Allowing Guests to post replies to increase activity?

[Katrina]

Has anyone allowed Guests to post on their forum before?

I have a new Craft forum and a lot (I mean a LOT) of my friends who do crafts aren't very tech savvy, and I wonder if they would post on my forum in reply to some of my threads if they didn't have to go through the process of registering and logging in? Is it worth trying or would I regret it in the end?

I'm using PHPBB and am still learning about permissions, btw! 😀

 

[Joshua Farrell]

It can be an issue, if you don't have the needed addon installed to help combat spam.

This addon checks posts also, and not just registrations: https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/extension/akismet/

 

[Page]

I have that option on Bayside, Guests can post to any threads/category that they have permissions for. Even blogs. Since I'm using IPB it has its own IPS defense system that blocks and detects spam/bots. Plus when guests post it has to be a mod approval first

What I like about it when they post, they make a standby account and one simple email check, and their account is fully active. But with it on, all I had is spam and full of crap. DOes it help? nope not really

 

[USHost247]

Make sure you have excellent spam protection OR ELSE! *Insert screech noise here*

 

[Deleted member 49125]

I had mine open to guests but a month or so ago, Proboards got hit w/ a few jerks who posted some nasty stuff. I then disabled guest posting & had restricted registration. I have since allowed the Affiliates Board to be guest friendly so people can affiliate w/o needing to join.
I guess I would allow guests posting but also to encourage active people to just register. It will make it easier for them in the long run plus they can keep track of their posts.

 

[Page]

I had mine open to guests but a month or so ago, Proboards got hit w/ a few jerks who posted some nasty stuff. I then disabled guest posting & had restricted registration. I have since allowed the Affiliates Board to be guest friendly so people can affiliate w/o needing to join.
I guess I would allow guests posting but also to encourage active people to just register. It will make it easier for them in the long run plus they can keep track of their posts.

Even so there are ways to have it on with methods, like get them posting but their posts won't get published to a mod approved it.

Always good to have a moderator approval option on. One time I had a guest post and the thread was about sex/porn and glad that it wasn't published in public. easy remove and that was it.

 

[Deleted member 49125]

Even so there are ways to have it on with methods, like get them posting but their posts won't get published to a mod approved it.

Always good to have a moderator approval option on. One time I had a guest post and the thread was about sex/porn and glad that it wasn't published in public. easy remove and that was it.

I've seen where mods have to approve posts. I don't know how to do it personally on Proboards. If I got a bit bigger, I will look to see if that is an option. I had one of those jerks PM my members nasty stuff. At least I learned how to set PM post count.

 

[Page]

I've seen where mods have to approve posts. I don't know how to do it personally on Proboards. If I got a bit bigger, I will look to see if that is an option. I had one of those jerks PM my members nasty stuff. At least I learned how to set PM post count.

Well, I have an option and most do also that have it to see what mod has the permissions to approve. But they should be trusted anyway as a staff/mod

 

[TopSilver]

I never have allowed guests to post on my forum because in my personal opinion, it discourages them from signing up. I'd rather have the people posting as actual members. The does much better for me.

 

[Thomasss]

Every time I enabled this feature, it resulted in more spam than one could imagine. Lol

 

[Katrina]

Every time I enabled this feature, it resulted in more spam than one could imagine. Lol

Did you use Mod Queue at all or did it not matter?

 

[Thomasss]

Did you use Mod Queue at all or did it not matter?

When I had it set up, having it sent to a mod queue wasn't much of an option. Now that it is, I could be tempted to enable it again but would hinder the overall look of the forum I feel like. All your posts coming from guests?

 

[Page]

When I had it set up, having it sent to a mod queue wasn't much of an option. Now that it is, I could be tempted to enable it again but would hinder the overall look of the forum I feel like. All your posts coming from guests?

Enbvale it and see how it goes, end of the day IPB offers spam defense and also you can have mod post-approval, I doubt you won't have much guests posting spam

 

[angie828]

I can see it both ways. Sometimes when you have to register for things, it takes too long and people just do not have time to that these days. But yet it is a good idea to have accounts registered in order to not get the spam. I think if you have a really good spam detector, you will do much better with allowing guest posts.

 

[Deleted member 7467]

I personally think it kills the community vibe.