Welcome Back DPF!

[David Guyatt]

A very respectable 40,00 unique views per month. Some one is reading your posts ::
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #ECECEC"]Month[/TD]
[TD]Unique visitors[/TD]
[TD]Number of visits[/TD]
[TD="width: 80, bgcolor: #4477DD"]Pages[/TD]
[TD="width: 80, bgcolor: #66DDEE"]Hits[/TD]
[TD="width: 80, bgcolor: #2EA495"]Bandwidth[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jan 2013[/TD]
[TD]34284[/TD]
[TD]68782[/TD]
[TD]584887[/TD]
[TD]584887[/TD]
[TD]15.49 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Feb 2013[/TD]
[TD]30166[/TD]
[TD]61290[/TD]
[TD]461158[/TD]
[TD]461158[/TD]
[TD]12.26 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mar 2013[/TD]
[TD]34884[/TD]
[TD]76366[/TD]
[TD]681216[/TD]
[TD]681216[/TD]
[TD]17.11 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Apr 2013[/TD]
[TD]33766[/TD]
[TD]82491[/TD]
[TD]627678[/TD]
[TD]627678[/TD]
[TD]17.03 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]May 2013[/TD]
[TD]37976[/TD]
[TD]96320[/TD]
[TD]844765[/TD]
[TD]844765[/TD]
[TD]19.70 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jun 2013[/TD]
[TD]41897[/TD]
[TD]105148[/TD]
[TD]878262[/TD]
[TD]878262[/TD]
[TD]21.50 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jul 2013[/TD]
[TD]43766[/TD]
[TD]111407[/TD]
[TD]985010[/TD]
[TD]985010[/TD]
[TD]23.44 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Aug 2013[/TD]
[TD]42915[/TD]
[TD]111896[/TD]
[TD]1385379[/TD]
[TD]1385379[/TD]
[TD]34.79 GB[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Then how come so few posters? Does the Forum seem 'advanced' and intimidating to some? Or many just like to look and not speak....and who can blame some, as the 'Shadow and the NSA' know who's posting! :: Or, it could be just be lots of NSA 'spiders' - do they show up as 'visits' or separately? ::prison:: Long ago, one could see who was logged in...and those not members were just labeled as 'visitors', and how many. That function is no longer extant, I believe.

The logged in members is still working Pete. I look at it daily. Scroll to the bottom of the main forum page and you'll see it.

You'll have to ask Magda about the frequency of spiders, but it is my understanding that the figures in the 2nd column are "unique visitors", so spider activity won't alter that column. We have always been dimly aware that we received far more visitors than members, and I suspect that most fora are the same. Lots of people like to read what others post but prefer not to contribute themselves. And only a small number of the members we have, actually post with any degree of frequency.

Having said that, we are seeking new members, but every time we set out on a drive to do this, we are beset with a variety of problems - like the latest hack that took us offline for a week or more. Because of that, based on my daily observation, we have probably lost 50-100 visitors in the category I call "present at any one time" - which is based on my daily observations of looking at the visitor numbers throughout the day.

[Magda Hassan]

Then how come so few posters? Does the Forum seem 'advanced' and intimidating to some? Or many just like to look and not speak....and who can blame some, as the 'Shadow and the NSA' know who's posting! :: Or, it could be just be lots of NSA 'spiders' - do they show up as 'visits' or separately? ::prison:: Long ago, one could see who was logged in...and those not members were just labeled as 'visitors', and how many. That function is no longer extant, I believe.

Well, you must admit there has been some shocking behavior here which has made people leave or stopped people from joining and stopped others from joining. And it is true this is not a general political forum so not every man woman and their dog will be signing up. It is true of most forums though that the majority of members will not be posting members. Members can still see who is on line. It is at the bottom of the Forum page. Even when I used to publish newspapers the US State Department had a subscription. So for sure some one or one or one of their bots is here reading and lookiing at the attachments etc. Members can still see who is on line. It is at the bottom of the Forum page. Maybe others too.