As a newbie, yes, I found that the privacy restrictions forced me to make a choice about signing up for the forum, which is a good thing. But I also found it difficult to try to take part in conversations even after signing up because I still couldn't see the pix, and so many of the posts involve looking at a picture. I think it would be more welcoming to new members if they could see at least some photos.

I started at YLF by reading Angie's blog. It was only after seeing many, many Forum photos that I finally realized how people were using the forum and why it might be a benefit to me. Without being able to see photos, I wonder if fewer blog readers will become forum users?

Currently, I visit the forum regularly but rarely comment or sign in, as I want to rein in any tendency get over-involved on internet stuff. I do applaud any change that protects privacy, and of course YLF should do whatever is best for the site and the members. At the same time, my "sidelines" involvement with the forum will probably drop off from here.

Interesting discussion. I hadn't noticed the change. Now I understand why my friend couldn't access the photos on a link I shared with her to one of my forum posts. I wouldn't mind an option to make the photos public. Or to be able to share a link to one of my posts with a non-forum member. (Kind of like Picasa, which offers an option to share private photos with others via a link--although I should add that I find the Picasa function doesn't really work when I've tried to share my photos with my mom, who doesn't have a Gmail account.)

Today was my first day of visiting YLF without the photos, which I have to say made my visit today a little less enjoyable. Though I understand the reasoning behind the privacy step that has been taken with restriction of photos, it does make the experience much less enjoyable and enlightening. For four or five years YLF has been one of my first stops every morning and again later in the day and I have so appreciated the insight I have gained from Angie's posts and the posts of members with their accompanying photos to illustrate the points they've been making, style methods about which they have been inquiring, or their WIWs -- it's been so educational. I missed that experience today, though perusing YLF is still such a delight, I will continue to visit and learn what I can from such a gracious group of women, with Angie in the lead. Thanks for such a marvelous site.

I'm one of those 'photo shy' people - and I really like the new change implemented, in that people can't see photos posted to YLF threads unless they are logged in and they are an active member.

That said though, it would be nice if members could have the option of making their photos 'public' if they want.

This is a really good idea - perhaps the default option is that photos aren't available unless a person is signed up for YLF, but that there's also an option for people posting photos to select "public" OR "YLF members only".

I don't know if this is too much work, but I like the idea that the default would be that the photos can't be viewed unless logged in, but that anyone posting pictures to a thread has the option of selecting "public" versus "YLF members only" or something along those lines. Is this feasible and do-able?

You are doing an amazing job Greg! Missed your birthday thread a few days ago, (I'm out of town) - but here's wishing you a belated Happy Birthday just the same. I hope you had a wonderful time.

I appreciate how you're always asking what people think and constantly making improvements to YLF. You make this place fun and you're always making the site better and better. It's an amazing site as it is, and yet - you come along with all kinds of improvements - things people didn't even know they wanted, until you're already putting it into place. You're very intuitive and way ahead of the game. It's really neat!

For the record, if I wasn't such a pansy about posting pics - I would appreciate the option to make the pics public or 'YLF members only'. This is a very good solution.

Hi Greg, options would be great as occasionally I pass a link to a friend so they can see my pics. Other times I might like more privacy. Thanks!

On what day will the new members, who joined when the pictures went away, be able to see pictures again? I think we should do some sort of group picture activity to welcome them and thank them for the patience. Any ideas of a similar pic we can all take and upload on that day?

Yes, I'm a cornball.

Hmm, I missed the original discussion and didn't realize that this had been put in place! In all honesty, I'm not that shy about posting photos, but I have long felt that I would prefer to have the forum photos closed to non-members. It might be off-putting to some, but since it takes hardly any effort to join I think that it is not asking a lot of someone to have them register for something that they are getting a benefit from in return for providing a small degree of privacy protection for those who are willing to post their photos. Having an option to make your photos public seems like the best of both worlds, IMHO.

I can see how already-members would like the privacy option, and I agree on that. At the same time, I'd agree with some of my fellow newbies that we had to join or jump ship and that we chose to do so because of long-standing use/growth from forum + pictures.

I don't know if reducing the time between joining and posting pictures would be a possibility? It is a bit of a letdown to do an introductory post that no one can really appreciate because you cannot show your style. Now I have to set a reminder for when I can do my first post with pictures. However, if the 10 day wait is another security feature, I can understand that that priority comes first.

You can still put photos in your post, even as a brand new member, they just have to be externally hosted on photobucket or some place like that, and you link to them in your post.

That part has existed pre-photo viability changes.

Unless you don't have said external accounts. But thanks for bringing it up, Ceit.

Well, they are free to set up, so it would be easy for someone to do if they were really interested in posting photos and didn't want to wait 10 days.

I am one of those readers (I refuse to say "lurker") who felt suddenly cut off when the no-pics-without-participation policy came into effect. I really think the new policy will cause a downturn in the number of people who browse and then get hooked on the forum. I hope, if there is an option, that many of the regulars will allow their pics to be viewed by all.

We have made a few changes, mostly to get the people who were caught by the visibility change to active member status quickly.

• Delay reduced from 10 days to 3 days
• Number of posts reduced from 5 to 3, but...
• Only forum posts (not blog posts) are counted

Since we normally eliminate spammers well before the end of this 3 day period it might be ok as a long term solution.

Note that the delay change will only take effect for most people tomorrow morning.

