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GRA Members - IMPORTANT NOTICE ON UPGRADING FORUM MEMBERSHIP FROM 'BASIC USER'.

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  • GRA Members - IMPORTANT NOTICE ON UPGRADING FORUM MEMBERSHIP FROM 'BASIC USER'.

    February 2023 - IMPORTANT - For paid-up current GRA Members to access the Forum Members-Only area:

    THE PROCESS HAS CHANGED SLIGHTLY - You need to email Andy on subs@greeves-riders.org.uk with Subject 'GRA Forum Member Access'

    Please quote your GRA Membership Number, real name, forum name, and the email address you used to join the forum

    Your request will be actioned as soon as practical - Thanks


    The information below is unfortunately now out of date -


    If you are a paid GRA member, then you can validate your membership for full access. Please contact Rob at:

    contact@greeves-riders.org.uk

    You need to click on the above link, and when the dialogue box opens click 'allow', then send your details to Rob via the email page that will then appear.
    Last edited by AndyB; 20/02/2023, 04:59 PM. Reason: Updated process

  • #2
    This is in order to access the 'members only' area. Just send me a mail as above titled GRA Forum Member Access - no need for anything else. I will validate your name against the current membership list and bestow access upon you - easy as that!
    Cheers, Rob

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    • #3
      GRA Forum Member Access

      GRA Forum Member Access

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      • #4
        GRA member

        Originally posted by Ian View Post
        If you are a paid GRA member, then you can validate your membership for full access. Please contact Rob at:

        contact@greeves-riders.org.uk
        graham broadhead

        Comment


        • #5
          GRA Members!

          It's great that we can get upgraded so easily, I'm looking forward to receiving my own shortly, but am just wondering if we can save Rob from being deluged with applications by automatically upgrading someone if they are already a member. No doubt it's not so simple or it would already be the normal process, but something to aim at maybe!

          Adrian

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          • #6
            On the face of it that would make good sense, Adrian. The difficulty is that the use of obscure usernames hides the true identity of the user, so how can we tell?

            Also, to automatically upgrade users who are members would require someone to go through the membership list every time someone registers to see if they're a member.

            Has to stay as it is I'm afraid.
            Colin Sparrow

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            • #7
              Why not ask for help from the forum members with this?

              Sorry to bang on about this chaps, but it's surely all the more reason for forum members (who haven't as yet done so) to put some basic details about themselves, (hobbies, interests, rough location, etc) on their 'User Profiles' to help us out, as I've said before ad nauseum....!!!

              I fully appreciate that some forum members may wish to keep their details 'private', but Colin's right-it doesn't make our job any easier! If people want to use 'user names' instead of their 'actual' names (as we originally asked everyone to), then fair enough. But they could at least put some basic details in their profiles to help us out instead...

              Really, all that's needed is something that identifies the user as a 'human' (instead of a 'spambot'), and also as a bona fide motorcycle enthusiast, or at least someone who has a legitimate interest in our forum. A 'spambot' wouldn't be able to this. These automated software programs tend to put things like this in their user profiles;

              Name; Aldggtresfulop

              Occupation; Spain.

              Interests; Aldggtresfulop

              Location; Spain

              This makes them easy to spot at a glance, even though we now have more precise methods to identify them at our disposal....(I don't want to say more in public as it gives the game away to the spammers.)

              As far as current GRA members go, they could simply state this in their profiles as well, as many members already have. It obviously relies on people being honest, but if users put something in their profiles to this effect at least it's a start to help us moderators out a bit until Rob/Ian can check everyone out properly against the membership list. This could also be 'backed up' with a PM to one of the moderation team-we promise to keep your info confidential. All we are trying to do here is identify the bona fide users and GRA members, and also help identify any spammers that can (and do!) register with us.

              Besides, everyone who is a GRA member really ought to try and make every effort to get upgraded asap (by contacting Rob as described) as there are real benefits to the user; posting pics, full access, etc.

              It sure would be a big help to the moderators for general forum admin purposes, and save us all a lot of time.

              I don't want to sound like a 'nag' here (!), but when you consider the amount of time the forum admin team spend keeping the spammers at bay etc etc compared to what it takes to type a couple of lines into a user profile, sorry, but I don't think it's really asking a lot from the membership. So there!

              If anyone needs any help with how to do it, any of the moderators would be happy to assist I'm sure.

              Brian.
              Last edited by Brian Thompson; 25/07/2010, 08:09 PM.

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              • #8
                I agree.....Shame though, I was going to use Aldggtresfulop
                as my user name, but I decided to hide behind the far more obscure, mysterious and Confusing one I have now!

                P.R.

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                • #9
                  Heh heh! Nice one Peter, and thanks for understanding where I'm coming from with this.

                  I'm not trying to sound like an aryfulzobbler here (eh?), so I hope people won't think I'm having a go-I'm not, honest!!!

                  No, the forum's all going just great I reckon! It's just the little tweaks we need to consider to make it better for everyone, user and moderator alike.

                  Thanks for chippin' in mate.

                  Brian.

                  PS By the way, who exactly are you again.....?
                  Last edited by Brian Thompson; 25/07/2010, 08:46 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Computer Lingo!

                    Sorry Chaps, I hope you'll excuse me as I've led a very sheltered existance. For instance if somebody asks me my name I tell them pure and simple it's Adrian Dickerson! Instead of having a user name, whatever that is, whats wrong with having your real name, unless of course you have something to hide, like a spammer. If I've got something to say then I'm happy to say it under my real name and not to hide behind some pseudonym. It frustrates me enormously to find somebody saying something I totally agree with(or not), then finding I haven't a clue whose written it. Can somebody please explain to me why we have such a thing as a "user name" and not our christened or real name please? Confused.

