Registration now required

radish · Site Admin

OK, after several weeks of discussion and deliberation, user registration is now required to post and reply to topics.

The Free Speech, Articles and Letters forums will remain totally open so people can post under guest usernames if they wish to. However, your comments will be taken more seriously if you register and make your posts under a consistent identity.

nick_b · Street Demonstrator

Out of interest, who's made this decision? there was a little poll thing going, which about ten people had voted on. there's always been a lot more people than that involved in decision making processes, and we now have about 90 registered users.
personally, i disagree with making people register. people are aware that their opinions carry a bit more weight if they are not just called 'guest' but they have a right to do that if they wish. i see no benefit in forcing people to register - it will just put off some of the people who pass through the forum occasionally and add a comment or two.

i guess i'm just asking whether this decision is actually justified, and whether whoever made the decision had the right to make it.

v_buxton · Indymedia Hound

So far, guests (many of whom use consistent names) have caused no real problems, other than very occasionally being slightly irritating, but they automatically lose credibility for this anyway. They certianly haven't (to my knowledge) caused any security problems.

I really want the student community to be able to instanty engage with the forum, without feeling that they have to join 'the radish'.

As you can see, I agree with nick, but even if I didn't, such a big decision needs a far greater mandate because it affects the whole site.

Matt · Sandal-wearing bean eater

What the ...

When did we agree that the result of this poll was gonna be binding?

I sincerely hope you haven't implimented any of the changes as yet, this is definitely face to face meeting, consensual material.

Please rsvp and tell me that you haven't implimented these changes as yet!!!!

Matt

BTW, there is no such thing as The Radish, it is doc_ido.

I'm really sorry that this is so harsh, don't want to fight the issue, I'm just struggling to control the emotions.
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doc_ido · Sandal-wearing bean eater

Look, the poll has been on the site for weeks. Everyone has had a chance to contribute their opinions, and most were in favour of registration. It was implemented as several people had said (face to face) that they were sick of guessing who all the Guests were and that the poll had run long enough. If you wanted to discuss it more in a Radish meeting, maybe you should have brought it up then?

You're right in that there is no Radish - the account has to exist for administrative stuff though (e.g. sticky posts). Feel free to log on and change the forum settings back to the way they were.
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Georgy Porgy · Street Demonstrator

am i just being incredibly stupid, or is the issue of identity completely irrelevant as anyone can post under any name they want?
Who am I? Though I am a registered user, you just don't know unless you have access to my registration information. How does that benefit the forum as a whole? Why do you need to know who posts things anyway (unless their posts are racist or obscene or -gasp- INCITEMENT TO RELIGIOUS HATRED (read ridiculous ramblings))? Answer the point, not the person.

doc_ido · Sandal-wearing bean eater

gabs · Black Bloc

Theres a whole thread discussing the pros and cons of required registration.

Hows about we set a time limit, say a week, on that thread and poll after which the result is binding? This is arguably more democratic than a face to face meeting as that would likely only include a small proportion of the Radish users. Theres no point having a poll and not acting on it but maybe some people were caught unawares.

steven · Black Bloc

I've just consulted the poll itself, and the course of action that's been taken - requiring registration for all but a few forums - is actually the least popular choice there! Eight people have voted for registration with no exceptions (hardly a mandate in itself), six people against any registration, and four people for registration with exceptions.

hannoir · Black Bloc

I missed this poll.

But I hate guest posting, so I'm glad of the decision.
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gabs · Black Bloc

gorky · Black Bloc

Let's discuss it more at the next Radish meeting.
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“But you are a thin-blooded lot! Ere you have grown up you are already overgrown and withered. You live like an old radish." - Maxim Gorky, The Man Who Was Afraid, Chapter 10.

theanonymousgeographer · Black Bloc

At the end of the day why would you want to post as a guest? It takes about two minutes to register and it greatly enhances what you get out of the site as (as someone pointed out) their is consistency and continuity in what you say and people know where you stand.