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

... 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.

 

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

 

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

 

It's one of those features that, while creepy, can prove to be amusing while browsing around. 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.

 

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

 

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.

 

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

 

That's correct - creepy, eh?

 

Creepy Stuff......

 

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

 

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

Like You Said, Good For Admins To Use.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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".

 

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.

 

It is blocked in the robots.txt.

 

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.

 

: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.