I can't tell you how many forums i've tried to look at but have been blocked unless I register, how does this help forums get new members? I don't understand, because I won't register on a forum with 'closed doors.'
I appreciate this might cut down on spammers and troublemakers but so does vigilant staff.
Do you think forums should always have at least a few open sections, or am I in the minority?
I did have a mod once that you could read the first post but then had to register but a staff member suggested taking it away so that 'new potential members' could read everything so they could see how friendly we were so it was uninstalled.
I wouldn't register on a forum that had every forum section blocked, partially open I may consider it. Depends on what the forum is about really.
I dont think it cuts down any of that at all. Guests can't post..
People do this because they think it will help registrations. They figure people will be curious and join to see whats inside. Usually it has the opposite effect, most people wont join something they can't browse 1st.
Personally, I have no problem with staff hiding a few forums from guests. (Some sections I even expect to be hidden. Like staff rooms... I hate it when guests/members can see the staff room section. That just screams sloppy design. Even worse if the staff room has a message like: "Cool people only.") Things like member generated work that they may not want shared to the general public just yet. Or perhaps discussion areas for more sensitive talk (like personal issues). Or even a few forums just so there is an incentive to join (EX- "Hey, like what you see as a guest? Then join and gain access to <additional forum names go here>"). But to have the entire forum made member only is quite pointless and seems a bit counter-intuitive to me.
There are certain things guests need to be able to see, the rules for one. (I know I wouldn't be comfortable joining a forum if I didn't know what sort of community I was heading into. The rules are a pretty good method of telling what type of community you're walking into. For example, if there is cursing in the rules then it is a good bet that the staff are juvenile or otherwise immature. )
Then of course, guests want to see that new content is being posted at least fairly regularly and if they can't see it then they aren't likely to join. (Why take the chance of joining a forum that is either dead or dying? Or embarrassed to show its content? Or feels it has to hide its content? Among other reasons.)
Things like member generated work that they may not want shared to the general public just yet. Or perhaps discussion areas for more sensitive talk (like personal issues).
Yes I have a few 'members only' sections of this nature, purely to protect my members, but the bulk of the forum is open, open staff areas are appalling imo, my members can't even see any staff section.
It depends. If you own a warez forum for example that blocks access to sections where people can download files they need then it will force them to register, and will help you gain members. But if you block access to general chat for example most users would just close the forum.
It's used a lot in forums regarding content/topics that are based around illegal activities. Those ones a lot of the time will be blocked to all guests and you have to register to see the forum and then your registration has to be accepted by an admin. However, for the most part those forums don't need TONS of members are the purpose of them is to circulate certain content, not to become huge and have a lot of posts.
However, with forums that are based on something general or something that does not need to be private there really is no reason. The bandwidth use reasoning makes sense, but hopefully if a site is that big they can upgrade it. Invite only methods come in to the equation a lot when sites get too big. Also, when registration is blocked as well.
Another thing which bugs me is those things you can put on forums like a widget, which shows where everyone is, even showing guests, imo that's a breach of privacy
I don't join such forums if they're 3mil members forums not new ones 😀
Let your visitors see the content. Let them decide if it's worth it or not. If you're not running a madhouse, they will like what they see and join. Let it be natural, improve the site's look and content and don't try such 'gimmicks'.
I agree that you shouldn't hide your content from the guest, as they have a right to preview the forum before they register. However, I think that if you made some sections member-only and maybe explained why they were like that, you would get more registers rather than just instantly hiding all your content; forums that do that are off-putting.
Sometimes it can be needed to hide some content from guests but some forums stop you from even seeing anything on the site. I visited a forum very recently where you get a message to signup on the index page. There was no visible forums, no post count, member count, users online or really any reason to join. Why would people join?
I personally don't join forums because they require to. I just close the tab.
If I can't see the content on the forum because it's blocked, I don't waste the time to register. I don't see the point in some forums being private. I've seen clans on gaming systems that have made there clan forums private to keep from other clans coming onto them and poaching there members, but other than that I don't see a point in doing it.
