A new member

Hi ladies ive been asked if craftymumof3 can join our birthday card club she is a newbie , so i thought i would run it passed you all

Most will know by now that I am paranoid/very careful of sharing too much information over the net due to identity theft possibilities. Personally I would be happier if people in the birthday club had been active members for say a 3 month period or something like that. Its the type of thing we used to do on MPORPG forums as a security type of thing. People joined as provisional members and had to be approved for full membership before they could join in things like Birthday clubs.

This is in no way meant to offend anyone, just a method of safeguarding my information a little. I know that my opinion is in the minority though and hope that no-one is offended

That's true Jen - How about joining in the card swap first so people get to know you when you first join.

That sounds a good idea Jacky

I agree with Jen wholeheartedly about giving out too much information too soon and think the idea of being a member for a period of time first is a good idea. I think also they need to be an active member - not just someone who joins , posts once and then just waits. But I also think it should maybe apply to other things such as the card swap as addresses are given out for that as well. Hope this does not offend anyone but these days you can't be too careful and I know a couple of other forums have had problems in the past.

Hi Ladies
Have taken note of all the above comments, and VERY valid points they are too!
I have sent an email to Anne on the matter quoting what has been said
This has wider implications for the rest of the Forum too
Moderators' addresses being handed out for swaps etc
Can I please ask that if you have any problems or enquiries like this that you get in touch and we can hopefully resolve them as we might just miss this kind of posting
Thankyou for pointing this one out

[quote="topgran"]I agree with Jen wholeheartedly about giving out too much information too soon and think the idea of being a member for a period of time first is a good idea. I think also they need to be an active member - not just someone who joins , posts once and then just waits. But I also think it should maybe apply to other things such as the card swap as addresses are given out for that as well. quote]

That's my view too. Can't be too careful these days. Some members are active for such a short time then disappear of the face of the earth. I don't mean to upset any newbies who have joined recently however I hope you'll be with us for along time to come.

Quite right too, craftymumof3 asked to join and knows about being active on the forum and to be a member for three months before being able to join in the clubs. thats why i posted here to get your opinions. I too want security on our addresses has you say theres a lot of dodgy charecters out there

I fully agree with this but on the other hand if new members have joined and existing members know them already could this be relaxed?

cubbie66 wrote:I fully agree with this but on the other hand if new members have joined and existing members know them already could this be relaxed?

I agree with that, if I have recommended someone to join I would like them to be able to join in with the swaps. The more the merrier

Craftworker wrote:

cubbie66 wrote:I fully agree with this but on the other hand if new members have joined and existing members know them already could this be relaxed?

I agree with that, if I have recommended someone to join I would like them to be able to join in with the swaps. The more the merrier

Righty folks
Going to play devil's advocate here
Security is something we should all be concerned about, I agree
But if I were a con artist I would find it easier to look up the electorial register for these facts
But! There again they wouldn't get the background, personal info on there that they do here

I agree with the above quotes from Jacky and Jan
But I think a 3 month might have put me off bothering with the Forum as I knew nobody when I joined

The other problem is how to keep note of members dates of joining and when they are allowed to participate
I have had a look on the Admin panel and can't find a way of doing it there
Anne is going to have a look as well
I could have an excel spreadsheet set up if there is nothing there

As you can see we are working on this and do take all points raised seriously
Once again can I ask you to bare with us on this?
And keep giving your ideas

The date a member joins is listed on the Memberlist available to ordinary members Sadie so that part should be easy to monitor if you can see it too

I appreciate that both you and Anne are working on this at the moment but thought I would mention security methods that I have encountered on other forums. On forums for the gaming community in the past we accepted new members directly into a provisional status with some sections of the forum being restricted to full members ... such as the card swap, birthday club, ATC until their provisional status had been passed successfully. Sorry if this sounds regimental but you get used to being protective of data when in the gaming world and with my working background Some crafting forums only allow applications from people recommended by current members, I'm not suggesting anything that restrictive just an in-between measure.

I honestly doubt anyone would feel daunted by this but feel reassured that when they themselves do join in these activities that their data too will be protected as much as is possible. With respect to people that are known for months from other forums, as long as a member vouches for them then I see no problem.

I'm sorry if anyone feels I'm speaking out of turn, just protecting me and mine

Dear All

I have looked at what's been posted and I hope I don't upset too many of you but I've made an executive decision.

All swaps etc. are open to all members of the forum. I don't want to get into segregating and excluding members as it isn't very friendly for new members. This forum has always been and I hope it will remain a very friendly, informal and welcoming place for all. We were all new on here once.

For members who are not comfortable with this maybe you could not participate for a month or so until you find your own comfort level with the new members? I really hope that no-one feels the need to withdraw from any of the swaps.

Many thanks

Scotty wrote:
But I think a 3 month might have put me off bothering with the Forum as I knew nobody when I joined

This is the one thing that worried me. On balance, I am more than happy to take part in the Forum as it is, and always has been.
Thanks Anne, I know this was well thought out and like you said 'we were all new once'

Thanks Anne i hope those who have joined us recently will join in our clubs and i too hope those who have been here from the start are ok with it , and i quote again we were new here once too

Thanks for making a decision Anne

Thank you all for taking time to discuss this. I was more than willing to wait the 3 months because that is how the birthday and SAS/RAK list is run on another forum I belong to. I look forward to making cards for Birthdays and also to joining in swaps and most of all to making more friends

You are more than welcome
Please don't take all this personally
It was a general discussion
I am just so pleased that you and all the newbies can join in
BTW my birthday is in May

Your WELCOME Frances