Before I set out the thread for the Votes as to the future way this Forum will function
let me tell you a story.
This morning I was busy caulking and painting at home. My phone rang and I answered it.
It was my friend Tony Laing who recently left the forum at his own request and asked me to
delete him which I have done as you all know.
During our usual chit - chat he asked me something which surprised me.
He asked and I quote ... " Have i stirred up a hornets nest after leaving the forum ? "
I asked him why he was asking this. It turns out he has been reading our recent posts regarding
the forthcoming votes. Anyway i informed him he had not done any such thing as the nest had
already been stirred up previous to his leaving.
This for me begged the question ... " Why the hell does anyone even need to bother registering for membership
in order to reap most of the benefits when you can do so without any commitment or input to the forum
or its members ? "
Granted they cant see the screenshots or comment but they can view and reap the benefits and rewards
for free without any Login or Membership necessary.
So there you go you can leave and still have a slightly limited access to the Forum thereby still be able to "nosey in "
as to what is going on.
Even worse you don't even have to Login or be a Member to reap the benefits and advice of Registered Members who
give up some of their spare time plus invaluable knowledge.
Bloody cheeky i think.
If you don't register as a member or leave you should therefore have NO ACCESS to the FORUM.
This site needs to LOCK OUT NON MEMBERS ... A.S.A.P.
Well that's that i am away back to work and have a further think as to the contents of the voting and future policy of the Forum
I have read most of your views and even though it is not MY Forum i feel its General Openness to outsiders needs to be addressed in
the interests of all members.

You make a highly valid point there David, but personally speaking, I believe all of these type of places should operate to an extent as an open window or else how else could we ever expect to attract any new members without them first sampling the goods?

Steve Wigan, who i have no doubt will become a highly valued member here in future as well as a brilliant resource for the release information so often enquired about here, joined us by stumbling across the website by accident while looking for something completely different (though still cine related).

I have no doubt we came up within his search by virtue of the same words within his search being mentioned somewhere here.
This would not be the case if the forum was locked away behind a fence.

SFFF uses a policy like your suggesting and it is dead in the water by all accounts!

I used to have a look in as a guest when it was open. Now I simply don't even bother typing the words into my search bar ever!!

No, for the benefit of the forum and for it's growth and longevity, i do not believe closing the forum altogether to guests is the way to go personally.

My own view on the forum is to use it as a shop window, to let folk that are looking for somewhere, where like minded people
meet up and share experiences, pictures and a wealth of knowledge, this can't happen if you "hide your light under a bushel".
The problem we do have, is the large number of people who have signed up and have NEVER, EVER posted, not even to say thankyou for the warm welcomes they received. The answer to that problem is quite simple, give fair warning about lack of postings from them, then systematically weed them out and cancel, they will soon get the message, either be involved, or go sleep somewhere else, but as it stands, I personally have no problem with anyone "having a brouse", the 8mm forum is open and is a fine example, the SFFF is in need of
a suitable memorial. Just by our activity on here, its a beacon to people who follow the hobby. I still reckon we leave it as it is, but sort out the "Readers Digest" who can't be bothered to even log in.

I understand your points Andrew but we are not SFFF.
What I am suggesting is leaving only a few SAMPLE pages OPEN.
Surely if any potential member can view these and are happy with what they read or see
that should help them decide whether to join us or not.
That way they will need to join in order to reap the full benefit and rewards of joining.
I suggest that out of respect to those members such as yourself and others who give some of there
time in order to advise and help out.
Otherwise what is the point of Registering for Membership in the first place.
It would be a bit like joining a Private Film Club and not paying the same fees as other members.
In fact non-members are not paying any fees at all to view the posts.

I take your point Hugh about not hiding our light under a bushel. That's fine but I feel that light should
be dimmed slightly to outsiders who are not members. Give them only a 100 Watts then give them the
full 2 Kw when they register and join as members.

I think Dave has a valid point, what is the point of registering to be a member if all and sundry can read it, I do think their should be some extra benefit to being a member, its not that it costs anything to register.
Do you have to register to be able to read the replys on the 8mm forum, im sure the small formats forum you have to register, I will go along with what the majority want.

As for lack of input and activity from a member ... well that's another point that will be sorted
after the votes have been counted.

What's SFFF?

Michael SFFF is Small Format Film Forum.

