A question to the OFC members

[woodenboater]

Yup, other sites I belong to 'suffer' the same issues of the disproportionate ratio between the number of members and the numbers who actually contribute. Not much can be done about this from what I've learned as a member and admin of another site. We've talked about time caps on members in that if they didn't have x number of posts within a time period, they were sent a reminder and if no progress, their membership spiked. That never went anywhere and we just accepted it for what it was. That would would have hurt good members who gave much of their knowledge to those asking, just not online.

 

All one can do is appreciate those (and there are many here) who post trip reports or reviews, and thusly, make this place the great site, and resource, that it is. There are always going to be the givers and unfortunately, the takers.

[aplumma]

As far as a members only area to get people to sign up we just don't need it at this time. We are not selling anything so whether we have 7000 or 15000 members it is information we are not selling. The site has only one advertiser and it is Google. We decided a long time ago that we are not running this site to make money it is truly only alive because of the free time and effort of the mod's and owners. We donate our time because it is a place for us to talk and swop stories with our old and new friends. If or when Google does not bring in enough to pay the bills then we will "resupply" the kitty from our pockets and pay the bills.

We have a wealth of hero's here they are usually unnamed and unsung by their wishes they donate time or products to make the board's presents seen at local charity or worth while events. If we all donated just a little of our time to say Hi to a new member or great post we would go far to smooth the rough spots we seem to hit every once in a while. There are petty wars going on behind the scenes on every forum some here like to make it public some can take it to P.M. and get it resolved without the drama. Funny though the most popular threads are the ones that have conflict in them. We let them go as long as they are in the bounds of the rules and if not it then gets locked. We try to be as liberal as we can be with the rules and while some see it as letting some talk and some not it really is how you are making your point that counts. If we all could realize and keep in mind it isn't personal when we Mod we would have a lot less P.M. grumping and more posted reports on what we all are here for Fishing.

 

Sorry now back to the topic and Grimace and Musky Mike time for you to go to P.M. please.

 

Thanks

 

Art

[adempsey]

I don't see how a member viewing a post and not replying or contributing is any different than a non-member doing the same thing. So, to me, it's a moot argument. Besides, the site would likely lose revenue if it went members only unless it was a paid membership.

 

Why do people have to reply to every thread they read anyway? Oftentimes people just have nothing to say. I'd rather have fewer replies than people posting nonsense to increase their post count.

[Twocoda]

 

 

I'd rather have fewer replies than people posting nonsense to increase their post count.

 

My socks stink ( just maintaining my daily average )

[davey buoy]

I don't see how a member viewing a post and not replying or contributing is any different than a non-member doing the same thing. So, to me, it's a moot argument. Besides, the site would likely lose revenue if it went members only unless it was a paid membership.

 

Why do people have to reply to every thread they read anyway? Oftentimes people just have nothing to say. I'd rather have fewer replies than people posting nonsense to increase their post count.

 

I'm replying to yours!,I have nothing to say as you do.Sometimes I like to agree with something great already said..What's wrong with that?.Ohhhh my post count is higher than yours.Lol. People getting involved is what it is about,isn't it?

Edited May 27, 2012 by davey buoy

[ehg]

Once the reply is posted, the 5 people who viewed and myself go back to view the thread again to see what the the reply was. And on it goes. Very soon you end up with 150 views and 4 replies. Very few lurkers come in to read reports because there is just too much to read and they have no search privilege.

 

So to answer your question, NO, I don't think so.

 

PS. There are other readers as well....the bots...Google, Yahoo, Bing and the like.

 

Thinking that leaving the threads open to 'lurkers' provides more page views and potential participants.

 

Seems good like last 10 yrs. or so.

[jedimaster]

I would rather the forum wasn't indexed in google.

[GreenCanada]

It's free to register, so there is no question it should only be viewable to members.

[backbay]

Perhaps a members-only report section, but I wouldn't want to encourage anything that prevents the site from growing, or impairs the viability of the site.

