Forum Privacy?

[Ainsley]

I noticed while I was home on vacation that all the Bhuz discussion fora are accessible without signing in: therefore to any of the internet public. Threads even come up in Google searches.

I know that after the switch to the new Bhuz, all the fora were made private again, and I'm not sure when/why they went back to being public.

Is there any way that access to the fora might be restricted again? One of the reasons I preferred Bhuz to other BD discussion sites is that topics weren't accessible to the general public and couldn't be Googled.

[lotus]

I feel the same way, and was just logging on to post about the same subject, what a funny coincidence. In the meantime, I'm not going to post specifics about business stuff anymore.

(I test-googled myslef today as though I were a client lookign for dancers, and there were some bhuz threads I'd rather they did not see. Clients don't need to know all the behind scenes grief we get, it will only weaken my bargaining position when they call)

[Lauren_]

ooh. ouch. interesting. No wonder I'm not getting many gigs, I posted my age, my weight...

[rosey]

Blame it on Google! I have been working on making the site more search engine friendly, and to do this I had to loosen up the viewing levels of the Forums.

However, your concerns are certainly justified. So, I have changed the whole Middle Eastern Dance section back to the higher level of privacy.

It seems to me that this is the main area of the Forums that would have any sensitive items. This area will no longer be indexed in search engines, and in a week or so, when the crawlers come back, the threads that had been indexed won't show up any more in a search.

We always listen to your concerns and do everything possible to accommodate our beloved members!!!

[Ainsley]

Thanks so much, Rosey! I really appreciate how easy you make it to give feedback. You run the friendliest of fora!

Would it be possible to make the "More Bellydance" section restricted as well? I think a lot of personal topics crop up in the "Off Topic" forum, but I think you're right that there probably isn't as much sensitive information on the Retail pages.

[rosey]

Originally Posted by Ainsley

Thanks so much, Rosey! I really appreciate how easy you make it to give feedback. You run the friendliest of fora!

Would it be possible to make the "More Bellydance" section restricted as well? I think a lot of personal topics crop up in the "Off Topic" forum, but I think you're right that there probably isn't as much sensitive information on the Retail pages.

I changed Off Topic to the higher level of privacy.

[mish_mish]

As an "off-topic" junky, I thank you. I have a big mouth and no impulse control so I'd prefer that those topcs don't come up on google!!!

[annwyn]

This is realy important, I though it was all private. I have posted many things about my husband and his job n here thinking that it was private, OPSCE or Operational Security is a very big part of keeping unfriendly people out of the loop, with this forum being public, I have violated it. I will just have to keep my mouth shut......Im glad though that the off topic is private, other wise the whole world now would know about my boob job...

[beafarhana]

Well given that *anyone* can become a member (and I'm sure we have many, many lurkers who never post, who we have no way of identifying), and that only a handful of people have ever been booted out, I don't think anyone should consider this a truly "private" medium.