12-25-2018, 10:45 PM
Let's talk about member profiles.
http://www.sectual.com/thread-10570-post...l#pid78879
Although this project has expanded from the original webring concept into a full blown community platform, I'm still not feeling a real need to require an e-mail address for registration. Trolls and other abusers can simply get a disposable GMail account if they don't want to use their real one, so having their e-mail address doesn't make them accountable.
Likewise, IP bans can be circumvented by switching proxies. An IP banned troll can be back online within a couple of minutes. I know a number of simple, effective tricks to slow spam and topic flooding to a crawl. They're super easy to use from the user's perspective, and none of them require the usual image based captchas.
To my way of thinking, privacy is paramount. I've always used a screen name, blind e-mail address, and other false info on websites whenever my real identity wasn't relevant to my use of the site. However, I understand that some sysops may be more comfortable having a way to finger an ill-behaved users, so I'm opening that up to debate.
Re: Links to other online channels
In the old days, forum profiles had a place to add your AIM, ICQ, YIM, IRC, etc. chat handles. Nowadays, it's more common to add your Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Most of those old chat programs are defunct now, so I'm not gonna waste time considering them.
I really hate the major social networks and don't want to drive any traffic to their sites. If I were a sysop, I'd probably block all traffic referred to my site from those websites too. But the latter would be an .htaccess option rather than a software feature.
I'm not particularly keen on having users plug their "alternative" channels like Minds and Gab either. Just because those sites aren't evil today doesn't mean they can't be sold and exploited for evil at some point. I'm really conceiving this as more of a standalone grass roots platform that more or less exists in a head space separate from huge corporate sites. Again, I'm throwing it out there for debate.
Right now, I'm thinking the following voluntary fields will suffice: title, avatar, signature, birthdate, sex, hometown, website, biography. But once more, sysops may have different requirements.
http://www.sectual.com/thread-10570-post...l#pid78879
(12-20-2018, 11:08 AM)Guest Wrote: Notice no e-mail address or other PI is stored here. When users register, they must provide a question and answer to be used to regain access to their account if they forget their password.
Although this project has expanded from the original webring concept into a full blown community platform, I'm still not feeling a real need to require an e-mail address for registration. Trolls and other abusers can simply get a disposable GMail account if they don't want to use their real one, so having their e-mail address doesn't make them accountable.
Likewise, IP bans can be circumvented by switching proxies. An IP banned troll can be back online within a couple of minutes. I know a number of simple, effective tricks to slow spam and topic flooding to a crawl. They're super easy to use from the user's perspective, and none of them require the usual image based captchas.
To my way of thinking, privacy is paramount. I've always used a screen name, blind e-mail address, and other false info on websites whenever my real identity wasn't relevant to my use of the site. However, I understand that some sysops may be more comfortable having a way to finger an ill-behaved users, so I'm opening that up to debate.
Re: Links to other online channels
In the old days, forum profiles had a place to add your AIM, ICQ, YIM, IRC, etc. chat handles. Nowadays, it's more common to add your Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Most of those old chat programs are defunct now, so I'm not gonna waste time considering them.
I really hate the major social networks and don't want to drive any traffic to their sites. If I were a sysop, I'd probably block all traffic referred to my site from those websites too. But the latter would be an .htaccess option rather than a software feature.
I'm not particularly keen on having users plug their "alternative" channels like Minds and Gab either. Just because those sites aren't evil today doesn't mean they can't be sold and exploited for evil at some point. I'm really conceiving this as more of a standalone grass roots platform that more or less exists in a head space separate from huge corporate sites. Again, I'm throwing it out there for debate.
Right now, I'm thinking the following voluntary fields will suffice: title, avatar, signature, birthdate, sex, hometown, website, biography. But once more, sysops may have different requirements.