As I understand it Dave, non members can only read the script, pictures are not viewable. I think its only because people can view
the forum that they sign up, granted half of them are non events.

Yes Hugh you can try it for yourself by not logging in. hahaha !!!

Yes, I go along with David; this is what Gwyn suggested I think. That way the forum is not closed as in SFFF. There's enough there to whet the appetite of the dedicated film collector, and if they want the benefits of the other pages, they join and accept the conditions. The SFFF has been dead for months, even before it was locked to non members. I went over to 8mm Worldwide today, I feel sorry for the admins there; a very nicely designed forum, but some sections haven't been added to for months. This is a very lively forum, and friendly. It's hard to believe that we have 130 members.

Michael should know what SFFF is, he's a member of it!

Sometimes I get stumped on abbreviations myself, so I understand Michael

Yes, Michael is also a member of Small Format Film Forum (SFFF), so not surprising he doesn't have time. Surprised really because when Hugh and I were both members it was dead, with not even the admins bothering to post. Wouldn't have thought there was anything of interest there, they certainly didn't have the number and range of topics discussed here.

He was going to jack in the forum, but to an outcry, all five of us, he kept it going.

We have had a good say on this subject, but maybe now we should just sit back and wait for the 1st of next month. David will be able to give us the results of our votes, and there should be no more arguments. I did notice that a number of members have logged in today, not commented on anything, or voted, which I find odd. That's up to them, but don't complain afterwards. This is a major issue for some of us, but for the good of the forum, we need to let it take a back seat until August 1st, and get back to our hobby.

Robert thanks that is what I was getting at.I thought everybody knew you could "surf" the various sites like this one that has an "open" policy where you can view near enough everything and if you see something of interest ,and you belong ,log in.
I think you need something to catch the eye and also get across what's on a site like this and the benifits of belonging to said site as if you like the first page.like the cover of a book.
Just how far you can look into the book is a matter of contention,and maybe best left to Vidar and admins.
I don't tthink as I've said already making it a totally closed site is the answer,after all we have nothing to hide and we want people to join.yes one would like this see those that join, join in the talk but " you can take a horse to water etc etc".
I do think our front page as it is shows too much but I leave it to others to decide if you agree.
At the end of the day we need members,but a closed site will I think defer those whose might have joined and somehow a balance needs to be drawn. 📽 📽

Yes, please, let us see some screenshots and keep it reel

.?????.......Vidar screen shots of a book...book Over???😀😀😀😀😂😂😂😂😂📽📽

:-) In reply to Andrews posts about getting back to our hobby ;-)

Ahh ...senior moment📽

Good grief Hugh and Robert! Yes, I joined sfff a couple of years ago on a lark, and forgot about it. Recognized the main page when I Googled it the other day and clicked the forgot username and password link.

Then, did the unthinkable! The unforgivable! I checked it out! Oh, no! The humiliation! The scandal!

Mea culpa, mea culpa! I've sinned! I don't remember, but I might have actually answered someone's question on that site! Oh, the nerve!

I am so glad you two are here to monitor the film forums of the world wide web, whatever would film collectors do without you?

I am also on 16mm film talk (the first one I ever joined), and 8mm film talk (the second). I believe I registered with another one a while ago, but don't remember.

Next thing you two will call for a vote banning anyone who dares even look at another forum?

This is getting ridiculous. Are you two hell bent on chasing everyone away?!?

I hope you stick with us, Michael. I have personally no problems anyone using other forums, I do so myself and following the rules some want here, I'd be kicked off too. I lurk on 8mm film tech, occasional post, but find good info everywhere. I will follow democracy and accept the majority, whichever it turns out

Michael, its not a crime to belong to more than one thing, but to keep forgetting what you've signed up to and when, there are tablets for that. Now see what you can achieve when you put your mind to something, you wrote a post, with lots of words in it, the most we've seen from you on here, wasn't that hard was it, but you still haven't commented on much, apart from this post concerning membership.
Now surely you can put something regarding your hobby on here, its films. Now I am a busy man too, but in twelve months managed to write over two and a half thousand posts, it isn't a competition, but luckily I can remember which club I belong too. Now, I'm off to do a bit of work, so trust I can leave you to keep up the good work and keep the "readers digest" on here entertained, you ol' keyboard tapper,you. Toodles.