TechTalk being hidden

[Dr Slotter]

I may have missed the discussion about this, but why is TechTalk hidden from non-members? Surely that is the best mechanism of attracting/keeping members? Fair enough having it read-only for non-members.

Even if you have to sign up to the forum without being a club member (can you even do that?) how would you know that it is even there?

[RedCat7]

Making Tech Talk members only is an own goal IMO. 
After asking for help in Tech Talk, I've been contacted and helped by non-members with solutions via Blatmail. If they can no longer view then they can no longer help members this way, which I think devalues the membership. 
TT was also one one the things that attracted me to the club - one benefit of joining the club (being able to ask for advice on Blatchat) was obvious for non-members to see.

[Roger King]

I'm 100% in agreement with the above comments. I can see no logic in making TechTalk hidden.

As many will know, I am no longer active in the club in the sense of having or working with Sevens, but I've always been happy to answer tech queries if I feel I can be of help. I've never had a problem with my replies being public and even preferred the "old, old" days when anyone, whether a member or not could post on Blatchat. Once it went "members only" for posting a great deal of potential help was lost.

But this is now a step too far for me and I am considering whether or not to continue posting. I've not made my mind up yet so time will tell.

Roger King

[6speedmanual]

Agree with all above.

Should be open to view.

It's a great indicator as to what kind of club we are and will attract members.

 

Peter

[sjmmarsh]

I agree - what better advert is there for the main advantage of becoming a member?

steve

[revilla]

I agree with all of the above. In addition, with the number of us who have Rover engines and in view of the now long-ago demise of MG Rover, I think anything we can do to maintain a body of knowledge and understanding of these engines within the wider community can only be beneficial in the long term. Even if only for read access I do think that Tech Talk should be visible to the general public.

[caterhamnut]

Agreed.

Sure, keep it read only if we must, but hidden totally - big mistake.

http://www.lotus7.club/sites/all/libraries/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/thumbs_down.png

[AntonyH]

Agreed.

[paul richards]

Disagree.

Some members have advised that they will not be renewing as they can't see the point of paying membership when they can still access Tech Talk as a non member. Fact.

As far as attracting new members is concerned, the site has a section on "Guides" which indicate the amount of technical info available to members. Similarly the "Why become a member" section sets out the benefits of membership. Perhaps we should make it even more clear in there that there is a Tech Talk forum available.

[Roger Ford]

Perhaps we should encourage people to post technical question in ChitChat to prevent the club from cashing in on our freely-given advice.

[DJ.]

I think hiding techtalk from non-members is a mistake for the club.

However, I also think it is high handed of the club to prevent general viewing of posts that were generously written to help Seven owners as a whole. I have contributed in only a small way as my knowledge is limited, but on the occasions I posted to help members, I was more than happy for non-member Seven owners to read the comments.

As the club always said, the members posts were the responsibilty of the member posting and not owned by the club. What right then do the club have to remove public access to all those posts?

There is quite a difference between:

1. A club that encouraged a Seven owner to join after they had been helped with a technical issue by unpaid members freely giving information.

or

2. A club that tells a potential member that there is plenty of information (freely given but now hidden), but they aren't getting any help until they've paid their money.

I know which I would prefer to be a member of :(

Duncan

[paul richards]

Looks like we won't agree. There is the view:-

Why should I supply information to a freeloader who doesn't contribute anything to my club.

[Roger King]

Or,

Why should I supply information F.O.C. to a club that then won't let people see it until they've paid?

[DJ.]

Very well put Roger.

 

Duncan

[Golf Juliet Tango]

I support keeping TechTalk to members.

I have been told that we could show thread titles to non-members but withold the content, which is a viable option.

[Roger Ford]

I do think it's a bit unreasonable that I have to pay 50 quid for the privilege of posting on Blatchat (and regardless of any other potential benefits, that's the only reason I pay it), then the club feels that it owns my posts and can charge other people for the right to read them.

How about a tick box at the end of a post in TechTalk saying "make post public"?  Then people could decide for themselves whether they want their posts visible to everyone, or restricted to club members only.

OK, you may not care about losing my contributions to TechTalk (though I've certainly helped a few people out over the years) but it would be a great shame if we no longer got contributions from Oilyhands, for example.

[richy]

If members wish to divulge information from their past experiences which may help others, then that is their decision whether they wish to use private blatmail, or post it in a thread. The info doesn't suddenly become club property just because it is posted in the thread. Unless I've missed something in the T&C's. TechTalk should remain public and the individual members should decide whether they want public access or not.

Richy

[Roger King]

I would welcome some information from the team about why Techtalk has been removed from public view. At present I can see no justification for it, but it is easy to take a stance that might have been different given more data.

I don't remember any discussion or warning about the policy change before it was initiated.

[Roger King]

I would welcome some information from the team about why Techtalk has been removed from public view. At present I can see no justification for it, but it is easy to take a stance that might have been different given more data.

I don't remember any discussion or warning about the policy change before it was initiated.

[john milner]

I agree with both sides of this. Would it be possible to just make the initial post available to the public? This would advertise the value of being a member without giving away any useful information contained in the replies.

I also mainly view Tech Talk from a Smart TV which I am not keen on using to access accounts as I am not sure about the security of a TV. If something were to catch my eye as a public user via TV I could look at it in detail via a secure PC. As things stand my reading of Blatchat is likely to drop.

 

[Alex Wong1697456877]

As mentioned elsewhere, is it worth making it visible but not searchable or post-able? That way, non members can get an idea how useful it is, non-member contributers can contribute on new queries, but only members can search the vast database of knowledge - I just searched for what spark plugs to use in my Vx and found my own post from years ago which answered it.

[Jonathan Kay]

What's the current visibility of TechTalk, please?

(Titles of Guides are shown to non-Members, but the full body isn't.)

Thanks

Jonathan

[SLR No.77]

Log off and find out.

Stu.

[christinecsr7]

Stu is right - If you log off as a member then look at the website and Blatchat - Techtalk you will see that it is visible to non members .

Member benefits and what constitutes a benefit for a member is constantly reviewed but as I write this  there is no move to change the current arrangement  - but interesting debate :-) 

Chris 

[SLR No.77]

Christine, it was an interesting debate .... 3 years ago! I'm not sure why Jonathan chose to bring it back to the top.

Stu.