I think that visitors should be able to do everything except post new threads, reply in existing threads, or have access to attachments. IOW someone can pop in here, search for a topic or and answer to a question and not have to register. If that same person wants to get involved in a thread dissertation then they should have to register.

Well, that´s fortunate - That´s exactly how the OOTB settings work :wine:

Anyone else have an opinion ?

Totally agree...

Why should visitors not have access to attachments?

I agree that visitors should not be able to post.

I agree that visitors should be able to search. I've noticed on some forums that you have to enter a code before searching. I don't know if this is to discourage spambots or just to encourage becoming a member (and avoid the drag of entering it in each time). If the code is an option, it should be enabled if it's the former (spambots); I'm on the fence if it's the latter.

I assume visitors can't give "rep" - nor should they be able to.

I think all sub-forums should be visible.

my suggestion was based on my experience in other forums and blogs where I think that this is the common theme. I guess in theory attachments have value of some sort and shouldn't be available to "just anyone". I'm not adamant about it though so I'll defer to the majority.

It´s an default OOTB vBulletin setting... and may be a "left over" from the "old days", where hosting was payed for by "bandwidth usage"...

Personal opinion:
This forum is here for one single reason: To share Revit Knowledge ! And if you´re not a member of this site, you are not sharing, but only getting the advantage of others valuable time and knowledge... In this perspective, it makes sense to "hide" the attachments from visitors, and by doing so, encouraging them to register and start sharing too...

I was just thinking about this as well. I think we, as an AEC focused forum, have more dependency on images than the average online forums. On the one hand, if a visitor can't see the images, it is an incentive to join. On the other hand, they also don't get to see the full value as visitors. My sense is that any visitor is by default a lurker. I can see someone spending months, even years, getting value from the forum without joining and posting, and I think that is fine.

Now, if the forum rules are so granular that everyone could see images, but only members could see ZIP files, RVT attachments, etc. that might be a good middle ground.

Or perhaps the Rendering forum should be split, with a gallery forum where all images are available to visitors, and a Rendering topic where attachments are for members only? Hmmm.

Gordon

I really don't care either way, but that makes enough sense to me. I will point out that purely from a logic argument, 90% of the value of the forums is in the words, not the attachments. But maybe it's the kind of thing where frequent visitors will get fed up with not being able to view attachments and will just register... and once registered, they'll be able to post, and then more likely to participate.

But unless someone has an objection on practicality grounds, sounds good to me in keeping it the way you've got it.

On a somewhat related note, one thing I've noticed in looking at the activity is that a very large percentage of users of the site at any given time are "visitors", not logged in. What does that mean? Are most of those visitors actually "spambots" or are there a lot of members who just don't bother to log in, or do we really get that many visitors who just don't want to bother to become members?

Agreed, I think as it is is fine. IF we then break out the Gallery and allow visitors to see the images. Call it marketing if you will. Pretty pictures sell, at least in our industry.

On the visitor count, I think most of them really are people looking for information but not interested in becoming members. And sometimes members on someone else's machine. I have many times (in days past) gone to AUGI while at a clients office; to look for an answer, to show them around and promote the site, etc. There will be times now when you see me here as a visitor like that. I have also often sent links to particular AUGI threads to consultants. i am sure many of them read the thread, got what they needed, and where gone.
And I have heard from many people at User Group meetings that they have lurked like that at AUGI for years. And others are people who are evaluating Revit, and Google to find out what others think, problems people have, etc. My hope is that more of those folks will look to us as a more neutral resource for research.

So yeah, not worried that members are usually outnumbered by visitors 3:1. As long as we don't get spammed and the site stays up, 'sall good.

Gordon