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AirGunEric · Site Admin

The Maintenance and Modification forums and the Buy/Sell/Trade forums have all become "hidden" (as in not viewable) to anyone not registered on the forum.

Why?

The search engines are eating a ton of the site's bandwidth and many are ignoring the directions provided by the site as to which areas they should scan (i.e. the "robots" file). 'Hiding' forums and topics so they cannot scan lessens the load they place on the system.

Also, adding at least a minimal layer of security for Buyers/Sellers and keeping the "public" from viewing the Modifications forum without having to read (and agree with) the registration agreement seems prudent. It won't stop anyone from being able to view the topics- but they are no longer wide-open to view without having to read and agree with the Registration agreement. Being able to see these forums requires three explicit actions which helps to cover the forums legal requirements if an issue were ever to develop from someone modifying something unsafely, inappropriately or illegally in their area and trying to plead ignorance while pointing their finger here.

Hiding some forums except to registered members will also help avoid/end quickly some of the recent abuses seen on a couple of other sites- i.e. trolls and anti-gun-advocates (yes, even air guns) absorbing other peoples time, money and resources only to advance their own agenda.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Update:

The Hidden and "locked" status on the Buy/Sell/Deals forums has been eliminated. After thinking about this for awhile- and not having heard/seen any more "anti-gun" types harassing airgunners on the web, it seemed prudent. The more exposure Sellers can have for their goods, and for buyers looking for a specific item, the better.

The bonus to buyers and sellers is that AirGunHome is scanned nearly constantly by all the major Search Engines; Google, Yahoo, MSN, Live!, Ask, and a boatload of other, smaller engines- meaning that any ads posted will now be accessible to the webcrawlers and come up on searches- which they would not have when the forums were hidden.

Also, the "Deals" forum and webpage will generally benefit everyone in the airgun community.

The Maintenance and Modification forums are still only available to Registered and Confirmed users.