Suggestion: semi-private equipment list section in profile

What I would like to see is a dedicated place to keep your gear list, other than signatures and not in that gear list thread.

I am not comfortable with listing everything in a place that can be seen by "outsiders". I would like something that is visible only to registered users or even better only registered users above a certain post count.

Ideally that would be a place in your profile, but I don't think vBulletin has the functionality to make parts of the profile visible only to logged in users. One way to hack this up would be to place a gear list thread much like the existing one in a subforum that is not visible to guests. vBulletin has that.

Anyone with me?

This sounds silly...

Why do you care if outsiders or people with low post counts see what gear you have??

nrowensby wrote in post #13013108
This sounds silly...

Why do you care if outsiders or people with low post counts see what gear you have??

A variety of reasons such as possibly being targeted for home intrusion and the annoyance from plain envy. Not that I have gear that will make people envious but anyway.

The point is that I think it is valuable information to communicate to other forumites but I don't want it floating around entirely freely. Keep in mind that if it's entirely public it'll show up even in a google search.

Also, I find signatures with large gear lists distracting. I estimate quite a few people would be happy to move it to a better place - if available.

Do you have the only home in Boston??

I'm just confused as to how an extensive gear list would make you more likely to be targeted for home intrusion... The simple answer would be not to post your address. I doubt someone is going to stalk youto find your home address and figure out your schedule to plan a home intrusion to steal a camera and some lenses.

Seems like you are making a large request to develop a new forum section or code in a new section of profile to be private to people without a certain number of posts because you are overly paranoid...? If you are that paranoid, just don't post it...

I don't even know where to begin...

Simple then, don't post your gear. It's your choice nobody is forcing you to .

Like the other posters, I really don't understand the reasoning behind this. How do you suffer an increased risk of 'home intrusion' (by which I assume you mean burglary) simply by listing your gear? No-one knows your name, or where you live - and, as has also been pointed out, if you're worried, don't list your equipment! Simple!

nrowensby wrote in post #13013359
Do you have the only home in Boston??

I'm just confused as to how an extensive gear list would make you more likely to be targeted for home intrusion... The simple answer would be not to post your address. I doubt someone is going to stalk youto find your home address and figure out your schedule to plan a home intrusion to steal a camera and some lenses.

Seems like you are making a large request to develop a new forum section or code in a new section of profile to be private to people without a certain number of posts because you are overly paranoid...? If you are that paranoid, just don't post it...

It was a suggestion to see whether anybody else likes it.

A private section (of posts) is a standard vbulletin feature, no coding required, just a couple clicks. A private section in the profile might be available as an extension, there are quite a few of those out there.

uOpt wrote in post #13013448
It was a suggestion to see whether anybody else likes it.

A private section (of posts) is a standard vbulletin feature, no coding required, just a couple clicks. A private section in the profile might be available as an extension, there are quite a few of those out there.

I doubt Pekka will be doing any additions/changes to vBulletin; if you follow the forums, you should know that he has been working on his own message board software that would completely replace vBulletin.

If you want to hide some of your gear from public, nothing prevents those who do know saying in some post "BTW how do you like your New Canon 1200-2000 IS USM GT?"

To hide your gear from people visiting internet, do not tell about it on the internet. There is always PM if you want to say someone what you have, but even that does not guarantee that that person won't tell anyone.

We are talking different things here. I mention my gear in posts like everybody else.

Having an itemized list searchable in Google (by username) is something else entirely.

The purpose of this thread is to determine whether anybody else thinks the same way. Apparently that isn't the case so the point is quite moot

uOpt wrote in post #13013918
Having an itemized list searchable in Google (by username) is something else entirely.

Unless you somewhere have posted your full name and address nobody would ever be able to match a gear list with your home address.

tommykjensen wrote in post #13013986
Unless you somewhere have posted your full name and address nobody would ever be able to match a gear list with your home address.

Connecting forum usernames to real names isn't overly difficult. Obviously you expose it on any kind of trade, it can be linked to a non-throwaway email address that is used for paypal or for any kind of feedback system (not here, but e.g. the computer forum's HEAT system). Going from the real name to an address takes between 10 seconds and not much longer depending on whether you pay a service for it and how common the name is.

The point here really is not that individuals browsing the forum are suspect. I don't care. The problem is that if it is in a public place in the forum then it is also available in a Google search, it can be harvested by link farms etc.

I think many people underestimate how quickly you can connect the dots these days. Removing information from robots of any kind is a big help. Also, I don't see the drawback, what advantage do people get from having their gear list in Google?

If your that paranoid, don't post your gear.

uOpt wrote in post #13014044
Connecting forum usernames to real names isn't overly difficult. Obviously you expose it on any kind of trade, it can be linked to a non-throwaway email address that is used for paypal or for any kind of feedback system (not here, but e.g. the computer forum's HEAT system). Going from the real name to an address takes between 10 seconds and not much longer depending on whether you pay a service for it and how common the name is.

The point here really is not that individuals browsing the forum are suspect. I don't care. The problem is that if it is in a public place in the forum then it is also available in a Google search, it can be harvested by link farms etc.

I think many people underestimate how quickly you can connect the dots these days. Removing information from robots of any kind is a big help. Also, I don't see the drawback, what advantage do people get from having their gear list in Google?

I am fully aware that any information posted here end up in google but as I said YOU would have to have posted information that link you to the information that can be used to find your address. So if you are worried that the dots are connected then don't post those dots on the net.

In any case as has been stated Pekka is developing completely new forum software so nothing will change at this point. If anything will change in future time will tell but I am sure that Pekka will give it the required thoughts and decide based on that (maybe you can even get a hint of his thoughts about this on his post in this thread).