Is it a good idea to force people to register to view forums

[club_krome]

when my site started out i emailed my 44k list advertising it a bunch of people registered but not too many posted.

A month later i emailed the same list offering a job in order to get the job they had to register for the forums first and a lot of people did but when they did many also stayed and posted and came back day after day which didn't happen when the first time

so it made me think when i advertised the site people came and left but when they had to register for it a lot of them stayed active in the forums

so who thinks its a good idea to make people have to register to view the forums

[Anime-loo]

Ive never been for doing it, i like to read whats on the forum before i start posting/ register. In fact 99% of the time if a site forces me to reg i close the broswer window and do not return.

[BillaBongUSA]

Yeah, same here, I figure that message boards that force you to register probably aren't worth viewing.

[irc]

I agree. I think it's a bad idea. There might be a good reason to make a particular sub-forum read only, but not the whole thing. The way to get people to register is to have something worth posting about.

[filburt1]

Originally posted by Anime-loo
Ive never been for doing it, i like to read whats on the forum before i start posting/ register. In fact 99% of the time if a site forces me to reg i close the broswer window and do not return.

Ditto, only it's 100% of the time here.

[club_krome]

i agree with all of you its just weird how my forums got going the second people had to register i got a lot more members and those members continued to come backand post

[SkuZZy]

When I first opened I forced users to register to view the boards. It worked good for me and my forums got fairly popular and then I removed the restrictions. I think if you're a new forum starting out, forcing users to register is a good way to build up your user base. It worked for me.

[zachb]

Originally posted by irc
I agree. I think it's a bad idea. There might be a good reason to make a particular sub-forum read only, but not the whole thing. The way to get people to register is to have something worth posting about.

sorry to go off topic, but i just wanted to tell you that i love reading your message boards! i go there almost everyday to read new stuff people post. you have a very nice community. i signed up, but haven't posted yet. i plan to, though.

back on tpic:

i also hate it when you must first register to read the forums. i like to get a feel for the people there before diving right in.

[Michael2]

Same here, would never register for a board that required registration to read posts.

On my board, I do have a chat room embedded in a forum that is members only (primarily so I can control who has access to it) and I'm also testing out a new forum that is members only. If it's something people may really want, like freebies or something, then it may be beneficial but I think the majority would have to be veiwable.

Kind of curious, are there many really successful boards that require registration? Not sure I know of any.

[irc]

Originally posted by zachb
[B]sorry to go off topic, but i just wanted to tell you that i love reading your message boards! i go there almost everyday to read new stuff people post. you have a very nice community. i signed up, but haven't posted yet. i plan to, though.

Wow thanks!

[shri]

It really depends on what the forum is all about and what you're restricting.

I usually keep most of the content visible except for some forums which have a lot of valuable content and I block those off. Works just fine ....

Sometimes you have to give your readers that added incentive to register.

[bromyaur]

I dont like forced registration. I would rather people be able to view my forum and make the decision whether they want to join or not.

I even allow an "unregistered guest' to make a thread or reply to a post but restrict them from replying to their own threads.This way they can get a feel for the forum and make an attempt at interacting and seeing how they are recieved before they join.

This has helped me out last week when I had a member who couldnt log in, so he posted a message in my "lounge area" explaining it was him and he was having a hard time logging in.If he would have sent me an email I might not have gotten around to reading it for a while.

I find forced registration does get you more members, but most of them are 0 posters, they sign up just so they can see the forum then disappear.

[Prince]

Originally posted by SkuZZy
When I first opened I forced users to register to view the boards. It worked good for me and my forums got fairly popular and then I removed the restrictions. I think if you're a new forum starting out, forcing users to register is a good way to build up your user base. It worked for me.

that seems backwards...

any board I get to that requires me to register first, I leave.

[Erwin]

Originally posted by Prince
that seems backwards...

any board I get to that requires me to register first, I leave.

I have to agree. Visitors need to be able to view the content of the forums before they can decide whether they want to join your community or not. Remember that many members used to be long-time lurkers.

[UHN_ED]

I hang around several forums that I like to read, but I have had nothing to contribute to. I suggest letting anyone read anything, except for things that are private, and if they want to post then they have to register.