WHO IS ONLINE

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Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by PRINCE WILLIAM » Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:51 pm

I had seen this feature in many fora with a similar build. I think it is a standard and I find it just a curio, never gave it a second thought and I believe most people do the same.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Jamiet99uk » Sat Feb 20, 2021 1:45 pm

Ok I'm just going to say a few final words on this and then shut up:

I raised this partly because I felt the feature was totally unnecessary (which it is), and because I thought it could easily be switched off (which is still my assumption. Whether or not this feature is easy to switch off clearly doesn't matter because the site authorities are not interested.

I also raised this partly because I felt there was a privacy issue. I still have concerns about that but I seem to be in a minority.

Finally, part of the reason for raising this was because the existence of this stupid feature came to light in a Mafia game that I was running. Several players in that Mafia game contacted me to express concern and alarm about that feature. One of those players (who I will not name) has now commented in this thread to say they don't think there's a problem, which is a weird and contradictory attitude for them to have, but, meh, people.

Clearly most people don't think this is an issue or a problem, and the consensus of the webDip community is that this feature is fine and should be left as it is.

Ok then, so be it.

If any of you ever bring this up again in the context of a Mafia game, I will dismiss your concerns and you will be ignored.

Thank you, that is all from me.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by yavuzovic » Sat Feb 20, 2021 8:00 am

Jamiet99uk wrote:
Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:14 am
Macca573 wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:55 pm
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:57 pm

Surely that includes "users" that are not logged in or do not have accounts here? "Guest" is a strange euphemism for "regular member who is hiding their status".
Can such people access the forums?
Yes.
Isn't it a big number for "guests" though. Why would so many people want to read our forum without logging in? There's usually more guests than actual users.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Jamiet99uk » Sat Feb 20, 2021 12:14 am

Macca573 wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:55 pm
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:57 pm

Surely that includes "users" that are not logged in or do not have accounts here? "Guest" is a strange euphemism for "regular member who is hiding their status".
Can such people access the forums?
Yes.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by TheMadMonarch » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:55 pm

Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:57 pm
yavuzovic wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:06 pm
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:42 am


How do you know that?
21 guests online for 4 revealed users at the moment.
Surely that includes "users" that are not logged in or do not have accounts here? "Guest" is a strange euphemism for "regular member who is hiding their status".
Can such people access the forums?

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by e.m.c^42 » Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:54 pm

Nephthys wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 6:38 am
I've always used it a decent amount in mafia to avoid cross posting.


Plus kinda fun to see who spends 45 mins editing a 100 word post
I don't know whether to feel called out or not, lmao. Although, never checked which action takes precedence if one is both reading and replying.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Jamiet99uk » Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:57 pm

yavuzovic wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:06 pm
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:42 am
yavuzovic wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:24 am
A majority of the forum users have it disabled anyway.
How do you know that?
21 guests online for 4 revealed users at the moment.
Surely that includes "users" that are not logged in or do not have accounts here? "Guest" is a strange euphemism for "regular member who is hiding their status".

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by yavuzovic » Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:06 pm

Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:42 am
yavuzovic wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:24 am
A majority of the forum users have it disabled anyway.
How do you know that?
21 guests online for 4 revealed users at the moment.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Jamiet99uk » Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:42 am

yavuzovic wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:24 am
A majority of the forum users have it disabled anyway.
How do you know that?

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by yavuzovic » Fri Feb 19, 2021 10:24 am

Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:56 am
jmo1121109 wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:45 am
Account->Forum Settings->Board Preferences Tab->Hide my online status->choose yes.

This feature is from phpbb3 forums, not something we did. But they provide you a way to hide your presence if you find the feature uncomfortable.
You can also disable it, for the whole site, and that's what I'm asking you to consider.

The trikolor forum you copied, for example, has this function disabled.
A majority of the forum users have it disabled anyway. I don't see the reason to disable it for the entire site. Maybe the default setting can be hidden.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Jamiet99uk » Fri Feb 19, 2021 8:56 am

jmo1121109 wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:45 am
Account->Forum Settings->Board Preferences Tab->Hide my online status->choose yes.

This feature is from phpbb3 forums, not something we did. But they provide you a way to hide your presence if you find the feature uncomfortable.
You can also disable it, for the whole site, and that's what I'm asking you to consider.

The trikolor forum you copied, for example, has this function disabled.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Nephthys » Fri Feb 19, 2021 6:38 am

I've always used it a decent amount in mafia to avoid cross posting.


Plus kinda fun to see who spends 45 mins editing a 100 word post

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by jmo1121109 » Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:45 am

Jamiet99uk wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:53 pm
I recently discovered, to my surprise, that the WHO IS ONLINE thing in the "STATISTICS" box at the bottom of the forum is actually a *link* which opens up another page.

That page displays not only who is online but what they are doing. For every person on the forum when you click it, it tells you which specific sub-forum they're reading or posting in or, more worryingly, if they're using the Private Messages facility, it tells you whether they are reading, composing, or replying to a Private Message at that precise moment in time.

I think this is an unjustified breach of users' privacy and should be disabled. I can see no reason why ordinary users need to be able to see this information about each other's activities.

