Desert Fox
Philosopher
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Better to break it into $1 or $2 a month
Most of us will not even notice that but come out to $1000 a month in support even if a fraction contribute.
Future of the Forum
- Thread starter idoubtit
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- future of forum isf new forum
Better to break it into $1 or $2 a month
Most of us will not even notice that but come out to $1000 a month in support even if a fraction contribute.
The reason always given is that the JREF wanted it. Whether there were ever any plans to do more with the information I do not know, but I could understand that a NP would want the information to help it spread its message and even fundraising.
One thing that the requirement has done is to protect this place from some of the waves of "trolls" and other ne'er-do-wells who often cause harm to forums and their communities.
Spindrift
Time Person of the Year, 2006
Requiring a name is a very common thing. It allows the organization to send you emails with your name in it to give you some confidence that the email is not spam.
ETA: Where is our name stored? I can't find it in the CP.
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My goal here would be to accomplish the following things:
It's my hope that the present moderating staff will stay in place. Several have agreed to do so. Also, an old technical advisor has agreed to come out of the woodwork and help us get where we need to be.
In order for the forum to succeed, it will need to generate enough income to pay for the servers. I don't think that would be too difficult.
If you have suggestions for changes to be made, that's great, but until the above goals are met, I don't think we should think about implementing them.
The forum community owes Randi the JREF a debt of gratitude for its very existence. Things haven't always been smooth, but the gratitude is still warranted.
Also, from what I've seen, Sharon Hill has been instrumental in trying to save the forum, as has Icerat.
That's where I'm coming from.
1) move the forum off JREF servers
2) stabilize the software
3) Send a mass e-mail to every account on the forum announcing the change
4) Delete all private messages before 5 Aug
5) Completely delete any account that requests it
6) Get on the business of maintaining the community
2) stabilize the software
3) Send a mass e-mail to every account on the forum announcing the change
4) Delete all private messages before 5 Aug
5) Completely delete any account that requests it
6) Get on the business of maintaining the community
It's my hope that the present moderating staff will stay in place. Several have agreed to do so. Also, an old technical advisor has agreed to come out of the woodwork and help us get where we need to be.
In order for the forum to succeed, it will need to generate enough income to pay for the servers. I don't think that would be too difficult.
If you have suggestions for changes to be made, that's great, but until the above goals are met, I don't think we should think about implementing them.
The forum community owes Randi the JREF a debt of gratitude for its very existence. Things haven't always been smooth, but the gratitude is still warranted.
Also, from what I've seen, Sharon Hill has been instrumental in trying to save the forum, as has Icerat.
That's where I'm coming from.
Spindrift
Time Person of the Year, 2006
I think the new forum should be opt-in, not opt-out. Send out that mass email. Give people a reasonable amount of time to opt-in after that deactivate all who didn't opt-in and delete the personal info. I assume the accounts would have to stay for thread integrity. Account user names could be changed for those who opted out to something generic like user_12345.
jsfisher
ETcorngods survivor
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2005
- Messages
- 24,532
This would be a good thing, but the discussion of personal information really has three prongs that should be held separate. There's the data, itself. It is personal information, after all, and having it exchanged out of the control of the "owner" can be unsettling. Then, there is how the new forum will deal with the sensitivities of the first item. Finally, there is the violation of trust people placed in the JREF to not do the very thing it is in the process of doing.
As some others have expressed, the privacy of my information isn't all that important to me, but I accept that it may matter a lot to others. To the second issue, I am happy with the direction icerat seems to be heading.
The last point, though, I find very distressing.
Often, two out of three ain't bad, but #3 is a biggy for me. Lack of integrity and all that. All on JREF; none on icerat nor Jeff Wagg.
Rat
Not bored. Never bored.,
I think completely deleting accounts can be problematic. And I think we may need to define what is being opted into and out of when we speak of opting in and out.
The JREF initially wanted (real) name and full postal address, than after a few years reduced that to just name, country and if in the USA a state. For a very short period it also wanted an accurate DOB but that only lasted a very short time. (DOB is still listed in the registration because of a technical software reason but is clearly labeled with a "this is not required so you can put whatever you want it in".)
Because of a screw up nearly ten years ago when we migrated to a new server and new software (at the same time) the importation of user's personal details did not take everyone's complete details over. Members when then asked to provide them again once they logged back in.
In regards to the privacy issue issue something similar could be done if the new folk still want real names/locations. If the transfer goes ahead before the software is changed then it's a matter of minutes to delete the current personal user information and then request a user to re-enter it when they first log in under the new folk. (If I recall correctly the hacks I made for that to happen last time are still in the current setup). And I'm sure something similar could be done with any new software.
Strongly seconded.
Although I'm still a little lost to who exactly owns/is in control of what at this point.
Belz...
Fiend God
I must have missed this.
Yes they would - that's always been a problem and when I've looked into other forum software one that is common. I don't think there is any issue in regards to privacy to just leave the username - that was never personal information that the JREF held securely.
Rat
Not bored. Never bored.,
If by opt-in we mean that the account will not exist in any way unless someone asks for it to, there is far less point in carrying the old data across. Trying to read threads where every post is by Guest is quite annoying. Assuming that people didn't use their real names as account names, there is no reason not to keep the account names.
And in case folks have forgotten this is the privacy statement for the forum: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/privacy.htm
Even if they did that would not in anyway be a breach of trust or the actual privacy statement the forum has used for a long time. Usernames are not part of the "personal" or "private" information the JREF held via the Forum. ETA: You can see what would be covered from the link above.
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Spindrift
Time Person of the Year, 2006
Opt-in:
There would be a new Membership Agreement and when the changeover occurs existing members would have to agree to the new MA before proceeding. Your username and whatever else existed before would be maintained. You then have the same or equivalent access as you did in the JREF Forum as in the forum-who-has-not-been-named.
Opt-out (implicit or explicit)
Your username is changed to something generic (this could be optional on an explicit opt-out). All Control Panel information associated with the username is deleted, including password. Prior posts are kept but they are credited to the new generic username. The old account will not be able to be re-activated.
Explicit is at the request of the user. Implicit would be all accounts that have not opted in by the deadline.
Belz...
Fiend God
Why ?
Again, why ? It's part of the conversation. Just leave them in but deactivate the accounts.
Yes, I think this is the best way to go. We'll have to see what's actually possible though. I fear that some history is going to be lost, but that's less important than protecting people who were promised privacy.
I know privacy issues have caused concerns and many ruckus in the past but the only information that falls under the privacy expectations are the ones that were required for a registration which are:
Real Name
Country
State in in the USA.
If someone has used their real name as their username that's not a privacy issue for the JREF nor the new folk as that was provided publicly by the user.
It really is not a big deal to delete the information before the new folks can get their hands on any of it if that is what is needed.
Real Name
Country
State in in the USA.
If someone has used their real name as their username that's not a privacy issue for the JREF nor the new folk as that was provided publicly by the user.
It really is not a big deal to delete the information before the new folks can get their hands on any of it if that is what is needed.