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In the 'Lost Thread' topic I put up a couple of links to the required thread, obtained by searching for the OP.  Neither seem to work for some other people, although they work for me.  Any techies (staff or others) able to explain/fix this?  You can see the details on the relevant topic, still current.

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Ok maybe this might help explain.

Logged in I cannot find the thread just by looking through the forums but if I click through from MtB's post above I think I eventually after a couple of links get the "you do not have permission" message.

BUT I was browsing from my work computer (yes I know, it was a quiet day) as a guest and found a section for Newbies and Guests including, I think, the missing posts. It is a section above Boating on the first page. Strangely when you are logged in it is not visible.

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16 minutes ago, Alstonite said:

Ok maybe this might help explain.

Logged in I cannot find the thread just by looking through the forums but if I click through from MtB's post above I think I eventually after a couple of links get the "you do not have permission" message.

BUT I was browsing from my work computer (yes I know, it was a quiet day) as a guest and found a section for Newbies and Guests including, I think, the missing posts. It is a section above Boating on the first page. Strangely when you are logged in it is not visible.

Excellent diagnostic! Greenie for that - it never occurred that I would have to log out to get permission to read a section!

I confirm that I can see the posts if I log out, and if I log back in immediately get the error.

 

Sorry, there is a problem

You do not have permission to view this content.

Error code: 2F173/H

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23 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

But I was logged in and the links worked for me!

Can you post to it?

I can view it when logged out. If I want to post I have to log in, at which point I get the "you do not have permission" message and can no longer see it.

May be it's a browser thing, I'm using Safari on a Mac.

Edited by Alstonite
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1 hour ago, Alstonite said:

Can you post to it?

I can view it when logged out. If I want to post I have to log in, at which point I get the "you do not have permission" message and can no longer see it.

May be it's a browser thing, I'm using Safari on a Mac.

Yes I can post to it, logged in as normal.  Using IE11 on a laptop.   Where's RichM when you need him?

Edited to say also works normally on a (Windows) tablet using Chrome

Edited by Mac of Cygnet
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On 2/5/2018 at 19:46, Mac of Cygnet said:

In the 'Lost Thread' topic I put up a couple of links to the required thread, obtained by searching for the OP.  Neither seem to work for some other people, although they work for me.  Any techies (staff or others) able to explain/fix this?  You can see the details on the relevant topic, still current.

I replied, answering this question, HERE.

Hope that helps.

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Rant:

Frankly all these arbitrary rules about permissions seems utterly pointless. Why can we all not view all forums, and post in any of them once signed in?

Rather like the last major upgrade, it seems to have been done with no consultation and no explanation. Just done with not a word said, we are all just left to try to figure it out what's going on by ourselves. It illustrates such a dismissive towards the members who make the site what it is.

Its actions like this by the management that make me decide not to contribute.

Rant over!

 

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4 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Rant:

Frankly all these arbitrary rules about permissions seems utterly pointless. Why can we all not view all forums, and post in any of them once signed in?

Rather like the last major upgrade, it seems to have been done with no consultation and no explanation. Just done with not a word said, we are all just left to try to figure it out what's going on by ourselves. It illustrates such a dismissive towards the members who make the site what it is.

Its actions like this by the management that make me decide not to contribute.

Rant over!

 

I think the point of a new members and guests section is so that some of the regulars *can't* scare the newbies off, unless it's worth £12 to them to try.

No names being mentioned here ...

 

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On 07/02/2018 at 11:51, TheBiscuits said:

I think the point of a new members and guests section is so that some of the regulars *can't* scare the newbies off, unless it's worth £12 to them to try.

No names being mentioned here ...

 

 

Now that seems a likely hypothesis!

It still seems a shame the management didn't think we might need to know this, instead of leaving us to work it out for ourselves.

(If it is true of course, and we have no way of knowing given management policy of never explaining anything.)

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8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Rant:

Frankly all these arbitrary rules about permissions seems utterly pointless. Why can we all not view all forums, and post in any of them once signed in?

Rather like the last major upgrade, it seems to have been done with no consultation and no explanation. Just done with not a word said, we are all just left to try to figure it out what's going on by ourselves. It illustrates such a dismissive towards the members who make the site what it is.

Its actions like this by the management that make me decide not to contribute.

Rant over!

If a forum offers incentives for members to donate, that often generates additional needed monies for a site. Sometimes, this involves access to forums that otherwise may be off limits, or even hidden from the general membership. 

But, I do agree that the owner(s) / administrators should inform members of changes to the software, etc. Forums like this tend to be populated by older members, many who may not be so voiced in how forum software operates. So, anything that would assist those members, I feel, would be beneficial to the growth of the forum. 

7 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Now that seems a likely hypothesis!

It still seems a shame the management didn't think we might need to know this, instead of leaving us to work it out for ourselves.

(If it is true of course, and we have no way of knowing given management policy of never explaining anything.)

@TheBiscuits was spot on, regarding that. Often, new members are a bit apprehensive to post, fearing they will be ridiculed for "asking a stupid question", or asking questions "older members" may see as having been asked a thousand times before. Of course, some members are just jerks and enjoy being keyboard commandos. This sort of isolation gives new members a bit of a shield from those members. 

Also, anyone who may donate, probably wouldn't be the type to attack new members, thus giving them access to those "hidden" forums.

