+1 on PilotPTK (out of some unknown reason I cannot quote anymore?)
This was the main reason I never registered at the other place in the first place when my flashlight interest came to a more than average life and BLF didn't yet exist. To me this "members only" stuff has an elitist touch which I don't like.
And check your email for a activation link then go to the site and sign in and then find what you were looking for again to find out it doesnt have the information you wanted in the first place.
And what is the point of members having to sign up if they will never return again? How is someone signing up a tribute to anything?
If they don't contribute anyway how is signing up benefiting anyone? Its just a empty account and information stored on the server forever without any use.
And yes if it isn't free and 100% available, like most I would go somewhere else.
We are talking about the images and the links only, no the entire messages. So according to your view, the information most users seek is visual aka the images, so no images make the site worthless to visit, even more worthless to register, regardless of the quality of the content of a message... this is what is sounds like. Yes it does work fine on big (and healthy-run) forums, people who are members of such forums will already know this.
So talking about flashlights in specific, if it is not available here (talking about the images again), your other "elsewhere" option would be Gretta... :P
What is your take on what Chicago X asked regarding getting more members? Criticizing is easy, I haven't heard any other suggestions...
Pics only visible upon registration? That is a horrible idea... this is how CPFism starts. We want to convince members to register through good content and the benefit of being "one of us". You would also keep me as a registered member to look at BLF pics at work, because I can't/won't log in there most of the time.
Leave it as is, please. Most forums have far more viewers than members. That's the way life is - most people don't want to speak up and join in, staying in the background is just fine. I've done it many times on sites where I was just looking for specific info, not interested in becoming a member just to answer a question. If we want to encourage new membership, let's do it with a positive method, not a negative one.
The restrictiveness of CPF towards new members almost turned me off completely to researching flashlights. Thankfully I kept searching and found BLF - the most open and friendly forum I've ever been on. Let me repeat:
IMO those who are really interested will join sooner or later. I'm no fan of boards that force you to register. When I started lurking here, I felt like being a member already. Not really a difference.
Also dont forget that a lot of these guests are crawlers.
I have to say, the only reason - as a non-flashaholic - that I actually joined BLF was because of the complete absence of all the elitist red tape that was such a turn-off over at that DX sponsored place. I'd have to vote 'no' to anything that takes the smallest step in that direction.
The message, however tactfully it might be phrased, that "Sorry you are not authorised/ do not have enough priviledges to access this page/area/information.." will instantly put me off.
Also, as some of the others have said, I'd question the value of increased membership that's the result of people joining just to access information, or worse, to participate in a giveaway. Do we really need extra members like that? People who want to join in and contribute will usually do so anyway sooner or later, surely?
I agree with everything from Fishmaniac down. Why would we want to take hostages? The vibe of this community will keep bringing new members in that really want to be here. Coercion only leads to resentment.
So actually Chicago X's suggestion about getting more members is not a good idea, since guests and members should have the same access to content...
Thus why shouldn't guests be allowed to post without being members? This also happens in blogs and forums with the use of captcha to avoid spam and bots of course. Or now maybe guests being able to post is not a good idea? :P
I think that all of the generous BLF users who do giveaways and organize group buys are already doing us a huge favor in this regard. Many of the giveaways are open to anybody, and all the group buys are open to everyone. So a lurker only has to register here to benefit from them. And invariably many new ones do register in order to participate in giveaways and group buys. I would also prefer to keep BLF as open as possible.