Should The Lab be members-only?

[MetaData]

We're tossing around the idea of making the lab member's only. There are a few different ideas, and we'd like some feedback to help us create a pros and cons list before we make a decision.

Curious how many people (if any) have hesitated about starting a journal or case study because they would rather have some level of privacy to it. Also wondering if anyone that is currently running a thread in the lab wouldn't have done so if it were members only.

Thanks!

PS - You can pick up to 3 options in the poll. It's not an official ballot, we're just looking for some initial feedback.

 

[Kevin]

Not sure why? This is best marketing this entire forum has right now...

 

[MetaData]

Not sure why? This is best marketing this entire forum has right now...

The idea is that people might be more willing to get into specifics (OP, as well as people responding) if they knew the threads weren't going to become indexed in search engines forever.

Another option is to have a "Hidden" section of the lab for anyone that would rather have that extra veil, then a public section for people who don't want their threads to be visible to members only.

 

[animalstyle]

If the goal is to provide control over privacy, an idea: a custom function that would allow you to hide content from guests.

Closing it off all together seems undesired, something in the middle or leaving it open gets my vote.

 

[learningcurve]

I know I would be willing to share additional information if it required a log in. Not saying my stuff is worth spending hours on, lol, just that it would make if feel a lot more secure. I'm probably in the minority though.

 

[MetaData]

Thanks for the feedback so far everyone, keep it coming!

 

[Stephen]

I think keeping things open for a little longer whilst this place builds up a little more momentum.

 

[gasmonkeygarage]

I think it should be private so, that onlookers should register to gain access.You use it as a bait to lure guy's to join.

 

[done]

The reason I joined was because I was able to read the case studies about the guys who hustled really hard. I think you should keep it open. Just telling people that there are awesome case studies would probably not be enough. The ferocity at which people move in this forum is very inspirational.

 

[Meatplow]

Obviously, you can keep the SE's from indexing the content and still keep it open.

Not sure people would share more either way.

 

[MetaData]

Thanks again for the feedback everyone, some very good points were brought up for each of the possibilities and there are a lot of pros and cons on the table here.

The poll results reflected what we were already leaning towards. The Lab is still visible, and the thread titles are as well, but in order to see the content of a post you'll need to be logged in.

I know some of you promote your Lab threads elsewhere (So do we), and so this change isn't ideal for you guys - our apologies about that. There was a certain incident that confirms that a level of privacy is, overall, the best way to go for the Lab. (Nothing to worry about, but it really made this decisions a lot easier.)

This isn't written in stone, and we're always evaluating things to make sure we're doing what's best for BuSo at any given time.

We'll be closing this thread shortly to get it out of the way, but continue to welcome feedback here and via PM once it's locked.