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Please allow admins to manage if the poll is public or not


Breadfan

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I imagine it's because they don't want people being confused when they change a poll to public mid-way through and then only half of the logged votes are actually shown.[As far as I'm aware, the information is only explicitly recorded when polls are public.]

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What about when if someone votes in a poll because it is private and wouldn't have voted in it if it were public? Doing public to private is one thing, but private to public could understandably upset people.




I run a gaming clan and our polls are public because we want to know which members are taking part in an online clan war. Not every community is the same and to some, like me, not being able to as a root admin to manipulate this option on a forum end and have to go thru MySql entries is extra unneccessary work. Sure, I tell them not to forget to check the "Make public poll" but they sometimes forget.

It's board owners responsibility to handle any private information the way he or she sees fit. It makes no sense to me you're concerned about privacy in this specific case, how about every other private info admins with phpmyadmin already have access to?

You didn't really make much difference except make admins do it "manually" the harder way..
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It's board owners responsibility to handle any private information the way he or she sees fit. It makes no sense to me you're concerned about privacy in this specific case, how about every other private info admins with phpmyadmin already have access to?



I'm thinking about all communities as a whole, which is what you're asking. If it's an option made available in a release, then it's available for all communities that update to that version, not just yours. Just because it's possible to do something doesn't mean that it should be made easy to do.
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I run a gaming clan and our polls are public because we want to know which members are taking part in an online clan war. Not every community is the same and to some, like me, not being able to as a root admin to manipulate this option on a forum end and have to go thru MySql entries is extra unneccessary work. Sure, I tell them not to forget to check the "Make public poll" but they sometimes forget.



It's board owners responsibility to handle any private information the way he or she sees fit. It makes no sense to me you're concerned about privacy in this specific case, how about every other private info admins with phpmyadmin already have access to?



You didn't really make much difference except make admins do it "manually" the harder way..


Well pay someone to do the modification for you. I don't think IPS should be added such jerkish tools for admins, it ruins the integrity of anyone who decides to install IP.Board on their site. It'd be the same as if IPS added the ability to read PMs. People would be cautious to join such kinds of forums.
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I'm thinking about all communities as a whole, which is what you're asking. If it's an option made available in a release, then it's available for all communities that update to that version, not just yours. Just because it's possible to do something doesn't mean that it should be made easy to do.




Every admin has a responsibility to handle private info how he or she sees fit. If I start switching private polls to public and if I piss people off, my members and community will just leave my forum and that's it. That's my problem and my responsibility. IPS has nothing to do with it and it's none of your bussiness really.

You're basically "semi-disallowing" a simple feature because you're afraid of it being abused and assuming (as that is, I presume, the only logic behind such a reasoning) that most IPB board owners don't have access to database to or don't know how to manually edit tables in order to change or retreive certain info. So as you said, you're not stopping it, you're just making it a little harder to use.

Right now, without any mods, I can go to my Admin CP, edit a member, change his or her password, login as that member and read his or hers private conversations. No mods, no PhPMyAdmin, nothing. You have given me that option in your software but on the other hand, you don't want to allow me to switch between private and a public poll?
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Right now, without any mods, I can go to my Admin CP, edit a member, change his or her password, login as that member and read his or hers private conversations. No mods, no PhPMyAdmin, nothing. You have given me that option in your software but on the other hand, you don't want to allow me to switch between private and a public poll?



An admin could easily modify the software to allow them store all passwords used by all members. Does that mean we should make it an option to make it easier?

I can't speak for the developers and they are the ones that ultimately decide what features to include or not. However in this instance, I'm confident that they will be of the same view point, that it could be discouraging to members of the software if their private votes could suddenly become public.

It's similar to a bulk mail option that was removed starting with 3.0.0, where an admin could ignore a members option to not receive admin emails. Many were abusing the option and very often sending out bulk mail to everyone, ticking the option to ignore a members choice. That makes the software look bad and as a result the option was removed. Yes, it's still possible to re-include the option if you modify the software or to run a query to make it so everyone is set to receive the emails. However, it doesn't mean the option should be re-added.

Same thing here, if members see our software and associate it with "my votes could be made public", then that could cause a site to lose members as well as having our products viewed in a bad way.


Of course, if you wish to make/install a mod for your site that will give you that option, that is certainly your choice and I have never said otherwise. As far as a pre-included feature to do that, I'm doubtful it will happen.
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An admin could easily modify the software to allow them store all passwords used by all members. Does that mean we should make it an option to make it easier?



