anonymous posters

That annoys me also Ken.

I also agree

"But the mods do nothing when reported."

You assume that they are paying attention.

–B.G.–

I totally agree Ken.

IMO everyone should be required to provide their full name, a name that matches their credit card info. Locale should also be required. Transparency is a good thing.

I think I fall into this bucket.

I provided a phone number, address, full name and email when I signed up, however I opted for something non-descript for my forum name.

I've read the forum guidelines here:
https://backpackinglight.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/153950-are-forums-moderated-what-are-your-guidelines-

To be honest if my full name and location were public I would not post here. We do not all share the same experiences or situation, there are a variety of reasons to limit ones exposure on the Internet, ranging from personal to professional.

Besides all that, I'm a nobody. My real name is as meaningful to the forums here as the alias I opted for. My location isn't especially useful as the majority of my days out are overseas, and the majority of equipment used sourced from overseas.

Having said all that I'm probably the least valuable forum member (and consequently have the most to learn). I'm not even a backpacker, its been a long time since I've done a walk that didn't have a climb or ascent of some sort at the end.

So pick an alias for the above field. I tried removing my name today and those are required fields. How did you do it? Do you see how it is impossible for forum members to click on your name to get to your profile/history? That's all I'm after. We are all nobodys here. Pick a name.

"How did you do it?"

My guess is invisible ink….

No. Seriously, how?

Ken, there are some ASCII characters that the computer sees, but they won't display or print.

–B.G.–

Thank you Bob.

rm’s profile can be found Here

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/profile.html?u=rm

"rm" will work. don't even need to pick anything, just repeat it in the field.

It doesn't annoy me or keep me up late at night. I guess I'm just too worried about wars and civil rights violations and cleaning up toxic waste sites. When I get those figured out, I might move on down the list.

Yes, it does seem less personable to not have a real name, an alias or a trail name shown. Having a name to respond to does help maintain a sense of community. But if we're worried about being an open, inclusive community. . . Pot. Kettle. Black.

I'm allowed to post from work (I work from home, mostly for myself).

I don't fret if people know when I'll be gone from home.

I'm not a battered spouse worried about domestic violence.

I'm a cis-gendered straight male and have only that persona in all arenas of my life.

But I know those four traits (among others) aren't universal.

Winter on BPL. . . .Jeez!

We all do better when we hike more.

If someone didn't register with a name or nickname, I'd suggest they adopt a non-identifying one and sign their messages, "Trail hiker" or "Roads Scholar" or "Dweezel" or "Moon Unit" or whatever strikes their fancy. But to each their own.

Come on, you know what I mean. Blue name above the name in ( )

Sheezus.

Hey, it worked! Thanks Bob.

Interesting. So, in my case the absence of that link was entirely unintentional on my part. All I did was sign up.

I imagine it would be a very trivial patch the forums codebase to have rm link to my profile.

Whatever you used is super stealth. You can still click the 'empty' spot in mine to get to my profile.

I really should have taken computer science in school…. :-)

I think rm is CIA

An avatar is nice too because it becomes a person's symbol that is easily recognizable.

and follow the instructions here.

Your forum display name is the "Primary Name" associated with your account. To change your forum display name:

1. Hover over the My BPL menu (upper right, in the top menu bar while on the backpackinglight.com website) and navigate to My Account > Change My Billing and Shipping Address.

2. Then, change the First and Last Names under your Primary Address.

(Monte) I think I perhaps took your real name comment too seriously! If people are just after a profile link and post history…That's cool.

I didn't put in a primary address when I signed up, as I don't have an address at the moment. (I have a storage unit but I don't think they take mail, and a PO box i havent seen for a while with mail being redirected to it).

I'll put something in those fields now :)

Thanks rm.

"Thank you Bob."

Once a Silicon Valley geek, always a Silicon Valley geek.

–B.G.–

"I imagine it would be a very trivial patch the forums codebase to have rm link to my profile."

There have been many seemingly trivial fixes over the years, and they proved to be administratively impossible to implement. In other words, they just couldn't be bothered.

–B.G.–

"IMO everyone should be required to provide their full name, a name that matches their credit card info. Locale should also be required. Transparency is a good thing."

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