There is definitely enough demand for the ability to make one's photos public, so I'll work on that too. It will take a little longer though.

Thanks for all the great input, and keep it coming if you have any additional thoughts.

I think that is a good tweak -- 3 days is not so daunting, and 3 posts is easy to do!

Thank you very much, Greg!

Yes, thank you Greg!

Hi greg. Just a comment re the restriction on viewing photos for new and not yet active members is it's difficult to comment if you can't see the photos in the forum. Do comments on angies blog also count?

I'm not sure I've got all the ins and outs down. For example, if you do a blog, do all your pics suddenly become invisible to the public?

In any case, I'd like an option to make my pics public. I for one would default to that.

I hadn't realized that not only do you have be a logged-in member, you have to be an active one, i.e. wait the requisite time and have made the requisite posts. I for sure wouldn't have joined the forums under those circumstances. I'm glad that you've made it shorter/less restrictive, but it still seems too restrictive.

I get why you might want to restrict new members from posting their pics right away, in case they are spammers, but why are they also restricted from seeing other members' pics? A lot of the posts here have pictures; you can't really join in the discussion without being able to see them.

Then again, the forums have gotten so busy that I don't feel like I can keep up with everyone already. Perhaps we've reached some kind of critical mass and being less welcoming to newbies/lurkers is just a natural consequence of that.

Just another 2 cents to the pile...

When I look at the tiled option of the forum front page, I see that the forum is currently about 50/50 posts with pics and without. This leaves plenty of posts to comment on that don't have pictures. Add to that that the first pic in a post is visible and I think it's pretty reasonable and simple to find 3 comments to make to move into the picture viewable realm.

I understand the concern about bots scraping our pictures if the front door is wide open. I think the changes are sensible in the times we're in.

Thanks for the effort. It's a tricky landscape to navigate and change is hard.

I just found YLF a couple weeks ago (before the photo restrictions). This gave me the push to actually take a moment and sign up. Having to wait 3 days is not an issue.

Greg, you have always had the utmost respect for everyone's needs and feelings as you continue to move the site along to improve its design and usability.

I think DV, CocoLion and Caro raise very good points in this process and I appreciate this move and am also pleasantly surprised that there are so many silent and studious readers.

I trust your vision.

rachylou, no, if you have a blog, then only pictures in posts to the blog become visible to the public. And then only if your blog is visible to the public. Some people with lookfab blogs have chosen for their blogs only to be visible to members.

Laura, it is not our intention to be unwelcoming. Some trade offs are hard.

Having read all the input we feel that the best solution is for members to make this decision about their own pictures. There is clearly a big demand for photos to be members-only, and there are also people who would like them to be public. So we will make it an option.

BTW, if you do feel that the volume on the forum is overwhelming, then consider using the "Watch" feature to filter the posts you see. You can read more about it in this post (in the 4th section entitled "Watching").

http://youlookfab.com/2013/03/.....f-is-here/

Thanks Greg, I didn't read about the Watch feature a few months ago and will find it very helpful!

I think the changes to photo visibility are very timely and potentially a huge protective factor for all of the forum members -- I have lately been reading about just how common it is for people's online photos to be stolen and used for other purposes -- dating websites, advertisements, and worse. There are thousands and thousands of photos of the wonderful YLF members on the forum, and these photos are in some instances tied to personal details or stories, too! Maybe I'm paranoid, or a perennial skeptic, but identity theft and nefarious usage of other people's data/photographs on the internet must happen far more often than we think. This has always been my fear with posting photos of myself. Making privacy the default, but allowing those who choose it to make the photos publicly available sounds like the best way to balance both worlds.

(Yes; I'm a long-time lurker -- two years! I did join, though, early on, and I think I have left about 5 or so comments total when I felt like I could make a (small) contribution. I never did introduce myself, however. So, hello! I love it here!)

Not to be a downer, but why is it so much to ask a person who comes here regularly (every day some have confessed for years now) to pop in and be among us?
Speaking for myself, I have no issues with being public - I've always worked public jobs where anyone could come find me in person whenever they wanted - but for me it's more a sense of reciprocation I guess. I joined, and put up pics within days of stumbling upon this place. Maybe I'm in a mood . . . probably lol.

EDIT: that said, I'm glad to hear about the 3 day change - that seems completely reasonable. And I do welcome the newbies! I do! Just a few of the comments about what has been 'taken away' from those who none of us even knew were there struck me in an off way.

Greg, your new changes to the waiting period are more than fair. I did wonder how I was going to make it for 10 days without picture access. It does sort of take away from the experience. Three days is " nuthin' but a thing"!

Adding my two cents as a former lurker who joined to see the photos-- I support all the reasons for the privacy settings and also feel more confident about putting up my own WIW photos. But it is also true that being able to see photos of real women and what they wear everyday was what hooked me into reading the forum, and ultimately enough to join and become an active member.

I appreciate and thank the regulars here who have offered to stay public but note that they will probably form a minority in the forum threads. A first time visitor may not even realize they exist. How can we highlight these WIW postings for the casual visitors? Maybe a tag that says "public" or "private"?

I have to admit, it freaked me out a bit to find out just how many people were reading without joining, although it makes sense and I completely understand it. Just hadn't thought about it. It was strange to see all people who "knew" me and others here.

I appreciate the changes, which I think enrich the site by having people join and participate in a community. Because that's what this is, unlike so many other sites.