private forums

nass · #1 (**permalink**) 03-08-2008, 19:33

Small thing, not sure if they're working as intended - the art thread is in google's index. Looks like maybe it was spidered when it was in a different forum, a non-private one? No evidence of any of the others in google though, that must be it

RayB · #2 (**permalink**) 03-08-2008, 19:37

yep, the spidered link was when the thread was first in time out - it is simply impossible for a search engine bot to access the private area - bots are no different to any other guest - and a bot cannot join, make 100 posts and be a member for 30+ days to gain access to private either

Indizine · #3 (**permalink**) 03-08-2008, 19:50

Yes its pretty common for threads to start life in a public forum and for various reasons, be moved later on.

RayB · #4 (**permalink**) 03-08-2008, 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indizine

Yes its pretty common for threads to start life in a public forum and for various reasons, be moved later on.

Plus, threads can get indexed pretty quick - even if they are moved to private fairly quickly the first few posts may end up in the search engines.

nass · #5 (**permalink**) 03-08-2008, 20:08

yeah - I used to run forums in the past - I always enjoyed using the site: command (in the last 24hr) to see the fast indexing. vbforum puts a placeholder in there when they're moved right? If you wanted to be really clinical you could always add noindex to that placeholder if the destination was a private forum so that when and if the robot came back it'd drop it but it's such a rare case that it might not be worth the effort if it involved re-engineering the whole move thread function