Signing Posts With Your Name... Yeah...

I think city and state should be it like say all my mail and my friends and teachers and all that stuff I go by Rob but my real name is Robert so could this work

sig-
Rob Nichols
Greenville SC
with maybe river system or something
Reedy/North Sulada

Well I reconsidered. Here I am.

google can't track signature pictures with text on it
my $.02

Except we can't post pictures in our sigs any more. Due to "abuses", heh heh! Wish I could have seen that one, LOL!

Except we can't post pictures in our sigs any more. Due to "abuses", heh heh! Wish I could have seen that one, LOL!

I like the idea of a general location or watershed being mandatory. It is invaluable to our work. Those who ask for fish ID's without their location are making it difficult for the rest of us.

I agree. Just a state, watershed name, or HUC number. But apparently Drew does not want to require this. It's his decision to make, and I respect that.

We have many forum members who are minors. How would you feel about your child being required to put out his full name and location here? I would not allow it in my house. This real name requirement is junk.

That is a VERY good point. I would not allow my minor children to post such information, either. Although Drew did not explain his decision, perhaps that is part of his reasoning. Drew is wise!

Personally I have nothing to hide. Heck Google Matt DeLaVega. I am everywhere. But I fully understand those who do not wish to disclose personal info. I like the idea of a general location or watershed being mandatory. It is invaluable to our work. Those who ask for fish ID's without their location are making it difficult for the rest of us. If is is not made mandatory, I stongly suggest that all members take note of this, and put some kind of locale in your profile. In this hobby, profession, whatever your place is here, A location is very important.
As for a real name. That is up to the individual. When someone googles your name, do you want it to come up like mine?
We have many forum members who are minors. How would you feel about your child being required to put out his full name and location here? I would not allow it in my house. This real name requirement is junk. If we feel that it will make the forum more intimate, then by all means voluntarily post your true name. Otherwise leave it alone. As others have said it will never be mandatory.

I agree completely. There are a lot of nut jobs out there. Someone can disagree with a post, then suddenly show up at your house. I have up till now purposely left my name off for this reason. (Now, granted, someone who showed up at my house would be quickly sent off by two great Pyrenees dogs). I might change my mind at some point, but I need to think seriously about it. I also agree that children should absolutely not put their full names for the same reason. Additionally, there are women with abusive spouses and/or stalkers from whom they need to hide their locations. State/watershed are good to ask for, but people should be able to stay anonymous if needed.

I agree with nativeplanter. There are some people in this forum can't be trust especially after big arguement...then end in front of my door. Now that's scary! However its up to the posters, we can't make them to reveal themselves. I like the location idea. Just let you know that my neighbor is a cop and you don't want to be unlucky one in Minnesota jail.

I agree with nativeplanter. There are some people in this forum can't be trust especially after big arguement...then end in front of my door. Now that's scary! However its up to the posters, we can't make them to reveal themselves. I like the location idea. Just let you know that my neighbor is a cop and you don't want to be unlucky one in Minnesota jail.

As long as your neighnbor isn't an English professor, I think it will all even out OK...

Dave

As long as your neighnbor isn't an English professor, I think it will all even out OK...

Knowing that it was a friendly jab, I got a big chuckle out of that. Here's another friendly jab: how do you spell "neighbor"?

Knowing that it was a friendly jab, I got a big chuckle out of that. Here's another friendly jab: how do you spell "neighbor"?

Hah! Words to the wise - don't drink -n- post

hey Drew, how the heck do we enable a spell checker on this thing?!

hey Drew, how the heck do we enable a spell checker on this thing?!

It's called Firefox 2.0. It comes with a built-in spell checker. Only problem is that it doesn't really help with all those latin names.

Yeah...that latin names will make your spell check catch on fire if you're making a trip report

I also use firefox but if you're using IE (presumably without a spell check mod installed) you'll see a spell check icon in the upper right when you post. If you click this, it will spell check your message before you post and spare you possible embarrassment. I would advise consulting the NANFA species checklist for the appropriate spelling of fishes.

