Forum Members: Register or No?

Topix does not require registration but has good spam control,

[Erku]

I just noticed that Topix does not require people to register in order to leave comments. What do you think of this? Is this workable?

thank you

[Quadrille]

All depends ...

They probably have software to detect porn and language trash, and probably have plenty of moderation - which is expensive, or at least time consuming.

You can always try it, and change the rules if it gets abused.

I've run several forums over the years; some get constant abuse, others have never, ever had a single troll or spam.

... it all depends!

[rogerd]

I've found that you can start a forum with allowing guest posting and avoid problems for a while. As the site gets popular, though, you'll attract spammers, badly-behaved users, etc. My recommendation would be to start with guest posting and see how it goes - when you run into too many issues with false identities, people imitating others, spamming, anonymous flaming, etc., require registration. You won't lose any of your serious members.