I, too, would like to see the email addesses included in the profiles (if the owner checks that option). I belong to several online boards, and they all do this.

The me-too discussions at times drive me nuts! I totally understand (and appreciate) the need for information sharing. There are those of us who are soaking up everything we can from those whose experiences in PTOland exceed our own. With that said, and I realize that this would just dump more work on you and your staff, but how about developing an FTP section so that those who had documents and templates could upload them, and those who wanted them could download them. Don’t make it instant access, because if you did, you would be spreading worms and viri like nobody’s business!

Or setup a drop email box that people could send them to you, virus check them, and post on a page for downloading.

Just adding my 2 cents.

1. "Email that to me, too" threads. I think they take away from the forum.

It's hard to keep track of those threads and to get to everyone that wants a copy. As they move down the active topics, they just get lost.

The threads themselves aren't the best way to share but part of the reason I like this forum, is the ability to share with one another.

But like Critter, I have had numerous requests (at least 150 or more) for forms, letters, advice (some not necessarily appropriate for this specific forum- like PTA procedure) and I DO NOT MIND the requests.

When the e-mail addresses were public, I used an alternate public e-mail address that scans spam (yahoo is very good for this) and I have only had 2 inappropriate e-mails/spams that I feel came from this board.
I feel as though we are adults and as internet users, we are aware of the risks of having an e-mail address public. If we make the choice to post it, or make it public, it's our responsibility. I don't think the spam is large enough compared to the good that having your e-mail address available provides. I also would not be happy with being told that I CANNOT post my own e-mail address in a topic. It is my choice, my right and if I post it, I take the risk. But don't make that choice for me.

We can encourage people to post the text of their forms or letters or surveys right in a forum message. And we could eventually post some of the best forms, etc. on a download page on the site

It may just not be appropriate to do so. Some of the items I've had requested are in a specific format that would be lost if I just posted to a topic (excel, word etc)
And to put them in a download page, Who would decide which is the best? Some of my forms are PTA specific and are requested, would those be included or just PTO specific? Some have information in them that I don't mind e-mailing out but would feel even more uncomfortable in having them public.

My preferences- Bring back the option of making your e-mail address public with a disclaimer that the address is public and though rare, some e-mail addresses can be misused/used for spam. User Beware.
This will cut down the "send them to me too threads" too but we are all adults and capable of making our own decisions. Most of us should be aware of the risks if we are online, that this is a WORLD WIDE WEB and that any information that we put out there is really OUT THERE.

If your bigger concern is form requests and the space/time is consumes, why not make a specific forum for those where people can post. Then people like me or Critter can just go to that particular topic. Again, when you open the topic, a disclaimer "Any e-mail addresses posted to this topic are open for all to see, User beware"
That wouldn't require much bandwidth and would free up other topics. Perhaps each post can put the option of redirecting to the request forum in a reply- "If requesting a form, letter, direct response, click here"

"Email that to me, too" threads. I think they take away from the forum.

I agree 100%. Seems like we've had a lot more posts with a lot less substance since email access was taken away.

And even when we just have the email addresses available (on an opt-in basis) in the user profiles, there's still been a good deal of misuse of those addresses.

If they're right there in the profiles for anyone to see, I guess I can understand how they would be misused. But I've been a registered forum member for about 18 months now, and I always used the option to keep my email hidden to all but registered users. I had no problems with this whatsoever--I could get to people I needed to get to, and they could get to me. I really liked having it this way. And I have had absolutely, positively no spam as a result of it. (The email address registered for this forum is only used for here and one other forum.) I'm not a candidate for carpal tunnel yet (by your definition, anyway), but I am on here a fair amount. Were the people who were complaining about the misuse sure that it's from this forum? And did they use the option to keep the address hidden from all but registered users?

When email addresses are posted right in a message, there are email farming/gathering "bots" that take those addresses and add them to spam lists. I know this problem only too well.

Yeah. Since the email access was taken away, when I need to put in my address for something, I put it in as mum24kidsathotmaildotcom, and only some of the people figure it out. I've tried other things, like putting in extra spaces or underlines and telling people to ignore them, but that only works part of the time, too--plus it's a lot to type in. So that's not a really great option, either.

Just thought I'd add that those threads where there are 200 requests to "send me that list" drive me a little nuts, too. I just think to myself..why can't they just post this somewhere so we can all see it rather than that poor person having to e-mail 200 people over the next year.
Shelly

Tim - since June '01 when I joined the forum, I've emailed material to 351 people (don't ask why I keep track, just odd, I guess). I completely understand the issues with spam, getting a bit of myself, but direct sharing is one of the most valuable assets of this forum. And I'm not complaining about emailing that much, but if it's just a "Send Me That Too" post, then it's possible that the "Sender" will miss the request unless they comb the forum frequently.

If it's safer to include email in the user profile, then I'd vote for that.

I don't know anything about automatic email harvesters, but would it trick the spammers to replace the "@" sign with an asterisk or some other character? Then, when we pull an email address off someone's profile, we could just change the * to an @. Just a thought.

[ 09-10-2004, 11:11 PM: Message edited by: Critter ]