[Millhouse2020]

I have to say not sure. Im not sure if it will matter whether people register or not as to the number of comments. I know for myself, I have limited time to spend on these boards. At times, they have been blocked by my employer so I cant view at work on lunch or break time. Many times, I would like to make a comment, but someone else got to it first so I don't bother so as not to be redudant. Lastly, I only try to comment if I feel I have something useful to contribute...

[jigsnreels]

I voted no for the same reason that a lot of people already stated. I found this board a while back, checked out a few of the topics, felt like it would be a fun forum to get involved in, and signed up. I read the terms of use and made note of the rules, especially those regarding topics like "hot spots," and I respect them to the best of my ability. I live in London and I fish a lot around this area, mainly because I have a young daughter and I can't really get away very much these days. Many of the places I've mentioned in my past posts are no secret to anyone. If I happen to stumble on a really good place to fish outside of my regular haunts, I won't broadcast it in the open forums, but will gladly share through PMs/emails to other members if they're interested. I would expect the same conduct and courtesy from fellow board members if I happened to have questions about fishing opportunities outside of my general area. Plus, it's fun just to swap stories, because everybody who likes to fish has something unique to share, and that's something that should always be encouraged. There's a lot to be learned here, much more than just where the fish happen to be biting on any given day...

 

I guess you have to just leave the doors open and hope for the best as far as new members are concerned. As for the lurkers/trollers/rabble-rousers, that's why we have our tireless, dedicated and vigilant moderators. :-)

Edited May 28, 2012 by jigsnreels

[jjcanoe]

65 or so votes and 2100+ views LOL no Lurking going on at all!

[SirCranksalot]

Here's an illustration of why the 'views' can be much higher than the posts: The recent 'drop-shoting' thread interested me because I had not tried that technique. As the thread went on for quite a while I 'dropped' in to view it several times and eventually chimed in with a post. Then I naturally checked back to see the reaction to my post. So my ratio was maybe 5 or 6 to 1. If I wasn't a member my ratio would have been 5 or 6 to 0, not a huge difference. For anyone but repeat contributors to a given thread the ratio would tend to be at least 2:1 i.e. read, post, check to see reaction to post. I don't think registering to view is going to change these numbers significantly but will cut down on the number of new members.(BTW, I viewed this thread several times before making this post)

[lew]

I'm still wondering why anybody is concerned about how many replies their post gets. Put up a post and if it gets a bunch of replies that's good, but if it doesn't get a bunch, well then so be it and move on.

[johnnyb]

I like what Roy said about 4 posts into this thread. I stopped reading there and cast my vote

[Roy]

And what JohnnyB just said can be used as a good example to illustrate the point. Most people who have posted to this thread plus some future new posters to the thread will read JohnnyB's post and go back to see what I said on page 1 of this thread. That will have given us a minimum of 100 more views without many replies, if any.

[Skipper D]

How can i explain so we can all understand . After OFC's long time standing with its prescent format , Segregation to any of its parts would jeopardize its good future .

Edited May 29, 2012 by Skipper " D "

[Doug Wright]

I think you need to allow the public to view so they can have a look and see that it is a worthwhile site to join. I did and am a newer member.

 

I really don't care if a non-member is viewing the topics as no one should have anything to hide.

 

If we are nervous about the public seeing what we post then perhaps we should not post it.

[jedimaster]

I don't mind if logged in or not logged in can view the forum, but I still would rather the threads not be indexed. jmho. Thats why I rarely post fishing reports. I just come here to kill time with semi like minded folks.

[misfish]

Guess it would seem the NO,s have the lead. It,s not like I care or dont care. I thought it would be a good topic to discuss how each member feels. And I thank all those that posted and realy kept this thread civil.

 

I dont think theres much more that can be added. Looks like all positions and thoughts on this subject, have been discussed.

 

Happy

Edited May 30, 2012 by Misfish

[rmarentette]

Great question- thanks for the debate!

[aplumma]

The answer has been decided we will stay as we are .

 

 

Art

[fishermccann]

Do people really want a pat on the back when they post? OK then " nice fish".