Craig/Steve

I see your point about unregistered users, and it's not difficult to register, but I think it will remove the one-timers which would not be a bad thing.

As you have pointed out this a professional forum and evidently people have not been acting a professional manner of late. This has been caused by a bad feeling which seems to have been building due to the sheer number of off-topic/inapropriate posts.
However, I find that people getting cross about a post shows that others care about the quality of the content.

There is a worry that the forum would turn into a 'cleaky' group of regulars, but I honestly think that is unlikely.

I think registering would go some way to proving your professionalism and should be madatory. The process should also verify the email address of the user, by emailling them, and them replying, or a similar scheme. I know this sounds a bit harsh, but, if you are a professional, and you want to ask a question, why would you refuse?

'I do like the idea of marking "incomplete" questions such that if a follow-up is not posted within X days that the thread be automatically deleted as an abandoned thread.'

I would prefer that the sort order of the posts was the date/time of the last post to the thread. This way threads which get no reply (because of lack of interest one hopes) quickly drop off the radar, and the ones which are still going keep near the top. Often I would like to revive a thread I started some time ago (the LED page one, for instance) but it's easier to start a fresh one. If the sort order was changed, then I would be more inclined to keep the older threads going.

I think the "moderation comittee" is a good idea, however if I come across a post with abuse, or which is clearly out of context (there have been a good number of PIC threads of late) I have notified Steve by email (as we are both in the UK - I think he is more likely to be awake when I am!) and he has removed the relevant item. I think this method works just as well.


Chris Brooks
(Computer consultant, father, robot builder and very cold because my wife lend the attic heater to a friend)