Two new forums and Membership Poll

[bi11i]

Just a quick note that we've added a couple of new forums. The first, (and why we didn't have one before is beyond me) 'Pill Identification' which can be found under 'Supply & Resource', is exactly as described. The second, 'World/Political' which has been added under 'General Chat' for those links and news worthy of discussion, but non-opiate related.

Finally, an important poll concerning the future of our board. Please take the time to vote on this one (lurkers too!)

In the past our process at Opiophile.org has been to deny viewing & posting access to anyone unregistered. One could browse the board and view thread titles, but reading and posting was restricted to those members registered with verified email (as I'm sure all of you painfully know.)

Because of this process, our search engine ranking has not been where we'd like it to be. Allowing all users (registered and unregistered) to view both thread titles and content would boost our ranking (and membership) significantly and help us to move forward in learning more about our interest. While we have nothing to hide, this also means a slight loss of privacy due to the fact that the contents of the board will be fully disclosed. Posting and participation will continue to be restricted to only those members registered.

We'd like to take a poll to see what the general opinion is in moving in this direction. Please feel free to also respond to this thread with your $.02... Votes are private and the poll will be closed in only a few days.

[floger]

What is the ranking and why do we need a higher one??

How do you know it will raise our rankings?

[bi11i]

The ranking is how we're ranked in search engines such as google and yahoo by relevancy. Because these search engines are limited as to what information is available to them (and because of our current policy to block the viewing of posts by those unregistered), we're sometimes several pages away from the first when searching for relevant topics.

Opening the board up means removing the added step of registering before viewing. It also means possibly driving membership up into the tens of thousands, rather than the thousands. This means more info, more collective thought, more forward motion. Keeping the board as it is might mean getting left behind, plus our original reasoning for the registration process was to establish a membership encouraging involvement through participation - as our board has grown one could come to the conclusion that we're hiding behind the process, as if we're doing something illegal.

We're, for the most part, inclined to open it up, however the board belongs to everyone and your feedback definitely matters.

Thanks for the votes so far - it will be interesting to see where we're at down the line...

[Paregoric Kid]

I think quality matters more than quantity. 100,000 mediocre simpletons are no substitute for 1,000 intelligent posters. I think if it increases as much as you say it might, we will be seeing 100s of threads asking the same questions (ie: DUDE can u like plz tell me how 2 IV my methadone wafers?). so my opinion is to leave it as it is, that's how I voted.
on the other hand it's your board, if you think it will improve for the better opening it up like that, go for it.

[shinobi]

I personaly dont like using open forums but im paranoied about security. However having an open forum *could* boost your ranking which *could* increase membership and that *could* lead to more donations. Its not guarenteed, the google bot isnt the virtual god or whatever. Also a higher ranking may lead to more members but oftern also leads to loads of inactive members. People who sign up and then never post. Its a 2 way street.

Just my 2c_

[Peripat]

I personaly dont like using open forums but im paranoied about security.

If you're that paranoid, being on the internet at all is a risk, you know! :) Not wanting to be nasty there, just saying.

However having an open forum *could* boost your ranking which *could* increase membership and that *could* lead to more donations. Its not guarenteed, the google bot isnt the virtual god or whatever.

It's not just Google. There are many other search engines out there. :)

Also a higher ranking may lead to more members but oftern also leads to loads of inactive members. People who sign up and then never post.

No, that's what happens now, actually. Take a look at how many members we have, and compare it to how many have ever actually posted...

Personally, I'm in favour of the idea of opening up the boards. Sure, we run the risk of

seeing 100s of threads asking the same questions (ie: DUDE can u like plz tell me how 2 IV my methadone wafers?)

...but that's why we have moderators. Just as is the case now, poorly-judged posts and/or threads will be edited or deleted. People who persist in posting garbage are removed. And making us easier to find will bring in plenty of intelligent, experienced people with a lot to offer their phellow phorumites. So yeah, I say open up the opiophile doors a little more - it'd be great if more people could find us! :) :hangloose :deal2:

[bi11i]

exactly, thanks peripat. of course there would be the increased risk of the more than occasional village idiot, but with more members would of course come more moderators. more donations would be nice, however not our main concern.

the other possibility would be to open the viewing, but close the board, leaving registration as application. members would be approved and disapproved based on how they complete their profile - lurkers can still lurk without having to register and go through the process all for nothing. of our 1000+ members, over 100 registered never bothered (or couldn't) activate their registration. of those 900, only 270 members have posted. 100 of those only once or twice.

As it is, Opiophile only has moderators that are experts in their field (plus one all around expert who's good at cracking the whip every now and then;)), with more membership, we'd probably go with a few more moderators or super moderators, based on whatever criteria we come up with (reputation, activity, etc.)

