From Newsgroup: alt.bbs.synchronet
To: nolageek
Re: Anonymous subs
By: nolageek to All on Thu Apr 30 2020 12:22 am
I've noticed that on subs that I have configured as Anonymous that most third party readers either show the poster's name, or they've started showing posts as Anonymous after some particular post number. (Which makes me think that maybe it was after I set it as Anonymous.) For example, I noticed today that DDMessageReader only shows the last two or three posts as from Anonymous - and when using DDMessageLister none of them show as Anonymous. EChickens reader doesn't show anything as Anonymous.
Unfortunately, infrequently-used features (such as anonymous sub-boards) don't get the test-coverage, so problems like that go unnoticed or unreported for years, sometimes decades. echicken is here, so hopefully he can address the issue (or I will).
I think DDMessageReader sounds like it's doing the right thing. When a sub-board is marked as anonymous, that means that *newly* posted messages will be posted anonymously (though the sysop/sub-op can still see who actually posted the message). Changing a sub-board to anonymous doesn't change the attributes of previously posted messages. It is technically possible to go back and change the attributes of previously posted messages (e.g. to add the "Anonymous" attribute), but I don't think anyone has ever expressed a desire to do that.
Could this be improved in some way so that if a sub is configured as Anonymous then Synchronet returns all posts as by Anonymous instead of leaving this up to the reader? Maybe as sysop I see the name, but some kind of indication that it's Anon, like the name in parenthesis?
The internal/stock methods of reading messages display the "Anonymous" attribute to the sysop along with the original poster's name.
User's with the 'A' exemption can *always* post on a sub-board anonymous so long as the sub-board is configure to allow it. That's why *each* message carries its own anonymous attribute.
digital man
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