Please respond to the poll on the left, my feeling is that we have had quite a number of anonymous posts, sometimes just “trying the system” and screwing up the comments sections, those morons will never register and I couldn’t care less.
However I feel that the majority of discussions we have had here are really worthwhile and engender good rapprochement between people and cultures, and those people I think are mostly registered and post under their own names/pseudonyms.
To help those people a bit, I have reduced the security aspects of the site in that if they do allow cookies and log in once, then the cookie will stay alive and re-log them into the site for 90 days before they have to log in again. If you do not allow cookies on your browsers of course you will have to log in every time you come to the site, but this is completely your choice.
I’m trying to guage the response for 2 or 3 weeks to see what you feel. If sufficient people suggest that we should disallow anon comments, then it’s a simple process to allow anon visitors to be able read, but not respond to any post/comment.
I feel that I would at least want to respond to a “person” rather than a cloud.
Let me know what you think please..
Comments
Anon comments
Yeah, Mahmood, it would be better if posters assumed some identity other than “Anonymous” for the sake of continuity.
By the way, Mahmood, when I “Post a new comment” the “Font Size” and “Close Tags” fields remain in the foreground, superimposed on the expanded “Comment” field. One is set to “Default” and the other is “Normal”.
Steve
Re: Anon comments
Ooops! I’ll check that. Though I don’t get that in Mozilla nor FireFox, you must be on MSIE?
Anon comments
Hye Mahmood,
I think you’ll be pleased to see that upon your request, I created an account for myself here and from now on you won’t have to look at my previously “ANONYMOUS” moniker. Please understand that I (and I know I speak for a large bunch of other bloggers out here in cyberspace) had in no way any intention of cluttering up this great blog with stupid untraceable comments or stuff like that. The sad fact is, many of us here in the States (and plenty in Europe and other places as well!) have had to develop the habit of not divulging personal information about ourselves on the Net because of the gigantic amount of Spam that have been flooding our mailboxes over the past years. I’ve signed up with you because I’ve read your blog for a long time now and have come to trust your motives and all that, but the unfortunate fact is that at least here in the West, there have been TONS of people here who’ve been all too happy to hack and sell details about thousands–if not millions–of us to people who have nothing better to do than flood our mailboxes withs about how we need to buy phony Viagra, and stuff like that. I don’t know what the situation is about stuff like this is in Bahrain, but I can assure you that here in America it is OUT OF CONTROL. The problem stems from the fact that we are a society that prizes free speech and expression (for obvious reasons!), and that because of this, idiots like these are protected under free speech laws and are allowed to inconvenience the rest of us with stuff like this which we don’t need. So as a result, many of us out here have learned the hard way to become wary about who we divulge our personal information to. Please understand that this is ABSOLUTELY NOT a reflection on you and people like you…after all, you and your ilk are some of the people we here in the West have come to depend upon to supply a good amount of (at least semi-) neutral, unbiased information and opinions that our mainstream media is in short supply of. People like you are the ones we out here are counting on, so please don’t feel dismayed that at least some of us out here are reluctant to part with vestiges of our privacy.
Re: Anon comments
I completely understand Michael, and we too suffer from the infernal spam.
It’s just that I think that it is better discussing topics and comments with an entity rather than “anonymous” all the time. There are benefits to registering, one of which is the ability to trace and edit your own posts.
As to divulging information, thanks to the engine I’m using for this site (Xaraya) users’ emails are always protected, there is even a switch in the administration with a huge big warning to the admin as to allow/disallow searching by email addresses. This is off by default and it shall remain so on this site.
The email address used in the registration process is simple to confirm the authenticity of the user primarily. It is NOT visible to any other visitor, just the administrator. So in effect, you can create a yahoo, hotmail or any other free email account, use that email to receive the confirmation information for registration and then never use that account again!
You’re also not forced to enter you own name in any of the registration screens unless you choose to. I’m happy enough with people using pseudonyms (and a lot do). Even replying/discussing a topic with a pseudonym (to me) is better than anon.
The email account you specify does have other uses should I as an administrator choose to use. For instance there are a couple of good plugins and extensions to Xaraya that I might switch on in the future and that is “pubsub” in that you can “tag” any article to receive any additional comment to by email. The other is a newsletter module which can send out a summary of posts/comments and other articles in a daily, weekly, monthly gazzette format. I have not activated those yet, but if I see a need for them in the future I shall.
