an idea that I'm sure you guys have tossed around more then once...

[Crazymofo]

With all the concerns about bandwidth and advertising I started thinking...

Every time I go to "who's online" it is filled with Guests usually much more then half of the page is guests....

So why not close the forum to members only...?

From what I understand this is an enthusiast community that is not out for profit.. right?

So by requiring registration for viewing and posting you could effectively kill two birds with one stone...

1. Less bandwidth usage because the "guests" don't contribute anything to the community and if they are only interested in viewing they prolly won't register...

2. Higher amount of registered users to pimp to the advertisers...

Personally I cant see any negatives to this because I don’t see where there is an obligation to the community of “guests”….???

What’d ya guys think??

[JBELL]

Can't do that - this site is open to EVERYONE ... that is how we get our members .. they ''Try before they buy'' ... in a way.

to lock the forums to non-members would not be a good thing in the long run.

[muzz]

There are other sites that MAKE you register b4 viewing, I BELIEVE OCAU does it, and while it is a bit aggravating it only takes a minute in reality.
Good point Crazy,I understand JB's view on it also though.

[Smizack]

I've thought about this option too, but only on high BW areas. Like Photoshop.

Closing all threads to the public would be a bad move.

[KnightElite]

It's irritating to have a link to a thread at OCAU where registration is mandatory....

I think we're better off as is, that way people elsewhere can link to threads here, and people can read without having to register.

[Hardass]

If I have to sign up just to look, I move on to the next site.

[felix88]

we could just disable the avatars, maybe it's just me.

or maybe it would be possable to disable all of the images for non members.

i love the free service you guys are providing, and i'd hate to see it cause anyone problems.

[Crazymofo]

Well I never meant it to be a charge or anything just free required registration.... it was just an idea and I see the point in not doing it... just had been in the back of my head while waiting for the site to load these last few days... but I think that problem has been taken care of....