Should the 510 Realm be viewable by non-registered users?

[KiKiIchiBan]

View, yes. The Realm is the wiki of 510ness. Then turn on adverts for non registered guests to help with the hosting fees.

[datzenmike]

Perhaps just the 7 sections of the Technical should be available for public viewing. If you want dialogue/discussion, access to the rest of the site, pose a question or post your build you have to be hungry enough to join. All new posts for a while anyway, should be approved by a moderator.

In rare cases, if all they post is "Nice build" or "I want one" to build their post count and their only car is a BMW (no Datsuns mentioned) and their hobbies include gaming I just leave it and wait. I call them tire kickers, not really serious about Datsuns. Either they go away or let slip their dad had a Datsun or they had one in school... something related. Sometimes a bumpy start but they do fit in. Like I said, you have to be hungry.

At the moment on Ratsun there are 9 registered members and 95 'guests'. Some members have been guests for a long time and finally circumstances change and they need to join to go further. Being able to view at least some of the sections is a good recruitment tool.

[Stu]

Yes. I like to send people to by build page if they want more detail but those people may never want to be a member.

[ostaylor]

Yes. I like to send people to by build page if they want more detail but those people may never want to be a member.

Agree - a bunch of friends and colleagues are interested in my build but are not going to own a Datsun themselves. It's unfortunate that they can't view my build thread without registering. Even some of my family won't register to follow my thread. View only should not require registration. I don't see what the harm is - they can't spam or cause problems if they can't post.

[Stu]

Any update on this? I have several people who would like to see my build page but are really wanting to be members just to see progress.

[icehouse]

Plus it's annoying when you are on a computer that's not yours and you don't want to log in to see what's going on.

[Rush]

All of this.
I hope it changes back, too. I have friends who'd like to see my build, as well.

[iceman510]

Also, I see many registering and making their introduction post, but then no further posts. Are they getting approved in a timely manner?

[gooned]

I’ll chime in, most forums I’m on it took some time to be comfortable before posting…so public access is a must if we want this niche to survive.

[icehouse]

Plus when you google things about our Datto's you end up 2 places. Here or Ratsun. We gotta keep the info accessible! I mean so much is lost now that everyone posts on Facebook and instagram.

[Rush]

Absolutely! Social media has all but killed forums; no forums, no archives. People are willing to forego the searchable, useable archives that are forums for a fleeting, useless "like" on worthless social media.

[bertvorgon]

I could not agree more! For me, a Non-social media user, the Realm has been my life blood of communication for drives, events, car shows...and....seeing what others are doing and adding any small advice that I can give.

I bet I "pop in" at least a dozen times a day..retirement has it's advantages..hell...I did that at work!

From my perspective too, this site has such SOLID information by people who have truly lived the 510.

When I have gone on very rare occasion to the Infinity G35 forums, I have seen so much misinformation, misunderstanding of how things work, it is really sad when I think that others may follow that advice. This site is truly a treasure for resources, parts, and just plain how to build your 510 with ACTUAL hands on experience.

[Rush]

100%! This forum really was (and is) a vital piece of my build and I may never have done what I did without being able to browse the forum for inspiration before I joined.

[ostaylor]

Any thoughts from an admin on this topic? I'm sure there must be a rationale for the no viewing that isn't understood by those of us on the outside. I started out the thread with an offer to help technically and that offer remains. I have also asked before about submitting an annual donation to help offset costs. Not sure where to send that to anymore.

[510rob]

There is one Administrator account (Spencer); there are three Moderator accounts (myself, Byron, Richard).

Making the change to the background php settings to allow public viewing of this forum can only be accomplished with an administrator account.

To that end, I sent a note to Spencer about making the forum publicly-accessible again.