One rule I follow on all of my sites which should be plainly spelt out to everyone: I shall NEVER sell or otherwise make available your personal information or email to ANYONE.
Anon comments
I say no to anonymous posts. Screws up
the flow of the thread. Many times I will
not read an anonymous post. It’s about trust for me. If someone can’t be bothered to help differientiate themselves from other posters then I do not waste my time reading through it.
Infringment on Free Speech? How so when you can pen any name or ‘handle’ you’d like?
P.S. Mahmood I’m getting two windows in the commment box blocking out the text I type–just to let you know. One is ‘Default’ other is ‘Normal’.
Anon comments
mahmood ..
i get the same problem as leap frog.
as for anon posts .. i dont mind reading them .. but it always gives a bit more flavor to the characters writing them if it is done under a name .. does not have to be a real name ..
jj
Anon comments
I don’t think its helpful at all. I’d rather have the choice to comment under a name or anon.
There’s a principle here of freedom of choice which I think should be respected.
Re: Anon comments
Thanks for the response. There is an option actually in that I can allow registered users to CHOOSE whether to post their comment under their name, or post anonymously. But that defeats the purpose, no?
Let me know if you would rather have that option.
Anon comments
If people want to use names than they should be able to do so – likewise if people want to post anonymously that right should also be respected.
Re(1): Anon comments
Yup. MSIE. It just started a couple days ago.
Steve
Anon comments
You could also use DD to allow a name to be attached to the comment without someone logging in if you wanted.
jc
Anon comments
Registering, logging in etc’s a bad idea. The last thing this site wants to be doing is replicating the the bureaucracy and keeping tabs on people that defines the rest of the Arab world.
This sites a breath of fresh air – lets keep it that way.
Re: Anon comments
fair enough. thanks for your input.
Anon comments
I think people should log in with a name. After all, how hard is it to make up a screen name??? Using Anon makes the forum more impersonal and I prefer a sense of community — even if it is a diverse and sometimes argumentative community 😉
Salaam,
PM
Oops!
I must have deleted my cookies because rather than log-in automatically, I see that I JUST POSTED AS ANONYMOUS!!! LOL!!!
That will teach me… 😉
Salaam,
PM
Anon comments
Perhaps there is a way to “encourage” more people to register and sign in when posting. One thought is if you ran polls and you wanted to vote you would need to be registered. (hint hint TWITBTHIFD Society poll?) Another is perhaps limiting the number on Anon posts from a single IP address in a given amount of time? I don’t know if these are viable or possible. What I would not like to see is one person having several registered names for the purpose or trolling and flaming the board. Skewing possible polls or Mahmood’s Den votes or contests etc. They are ideas nothing more nothing less.
For some I understand it is not always possible to be “signed in” all the time. Computers at home/office/laptop in the car ect. Sometimes I feel lucky I can remember all my passwords.
As others have said and feel you don’t have to sign up with your real name. Just chose a moniker. There is something about having a “name” with a post that seems to build a sense of community. It also helps avoid confusion over who said what. Something that happend to me when Mahmood was living it up in Canada.(well deserved I might add!) Nothing serious but it was interesting how it played out and the question was resolved very quickly. Another good benefit is it easier to scroll over those you might want to ignore.
Anon comments
Well first of all, I don’t think we should be dwelling on our “right to free speech” here folks. We aren’t at Hyde Park Corner, we are here in Mahmood’s Den, where we are his guests and friends. This is a nice cosy place, I like it fine. But it could be rendered otherwise by hostile spammers and web-vandals. So I have just voted for registration, and I am going through the process at the moment. (Lets all hope I get it right this time!)
Meggie
Re: Anon comments
I’d prefer dealing with a name, even a phony one. However, you should still let anon posters post. My reason is that every obstacle you place to posting reduces the number of posts.
I read a book about Mrs. Fields cookies where she pointed out that their marketing department discovered that every thing that blocked her customers from the cookie counter reduced sales. If there was a single step where the customers had to step up to the cookie counter, it reduced sales 15%. That’s why they decided to keep the counter open to the malls so the customers could walk directly to the counter where the cookies were.
It encourages posters to post if they can scroll right down to the Reply field and start typing. Maybe you can convince them of the value of registering later.
