copied from eth Tiffany twisted thread

Can anyone at write words explain why these threads are open to be googled? it doesn't make for open and frank discussions if non-members can read everything. but I imagine there is a reason for it, just curious as to why.

in future I doubt I'll be contributing to any open thread.

I really hate that anything i say here however innocuous can be read by nonmembers.

Yeah Jai I agree, that's why I'm always careful what I say.

All non-members are cyants anyway, especially if they is googling away just to find out what us fi-yi-yine WW people are saying.

We could always develop a code. To get the proverbial ball rollin, I suggest, to keep to a literararary theme, we call them Muggles.

i.e. "Them Muggles have got a bleedin nerve, googlin my comments and getting all hoighty toighty, defending themselves AND their magazines..."



I know this sounds nasty and piss takey but I'm serious.

Okay, maybe not, but I am bored and I don't mean this in offence to you or the lovely Anisoarus, but seriously I don't reckon we got much to worry about. Why shouldn't we still be open just coz everyone in the entire Cyber World can read our comments?

Hmmmmmm, Cyberworld. Got to be a story in that..

Yeah Jai I agree, that's why I'm always careful what I say.

Thanks, Dav. I needed a laugh today.

Jai, I suppose the forum threads are open to public view so that potential new members can browse and become interested. As it’s a fee-paying site, people are not likely to sign up to something they can’t see.

Dee

I've been thinking about this too, for obvious reasons. One idea I had was that free scopers could see thread titles, number of reponses, but not thread content. That way they'd get an idea of what they're missing!

I agree with Davey.

Just take it to WW Mail if you have something private or off topic to discuss.

Silver,

The matter in question though wasn't private or off-topic at all.

Or some public forums - writing-related issues but a members-only lounge, bearing in mind that it's easy to sign up as a temporary member. However, at least the subjects wouldn't be googlable.
E

Wow thanks silver, at last we agree on something. I knew this day would come!

There is hope for us all; altogther now:

Oh say can you see
I don't wanna be an American Idiot
By the dawn's early light
Don't wanna be a part of a redneck agenda

God Save our Gracious Queen
The Facist Regime
God Save our Noble Queen
They'll make you a moron, potential H-Bomb

Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need
There is no future
There is no future...

Lovely.

Come on girls, don't worry about it. So you slated the e-zine thingy, so what? You did no harm, just raised a point, she explained herself, end of story.

Let 'em read what we say, they'll never take our freeeeeeeeeeeeeedom!


Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge...

If you upload work as 'members only' it will not be googleable (to invent a new word). Comments on that work are also then invisible to non members.

Yes, David, we are protected for our work but the forums are public which means anyone can read them (and they're googleable)
E

Honest, open discussion in the 'Getting Published' forum is rather vulnerable.

e.g. - sorry, yes, only just read the other thread to understand the issue fully. As Tiffany Twisted herself rightly says, we do mention as clearly as possible in the Guidelines box that it is a public forum.

There are various reasons we keep the forum public, and not least of those is that it does, as suggested, act as a showcase for the wonderful array of talent we have here at ww.

Even in a private forum members would have to take care to avoid slander so I don't think that would change this particular issue much in that respect. The main issue we have come across regarding the public nature of the site is writers' concerns about the visibility of their work, particularly if it's an early draft etc (read our help page for a fully explanation of our position on this) - that's why we allowed writers to make their work members only.

The above said, there are some reasonable arguments for having a forum that is for members only, - it's something we'll look into.

thanks David - it would make for a more conducive environment if we felt our words were between members only. that way a safe community can grow

zoetrope forum is all enclosed and that does not prevent it from being popular. you could still make it all available to part members but it's the fact anyone can read if they google that is the problem.

they are such things as stalkers unfortunately. It is very easy to forget it is open and to be lulled into a false sense of security by the fact that you have to be a member to join etc

i would thank you for anything you could do on this matter.

I’ll second that, David. It would be good to have somewhere to discuss matters privately – especially where it concerns agents or publishers. Could it be strictly for fully paid-up members? As Elspeth said, it’s very easy to join on a free trial and use the forums to seriously upset members – as I recently found to my cost.

Dee

I hope this doesn't end up as a multiple posting--I've tried a few times, but my computer's resident gremlin keeps on getting in the way. Sorry if you all have to read this more than once.

I am a very new member here (I'm still not half-way into my month's free trial). Before I had a browse around, I felt quite negatively about this forum: it seemed odd to me that one had to pay to use a forum, when there are so many out there which are free to use. Then I had a look through, and read some of the posts, and realised that actually there is a lot of quality here, and perhaps (!) that quality is what makes this forum worth paying for.

Now, without being able to read through the posts, and see how helpful, supportive and good you all were here I would have probably clicked on and not appreciated the site. As it was, I continue to be amazed at the level of expertise available here, and the positive, helpful nature of it all. I've even read through some bickering, where the bickerees each apologised to each other constantly for being so disagreeable--when all they were doing was debating their differing viewpoints. Brilliant, I thought, as I am far more used to seeing internet melt-down when people disagree.

And there we are: it's precisely that supportive, positive, informed discussion that has to be protected here. How that can be done is up to the forum owners: I don't know enough about this site, yet, to be able to suggest what they could do to ensure that. What I do know is that if talented people like Jai feel that they can no longer post freely then this site will suffer, and that would be a shame: but that if newbies can't see how good it is here, then they are unlikely to join.