything else on the forum such as pictures, debates, and general forums. If you have to wait till you have a certain # of posts, well I don't think that would be fair, because as buckner pointed out, some TRUSTED people don't post as much and such.

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Actually, PHP boards can be managed to allow certain hidden forums to have handpicked members.

In other words it need not be automated by the following criteria:
1) A certain number of posts or
2) age of the PT member's account.

It can be done by election which can be arranged according to chosen design.

For example, think of moderators and members the same way: Admins generally hand pick their moderators. By Administrative decree, not all moderators necessarily ever see all the chats on a board and some mods sometimes only get to moderate one chat, none of the others. Mods see extra 'buttons' to edit or manage each posting and regular chat member's postings in THEIR own modding area. But not in others.

Extending the example, we could call this special chat area the "PT-Family" forum. Newbies logging in have no idea that the forum exists unless they pick up hints or it is broadcasted somewhere. They simply cannot join the "PT-Family" GROUP until they have earned it and been elected into the group.

Some of the regular mods may not have access to PT-Family forum! Nor even know that it exists.

The Admin could select a couple mods, specifically for the PT-Family forum. These two or three mods (3 - so votes can have a majority) can elect to allow certain chat members to be admitted into the PT-Family area. This way friendly lurkers, the great old timers, certain likeable PT people that show up at real life PT-inspired regional playdates and other select folk can voted into to the hidden "PT-Family" GROUP. A code of ethics could be set up so that members of the group help maintain the high caliber of the "PT-Family" forum.

Security... If the mods think that an account has been hacked, they can delete the posts and arrange to have the account banned from the forum til the real owner comes back with a more secure set up.

It's very flexible. But it does depend on the alpha-admins to decide if it will be created and who will be the administrator for that group. It could be an administrative headache.

We do have to be realistic. Nothing is ever really secure. What about sheer numbers? What if there are 150 members of the "PT-Family" GROUP - maybe 300 members? Do you really trust that many virtual people?

Hope this isn't confusing. http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h2...Only/tease.gif

What if you had a private board where you could put a thread up but only the people on your buddy list could see?

I wonder what Karen thinks about a private forum?

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Originally Posted by Kalei

What if you had a private board where you could put a thread up but only the people on your buddy list could see?

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Thats a good idea, but most of the people on my buddy list never come on. Only two people on my buddy list come on. This could also be bad too. A wacked up person could just let everyone on their buddy list and you won't even know! They could have every single member on their buddy list.
On another forum I'm in, if you want to put someone on your buddy list, the admin sends a request saying "bla bla wants to be your buddy. Do you accept?" If you accept then they are added to your buddy list.

I'm part of one board where you have to pay a small fee to see their 'private' boards. I know that's WAY more work than Karen and Paul need, so it's not a suggestion, just me throwing out random stuff.

It works pretty well for that board and helps pay for their bandwidth. That board is another close-knit family, so I think new people paying for "platinum" membership need to be approved through a mod.

I like that idea BUT how about that some people can't pay for that? I know that it was just a random suggestion but just giving you some facts. Also, how about the idea of having to know your regular PT username and password AND a special password only known by trusted pt people so that they can see the "special" parts of a form?

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Originally Posted by Reggie

Also, how about the idea of having to know your regular PT username and password AND a special password only known by trusted pt people so that they can see the "special" parts of a form?

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This was confusing at first, but I think I understand what you're saying now -- meaning, a password would be required to have access to the private forum? That's not such a bad suggestion. But I know with vBulletin you can create "groups", and allow certain groups certain access to places, permissions, etc. I think that would be the best option in this case, Karen could hand-pick and manually allow people access, etc, regardless of how many posts they have or how long they have been a member.

I don't really see a need for a private forum, as we do have Private Messages. Anything you want to share with just a few members you can "group PM" people, 5 at a time, at your own discretion, and then no one could see it but those people. That's more secure than a forum.

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Originally Posted by CathyBogart

I'm part of one board where you have to pay a small fee to see their 'private' boards.

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But some people won't be able to pay for it. My dad and mom won't let me pay and some other people won't pay either so that's kinda not fair.

Karen, I agree with that. Sending PM's to your closest friends will work just fine. :)

If someone wants to chat, they can set up a private chatforum. I did that a few years ago. You can invite anyone you like to join. ;)

I would have liked the idea. Sometimes I would like to discuss things that are private, and that I wouldn't want to be read by... let's say co-workers. And after all, you can find the PT threads via search engines, like Google, so it's easy to find what a certain person has written when you search for it.

I don't mean to exclude any PT-members, but I'm not comfortable with the thought that people who know me IRL are lurking. That's why I would have like a private forum for the more private subjects.

Kirsten

I agree with Karen too! I have been a member of a forum with private section some years ago. That private section was no good at all, as some members seemed to find it necessary to gossip about other members... :(
Private messaging is the best!!!

What does everyone think about an area specifially for mom/kids, other than the general area? I've seen it done on other boards with success. That way, they could still talk to fellow PTers but have their own separate area.

I was thinking the same thing Val, i am finding it hard keeping up with who is expecting, who has been born etc.