IMO - visable emails should be the default.
If member wants email hidden they should be able to request it be hidden.
Also PM's (personal messages) should be available.
Herb
CTS

Having to request that your Email be hidden would create more work for the owner of this forum, I guess. As fas as PM's they were here if I remember correctly some years ago and people got upset at the amount of spam they got through the PM system. It was BAD. This forum seems to have been fine tuned over many years. Why copy the same "features" that have kept so many other forums from becoming as popular as this one?

From the outset, registered users of this forum did not appreciate being spammed via their emails and the private messaging option. Too many non-sponsors were using both for back-door advertising, along with a few other things. I felt it was better to allow those who didn't mind being contacted by email to decide that for themselves and enable that setting in their control center. The private message option just created too many headaches for too many people and it was not something a person could opt out of. So I disabled it.

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I think it's an interesting one, I found myself wanting to reach out in private a few times or dig in some additional details discussed on the forum that would require a spreadsheet...

What the registered folks need to realize is, the format of this forum is old school enough that any slight changes could cause a massive amount of spam. Since the forum is visible to unregistered members and profiles are also not a hidden feature to the outside world (guest, non registered folks, search engine, script bots) it would be extremely easy for any malicious intended individual to write a script to pump all the email addresses out of here.
Because of some laws it's also not possible for the forum administrator to just change privacy settings on its users and unhide emails without consent forum admins and businesses have ben sued for less when it comes to violating privacy or leaking personal data.

Every time I suggest that an individual unhide their email they respond that they didn't know it was hidden.
I have never been refused to have email unhidden.
H

(Putting my IT guy hats on... And as I had worked on Privacy compliance documents before.)
My Friendly answer would be. Yes I would agree that users likely don't remember that setting since it's only shown the day they sign up or navigated their own user profile settings. It would be nice and easy !
The CONS: would the user understand the "exposure" resulting in "unhiding" their email and the potential exposure to malicious emails and their address entering database that are used for massive spam/scam attacks?

The "alternative" to not be willing to broadly disclose an email address is to create one or a few "junk" email address which is the one you'd use for all the newsletter, random apps and membership, forums and all. I've created multiple email address and found it a lot easier to manage. One email for all personal stuff and banking. One for all online purchase and booking hotels/flights. The third one for all the junk, newsletter, social media spam...

I hate getting e mails out of the blue. Why should I, or any other member have to be the one that chooses to hide their e mail? Sorry ..... I like that your e mail is hidden automatically. If you want to e mail someone, let them know via the threads.I also appreciate the no personal messages. I say keep it as is.

23 years of learning and tweaking have led this forum to where it is today. So many ideas that might seem like good ideas, were tried and found lacking. Nothing will ever please everyone, but you hope to have something that will work in the best way possible for the greatest number of users.

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I should not have to hide my email. It should be hidden by default. I also have ZERO desire for users to have the ability to pm me.

Daryl Ferguson Wrote:
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> I should not have to hide my email. It should be
> hidden by default. I also have ZERO desire for
> users to have the ability to pm me.

You have likely spoken for most users of this and other forums. It is typically the manufacturers and dealers that like the concept of visible email and private messaging as it provides them a free means for them to advertise to you. At least that's what I found early on prior to disabling the PM feature.

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