Guest mode for Anspress 4.x

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4

In the best case scenario everybody should register and be active part of growing community. It is just better for a q&a owner, but we all know, that the world does not work like that.

First of all anonymous user is just wrong name, it has a negative ring to it and nothing to do with anonymity. It is more like Guest posting, without all that registration crap. That way You can add one question (if You want to add just one), wait for answer and forget about it afterwords.

Now, as a Guest You don’t even receive mail about new answer to Your question, You cannot comment, up-vote or follow, to know if there is some activity etc.

There are many people who do not want to register and will give up from any contribution if they have no other way to participate.

So, I think, we need a better way for handling guest users.

  1. Guest comments.
  2. Voting (guest voting with some kind of IP and session/cookies protection to ensure no abuse).
  3. Following.
  4. Better handling of an guest adding questions and answers (name, mail, support for gravatars).
  5. Mail notifications for guest.
  6. Some simple moderation and antispam solution for guest.

Adding required mail field and gravatars is fairly simple, I done it in my Anspress 3.0.7. Same case with comments, as they are based on a WP Comment System. So maybe it is time to add this functions to the Anspress 4.x?

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Hello Priard,

I am testing guest mode now. It will be available in initial release of AnsPress pro.

commented on answer

How much will PRO cost ? Also, can we get an advance testing copy ?

How is progress looking so far? Any news about PRO version, when it will be available? I’am really lookin’ forward to release day! 😉

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Hi Rahul,

 

I agree with Priard. This is extremely advantageous in this day and age. Email functionality allows us to promote return visits, keep guests engaged, and allows us to leverage remarketing techniques.

 

To enhance the user experience, it would also be advantageous to provide the guest an opportunity to register or login while posting. The workflow would have to be non intrusive for those wishing to repeatedly post as guests and also be advantageous to those who have already started writing their post but, forgot to login.

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Hi @rahul, I know that I’am very persistent, but this is really must have. I need to be able to make Q&A site without any obligation for users to register. Anonymous is still not enough, there should be a way to be part of the community, without having to register.

Look at this like guest who want to comment on WordPress post, he is able to do that and will be notified about replay via mail, that he provided.

So at least for now:

  1. Nick/name + mail for guest comments, questions and answers
  2. Mail notification about new comment, answer

That will do.

commented on answer

Hello,
Sorry for postponing development of this feature for so long. Bit busy with some bug fixes.
This will be added to AnsPress. I have added to current development task list.

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Hi Rahul, any news about guest mode? I still think that building Q&A system without proper guest mode is no way to go. Adding anonymous questions could be optional with an emphasis on the option to use guest mode. You can always enter nickname and some random mail for a relative anonymity. That way You can also add proper mail address and receive notifications later on.

Also I think, that adding option to comment as a guest could boost proper community interactions. What You think?

commented on answer

Hello, Yes, It will be available in pro version.

This is good news, but could You give mi any ETA on this? thx! 🙂

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Hello @priard,

Thanks for sharing your idea. Yes, its good time to improve guest posting. I will add it (but after 1st January release).

I was thinking to add two guest modes:

  1. Registered – which let logged in user to post as guest.
  2. Non registered – this will be what you have suggested.

There will be some complication tracking non-logged in guest user but will find a way. I will follow up this discussion after 1st Jan release.

commented on answer

Hi Rahul,

I do not think, that 1 option is necessary, if registered user really need to post as guest, then he can simply logout, and post as non registered. But I cannot think of any scenario in which that can be really justified.

@priard, this is useful when a user don’t want to reveal their personal info. Quora have this feature.

Yes, I know. Ok, but only if admin will be able to switch it on/off. It makes sense if registered user want to have some kind of privacy, so nobody can see his profile (he cannot be searched and will not be visible in the Users directory), stats, reputation etc. but no guest posting. He should post as him.