Security shouldn't be an issue. We don't retain our logs for more than a day or two and your real names aren't asked for. Backups of the forum are kept in a safe location and other than that - it's not like we're breaking the law here.

Boy, I'm just talking myself right along into this, aren't I? Seriously, thanks for all your feedback - keep it coming....

[scagdawg]

Well, I voted no initially. But if increasing membership is what is wanted then opening up the board to public reading is the way to do it.

[shinobi]

im aware of the security risks associated with using the web, specialy with vbulitin. The amount of data an admin can pull from this forum, if they so chose, and a little knoledge of web security can give out alot of info about a person. Your ip adress is your biggest weekness in that respect, then again, this isnt my ip address so im safe. All you will trace my ass to is a public acess proxy. Opening the forum up would increase the user base which is generaly only a good thing, personaly i dont like it but if i were running the board then i would open it up (if that makes sense) because the advantages outweigh the dissadvantages.

just my 2c_

[bi11i]

im aware of the security risks associated with using the web, specialy with vbulitin.i wasn't aware of any security risks in using vbulletin; in fact i was under the impression it was quite secure - can you clarify?

the only data an admin can pull (that I'm aware of) is your IP address and the info you've already volunteered. being that all hosting and data storage is kept on the side of opiophile.org, we've eliminated the possibility that someone else could be looking at this data. somewhere in here is a thread i posted on security....:http://forum.opiophile.org/showthread.php?p=336#post336 Your IP address is available to any site you browse on the web, its also available to any email recipient.

i think opening the board might also get rid of the impression from outsiders that we're hiding something. (other than keeping paregoric kid in his cage.)

[Paregoric Kid]

if you are afraid of your IP getting out use a proxy server or HTTP tunnel, but I think that would be kind of silly to use just to post on a board.

[bi11i]

Ok,here's the skinny. We've decided that we're going to open the board up. Here's how it will work in short:

Unregistered members:
--Can only view posts
--Cannot view detailed member info or member list
--Cannot mail to a friend, subscribe, or download
--Cannot vote on polls, rate threads, etc.

Users without email confirmation:
--Pretty much the same, however they can edit their profiles.
--These users CAN use private messaging

Registered users:
--Same as most of you
--Cannot use reputation system

Registered users with 30/30 (and that's not clean time, either;))
--Can use reputation

Donating users:
--These users get full benefit right out of the gate. (of course, they have to register.)

With this configuration, your privacy is still maintained, however it allows information here to become useful to those that aren't interested in participating - in fact, there's all kinds of pluses as to operating this way, and only one or two slight negatives.

Thanks for all your feedback, I was surprised as to how split it was.

Regardless, we'll be looking to existing members for moderators - those with adequate participation, etc will be contacted.

Consider these changes effective immediately.

Thanks!
bi11i & jacky

[shaunclo]

I think its a great idea (I know you've already made the decision to expand) but I want to explain to you why I think its a good idea. I had an opiate question I needed answered probably about 6 months ago. I was searching the web for days looking for an answer to my question. I finally stumbled across opiophile.org by accident and posted my question (after registering) I was blown away at how fast and how accuratley I had the answer to my question from like 5 different people in almost 5 minutes. I have never looked back from that day. I log on multiple times a day (during the work week) and browse different categories and topics while I am at work and it is amazing to me how freely people give out GREAT information without even hesitating. This is a wonderful site and should be enjoyed by more. Yes its true, we will get more stupid questions with more stupid people, but we will also get more intelligent Q & A's along with it too. I am all for it. Share the wealth of knowledge we have here, it has helped me out more than I can express............Thanks:)

[bi11i]

thanks for the feedback, shaunclo - i'm hoping that opening the board up will give more folks a chance to find their answer with intention, rather than by accident.

regardless, none of the information we have to offer would even be possible without the lot of you - a big thanks to everyone for bringing us this far....

[red26]

Bummer. I wrote out a reply and voted before posting and it vanished like a fart in the wind. I agree with shaunclo on this as well. The o-phile makes me happy. I love it here. The paranoid element will raise some but as P.k. described in more words, wear long sleeves. The whole villiage idiot percent will go up for a short while, but our moderators are obviously more than capeable of excreting them. And by the way B, that Black Tar Heroin flick was actually kind of depressing, but still a good watch.Thanx. As I've said before, there is an element of comrodery here at the opiophile wich I adore and admire it for. This is a great place to be and agree with opening the doors. I'd much rather help someone with my experience and keep them from doing something that'll kill em than have them searching the web for an answer, not finding it, and making the wrong guess and ending up dead or worse. thanx guys and Peripat! Hope you all are havin a geat day!