Thinkpads Forum

I don't know if this is the right place, but here goes:

How comes the Marketplace, which is marked 'Forum Members only' can be read without being logged in?

The 'Members Only' section in 'System Notices and more' on the other hand isn't even visible.

To answer your last question first...

The Members Only conference was established so that certain benefits provided to the site membership can only been read if you are logged in (i.e., a member). Think of it as an internet pre-sale for a concert. You need to have a "secret password" in order to participate. In this case, you need to be a member here to access that forum.

The Marketplace was established so that members could buy and sell items to each other. I was not here when it was established so I can only guess that the "Forum members only" statement refers to the fact that you need to be a member in order to post. The public-at-large is allowed to see what is going on but again, they cannot participate unless they are a member. I suppose that the Marketplace can be setup like the Members Only conference, but what's the reason to change it?

Does this make any sense?

Maybe to prevent non-members from reading a "for sale" ad, emailing the member, and snagging a good deal that should be reserved for members?

rkawakami wrote:I was not here when it was established so I can only guess that the "Forum members only" statement refers to the fact that you need to be a member in order to post. The public-at-large is allowed to see what is going on but again, they cannot participate unless they are a member.

Re the Marketplace, anyone can buy if the seller is willing and their contact information is available but only members can sell. I haven't seen any compelling reasons to change that.