I do agree with you, regarding the owner(s) / administrators informing the general membership of such information. This especially applies to those who may not be as familiar with various forum software and functions available. If people are considering making a donation, they may wish to see any additional features, amenities, or access that may be available to them. For example, administrators could offer donators longer post edit times, additional forum access, more "reactions" available per day, etc. 

With that said, the owners / administrators of these forums pay out a fair amount of money each month, to keep these sites online. By rights, offering a valuable resource to its members shouldn't come out of their pockets. In most cases, if each and every member of a forum were to donate even a single GPB (per year), that would be enough to cover the costs of operating said forum for that year. Unfortunately, though, it is often the few who carry the many.

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Sorry I'm late to the show. I have been working long shifts this week!

The "Guests and new members" forum is only intended to act as a prominent place-holder for the "About us" topic linked here. In short, nobody should be able to post in that particular forum. The fact some people can is caused by an unforeseen forum permissions issue, which I will review and fix.

As for the dry-dock topic, I have moved it to the Boat Building & Maintenance forum, topic linked here. Everyone should be able to see/post in it. Please confirm?

8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Rant:

Frankly all these arbitrary rules about permissions seems utterly pointless. Why can we all not view all forums, and post in any of them once signed in?

Rather like the last major upgrade, it seems to have been done with no consultation and no explanation. Just done with not a word said, we are all just left to try to figure it out what's going on by ourselves. It illustrates such a dismissive towards the members who make the site what it is.

Its actions like this by the management that make me decide not to contribute.

Rant over!

 

Hold fire - This is not at all intentional. The issue is caused by a discrepancy with the rather granular/extensive forum permissions system, inadvertently and unknowingly permitting some users to be able to post in a otherwise closed forum. I will fix the permissions but its been a busy week offline and it's still only Wednesday!

Rich

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3 minutes ago, RichM said:

Please confirm?

I can view it. 

4 minutes ago, RichM said:

Hold fire - This is not at all intentional. The issue is caused by a discrepancy with the rather granular/extensive forum permissions system, inadvertently and unknowingly permitting some users to be able to post in a otherwise closed forum. I will fix the permissions but its been a busy week offline and it's still only Wednesday!

Thanks for the clarification. 

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15 minutes ago, RichM said:

Hold fire - This is not at all intentional

But unintentionally you may of hit on a half decent idea if implemented slightly differently the point about having a early days holding forum for new sign ups could be a useful tool against random troll attacks and other mischief making. 

New user signs up but can only post in a specified forum for a period of time

They could read all other threads

Any registered user could reply to the new users postings

Eventually new user gets promoted to fully register user, criteria needs to be identified for this  and their threads also get promoted. 

Certainly a line of defense against trolling particularly when their mates may want to jump in behind them to give them support as their mates would also have to go through the new user signing process. 

Just a thought? 

 

Edited by reg
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14 minutes ago, RichM said:

Sorry I'm late to the show. I have been working long shifts this week!

The "Guests and new members" forum is only intended to act as a prominent place-holder for the "About us" topic linked here. In short, nobody should be able to post in that particular forum. The fact some people can is caused by an unforeseen forum permissions issue, which I will review and fix.

As for the dry-dock topic, I have moved it to the Boat Building & Maintenance forum, topic linked here. Everyone should be able to see/post in it. Please confirm?

Hold fire - This is not at all intentional. The issue is caused by a discrepancy with the rather granular/extensive forum permissions system, inadvertently and unknowingly permitting some users to be able to post in a otherwise closed forum. I will fix the permissions but its been a busy week offline and it's still only Wednesday!

Rich

 

Ok, lots of slack cut!

Intriguingly, even if this is all accidental there seems to be a lot of good ideas revealed which might be well worth implementing anyway!

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2 minutes ago, reg said:

New user signs up but can only post in a specified forum for a period of time

Typically, spammers will want to "hit and run". An easy way around this would be to moderate the first few posts made by new members. Rarely will a spammer hang around to post multiple times, waiting to post their rubbish on a site. (I've encountered that only once, in all my years of running online forums.) If they spam right away, send them packing.

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17 minutes ago, reg said:

But unintentionally you may of hit on a half decent idea if implemented slightly differently the point about having a early days holding forum for new sign ups could be a useful tool against random troll attacks and other mischief making. 

New user signs up but can only post in a specified forum for a period of time

They could read all other threads

Any registered user could reply to the new users postings

Eventually new user gets promoted to fully register user, criteria needs to be identified for this  and their threads also get promoted. 

Certainly a line of defense against trolling particularly when their mates may want to jump in behind them as their mates would also have to go through the new user signing process. 

Just a thought? 

 

Only draw-back with that is that it would almost defeat the object of having separate forums to separate topics based on categories, e.g. "Cruise Diaries" and "Boat Building & Maintenance", two categories which are entirely different in nature. This would make it difficult to search for topics. (coincidentally, another matter I will be looking into this weekend) Though I get where you're coming from. - There are other permission based features too, such as one which could in theory mean that all posts/topics by new users need to be approved by the moderators before they are visible to everyone else. This would tackle the issue you highlight, though this too would have flaws, some of which:

- Significantly increased workload for our small team of moderators who also volunteer their time
- Some users could lose interest in the forum, particularly or perhaps potentially those who seek a very quick answer to whatever matter they'd like to post about
- I have no doubt there are others I have not even thought about!

Just to add, as far as I'm aware there's no plans for this to be implemented, though all feedback appreciated. :)



 

Edited by RichM
grammars!
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