Allowing guests to post on forums? Good or bad?

[Grant]

All of my forums I require that users sign up in order to post or reply. In the past I allowed guests to make posts, but eventually it told them they needed to sign up if they want access to editing their posts or use other features signed up users get. But, I eventually took the feature away, as I saw no point in allowing people to post without an account. It leaves the risk of spam and offensive content posted, so I keep it to requiring a sign-up to the site in order to post. And yet, I still have rules like they have to make a certain amount of replies before they can post.

 

[Monster Masterpiece]

This is a valid point because I share the same opinion with you. Most guest postings are advertisements while the board is not intended for this kind of activity.

 

[Nomad]

On my forum you cannot post without registering, when you register, you are a user and not a guest. I do not allow guest posting on my forums. However, sometimes I invite guest writers on my blogs. I dod not think any forum will allow people to post without registering.

 

[Monster Masterpiece]

On my forum you cannot post without registering, when you register, you are a user and not a guest. I do not allow guest posting on my forums. However, sometimes I invite guest writers on my blogs. I do not think any forum will allow people to post without registering.

Forums force users to use junk emails to register because every forum sends notifications means email can no longer be used for professional work due to massive notifications and even if you disable notifications some forums disable the possibility of earning. This is my point of view only. What you say is true but allowing users to receive or not receive notifications email should not be relative to possibility to earning. Otherwise he will continue to use spare email to join them.

 

[Timgab]

To me, turning off this guest posting feature is a smart move. If you find the community interesting,
I see no big deal in signing up or registering in the platform.

There tons of bots in the internet space, spamming isn't helping the community a bit.

 

[Monster Masterpiece]

To me, turning off this guest posting feature is a smart move. If you find the community interesting,
I see no big deal in signing up or registering on the platform.

There are tons of bots in the internet space, and spamming isn't helping the community a bit.

Even these bots can be registered in your community. Sometimes a bot like Google News you find it posting on Xenforo forums on a specific section. But people who sign up to promote and run will find their account limited, unlike bot posting which cannot be handled easily in guest posting.

 

[Nomad]

Forums force users to use junk emails to register because every forum sends notifications means email can no longer be used for professional work due to massive notifications and even if you disable notifications some forums disable the possibility of earning. This is my point of view only. What you say is true but allowing users to receive or not receive notifications email should not be relative to possibility to earning. Otherwise he will continue to use spare email to join them.

You can use an email to sign up with forums that you do not use for your professional communication. By the way, I do not think paid to post forums force you to subscribe notifications through emails for earning capabilities. I do not know any paid to post forums that send a lot of promotional emails to users.

 

[Grant]

This is a valid point because I share the same opinion with you. Most guest postings are advertisements while the board is not intended for this kind of activity.

Yeah most of the time they don't add anything to the topic at hand. Plus, it's always prone to spamming, so I remove it due to that too.

On my forum you cannot post without registering, when you register, you are a user and not a guest. I do not allow guest posting on my forums. However, sometimes I invite guest writers on my blogs. I dod not think any forum will allow people to post without registering.

Yeah guest bloggers and guests on a forum are different. With a guest on a forum it's essentially anyone without an account being allowed to post. There may be limitations like how many times a guest can post, and how often. If that's part of it, I see no problem. It's smart to not have guest options to begin with.

To me, turning off this guest posting feature is a smart move. If you find the community interesting,
I see no big deal in signing up or registering in the platform.

There tons of bots in the internet space, spamming isn't helping the community a bit.

Yeah I didn't even consider bots when I started the topic. But yeah, bots can join and spam a forum with ease when you have guest commenting allowed.

 

[Henrywrites]

To me, turning off this guest posting feature is a smart move. If you find the community interesting,
I see no big deal in signing up or registering in the platform.

There tons of bots in the internet space, spamming isn't helping the community a bit.

I agree with you on that ground. I am of the opinion that it is necessary to have the guest posting turned off. Spammers can easily have access to your forum once you have that access given to them.

 

[Monster Masterpiece]

I agree with you on that ground. I am of the opinion that it is necessary to have the guest posting turned off. Spammers can easily have access to your forum once you have that access given to them.

Registration does not prevent spamming. But you could have control under spammers. You could at least prevent it from posting in certain sections and enable in the advertising section if it is member-gender promoted and run. Or ban if this section doesn't exist.

 

[Henrywrites]

Registration does not prevent spamming. But you could have control under spammers. You could at least prevent it from posting in certain sections and enable in the advertising section if it is member-gender promoted and run. Or ban if this section doesn't exist.

Guest posters don't need to register before they can start positing. There is also a way that you can set up your forum, and it can ban spammers from registering on the forum.

 

[Grant]

I think the only way to allow guest commenters is if they go through a captcha, and can only post a short response and it limits you to one post a day or something like that. That's the only way I'd accept it.

 

[Henrywrites]

I think the only way to allow guest commenters is if they go through a captcha, and can only post a short response and it limits you to one post a day or something like that. That's the only way I'd accept it.

One post a day will be good as long as they will be ready to follow such rules. The question is always, why be a guest when you should register and become a full member?