And how is that different from already allowing admins to change user details and read their PMs - with your software, the regular way? Wouldn't it be the same if someone did that, posted those PMs publicly and folks would then blame the IPS? Admins already have such tools available, with or without mods, with or without PhPMyAdmin access. You're suddenly concerned about possible bad rep IPS would get if the public poll option could be switchable?

And in reality, speaking of bad rep, members won't really care if it's IPS software or a third party mod responsible for the breach of their privacy, they'll associate it with IPS any way because it happened on a IPS powered forum/web page.

You allow this mod on your site and condone its purchase/usage, yet you're worried about possible bad rep you might get out of public/private polls option?
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And how is that different from already allowing admins to change user details and read their PMs - with your software, the regular way? Wouldn't it be the same if someone did that, posted those PMs publicly and folks would then blame the IPS? Admins already have such tools available, with or without mods, with or without PhPMyAdmin access. You're suddenly concerned about possible bad rep IPS would get if the public poll option could be switchable?



And in reality, speaking of bad rep, members won't really care if it's IPS software or a third party mod responsible for the breach of their privacy, they'll associate it with IPS any way because it happened on a IPS powered forum/web page.



You allow

this mod

on your site and condone its purchase/usage, yet you're worried about possible bad rep you might get out of public/private polls option?


Hello. Please. Learn to logic. You're already fighting an uphill battle here so if you're going to argue a point you might as well do it in a manner that doesn't suck.

Both Kessler and I have told you that if the software included the feature that you want then it would put a bad feeling towards anyone who would ever join an IPB forum. It'd be the exact same as knowing that a forum I'm about to join can read my PMs or can abuse the email that I register with. Why does that point not make it through to you?

For some bizarre reason you seem to think that being able to change a user's login details to read their PMs is on the same abusive level as your suggestion and I suppose if you look at it the right way then you're correct, however, you're forgetting one important thing. The intent of the software. Changing a user's password is for the sake of helping the user in the event that they cannot access their account. Any good administrator is willing to help their user by changing their password. What you're suggesting the feature be used for is unintended user behavior and is completely abusive of one's position. And furthermore once you do something so abusive then you will be found out and your members will abandon you. Congratulations, you have joined the ranks of the worst administrators the internet contains. I'll be your captain.

As for the feature you're suggesting there's no ifs ands or buts about it. It can only be used in one and only one way and that is abusive. It is exactly the same as the email feature which kessler mentioned. I, personally, make a big distinction between private and public polls when I vote. It does matter to me and I'm sure it matters to a lot of people. If a vote which I believe was going to be kept private suddenly becomes public then I would never vote in that forum again for anything, and I might in fact leave. Why should IPS associate themselves with such disgusting practices?

Now for your second point. I firmly stand by the opinion that all forum users are not very intelligent, and, if some were to see that their admin was abusive and changed poll data in the database they might just assume that it's a core feature of IPB. However, if they were to assume such a thing then at least IPS would be able to clear things up. Really now, that point was so poor I'm wondering if you're even trying.

As for your final point...that was so dumb that I...I mean...well look at it..that was just so...ugh why am I even wasting my time with you? Kessler told you that you're welcome to make a mod for yourself or request one. The PM viewer is also a mod. It is not a core feature of IPB. He suggested to you to do the exact same thing that the PM viewer is doing. Really kid. Logic is not your thing. That was really poor on your part. You should be ashamed.

And now comes the time for you to jump onto the IPS hate bandwagon because you're not going to get a feature that you want and you and only you seem to think it'd be a great feature to have. Hurray. In the meantime please allow me to inform your members of what an abusive administrator you are.
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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hurray for abusive administrations.

Every admin has different needs for their community. I used to also run a gaming site and I would create a poll for attendees of a match. The poll was public, so I could see who was confirmed. Human error inevitably means a poll will be created that is private. The ability for an admin to be able to edit this setting once the mistake has been realised means the extra effort of making changes to the data through MySQL is removed.

It is not for IPS to ensure all admins are trustworthy by restricting the capability of the admin. It is down to the admin to use forum features wisely (such as the "log in as member" feature).

I myself would prefer a different feature... the ability to disable private polls, perhaps globally or on a forum-by-forum basis.

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