Are you a member?

Your post is highly offensive and in my opinion will cause some contributors to leave. You are seeking to drive a class wedge into the contributor base. The site forum is only as good as its contributors, full stop. People volunteerily adding value to the site via their contributions, for free, should be commended not stigmatized. You say you rarely contribute? Well good on you. Membership has advantages and you pay for them. I was a member for a number of years and the site owners should be asking why I'm not now.

Maybe all the freeloaders should exit en masse and leave it as a cosy little members club? The kiss of death through inactivity I think.

Laurie,

Whether a person has the Member title in front of their screen name is purely their choice and has no real relevance as to membership.

Look at the bottom left of any post and that will tell you if the poster is a member or visitor, with or without a photo.

Seeing as you asked !:
No!
I was a member but now I not. According to you that makes me a "lurker" and a "freeloader". Not a problem to me. I just found the forum got less interesting to me over the years as it gradually degraded in discussion quality so I decided to lapse my membership. Your post merely confirms my decision.Can I assume from your post that you ignore all lurkers comments and posts and that no lurker has ever provided a valuable contribution to a discussion?

I still buy stuff from the shop so don't think the owners of the site are missing out totally from my lurking.
WBS

I thought we freeloaders did contribute a little and only try to help where questions are asked. So I guess the administrators need to block all of us freeloaders. Easy to do, just make it members only and that would keep the members happy, not a real problem for us, we will survive. :) And I will try and stop posting, sorry, didn't mean to offend. Kevin

Laurie, it’s unnecessary to distinguish between a ‘member’ and a ‘visitor’ in terms of contribution to the forum. That just tends to polarise people.

What people need to remember is that the forum is only one small part of the Exploroz site. It’s the whole suite of information, tools and knowledge that make it such a fantastic resource. While the forum is a bonus and a great way to share knowledge and experience, there is a lot more handy stuff that provides amazing tools to make trip planning easy and informative.

I happily pay my dollars to support the site as a whole. That is personal choice I make because I feel that this great resource is worth having. It is also a much cheaper option for me than hosting my own website for my blogs etc. If anyone has had the least bit of experience with running a website, you’ll know that the costs in development, hosting and warehousing in particular are astronomical. I’m pretty sure that we would all be shocked to learn what it costs to operate and maintain a site as comprehensive as Exploroz. D & M have done an amazing job building this site from nothing. Members and visitors alike have helped with their contributions to places, blogs, articles and the forum. The real dollar contribution is in keeping the whole site, this amazing resource running. I’m pretty sure that much of the income generated by the EO site would go straight back in to maintaining and running it and that is where your membership contribution is so important.


My thoughts. Mick

If you are serious about membership why did you only pay for one year ($50) instead of the lifetime membership for ($300).

The reason this site works so well is it gives people with a problem the answer without a charge attached.
You could get the same answer at a dealer after you pay him to look.

If you just have members answers and questions, it would be boring with limited answers and advice.

I think your post is wrong. I welcome everyone to this site, member or not to give there much need advice.
Cheers Andy

Ah well, the way I see it is, if they didn't want us around then they would stop us being involved. It would be fairly simple to "Turn us off"

Don't forget, we are a resource for them as well, we get marketed to, So far I haven't heard the team complain, and I have never been pestered (by ExplorOz) to pay for membership.

This forum is *much* less interesting and useful than six or seven years ago.

The reason for that is that many knowledgeable and interesting people were driven away by changes in site policy or dismissed by the owners.

If you want to give money to a commercial venture then go ahead and indeed seek to have the forum/site reduced to "Members" only - and then see what you're left with.

There are plenty of alternatives to ExplorOz these days and this has now become one of the lesser resources.

Everyone should endeavour to contribute in the best possible way they can, this might be financially through membership, or in other ways that are just as tangible.

But above all else it is incumbent on everyone to ensure comments are respectful of the views of others and courteous when interacting on the site, especially the forum – doing this is the best way to attract thoughtful and resourceful content, from both members and non-members alike.


I’m not sure what purpose this thread will serve other than to give those with an “axe to grind” a platform from which to shout that there are bigger and better websites elsewhere, and I see a few milling around already.


I simply say to all, consider your own contribution and ask yourself the question, is it adding value and is it relevant to the topic and the general theme of ExplorOz.


So hopefully the thread runs its course quickly and we move on to more interesting topics, like travelling this great country of ours!