Steve
Re: Anon comments
Meggie,
Your right. I’ve been a ‘lurker’ on this site for several months but never seen the need to comment, but now I’ve registered just so I could join in with the chat. I lived and worked in Bahrain many years ago and enjoyed my time there, and Mahmood’s Den is a great way of keeping in touch with what I always thought of as, at the time, home.
Alan
The West
Perhaps you can require Westerners to register, since we’re not in (much) danger, (hello Mr. Ashcroft?!) but allow Bahrainis, Iraqis, etc to post anonymously?
Anon comments
Mahmood…
And what about those of us boneheads that registered and forgot our ID’s and passwords? Is there some mercy for us?
P! from Bolivia…
Anon comments
Wonders will never cease, I finally navigated my way through the registration process without crashing out in a flurry of bloopers and typos. It’s good to be legit for a change. Even went to the hairdressers to get myself smartened up in honour of my new status. (Perhaps that was a mistake, because now I look as if I’m wearing my brains on the outside. But at least you can tell that I have taken the trouble…)
Re: Anon comments
Thank you Meggie and welcome once again on-board!
Re: Anon comments
Look! This is how flexible Xaraya is and I never thought of this solution!! Thanks John.
Re: Anon comments
I couldn’t represent that error! I’ll have a look at that today and see what I can do.
I agree with you JJ that having (pseudo)names on comments entered eases the flow of discussion and characterises the poster. Like someone else said as well, it strengthens the feeling of community too.
Re(1): Anon comments
this is the crux of the problem. I know that a lot of people don’t want to even use a pseudonym because they feel that they might be discovered and persecuted in some way. That is the very main reason I have always run this site enabling anon users just as much access as registered users.
I think one thing to do is take up JC’s suggestion and add a field to the comments so that people can enter any name they wish at the time of posting, or maybe better allowing even registered users to post anonymously whenever they feel the need to do so just by clicking a button.
In all cases, I do not want to create obstacles to posting.
Re: Anon comments
Yes there is! The initial password sent to you was meant to be temporary! On your first (or subsequent) logins into the site, you could click the “customise” link at the top of the page and change almost all information in your account, including choosing a new password which might be easier for you to remember. (the customise link only appears after you have logged in)
I think the “customise” link might be confusing, so I’ll change that link to say “my account” which will only appear once you are logged in (like the link which changes “login” to “logout” once you’re logged in.)
If you have forgotten your password or ID, I’ll add a link for retrieving lost IDs or passwords in a prominent place.
Re: The West
Too complicated but I understand your meaning and have commented about this issue above. Reading minds!
Anon comments
Littlewhy:
[quote]Perhaps you can require Westerners to register, since we’re not in (much) danger, (hello Mr. Ashcroft?!) but allow Bahrainis, Iraqis, etc to post anonymously? [/quote]
Mahmood doesn’t require any personal info when you register other than your email address. You can provide as much or as little info in your profile fields. Example: all any of us know about you is your in Arizona according to your profile. Even being registered you are as anonymous as you want to be.
Anon comments
P! from Bolivia – I’m one of those boneheads who forgot my password. I relocated it but had I not, would’ve just registered again. I agree with Mahmood that it is nicer to have talks and discussions with people, not non-entities. Most of us post on various boards, and it is nice to know who we are talking with. I do feel that if you have the conviction of your words, you need have no fear of signing a “handle”. It doesn’t have to be your real name.
Greetings!
Congratulations Mr. Mahmood for your enlightening and encouraging website! It’s a wonderful place. I’ve tried to register, by the way, but seem to have gotten shunted off before the process was complete. Just so you don’t have to feel you are “talking to a cloud” my name is Ampbreia, my e-mail is ampbreia@netzero.com, and my website is http://www.ampbreia.com. There. We’re not strangers anymore.
I have to say I was dying to comment about it when I sby your articles that you are a Muslim that [i][b]doesn’t[/b][/i] support terorism, censorship, mysogyny, or dictatorship. I thought ALL Muslims supported those things and have even found support for such things in the Koran itself… which is why I left Islam myself. While I can no longer EVER even consider going back to Islam because I cannot accept it as true, I still hope for its redemption. You are a hopeful sign of such redemption being possible and a blessing to those you can manage to influesnce. Thank you for that.