Lost Another One

Maybe it’s just me, but I think someone from Primavera posted as Forum Guest on April 9 in this thread:



http://www.planningplanet.com/forum/forum_post.asp?fid=1&Cat=8&Top=1196



Bernard Ertl

InterPlan Systems - eTaskMaker Project Planning Software

The debate about forum guests being able to post replies comes up yet again. We certainly need people like Tony involved. Serious comments about products can be picked up and hopefully the vendors, trainers, etc who look at what we the Planners say will take note and improve their products to serve us well into the future.



Should we stop guests from posting - I think not, but maybe we should/ could limit the size of guest posts to say 3 lines. This allows guests to still comment, and if they wish to say more hopefully they will join Planning Planet.

But we still have the old debate about posting for guests or logged-in members only ? If we retain the flexibility to allow guests to post then we have to expect a degree of trouble. That we can handle when it happens. Have there been any really slanderous attacks ? Probably not.



As far as Tony is concerened, great that he joined to get feedback on a product that most of us use. That is the kind of industry support we would want PP to receive. Perhaps also we can understand his frustration at the comments, but that is what must be expected in an open forum.



Tony, if you read this, you contrubution is well received by PP.

I agree that any member irrespective of their experience should not be put off contributing by the bad behavior of another person and if there are technical solutions I think we should explore them.



I also agree that is important to keep experienced people in the system and we should seek Tony’s participation in the future.



I would suggest that to encourage Tony back into the forum, if anyone sees a post that would benefit from his input that they should email him and ask him to reply.



Does anyone have his email?



Paul E Harris

Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd

Planning and Scheduling Book Publishers

www.eh.com.au

It looks to me like Tony posted twice in that thread as a Forum Guest after first posting under his own user name. Whether that was intentional or not I cannot say. Some members have had difficulties with logging in and he may have been in that boat. Then again, I could be wrong and that was not Tony at all...



IMO, he should have been up front about his connection to Primavera just as any vendor (including me, Vladimir, Ron, etc.) should be clear about our connections to product offerings. It’s important for context.



I think the second forum guest took offense to the lack of disclosure and went over the line in "calling him out". Of course, without any tracking tools, we as moderators are handicapped in figuring out exactly what is happening (who is posting) and handling these situations properly.



Bernard Ertl

InterPlan Systems Inc. - Project Management Software, Project Planning Software

Hi Guys,



I saw that post from Tony last night. I was going to post a slamming post but held-off while I cooled down!! I need to read the thread a few times to understand who has done what. Do you think Tony acted fairly etc and it was GUESTS miss-behaving?



We really need experts like Tony and, as far as Primavera goes, he is one of the premier "planner/user" people in the UK (so I’m told). I will get on to him and see if we can get him back.



Are any of you aware if a GUEST can edit the GUEST posts, in the same way that I can edit my posts? I am certain that it was fixed so that this could not happen, but I will re-check.



I will look at the scripts later today. There are some ways of monitoring people. The easiest is the IP logging, but this is not fool-proof. I will get that added today.



We have a sneaky script that keeps an eye on the recruiters as they post their job adverts. I will see if that could be used here also. The problem is that I am not convinced that we should be "spying" like this. Then again, if we state that posts are monitored etc, then it may be OK.



James

Perhaps the scripts could be modified to allow guests to create a member account, but post messages "anonymously" from the public POV while maintaining a log of activities for admins/moderators.



Simply add an option in the member profile for posting with the user name or an alias. The alias should be unique. That way, members may always elect to post "anonymously", but the PP team will retain some sense of control in preventing abuse of the forums (of course, members would need to log in in order to post - whether with an alias or not).



The forum scripts should maintain a log (including IP addresses) for all posts to help prevent troublemakers from generating multiple member accounts.



This problem is going to continue to get worse as the PP grows.



Bernard Ertl

InterPlan Systems Inc. - Project Management Software, Project Planning Software