Mark Some Forums as Private?

[TempletonPeck]

I'm fairly new here, but had a suggestion I'd like to pass along. I would imagine it might have come up before, but I didn't see anything with a quick search.

Would it maybe be a good idea to make some of the forums private, in that they aren't visible to non-members?

It might help people join the community and participate more, instead of just grabbing and running (which is OK I suppose).

It might help prevent issues between the site and any companies as well.

You'd still have the blog for public postings and not all of the forums would have to be only visible to members logged in.

Just a suggestion, take it for what you will.

[Litesandsirens911]

I think that has been brought up before, and Smartcanucks is a site for the people, by the people...Boo has worked really hard to get our site WOM out there, and that would defeat the purpose of Smartcanucks..we are a trading/discussion COMMUNITY.
We have been featured in Canadian Living magazine; on CTV , and others...

And I don't think we have to worry about it's attracting more members, its doing fantastic, we have thousands of members, and companies are now allowing us to advertise their sales: IE : WalMart as long as the flyers are out..besides, if it wasn't for this site being on Google, being free, and allowing ANYONE who wants to to join,I personally wouldn't be here.
Just my opinion.

[TempletonPeck]

Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting blocking anyone from joining, or making this a private board or community (what right would I have, I'm new here).

Just wondering if requiring a login to see a few of the forums might help better control those areas and entice a few people to sign up and participate.

There are a lot of members here/signed up, but the more the better.

The issue is, if people do sign up, will they participate, or just login and lurk anyways.

Just a thought I had, I thought I'd throw out there. I noticed that there were a lot of guests online (over 500).

I think I probably should have used the word "hidden".

[thecountess]

You can start a group and make it private, by invitation only. Then only group members and the mods can see the group postings. At the top of the forum click on Quick Links and then Social Groups in the drop-down menu.

[Sally888]

Ya Boo would never make it that you have to join to see the forums. If people are interested that much in Sc they join