[Suggestion] Profile Privacy

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TrixieTang

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Can admins disable members' ability to set who can/can't view their profile? Either on a global or per group basis?

If not then this is something that really needs to be added. Profile privacy goes against the whole point of having profiles on a forum and I know that I'd never allow members to set who can/can't view their profile.
 
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Well I guess if an admin wanted to control privacy like this it would be a fairly straightforward mod to get to disable user ability.

But for many (most?) I think users like to have the option to restrict their personal info to their friends if they wish.
If personal info is enforced as public it will deter people from providing it.
 
It should be a built in admin option, not a mod. This isn't facebook, it's a forum. Profiles are meant to make searching for a user's content easier, they aren't meant as a way for members to post their whole autobiography.
 
Trust me, we do know that this is a forum, not FB. However, I would never prohibit my members from selecting a level of privacy for their profiles.
Good way to lose members, depending on the general topic of the forum.
 
Good way to lose members.

Even though there were no profile privacy options on forums for how many years? Even though vBulletin and XenForo are currently the only forums that provide profile privacy options?

Unless your members are really paranoid then this isn't going to cause you to lose members. But I can assure you that if this isn't an admin option then XF is going to be losing potential customers.
 
Personally I think it's annoying to click on a profile and see the "Error" screen, if the option for users to block their profile is never there then I don't see how you'd lose members... Honestly I'd find it rather humorous if a member came to me and said "I don't want users seeing the amount of posts and who I'm following! If you don't fix it then I'm quitting!". You post on a forum board that is available to the public, people don't set their cell phone numbers or social security numbers in their XenForo profile screens.
 
If I'm not mistaken, there are other forum softwares that do provide profile privacy, tho I can't name them right off the bat.
But I do know that having a level of privacy is a very popular feature in vB, as it was requested endlessly.

My members, in particular, needed it, due to the topic of our site. I'm sure there are others niches who don't need any level of privacy, so itprobably should be a default option. If it's not, or won't be, a mod is just as good.
 
Personally I think it's annoying to click on a profile and see the "Error" screen, if the option for users to block their profile is never there then I don't see how you'd lose members... Honestly I'd find it rather humorous if a member came to me and said "I don't want users seeing the amount of posts and who I'm following! If you don't fix it then I'm quitting!". You post on a forum board that is available to the public, people don't set their cell phone numbers or social security numbers in their XenForo profile screens.
That's going just a little bit overboard, lol. I'm sure that nobody would say I don't want anyone viewing my profile. But the ability to set it to everybody, or members only, or followers only, is essential, imo.

But as I said above, it depends on the forum topic (niche).
 
Personally I think it's annoying to click on a profile and see the "Error" screen

Yes, it's very annoying. Really, I think you'd lose more members because of the annoying no permission messages than you'd lose because they don't feel comfortable on a forum without profile privacy.
 
I guess my question is what information needs to be hidden on XenForo's default profile screen? I can see in certain niches this would be a good option, but I'd say the majority of folks wouldn't need to block due to a certain type of niche they're focusing on.
 
That's going just a little bit overboard, lol. I'm sure that nobody would say I don't want anyone viewing my profile. But the ability to set it to everybody, or members only, or followers only, is essential, imo.

But as I said above, it depends on the forum topic (niche).

Totally agree I went overboard for a reason haha :), but I guess my question is the majority of XenForo customers are going to be focused on niches where profiles can be blocked without admin control? I just hope the admin is able to turn this off!
 
How many posts and mechanical things like that is not the kind of info at issue.

Your location. birthday, likes and dislikes, hopes and goals, are.
If a forum is publicly viewable even more so. But if not a member may still feel reluctant to share personal info with a lot of people (other members) they don't know.

Even if it was only VB that gave profile protection that's no reason for XF to say ah well don't bother it's onl;y VB.
XF aims to b e BETTER than VB = and it is.
 
If I'm not mistaken, there are other forum softwares that do provide profile privacy, tho I can't name them right off the bat.

I know pretty much every forum software, and vB and XF are the only ones that I know have this.

a mod is just as good.

I don't like using mods to do things that should be built in.

How many posts and mechanical things like that is not the kind of info at issue.

Your location. birthday, likes and dislikes, hopes and goals, are.
If a forum is publicly viewable even more so. But if not a member may still feel reluctant to share personal info with a lot of people (other members) they don't know.

Then don't fill in that information.

Even if it was only VB that gave profile protection that's no reason for XF to say ah well don't bother it's onl;y VB.
XF aims to b e BETTER than VB = and it is.

I'm saying that this should be an admin option, you want it? Fine, enable it on your forum. But I don't want this and I know that I'm not the only one who feels that way.
 
The privacy sort of contradicts itself in a way when the member card still reveals quite a bit of information about the user.

http://xenforo.com/community/threads/vacation.3222/

Floris for example, his profile is private however his membercard shows




Floris


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Probably designed-as-is but again, I really hope XenForo allows admin to control their board how they want rather than the users.
 
C'mon Russ, that's info that would be viewable with or without this option that we're discussing.
 
C'mon Russ, that's info that would be viewable with or without this option that we're discussing.

Peggy exactly... so why block that information on the profile or let users block it by default. It's more of an annoyance than a feature for me to be honest.

The main point of it is this:
I really hope XenForo allows admin to control their board how they want rather than the users.

I'M the one purchasing XenForo, I'M the one setting up MY board. I think it should be an admin option to be able to NOT allow users to block basic information on users profiles, that's all I'm saying.

EDIT:
For the record this could already be established, if so then great :), if not I'm simply providing a reason as to why it should be available for board owners.
 
Shanj said:
How many posts and mechanical things like that is not the kind of info at issue.

Your location. birthday, likes and dislikes, hopes and goals, are.
If a forum is publicly viewable even more so. But if not a member may still feel reluctant to share personal info with a lot of people (other members) they don't know.​
Kotonahu said:

Then don't fill in that information.

EXACTLY. That's what I said.
That forcing profile info to be viewable by everyone will put members off providing it.
I'd rather members USED their profiles by giving info - which I myself will find useful to understand them - than have lots of empty profiles.
 
This type of thing depends heavily on the forum and what it is about. A forum about medical problems would be far different than a forum about gaming or professional sports fans.
 
From what we've been told, it will be easy to extend XenForo's functionality. I think its shortsighted to assume profiles won't contain more information, on some forums, that people may want to restrict access to in the future. Also, if anything, recent stories in the news show people are becoming increasingly concerned with online privacy, so, I don't really understand why some admins would want to deprive their users that choice. Then again, I don't really get this sense of entitlement of being able to see any user's profile either.

The "Error" screen shown could use some work, though. Perhaps mimic the feel of a profile page (i.e., at least show the avatar and the member's username) and show a message explaining the user has restricted who can see their profile.
 
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