I would also, frankly, like to know why webDip decided to include or turn on this stupid feature? Like who thought this was necessary or a good idea?

I would hope that disabling this feature would be a straightforward task, since I notice that tricolor.x-tk.ru, the forum that you copied, has this feature disabled.

Please can I therefore suggest that this unjustified feature is removed or disabled as soon as possible?
Account->Forum Settings->Board Preferences Tab->Hide my online status->choose yes.

This feature is from phpbb3 forums, not something we did. But they provide you a way to hide your presence if you find the feature uncomfortable.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by dargorygel » Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:53 am

Tom Bombadil wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:12 am
Can’t you as a user just turn off the option to appear online already?
Yes, Tom... The minor downside of this is that we lose some small sense of community. IF a switch can be thrown downtown, it seems like a worthwhile thing. If it takes major code stuff, I understand not doing it. At least without doubling mod/admin salaries... Or time in the condo in the Congo.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Tom Bombadil » Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:12 am

Can’t you as a user just turn off the option to appear online already?

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by kgray » Fri Feb 19, 2021 1:56 am

Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 1:30 am
kgray wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:56 am
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:00 am


But it is totally unnecessary, and you know I'm not the only one who's expressed concern about it, so can you (and by "you" I mean the webDip authorities, not you kgray personally) turn it off?
I have no idea, sorry. I (kgray personally) am not the right person to ask... I have never looked at the site's code and I have no plans to.
Yes but that is why I created this thread.

This is the correct area of the forum for this type of thing, yes?
Yes... And? You're obviously welcome to bring this up and I wasn't trying to shut you down. I don't see any need for that feature and I'd support getting rid of it. I just think it's a little extreme to say it's a breach of privacy.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Jamiet99uk » Fri Feb 19, 2021 1:30 am

kgray wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:56 am
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:00 am
kgray wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:11 pm


Right, but it's not like the "who's online" feature tells you who anybody is actually messaging. I agree that it seems unnecessary (and for Mafia games is certainly not ideal) but I don't see how it's a breach of privacy. Especially since you can just hide your online status altogether if you want to.
But it is totally unnecessary, and you know I'm not the only one who's expressed concern about it, so can you (and by "you" I mean the webDip authorities, not you kgray personally) turn it off?
I have no idea, sorry. I (kgray personally) am not the right person to ask... I have never looked at the site's code and I have no plans to.
Yes but that is why I created this thread.

This is the correct area of the forum for this type of thing, yes?

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by kgray » Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:56 am

Jamiet99uk wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:00 am
kgray wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:11 pm
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 6:37 pm


I don't think it's the same at all. A public forum, where everyone can see what you post, is not the same as a messaging app, where you decide who you're exchanging messages with.
Right, but it's not like the "who's online" feature tells you who anybody is actually messaging. I agree that it seems unnecessary (and for Mafia games is certainly not ideal) but I don't see how it's a breach of privacy. Especially since you can just hide your online status altogether if you want to.
But it is totally unnecessary, and you know I'm not the only one who's expressed concern about it, so can you (and by "you" I mean the webDip authorities, not you kgray personally) turn it off?
I have no idea, sorry. I (kgray personally) am not the right person to ask... I have never looked at the site's code and I have no plans to.

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by Jamiet99uk » Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:00 am

kgray wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:11 pm
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 6:37 pm
e.m.c^42 wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:17 pm
To be honest, I don't think it's particularly any more of a privacy breach than a "someone is online", "someone is typing", or "seen" notification, which are staples of almost all messaging applications.

Private messages are essentially user-specific forum threads, so it's no different from the "viewing/replying in topic".
I don't think it's the same at all. A public forum, where everyone can see what you post, is not the same as a messaging app, where you decide who you're exchanging messages with.
Right, but it's not like the "who's online" feature tells you who anybody is actually messaging. I agree that it seems unnecessary (and for Mafia games is certainly not ideal) but I don't see how it's a breach of privacy. Especially since you can just hide your online status altogether if you want to.
But it is totally unnecessary, and you know I'm not the only one who's expressed concern about it, so can you (and by "you" I mean the webDip authorities, not you kgray personally) turn it off?

Re: WHO IS ONLINE

by BunnyGo » Thu Feb 18, 2021 9:28 pm

kgray wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:11 pm
Jamiet99uk wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 6:37 pm
e.m.c^42 wrote:
Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:17 pm
To be honest, I don't think it's particularly any more of a privacy breach than a "someone is online", "someone is typing", or "seen" notification, which are staples of almost all messaging applications.

Private messages are essentially user-specific forum threads, so it's no different from the "viewing/replying in topic".
I don't think it's the same at all. A public forum, where everyone can see what you post, is not the same as a messaging app, where you decide who you're exchanging messages with.
Right, but it's not like the "who's online" feature tells you who anybody is actually messaging. I agree that it seems unnecessary (and for Mafia games is certainly not ideal) but I don't see how it's a breach of privacy. Especially since you can just hide your online status altogether if you want to.
I have no opinion to contribute one way or the other. I have been noticing the opinions largely seem based on “side of the Atlantic”.

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