Is the "Who's Online" page important...

Discussion in 'Managing Your Online Community' started by Nick, Jun 21, 2009.

  1. Nick

    Nick Regular Member

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    ... to your members? Personally, I like it when I can watch the Who's Online page but some forums have it disabled.

    I once disabled it on my forum and several members noticed it fairly quickly, much to my surprise. I didn't even know people really cared. I thought I was one of the few. :P
     
  2. Soliloquy

    Soliloquy Regular Member

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    I haven't noticed them using it, I think the "Who's Online" box on the forum index is more important to them.
     
  3. Michael

    Michael Regular Member

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    We have ours disabled and only available administrators and moderators. It always gives you an odd feeling when you view online.php on a site and you see others viewing it at the same time, you were watching them and now theyre watching you too :P
     
  4. Chris

    Chris Regular Member

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    It's one of those features that, while creepy, can prove to be amusing while browsing around. :D I've never really felt the need to disable it or restrict access - my members enjoy using it and I've had no problems whatsoever.
     
  5. Michael

    Michael Regular Member

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    I checked it on here once and you were watching me :o
     
  6. Abomination

    Abomination Zealot

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    Important to us so we have an idea when people might be getting a response from a particular person.

    Example:
    If someone asked a paying sponsors a question then the person asking might stay online until that sponsor goes off line to see if they got a response.
     
  7. Nick

    Nick Regular Member

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    One of us is usually always viewing the WOL page. :unhunh:
     
  8. Chris

    Chris Regular Member

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    That's correct - creepy, eh? :D
     
  9. Ak Worm

    Ak Worm Grand Master

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    Creepy Stuff......
     
  10. Michael

    Michael Regular Member

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    It is great for admins to use, its good for spotting what someone is up to if they have bad intentions etc, a good tool to watch the actions of a spammer or disruptive member :)
     
  11. Ak Worm

    Ak Worm Grand Master

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    Yeah, Thats What Happed On My Forum, I Had To IP Ban Some Dude...

    Like You Said, Good For Admins To Use.
     
  12. Demo

    Demo Regular Member

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    It's a very popular page for my members, they check it regularly
     
  13. Shelley

    Shelley Regular Member

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    Never felt the need to disable it. Though I should. Everytime I'm showing online the late great pm bombardment commences.
     
  14. Peggy

    Peggy Regular Member

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    I have it disabled for guests, because I don't want spidies crawling that page, I want them crawling content.
     
  15. Nick

    Nick Regular Member

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    You should block it with robots.txt then. Even with the page disabled, it can still be crawled. The difference is that it will be the "No Permission" page that gets crawled. :P
     
  16. kev

    kev Regular Member

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    It has been disabled for guest, but members can see it just fine. Guest can not view members profiles on my forum, so there is no use in letting them see the "who is online".
     
  17. Abomination

    Abomination Zealot

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    When I see a forum which does not have a list of who is online I'm much less reluctant to join because I really do not know if there is anyone to talk to.

    Some forums have little traffic.
     
  18. Peggy

    Peggy Regular Member

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    It is blocked in the robots.txt. :)
     
  19. Velocity

    Velocity Newcomer

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    Did you mean to say, more reluctant? And you're probably more likely to get a direct response on a forum that doesn't have much traffic - the busy forums aren't generally full of people who are thrilled to see a new person.

    I have the plain old Who's-Online enabled, not the snoopy who's-doing-what, except for admin.
     
  20. Abomination

    Abomination Zealot

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    :doh:

    Yes I am less likely to join forums if they show no one online when viewing the main page of forums.

    There are forums that were busy at one time and have many threads/posts but now have few visitors & members.
     

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