Private profiles

punkdoc · November 2022

Not a thread, as such, but a plea to @Daniel Haynes to stop people having private profiles.

steveTu · November 2022

What problems do private profiles cause? What's the issue?

Fairygirl · November 2022

You can't use the ignore button with them @steveTu, and no one can read old threads and posts the person makes.
I've already asked Daniel if there's a way round it so that the ignore button can be used, but I've had no reply.

steveTu · November 2022

@Fairygirl

OK - I've never used ignore. I don't quite follow the second bit - that sounds odd. I've just looked at my profile and it's private - are you saying that 'old' (what is old - a day, a week, a year?) posts of mine in some way disappear?

I don't recall setting it up as private - but if it causes problems, then I'll, change it. Feel free to ignore me all you like!

Edited to add: Looking at the option on the profile page, wouldn't it be better if the option just did what it said, rather than the other bits that FG pointed out? IE

'...Private Profile: Private profiles can only be viewed by authorized users....'

Fairygirl · November 2022

It just means that if I wanted to read through your posts for any reason, I can't because the profile's private.
You can change it in your settings, but I can't remember exactly how to do it. Someone asked me a long time ago, and I did it temporarily, so if you want - just go in your settings and have a go.

Woodgreen · November 2022

It would be much more useful to the membership if the photo glitch could be fixed.
Can't imagine many people wish to go over someone's previous threads in this way? 🤔

B3 · November 2022

It's easy. There's an edit profile option. Just checked.
I've never blocked either. I'm too nosy.
I wish there was a block threads option, but only to clear the latest posts of threads that I never look at.

Busy-Lizzie · November 2022

I never use ignore. Like @B3 I'm too nosy! I do sometimes look up people's profiles and previous posts, but I've rarely come across a private profile.

Dovefromabove · November 2022

It’s frustrating when you remember someone has posted some really helpful information but you can’t check their posts back to ‘pick their brains’ so to speak … but I suppose there might be an occasional situation when someone might feel particularly vulnerable and prefer as much anonymity as possible.

Personally, in over twenty years of membership of several forums, and despite my former work in a sphere that might result in targeting by folk who meant me harm, I’ve never felt the need to have a Private Profile on here. After all, the only stuff that appears on my Public Profile is what I’ve put there … a bit about my gardening experience and interests. All relevant stuff should someone want to check.

Also if someone wants to track back and see what I’ve said about various varieties of say, runner beans that I’ve grown, it’s an easy way to do that.

A private profile prevents that.

It’s not an option that many people take … most folk on here are open and friendly and we all benefit from that … perhaps some folk feel particularly vulnerable … perhaps they’re used to ‘hiding their tracks’ … I suppose they could be former pop-stars, felons or even politicians … although on recent evidence they seem to go for increasing their public profile rather than hide their shame 😝

Anyway … it’s still a free world -ish … at least this bit of it is … and although I am almost persuaded by recent moves against so much anonymity online, while it’s legal it will be the choice made by some.

I must say that, in my experience, it has usually been the villains rather than the victims who choose the option of hiding as much of themselves as they can.

It’s also a problem when, for one reason or another, you wish to Ignore posts by an individual, as this option isn’t available if they’ve opted to keep their Profile private. If someone has worked that out, they then have the opportunity to continually goad and niggle.

Be that as it may … Matthew 7:16 seems apt on a gardening forum. 😊

steveTu · November 2022

@Dovefromabove

What is the default? I haven't belonged to lots of forums, so don't know about common features. If I chose to have a private profile whan I set up this account, it was because I read (and still read):

'...Private Profile: Private profiles can only be viewed by authorized users....'

...to mean that only the profile (pages) cannot be seen by all. I had no idea that the option affected anything else other than that.

Fairygirl · November 2022

It's very useful to be able to see posts.
If someone needs help with a topic, and you can remember someone had given very good advice on it, but can't find the thread or remember it's name, you can look at the person's posts to find it. I've done that on many occasions.
If the search facility worked better, that would help, but it's often useless.
That's just one example.

I'd like a thread block option too @B3. There are many threads I have no interest in, and they just take up space, and prevent me finding threads that can be useful, or that I might be able to help someone on.

Private profiles

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