change/increase account privacy + poll

[nickjr]

-snip-

However, people can see the forum, including posts and artwork, while logged out. I believe this is because CS is based on an older style of forum/message board not just tech-wise but also in spirit, which were always public by default. If you go look up forums from the early 2000's, you'll find that everything is usually visible to all people looking at the site because that was the whole point of creating a public website rather than a private messaging board. I might just be old, but newer pet sites, like Dappervolk, are to my knowledge the exception to this rule.

I'm personally completely fine with this set up because it opens up the CS community to more potential users. Plus, the idea of having "forum" visibility locked behind a log in has always been a little weird to me.

oh is it a recent thing, where users need to be logged in to view your profile? i swear not too long ago you could view someones profile regardless. anyways, my suggestion still stands, since like others have said, logged out users can still access forums. like you mention, people needing to be logged in to see forums could help increase site traffic, and like vengenc3 mentioned, it will help the problem of art theft ^^

The profile thing has been around for a while. As one of these older-ish "get off my lawn" users, it annoyed me for years lol but I've come around to being fine with it

Tailish is totally right; I've been on forums since the mid 2000's and they were/are basically the online version of Roman forums from waaaay back when. For a few months back when CS started, like some very open discussion boards, you didn't even need to be logged in to make a forum post!

Back in the 2000's, it seemed like "be careful what you post online, because it's all public" was simply a given fact of life. There wasn't really any concept of privacy, custom privacy settings, etc. This was also before we had the current major social media sites--the dominant social sites back then were.... like......... MySpace lol

Also back in the 2000's, it was natural to hide your real life identity. Doxxing yourself? What's that??

The Internet landscape has changed a lot in the last decade. Social media is dominant, personalized feeds are dominant, and discussion boards and the acceptance of having everything public and nothing connected to who you are IRL have been tossed to the wayside. If this reads like a bitter old person yearning for the good ol' days, it's because that's correct Well, not that I'm old old, as I should've been put under COPPA when I joined CS, but...

(also, I hate having to log in to see any bit of a forum, because then I can't get an idea of what the community is like before I sign up)

(Also, Nick has said in another thread--I believe it was the suggestion thread for enhancing the foe/block feature--that he has no plans to force people to log in to view the forums)

That being said, while I don't have any social media myself (and this isn't a generational thing; I'm an oddball among my classmates for not having social media, and I missed out on so much free swag in school because I had no social media accounts to use to follow student groups for free swag and I still refuse to make any.... sadface), I do appreciate that sites have more privacy options, and as an unemployed person who wishes she could hide her LinkedIn profile from one particular family ("family" lol what a joke) member, I also recognize how valuable it is to be able to hide from and not be stalked by people who you want out of your life.

I also don't want to be a gatekeeper.

Soooooo tl;dr CS is a forum. A forum! But privacy is good. Maybe the more pragmatic (for lack of a better word..... other than logistical?? idk) aspects can be taken into account. e.g. To reduce art theft, the Oekaki boards could be restricted to logged in users only.

[S0URBUGZ]

Hmm, I honestly can't say whether I would want that or not. To me, websites like DV or Artfight always asking you to log in become a pain in the behind after a while. But I do understand the security behind it. Would it be possible to create an option to toggle one's ability to see a profile? So if you wanted to be hidden from anyone logged out you can choose a "hide profile from public" button. Weird idea, I know, but to me part of chicken smoothie's charm is that it's open and inviting to all. I'm not sure about you guys, but stumbling across a site that says "no entry unless you have an account!" Isn't entirely appealing. Does that make sense? I'm not sure how to describe the feeling.

I second this! I think it's better to toggle who can view your profile rather than just asking you to log in the second you enter the site.

[diablo]

i just woke up, so if i come off jumbled i’m sorry
here is what i think of when i read the title

• users need to be logged in to see forum posts / post history
and, as i mention post history, i wanna mention something, cause i’ve logged out and started testing stuff, along with having a friend block me so i could test some features.
people literally have the ability to see your posts if they grab your id and put it after the author= thing. even if you’re blocked. really creepy, if i block them to not see my profile, why should they be able to figure out a way to see my posts?

• users need to be logged in to see pet groups
blocked users can still see pet groups. they can either figure this out by going through history, or by clicking on the links that your profile displays next to your posts, that thing ——->
if this isn’t wanted, then please make an option to where groups are PRIVATE. Maybe even profiles, but only moderators / friends can see. That might be a reach though.
posts are public to read to anyone, even if you have them blocked

• users need to be logged in to see oekaki.
art theft has become a huge issue and there have been many more reports about it in the past 1-2 years that i have noticed. as vengeance has mentioned, this would really help atleast keep those people out.

granted, i understand cs is old, but how much longer is stalking/art theft/harassment going to be allowed? please don’t suggest to make reports about the stalking because there’s various rules that have been used to unfortunately decline reports

if i missed anything plz lmk

thank you for doing the research!! i’ll add this to the front page for easy access. i knew there were still ways for blocked users to get around that block.

[melancollie]

support

[GothFairy]

Support. I do question the block feature sometimes. especially coming from being blocked. I do not understand why I can see people’s art if they blocked me for whatever reason, if anything it makes me uncomfortable knowing I can see them

[-Starchild.Keith-]

Nobody can see your profile without logging in. If you log out and go to your own profile, you'll see a page that says something like "you need to log in to view this content". While logged in, users you have blocked cannot see your profile and cannot post in your topics (except for in the CS Discussion and General boards). This means that blocked users can never see your profile.

If only parts of the forum are allowing blocked users to post in our topics, then perhaps just part of the board could be locked to viewing? Mainly the Art boards and 18+ discussion boards since art and discussions in the 18+ are more personal?

[rileypillow]

100% support the idea on making oekaki boards private! This would actually be a really important addition and even better if it’s added soon!

[Panda-Love-100]

I agree

[diablo]

bump :>