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                    • #11
                      I agree with you Adrian

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                      • #12
                        User Names etc.

                        I thoroughly endorse Adrian's comments too John.

                        I wonder if the reason(s) people want to employ 'user' names instead of their actual names could in general be due to the following kinds of reasons;

                        1.) People have valuable bikes in their collections at home, and may have legitmate concerns about potential security issues. I have taken my personal email address off my profile as a precaution, not that I have a big collection of valuable bikes or anything. I just want to control who has my personal contact details, and forum members can easily contact me via the PM system on here if they need to.

                        2.) Any internet forum can be viewed to some extent by anyone with internet access, and this includes all posts in the public areas. To some members this is very threatening, even 'scary' and puts them off getting involved or posting. They may still want to be 'in the loop' and able to see what others have been posting though-don't want to miss out? Also, whilst everyone looks forward to reading the next copy of 'Leading Link', how many club members have actually felt able to or confident enough to contribute something over the years? Not everyone can, or even wants to!

                        3.) People may feel their posts could be seen as 'controversial' or inflammetry, and may want to remain annonymous in order to feel confident enough to post them.This is common on some well known social networking sites, i.e. 'Facebook', and some users cause people a lot of problems (bullying etc) because they just aren't very nice people. They are hopefully delt with by the moderators and removed from the site. Sad, but it happens all the time. Can't see why that would be a problem on our forum myself, but there you go. I'm with Adrian here! If you have a view then great-stand behind it even if others may disagree-everyone is fully entitled to have an opinion after all. It's part of the moderators job to step in things get sticky, and we keep a close eye on things as everyone knows. Thing is, there has been very little stuff posted on here that could be seen in that light-ours is a very friendly forum it seems to me!

                        4.) Some people just lack confidence and struggle in 'social situations'. They prefer to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else participate, and want to remain 'stealthy' because of this. They may really want to join in but may be concerned that their views may not be viewed with tolerance by some of the more 'confident' members. Shyness can be a very difficult thing to overcome, even on a forum.

                        5.) Some users may not be 'good with words' and may struggle to articulate themselves, especially on a keyboard/computer! It may be difficult just composing a letter for some, where to others it comes easily. This can be very embaressing for an otherwise highly skilled and capable individual, and they may not want this to become apparent yet still want to see 'what's happening' on the forum, so employ a user name to again remain 'stealthy' and hide the fact they're not posting from others. Yes, they must obviously have and use (or at least have access to one) in order to be 'on' here, but that doesn't mean they are especially fluent, even with basic IT skills. Especially true of some of our older members perhaps?

                        5.) Spelling....! It's ok for the rest of us who don't bother too much about the odd typo/grammatical error but once again some people can find this a real problem.

                        6.) Something to hide, i.e. spammers etc.

                        7.) Some may be happy to let others do all the work and have no intention of participating. It's a sad fact of life that some people are often quite happy to do this! Some lead, others follow, and others do nothing!

                        All these issues could lead to a member not wanting to be identified on the forum, but still want to see what's going on, hence 'user names'. It goes with the territory when it comes to the internet.

                        It's a tricky one this.....we don't want to put anyone off in any way, and everybody with a genuine interest in 'us' is very welcome to come and join in. We also have to respect peoples wishes for privacy, if that is the case, but here's an interesting point; when we joined the GRA we all had to give our 'real' names in order to do so, obviously! The forum though is a much more 'public' thing to be involved with I guess...

                        Sorry for the lengthy post (you know what I'm like...!) but I've been giving this a lot of thought since we went live and this seemed a good opportunity to post someting on this issue.

                        What do other members think then? How can we take this forward chaps?

                        Brian.
                        Last edited by Brian Thompson; 26/07/2010, 10:16 AM.

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                        • #13
                          Brian
                          I dont think the name used on the forum is the big issue here, what is, is that there must be a legitimate address for the moderators to check.
                          ie member can sign as Joe Bloggs, but must supply (hidden from public profile)
                          his full name, address & email address. This is common practice with most forums & internet providers. It should then be possible when new members sign in to have this information accessable to the moderators for an easy check. Ok a few inividuals may put in spoof addresses but by & large it will cut out most of the crap. No address no registration. I do mean full address with postcode. not just a Town or Country.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            User names etc.

                            Thanks John, and I agree completely. That would be a very workable solution, if it's possible to set something up along those lines.

                            The key issue is indeed for the forum admin team to be able to identify users for general moderation purposes, but I can't help feeling that the points I mentioned are maybe part and parcel of why it happens. Also, everyone likes to know who it is that has posted a point of particular interest, or who they are 'talking' to as Adrian says. This is born out by the amount of 'visits' everyone's user profiles receive from other forum members. This is visible to all of course, and comes up in a little box on the right on each members user profile page.

                            My post was intended more as an overview (more like a flippin' essay!) for Adrian, as much as anything else, as he perhaps isn't as familiar with the issues surrounding this as some of the rest of us.

                            Yep, keep it simple, as you imply. Fair point mate.

                            Brian.
                            Last edited by Brian Thompson; 26/07/2010, 10:33 AM.

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                            • #15
                              Thanks for the explanation Brian, it's certainly appreciated and I'm sorry to have caused the additional workload. I'm sure you guys have more than enough to contend with aside from my glib statement on the matter. The Forum is a real asset to the Club and I'll be happy to add a new post or two, once my diploma comes through.

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