Message board change....

[lesliew]

Steph, you took the words right out of my mouth! I was hoping I wasn't the only one thinking along those lines...

[jamakamecrazy]

Heather this has been great on my board, I also go through the board and delete anyone that has not posted in 90 days just to keep everything active. I know it would be harder for you being you have so many members but really if everyone had to reregister you will really find out how many true members you have. I think with them being active all the time or at least saying hi every once in awhile it lets you know they are still there. I hate when a lurker comes on and wants to jump into something to stir the pot and they have never said a word about anything else. That is one reason I say you either post on my board within 90 days or you are gone You can ask lynn3633 she is a member of my board and has been for several years we never have someone talking bad to one of my members cause if it happens they are deleted also. I do not tolerate that kind of posting at all. That is also why I have a referral thing also. I have to admit I let alot of people on my board that signed up to watch Lucy and normally I wouldn't but everyone that I let register sent me a very nice email telling me about them. But once Lucy was done having baby only see a few of them on board now. There were several I approved and the never signed on again after Lucy had baby I cleaned up my board and 97 members were deleted.

[morabilityranch]

I think registering to be able to post on message board is a good idea but I would like my cam to be able to viewed by anyone. It is so sad some people have nothing better to do in life than to jump on message boards just to stir up trouble, I see it all the time all over the internet and the places people seem to be friendly and kind to each other is where they like to try to bring drama to break up the peace among the group. I say make everyone register before being able to post on message board and have a no tolerance policy to any rude or flaming comments one slip of the tongue and your kicked off the message board. Cam owners have enough to worry about while waiting for the birth of a foal and during the foaling process they do not need to be drug through the mud by bystanders watching the events unfold and given the what you should of done or not done lectures and have to come back and deal with it on the message boards afterwards.

[shammy]

Sounds good to me too!!!!!

[Sandyb]

I do not post much but i enjoy watching the cams. I am 54 yrs old and have minis myself. My husband is disabled and can not leave the house. These cams are very good for both of us. We enjoy them Heather it helps to pass the time for him. I have to work full time and do all the other things in and out side and in the barn by myself. I understand the registering it is a good thing. I have read alot of things that go on here and agree and disagree with them. But bashing and calling people is not right. I would love to have my cameras that i have on in my barn here. But i am afraid of late nite phone calls coming here. Helpful ones i could use but not some that other people have gotten. My husband could not take it. I love all this you have made. And all that i have talked with have been nice. Thanks for all the work every one does.
;D

[chloesmom]

I think this is a great idea. I do not own horses and am privilaged to be invited into their barns. I've also been shocked at what some have posted and if this gives some peace of mind to all the owners and you, then I'm all for it!

[devotee]

I'm conflicted. (It's my natural state.) If you look at the numbers of people online at any given time, they are typically split pretty evenly between members and nonmembers. If anything, nonmembers outnumber members. As somebody who watched the MB for a long time before registering, I appreciated the ability to get information from the MB without having to give any information in return. Lots of good folks don't like to risk putting their personal information on the Web, for various reasons.

As things stand, nobody can post without registering, am I correct? So, I'm not sure how much we'd gain by making the MB inaccessible to "outsiders". I do see the arguments pro and con, but I'm not sure which is the better solution.

[Heather T]

I'm not sure what the solution is either....just trying to get a feel for things....

We have a very ugly vindictive board out there that is watching our every move and I would prefer to not feed their fire.

[wisteriafarms]

What if you had to wait for a registration to be approved, so it wasn't immediate and maybe would help prevent people from jumping in during the heat of the moment, so to speak. (kind of like 'never hit 'send' on the e-mail while you are still mad') It would also keep 'outsiders' from getting their co-horts together and ganging up on someone during a sensitive moment.
That way you could keep an eye out if there are sensitive topics going on , and if there is a sudden surge in registrations make them wait a little while.

In respect to Devotee's observation about the number of members and guests at a given time...sometimes I peek in to see if there are any new posts without logging in. So then I would be listed as a guest, right? I am not saying that this is a reason to not change registration, I am just pointing out that many of those 'guests' could really be members, so the numbers may be deceiving. Other than that, I do agree with that comment in regards to being able to observe for awhile first. OBSERVING the board without registering isn't the problem, being able to comment is.

Anyway, please don't take these comments the wrong way. They are not meant to be critical of anyone or anyone's comments on this thread...just adding my 2 cents

Julie

[manureslinger]

they could always have a "spy" we don't know about register to have access to the boards.

[cheri]

I'm all for the registration. As for myself I have my profile set for me to be logged in all the time so that when ever I pop in I'm online.

[saddlebredlover]

wisteriafarms said:

What if you had to wait for a registration to be approved, so it wasn't immediate and maybe would help prevent people from jumping in during the heat of the moment, so to speak. (kind of like 'never hit 'send' on the e-mail while you are still mad') It would also keep 'outsiders' from getting their co-horts together and ganging up on someone during a sensitive moment.
That way you could keep an eye out if there are sensitive topics going on , and if there is a sudden surge in registrations make them wait a little while.

This change has already been made.

[Golden Girl]

*I sometime lurk for an hour before logging in, some times I don't log in at all and just go to the chat room....and do not post at all & just watch the mares.

BUT, I am all for weeding out any & all trouble markers that are only here to cause trouble. What ever is decided, count on me to follow suit ;D

[traceyclydeowner]

u guys no best so whatever you decide to do i am in with ya'll..

[risingrainbow]

I have mixed feelings about this two for a couple of reasons. One, I'm one of those people that doesn't always get my email confirmations. I get some but not all and can't figure out why. I don't have a spam blocker. So there are things I've wanted to participate in that I haven't been able to because my email didn't come and the site didn't have a contact us with any problems option.

Also, I tend to be an observor for a while before I participate. I like to have a chance to figure things out before I leap, I guess. But it's me. I got here because Heather contacted me about my twins. If I had found marestare on my own and needed to join before I could even look, I probably would never have ended up here at all.

I do understand the problem but don't know how you can protect against it without distroying part of what has made marestare so appealing to new none horse owning type people. That would be a great loss to the horse community at large. Mare Stare has been a great resource to introduce new people to the magic and wonder of raising horses.