Who can see what?

Throughout our time here on Able2Know, I've seen some posts which I can only describe as being somewhat private in nature. While that is your own business, I thought it might be a good idea to let everyone here know exactly what can be seen by nonmembers.

The answer is, nearly everything.

Essentially, the difference between members and guests is that members:
* can use avatars
* are tracked in terms of number of responses (this results in rankings such as Enthusiast)
* can send and receive Private Messages
* can join groups such as Realmers
* can view the Member List
* can view Who is Online
* can change their Profiles
* can set themselves up to receive email notifications

Guests can use the FAQ and they can use the Search box. They can use the Control Panel. They can order from Amazon and thereby provide credit to Able2Know's volunteer staff. They can use the Help Page and send a form note to Support. They can use the Portal Page. They can use the Site Map. They can read and post messages in every open forum there is on Able2Know. In fact, they can read this announcement.

Who are the guests? Guests can be anyone - they can be prospective members checking us out, or members who've forgotten their passwords and not signed in, or bots (programs) send by Google to check out the site. Guests can be anyone on the Internet - so that includes millions of potential eyes looking at your postings. And these guests can copy and paste your postings and send them anywhere. I am not trying to alarm anyone, but I think you should all be aware of this.

So, my friends, if you want to communicate privately, you have a few options:
(1) use the Private Message system
(2) use email if you've exchanged it and are comfortable with that medium of communication
(3) use the chat room (but keep in mind that any member can join in any chat). If you wish to reserve the chat room for a particular time, post an announcement of your chat time here. Don't forget to include your time zone. While there's no set limit on how long your group can use the chat room, might I suggest you limit yourselves to two hours if someone else is waiting for it?
(4) communicate through user groups (*this feature hasn't been set up yet, but that's the intention of user groups, that a particular group will be able to readily communicate amongst themselves)

Thank you! :-D