Cheers, Baz – The Landy

Is this pandora's box that's just been opened? At any given time the non-members logged on out number the members by quite some considerable margin. Everybody who comes to this site do so for a variety of reasons. It is a great site for travellers with so much information and resources in the one spot. I have chosen to be a life member and I have done that for reasons that are unique to me. We all travel different roads and it is personal choice and circumstances that dictate whether people become a yearly member, a life member, or not a member. This site would not be as good as it is if it was a members only site, the non-members are a very important part of this site. It maybe the words "members" which is the issue here as it infers a good class and not so good class. Maybe a better term would be to call us all " users" which, to me anyway, does not separate us into classes so much. I would always encourage anyone to become a member because I see it as worth it, however I do not think any less of anyone whose circumstances are different to mine and choose not to become a member. Quite apart from any financial contribution there are members who contribute some of their time in being moderators and administrators of various parts of the site. Again this is their choice. You will be aware of computer software distributed as "shareware". This is where somebody writes a program and distributes it freely and ask anyone who uses it to make a contribution should they find it of benefit. I see this site in a similar light you make a payment in money and/or time if it is of value to you.

There have been a number of comments about the Forum. The problem with the Forum is we all travel different roads, we are at different stages of life, and have different experiances and have different expectations. When we post on the Forum it is in a context that others do not know, and hence misunderstanding and frustration are unfortunately the norm and not the exception. When I post I try very hard to keep this in mind, but try as I might, I still get responses indicating that a person has read something into my post which was not there. At other times I will spend time giving a response only to find that they have not given all the facts which can mean I have wasted my time. I do not know what others do, but when on the Forum I will always look for a persons profile to have a better understanding of their circumstances so that I can make my response as meaningful as possible. This is not possible with non members so therefore in many cases I do not respond as I do not know enough to give a meaningful answer. If you post on the Forum I would suggest that you do your best to ensure that you give all the facts so that those that try to help you are fully informed which gives them the best chance to give a meaningful reply. The best way I know of doing that is by being a member and setting up a profile. Having said that, still be aware that people will post issues where they are a "newbie" and do not know all the facts that are relevant which is the very reason they post in the first place. They need a bit more patience in replying too.
I hope people understand that there is no us and them on this site, everybody is welcome. Now while this site is a commercial venture by D & M they don't live Peppermint Grove, and they drive an 80 series Toyota not a Range Rover Vogue. I think you can glean from this that a significant portion of the subscriptions is going into improvements in this site which is to the advantage of all of us.

Laurie,

What you seem to be unaware of is how an internet based business model works. All visitors, whether members or not, drive traffic to the site. Traffic to the site is what drives advertising to the site, which drives revenue to the owners of the site.

If non members were just free loaders then the owners of this site would block them. They don't because ALL eyeballs are economically valuable to the site.

Why not ask the owners of the site to clarify why they allow non members.

Regards

Peter

G'day Laurie.

G'day all other members and non members, or "lurkers".

I am a non member now after several years of active membership of ExplorOz I decided to pull the pin, you may well say I got my nose out of joint, but at the time for me it was totally justified.

I like to think I can and do contribute to this Forum if a question or query is raised about anything in the inland Pilbara, purely because it is where I live, where I travel and if pushed to admit where I work ~ I see the changes on a daily basis, the good the bad and the down right ugly.

My responses are unbiased and I hope totally accurate, I try not to undermine a reply or response by a person who "once travelled through the region 15 years ago" or if someone knows a bloke that travelled through the region last year as their opinion is valuable to me ~ history if you like.

My reason for pulling the pin on my membership was because I was moderated for showing an image of my vehicle where the licence plate was on display, the moderator deemed that I was deliberately advertising my business.

I did not deliberately shoot an image of my vehicles number plate to promote myself or my business, it was a real nice scene and the vehicle gave the shot depth of field or a perspective to the view and as a regional tour guide I am more than happy to big note about where I live and not about me.

I still take images of the landscape and my vehicle is still a very recognizable with the licence plate on display or flipped up so all that can be seen is a black rectangle, oddly I've never been moderated on any other forum I contribute too even when the licence plate is "on display".

As a lurker - non member I am not permitted to include images with anything I post, so the forum/web site is the one missing out and that's a real shame, because a picture really can say a thousand words.

Safe travels : Joe Fury

I do recall one particular business member a few years ago who used to start contentious/controversial threads, clearly, to bring his business to our attention.

How to win friends and influence people, hey
Ive been a member and non-member (lurker) for years........In that time Ive had heaps of members and non-members call in for a beer/ coffee/ dinner, pull in their caravan and stay for weeks, borrow tools, fill water tanks, make repairs and even better make great friends.
I was under the impression this site was more than just somewhere MEMBERS can download your trip info........I thought it was also a public forum?

Is it alright to I still open my house /shed/ property to others or is that privilege reserved for members only? And can I only invite members even if Im currently not one of them.

Well done.......Im sure Im not the only person that is almost ready to pay membership again , and then along comes another post like this and makes you re think why you should?

Cheers