http://www.justicewatch.com/cgi-bin/jw/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=10516&forum=ja "Poll: A Proposed Public Justic Watch Forum" Posted by Dunvegan on 18:18:42 8/11/2001 NOTE: This message was last edited 18:18:42, 8/11/2001 Presently there are no publically-accessable, world-readable areas of the Justice Watch forum. Justice Watch was taken private during a difficult time, and even then, not before careful consultation with the membership. I have received recent requests for a public forum at Justice Watch. The requests are for an area that the general public could access. So, I pose the question to you, the members: what is your opinion in this matter? I think we all know some of the major pros and cons of a public forum...what comes to mind first are these issues: Pros: Wider audience, more diverse imput, greater visibility. Cons: Can become "troll/flame" burdened, not another #@^%*! forum to keep up with, etc. I am not proposing, at this time, that I have any interest in taking the entire board public. One thought that I have had is to leave all existing forum areas private to the present membership of Justice Watch. Just as it is now, only registered members would be able to post, or to even see the currently existing forums. However, there may be room for an entirely separate, but publically accessable, Justice Watch forum area. The poll is aimed at determining the sentiment and opinions of the currently registered Justice Watch constituancy in regards to creating a public forum area. I would appreciate it if you could take a few moments and answer this poll. It should take you no more than three minutes to complete. Your participation will go a long way towards directing the future trajectory and evolution of Justice Watch. You may take the poll by clicking here: http://fs7.formsite.com/dunvegan/publicForm/index.html Only completed forms from respondants with a corresponding Justice Watch member address will be tallied. I hope it goes without saying that open discussion on the topic of a public forum is also welcomed here on this thread. Many thanks, Dunvegan 5. "Yes...that was as clear as mud, Gem." Posted by Dunvegan on 19:08:23 8/11/2001 OK...where was I? Needing a nap, no doubt. Yes, even if you are not registered at Justice Watch you can see and read two of the forums: the Front Porch, and the Murdered, Missing & Exploited Children and True Crime forums. Neither of those forums, which are read-only to non-registered members, are Ramsey murder case oriented. So, as of now, Justice Watch has no world-readable Ramsey murder case offering. I'd hate to think what it would be like to attempt to wrestle with unregistered chaos. That's the furthest thing from my mind. New registered users, in a new forum, to discuss the Ramsey case...yes, that was the scenario I was attempting to frame as an inquiry. The reason for creating a new Ramsey case forum at all is that, if it were to be world-readable, I thought it might be best to leave current forums as they are. This separation and status-quo might prevent complete disruption to the established forums that are currently private (and functional.) Since I've had e-mails asking about a public area of this type, my thought was that this is something best reasoned over by the current membership. I'm not really anxious to do anything in the short-term...there is already plenty of work to do at Justice Watch without adding in this particular cauldron of seafood. 6. "One more question" Posted by Gemini on 19:31:45 8/11/2001 to mull over before the thunder boomers come in any closer. Is JW registration currently closed, or are you accepting applications? Is there a criteria as to whether reg requests are accepted or not? oops, that's two questions I guess. I'll stop now : ). Thanks so much for the clarification. I voted. 7. "Presently, until all the tidying is finished..." Posted by Dunvegan on 19:46:10 8/11/2001 ...we're not accepting new registrations. Just for the next few days...I certainly hope that the work I'm doing this weekend is done by this weekend. I anticipate opening registration, at worst, mid-week next week. Now, Gem...enjoy the deluge.... 8. "Oh...and is there criteria?" Posted by Dunvegan on 19:50:04 8/11/2001 Hmmmm...there's criteria. Currently registered "hats" are reserved for their present owners (there's a bit of technology to work out there.) New registrants will require an ISP-type e-mail address (no Yahoo! or Hotmail-type accounts.) The usual. 10. "Let me get this straight" Posted by FT on 20:38:51 8/11/2001 Dunvegan, you say you anticipate opening registration to the existing Justice Watch forum next week, but you are also contemplating a new separate, public JBR forum that would also require registration. Sorry if I'm being dense, but how would you distinguish which new registrant would get access to which forum (old or new)? 11. "The forum software can distinguish..." Posted by Dunvegan on 21:32:50 8/11/2001 NOTE: This message was last edited 21:32:50, 8/11/2001 ...which forums can be viewed from outside. At present, if you are not a forum member, and do not login, there is no way you can see the "The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey" forum. But, even if you are not a member, you can see, for instance, the Front Porch. I believe, to simplify, the most obvious of the possibilities is to create a new Ramsey murder case forum, if it were decided that a public JBR forum was of interest, or even a good idea. Again...I'm in no rush here. I'd just like to finish the forum tasks I'm working on now. Registration has been closed simply because there is a good deal to learn about the forum software...and I've been about that task since I've returned home after the 6th. Perhaps it would be less confusing of me to say that Justice Watch is slated to remain as is, for now. Registration will be open, for those who would like to register to Justice Watch (as is) sometime early this week. Any changes are certainly not going to happen soon, perhaps...if at all...if there is consensus, things would change somewhere down the line. It's just raised now as a topic for discussion. I'm sorry this is somewhat confusing...I see your point. The e-mail requests do not tell me how to execute such a thing...just if we would be creating a public Ramsey murder case forum. I suppose I'm still thinking how that would work out architecturally...so, please excuse my vagaries. I'll sleep on it and re-address it in the morning. 12. "Public Forum" Posted by JR on 01:49:20 8/12/2001 On one hand, I can see that a public forum could be a good thing because it would allow a JW world-readable Ramsey murder case offering which would be excellent to counteract a lot of misinformation spewing. However, I think a public forum would have to be monitored 24/7 because of flamers and misinformation needing to be cleared up. That would require moderators who are very case knowledgeable but I don't think that's much of an issue here. The flame wars concern me. We have already seen how divided the group can become over an issue. I guess if JW does this, we would all have to be ready to accept that many issues might become laced throughout all the PF threads. If we aren't willing to "go there" then no one will correct the misinformation unless there are moderators 24/7. My question would be, "Why are folks afraid or uninterested in registering? I remember some of us were concerned in the beginning but security on the net is much different today. I do agree a PF as well as JW as it stands should require a regular email address but allow the free accounts such as Yahoo, Hotmail etc., for posters who want to retain some measure of privacy yet include an email address in their post. I also think there would have to be some fairly rigid rules. Personally, I wonder why some "Newbies" ever come back to JW because of the "initiation" they get sometimes. However, I am much encouraged by what I have seen recently as to being reminded of the house rules by you Dun (I know this won't be a popular statement so flame away Y'All.)