CR4 "Guests"

I guess you missed this thread:

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/8642/Why-are-Guests-Allowed-to-Post.

The only problem I see with "Guest" postings is that of differentiating one guest from another. Apart from that I have no issues with 'guest' postings.

I agree with you europium. Is it technically possible for CR4 to track them with a cookie so that each Guest gets their own number when posting - we'd get to see 'Guest 57' or 'Guest 261' etc ? Plenty of people screw around with the Guest system ( and I don't especially object), but it would help to know one Guest from another. As far as I know, the point is to allow a 'try-before-you-buy' type thing, but it doesn't exactly take much to register. Maybe one option is to restrict where Guests can post, or if tracked, how many times they can do so. I'm not going to subscribe here, since I think it's better to try keep all this kind of (useful) stuff in one place - Mark's (mgaulin) thread that you see at the top of the home page.

Ah .... thank you 3Doug. Yes I did miss that thread. It seemed like an obvious question ... so I should have known that it's been discussed. I should have checked.

But ... having read that thread ... I'm still of the opinion that the negatives outnumber the positive aspects of having guests. Anonymous posting seems fine. After all, they are in fact already registered. But non-registered guests ... well ... I dunno.

The biggest concern of CR4 administrators seems to be that it would discourage new people participating, and cut down on new members.

I see it this way. Most Guest postings are very opinionated. Most Guest postings are very passionate. Most Guests post because they really want to say what they want to say. I betcha that memberships would not go down at all. Simply, those that otherwise would have commented as Guests, will now quickly register ... because they really have something on their minds that they want to say!

It's not like we are using our real names here, anyway. My parents didn't really name me Out-Of-Box-Experience :)

I bet that's how it would all boil down. IMHO.

My parents actually did name me Guest.

So many posts simply require a quick Google or a rummage through Wiki to answer the poster's question, something that Guess could do for herself. Under those circumstances, it can seem inappropriate to add one's username to the reply, and not subscribing to the post does reduce the tide of incoming email traffic as others join in to express their despair.

sometimes I just want to say something really rude.

cr3

crap did I sign that?