I agree completely. There are a lot of nut jobs out there. Someone can disagree with a post, then suddenly show up at your house. I have up till now purposely left my name off for this reason. (Now, granted, someone who showed up at my house would be quickly sent off by two great Pyrenees dogs). I might change my mind at some point, but I need to think seriously about it. I also agree that children should absolutely not put their full names for the same reason. Additionally, there are women with abusive spouses and/or stalkers from whom they need to hide their locations. State/watershed are good to ask for, but people should be able to stay anonymous if needed.

I agree with nativeplanter. There are a lot of predators and sickos online, and I don't want them ending up with my contact info. You guys may have nothing to hide, but I hope you can understand why female members might choose not to sign their actual names.

I agree with nativeplanter. There are a lot of predators and sickos online, and I don't want them ending up with my contact info. You guys may have nothing to hide, but I hope you can understand why female members might choose not to sign their actual names.

And this is one of the many reasons why this will never be even contemplated by some of us on staff. As long as this forum is an open and public resource we will never require anything like this. It is strictly voluntary to add such information to your posts or profile and it will remain this way.

I agree with nativeplanter. There are a lot of predators and sickos online, and I don't want them ending up with my contact info. You guys may have nothing to hide, but I hope you can understand why female members might choose not to sign their actual names.

And this is one of the many reasons why this will never be even contemplated by some of us on staff. As long as this forum is an open and public resource we will never require anything like this. It is strictly voluntary to add such information to your posts or profile and it will remain this way.

I agree about full names, but I see no reason not to include your first name in your signature. I think that will help bring in a sense of camaraderie to the forum.

I agree about full names, but I see no reason not to include your first name in your signature. I think that will help bring in a sense of camaraderie to the forum.

You're probably right. But let's not pressure anybody to engage in any more camaraderie than they're comfortable with. I can tell you from first hand experience that bad things can happen to people online, even in fish forums. Even with people who might initially seem friendly and trustworthy. I would encourage people to be cautious and and to trust their gut in these matters. You can't be too careful these days.

You're probably right. But let's not pressure anybody to engage in any more camaraderie than they're comfortable with. I can tell you from first hand experience that bad things can happen to people online, even in fish forums. Even with people who might initially seem friendly and trustworthy. I would encourage people to be cautious and and to trust their gut in these matters. You can't be too careful these days.

Unfortunately, she's right.

If the person refuses to provide location information necessary to answer a question, then don't answer his question. People should be cautious, especially children, but if they want to be overly cautious, they can't expect an answer. Work with the information you're given, and respect people's privacy. That's fair enough for everyone.

Since I started this thread, let me say that I agree with Histrix. What I originally said at the beginning really applies primarily to adult males; that's the reality in the modern world. Minors shouldn't identify themselves on line, and in this public a venue that's true of women too. My concern has been to minimize noise from anonymous posters, I certainly don't think that either Histrix or Nativeplanter contribute noise(!). So anyway, I apologize for possibly seeming cranky or officious. Let the games continue!

Some of you know this already, but about 6 months ago my home was ransacked by someone who went deliberately for my fishtanks. They stole almost nothing, and did very very little other damage, but my tanks were all completely trashed. All of them. I'm STILL getting them back up and running. I can only assume that some jerkwad I pissed off online in some fishy web area decided to pay me a little visit to demonstrate his annoyance. Only a very few of you know even my name, let alone where I am, and even fewer people have even that much info about me on other sites. Don't misconstrue that as a wild accusation; I figure you guys are all really swell, so I can't even guess who could have done this or why.
In short, I know what can happen, although I never dreamed it really would.

In even shorter, I think I'll just keep on being "Mysteryman" for a little while longer, thank you.

I've been working on a website of my own, and disclosed identities are pretty much required for a site like it to function in order to prevent fraud. I can see I'm going to have to rethink this thing a bit.


Mysteryman
Conecuh & Yellow River Drainages
South Central Alabama