registration requirement

decon · Beginner Joined: Apr 13, 2004 Posts: 2

I'll try to make this as coherent and polite as possible but make no mistake, I'm pretty frustrated.

Sites that require me to create user accounts to read information, search forums etc drive me nuts. I'm NOT giving out my real email address(I never get spam btw), so I have to go and create a new free email account for each of the sites(no, I dont need a new one for each but it helps in indentifying spam participants). I can understand limiting of posting to forums and the like, but requiring an account to DOWNLOAD the software, why?! I'm CERTAIN there are better methods for fighting linkers if that's the reason. I know I'm not alone in being frustrated at having to create an account for EVERY WEBSITE I GO TO.

AdBot

slackbladder · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 1:32 am Post subject: Re: registration requirement

It is frustrating I know - however the real benefit for the user, is FORUM replies. If you post a question and the 'Notify me when a reply is posted' is ticked and you have an active email address you are sent notification, as soon as the question has a reply.

As far as downloads - webspace/bandwidth costs money. Why shouldn't the ADMIN restrict access to these areas - especially when trying to limit hot linking, etc.

Also, as most content/files are FREE (many hours hard work by someone), why shouldn't admin use your email address (not sold on) - to send you relevent information?

SPAM is normal way of life on the web (if it's not bots, then its from virus) - good on yer for not getting any, but by not using an active email address maybe you are losing out on the real benefits of registration.
_________________
"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad."

dari · Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 10:21 pm Post subject: Re: registration requirement

exactly...i'm pushing upwards of 10GB of data a month from this site, on a static IP home DSL account. i'm lucky my ISP hasn't shut me down yet. requiring registration saves me LOADS of bandwidth every month, and inevitably, saved this site as well. hosting is not cheap, and i prefer a dedicated server of my own that i have total control over (for firewalling, etc). it is a minor inconvenience, yes, but your email address stays in the database, and is never released, sold, or otherwise given away by myself. you have the option to not display your real email address in your profile, and to even specify a fake one. use the tools available to you here to protect your privacy, and i can assure you that your information will not be voluntarily released by anyone involved with the administration of your site... read the acceptable use policy (http://www.nukedgallery.net/sections.html&op=viewarticle&artid=1) for more information.
_________________

decon · Beginner Joined: Apr 13, 2004 Posts: 2

I can appriciate the downsides to hosting at home, perhaps you'd be better served to use a service such as sourceforge or seek hosting elsewhere... if anything using sourceforge for your downloads would reduce quite a bit of traffic I'm guessing. Personally, I would be a lot happier with registrations if I didn't have to verify with an email account. The character recognition alone would stop linking and leeching I'm thinking. Just some ideas, I personally think the registration trend is a blight..