Hidden Users

~HG~ · Posted: 12/18/2005, 2:40 pm Post subject: Hidden Users

I have never been able to understand why this function is available on forums Very Happy

I have removed it from most of my boards so that members cannot use it.

It is still available in ACP where the Admin can make a user *hidden* but in all honesty, I cant see the point of it.

Does anyone else take the same view ???
_________________
~HG~

|| Click here to view all my phpBB Communities ||

chrispian · Posted: 12/18/2005, 3:19 pm Post subject:

Nope. Some users like to view the boards in private. They may be reading private messages or looking over specific forums and they don't want other users watching how they use the forums. Most importatnly, they may have another user who constantly sends them messages when they are online so they like to browse in private. Also, some people like to come and read but don't want to be known they are around for any given reason.

I don't think it hurts anything and can only help those who need it so I leave it.
_________________
Chrispian H. Burks
451 Press

Patrick · Administrator

I've taken it out of all of my sites. At the end of the day, if someone doesn't want to be seen viewing my forums, whether or not I want them at all is questionable. If you are part of a community, you are part of a community. If they are having trouble with harassment, they need to contact me.

It doesn't help that some of the people I saw using it (back when I had it enabled long ago) were shady folks.
_________________
Patrick O'Keefe - CommunityAdmins.com Administrator
Author, Managing Online Forums (New Book)
Have a suggestion or a bit of feedback relating to CommunityAdmins.com? Please contact me!
User Guidelines

Nick · Posted: 12/18/2005, 11:40 pm Post subject:

I've only used it when we had a problem with a user who continually joined and trashed our board with spam. My other admin was hidden so that the user would never be sure whether an authority figure was around or not while on the board.

I don't generally condone the hidden user feature, but then again, I'm rather apathetic. I guess I don't think about it because I can see everyone...
_________________
[Bobsnox Forums] [Shannara Forums] [The Smash Syndicate] [LegendofZeldaForums.com]
Apologetics?

Teknomancer · Posted: 12/18/2005, 11:43 pm Post subject:

I don't allow users to Hide their online status. I will however (when I make my global moderator and other mods) to hide their online status for the reason Nick mentioned above.

But no ordinary member will be allowed to hide their status... Not until there arises a genuine need for one.
_________________
Toons & Comics Community
My Blog
My WebPage

dojo · Posted: 12/19/2005, 6:28 am Post subject:

I have noticed a member does this too .. don't understand why .. but since he;s a good member and a good poster I never had any problems with this yet ...
_________________
Webmaster articles, tutorials and topics

Ex0dus · Posted: 12/19/2005, 10:06 am Post subject:

So long as my staff and i can see them and track them, then i have no issues with hidden users. I only have two, and one is a staff member (for the reason thats been stated multiple times now =p). Some people dont like to be bothered while reading, and i like to cater to that and can totally understand that (not that ive ever used the hidden feature myself =p)

-Ex0dus

~HG~ · Posted: 12/19/2005, 1:55 pm Post subject:

Psyched · Posted: 12/25/2005, 9:02 pm Post subject:

I tend to use the invisible or hidden feature myself and have given the permission to my globals or super mods, but not to my mods or community members.

I don't want my mods hidding, I want the community to see them online and be able to contact them if needed.

My globals rarely use the invisible feature.

I don't want community members thinking they can hide exactly for the reason Patrick mentioned. It generally tends to be the trouble makers who do this anyway. If someone felt they absolutely needed to "hide" and I felt it was an appropriate or legitamate reason I wouldn't be opposed to granting that permission. Yet again, most often when a member is being "harrassed" by another I find that they both play an equal part in the troubles and would rather have them work it out together .. with my help if necessary. .. instead of hiding behind a cloak of invisibility.

harishankar · Posted: 12/25/2005, 9:36 pm Post subject:

I'll tell you why I dislike the hidden users feature.

My Mods could not view hidden users. Now a particular member of mine who had, for a long time, been a good member and did not hide himself, chose to hide himself later on.

After a while, this member decided to attack me personally because of a moderation decision. Since my mods could not see him, he was safe online and started deleting his posts one by one.

The damage it caused is extensive. Only when I came online, I could see what he was up to. namely deleting his earlier posts. The mods did not have a clue.

Now what I did was not to disable hidden users, but allowed the mods to view them. It's a very simple one line code hack and might be a good option if you choose not to remove the hidden feature.
_________________
Literary Forums
My Blog