Suggestion - Block Unregistered Users During High Traffic Periods

[Tyler]

Just a suggestion with the upcoming Trade Deadline on the horizon.. some of the other VBulletin boards I've used in the past do not allow unregistered users to view the site during periods of high traffic.

This allows the active and registered base to keep viewing the site, but discourages the non-registered users who are constantly refreshing the forums from hammering the server.

Is this an idea anyone has explored or discussed?

[photon]

It might be something to look at short term, though really I don't like the idea because it punishes the users who "pay" for the site. On a typical day for every registered user that accesses the forum there's 5 to 10 other guests that view the site.. so the ad revenue generated by the unregistered viewers is 5 to 10 times that generated by the registered viewers.

And in theory those people could just register.. which would simply drive up the # of registered users but not have any other benefit.

I do understand though that people have donated to the site directly, so I'm not completely averse to it.

We're working on a more permanent solution to the performance issues during the busy times, one that we hope will ensure that everyone can see the site even when it gets really busy. We have some technical work to do and some testing to do so I don't want to go into too many details yet, I'll have more info as we validate the plans.

[Azure]

Let me know when the testing period comes up. I'll be happy to hammer CP for a couple hours.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by photon

On a typical day for every registered user that accesses the forum there's 5 to 10 other guests that view the site.. so the ad revenue generated by the unregistered viewers is 5 to 10 times that generated by the registered viewers.

When you look at that number, did you by chance take in to account how many registered CPers may be viewing the site without loggin in? I only log in when I have something to say or want to check my PMs... I would honestly say that I view this site as a guest up to 50% of the time.

This would simply force members to log in during high traffic times, no?

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by alltherage

When you look at that number, did you by chance take in to account how many registered CPers may be viewing the site without loggin in? I only log in when I have something to say or want to check my PMs... I would honestly say that I view this site as a guest up to 50% of the time.

This would simply force members to log in during high traffic times, no?

Why wouldn't you just be logged in?

[photon]

Yeah without doing a complicated correlation of IP addresses there's no way to know how many of the "guests" are non-logged in users, but I suspect it isn't that high.. even if it was high like 20% that still leaves 80% of non-registered users out.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Why wouldn't you just be logged in?

I dont know... too lazy? I dont like staying logged in on things. I always log out of facebook, email, etc.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah without doing a complicated correlation of IP addresses there's no way to know how many of the "guests" are non-logged in users, but I suspect it isn't that high.. even if it was high like 20% that still leaves 80% of non-registered users out.

Fair enough. I guess the more new traffic the better anyway... in terms of revenue anyways.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by alltherage

I dont know... too lazy? I dont like staying logged in on things. I always log out of facebook, email, etc.

To each there own I guess. I'm logged into everything. But my computer locks

[Azure]

How do you keep up with the threads you read if you don't login?

[Boblobla]

Originally Posted by Azure

How do you keep up with the threads you read if you don't login?

the discovery of this button made my CP browsing much more efficient. I log in just to use it.