Should guests be able to view threads?

[Rob]

I was wondering if anyone has had success with not letting guests view threads, does it turn them away, or will it make them more likely to join to see whats in there?

 

[Callum93]

It's not a good thing and I would reccomend letting guests view threads.

 

[LinkinParkFan71]

I think Potatoes.

I actually agree with

sbfc93, it lets guests see what topics are availible and they may not turn away.

 

[StickyXD]

It depends what forum it is for. If it is an advertising forum then yes. They can view links and more traffic for that guys forum. If it is say a forum that gives resources e.g skins for forums. Then no.

 

[CyberFreak]

In my opinion always have all sections open to guest (except staff sections obviously -lol- ) unless you have downloads like mods or so on that you want to restrict to just members. Then it would be good to allow the guests to see the forum and view the forum but not read the topics.

Not letting guests see sections or posts will drive guests away as they like to know what they are signing up for.

 

[Zyenet]

Or, just disable downloads for guests. ~wink~

 

[CyberFreak]

Not if there are hosted on external sites... Alot of free hosts disable the attachment feature or restrict it with filesize and types.

 

[HomerSPC]

Only hide stuff that you do not wish guests to see, such as Staff forums, Download sections, or major spam forums that could potentially discourage the member from joining. Once they sign up, they have access to these threads and can join in on the action.

I use this in my forum for my spam section. Guests sign up, and they can get to this Spam board if they so wish.

 

[Matthew™]

I think guests should be able to read the threads/forums but they shouldn't be able to reply, I set it for guests so they can read only.

 

[UNIQUERIDEZ]

I have it so that guests can see all the forums on my site ( which is quite a few) but can not see inside them. Does it turn them away? Doesn't seem to be. Creates a bit of intrigue i guess, when they can see the area, but not what lies inside. What point is there to joining a site, if you can just read everything as a guest ?

 

[HomerSPC]

Contests, a Community, etc.

 

[f199]

It can depend on what the content is. As if a child found an adult forum it would be better to hide the content away from them but then it goes against adults who don't want to register to the forum.

Whilst if the content is suitable for all ages it should be public to guest unless there is a reason for it not to be.

 

[LeeLawson]

It has to depend on what the content is as f199 said.

 

[Twisted Fairytale]

Potatoes!​

 

[JoeLatics]

Heck, I let them post on 90% of boards, and barely ever get any spam, so yes!

 

[Boss Jr.]

I let guests view almost everything but not the spam areas or any sub-forums. That way they can still see plenty of threads but not everything. That way there's mystery and natural human nature dictates that they are curious enough to at least find out.

Or at least that's what I'm hoping 😛 .

 

[ℓєσ gнσѕт]

Potatoes are win.

I allow them to see the news forums and such, and they can see the joke forums but not read them. If they want jokes, they must join. I also force my new members to make an intro topic which allow us to make sure each member is properly welcomed. It doubles as an anti-spambot program as well, seeing as ive disabled my image code -😉-

 

[FWhite]

Spiders = Guests = Blocked from viewing = Bad SEO.

 

[woo]

guests can view all posts but cannot reply unless they join first xxx

 

[Nebulous]

A guest should be able to see the forum they are going to join...