are you able to private posts from being searched on the internet?

[mittymittens]

i wanted to test something out and i copy and pasted one of somebody's responses to my post in quotes on google to see if it came up. and it did.
i don't want my posts to be public like that, i was wondering if there was a setting somewhere i can make all of my posts only accessible to only members that are signed up on this website. i tried searching for it but i couldn't find it.

 

[itsalittlecold]

i wanted to test something out and i copy and pasted one of somebody's responses to my post in quotes on google to see if it came up. and it did.
i don't want my posts to be public like that, i was wondering if there was a setting somewhere i can make all of my posts only accessible to only members that are signed up on this website. i tried searching for it but i couldn't find it.

I think it's the options on the bottom of privacy settings? I've changed everything to members only, I can't find myself through google…
It's intrigued me though, so will keep trying

 

[mittymittens]

I think it's the options on the bottom of privacy settings? I've changed everything to members only, I can't find myself through google…
It's intrigued me though, so will keep trying

i have as well, this is a picture of my post coming up, when i go on incognito mode, im able to access my post

 

[itsalittlecold]

i have as well, this is a picture of my post coming up View attachment 147087

Ahh, so was that a quote from someone's reply? I can't find anything relating to mine, I would rather be sure though.

Hopefully a mod will see this, I'm sure you've got us all curious now lol

 

[mittymittens]

Ahh, so was that a quote from someone's reply? I can't find anything relating to mine, I would rather be sure though.

Hopefully a mod will see this, I'm sure you've got us all curious now lol

yeah i think im gonna contact a mod, if anyone reads this i hope you do the same because i dont really want and im sure theres people out there who dont want their posts visible on google-- or at least the option to private their posts to people who haven't signed up

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Everything you post in the forum is publicly visible and may also be indexed by google and other search engines. Your chat and private PMs (conversations) should not be indexed as this is private and afaik not even mods can read those messages unless reported.

 

[itsalittlecold]

yeah i think im gonna contact a mod, if anyone reads this i hope you do the same because i dont really want and im sure theres people out there who dont want their posts visible on google-- or at least the option to private their posts to people who haven't signed up

So I've just googled one of my reply's on someone else's post, it came up straight away.

However when I google a reply on one of my posts, it isn't showing.

I'm curious, when did you change the privacy settings? Could it be a case off every post prior to the change, will show and future won't?

 

[mittymittens]

So I've just googled one of my reply's on someone else's post, it came up straight away.

However when I google a reply on one of my posts, it isn't showing.

I'm curious, when did you change the privacy settings? Could it be a case off every post prior to the change, will show and future won't?

I had this setting on for as long as i signed up which was on june 11, 2023.

 

[itsalittlecold]

I had this setting on for as long as i signed up which was on june 11, 2023.

That's got me wondering. None of my personal posts are coming up.

If you manage to speak with a mod, would you mind updating please?

 

[mittymittens]

That's got me wondering. None of my personal posts are coming up.

If you manage to speak with a mod, would you mind updating please?

i messaged one right now, and i will be updating.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

@itsalittlecold and @mittymittens

It has nothing to do with privacy settings. The whole forum is public (but anonymous, depending on how much info you share). Google as well as other search engines can and will index the whole forum. There is no personal setting to prevent this. Do not post anything you do not want to be public or that can compromise your identity.

 

[itsalittlecold]

@itsalittlecold and @mittymittens

It has nothing to do with privacy settings. The whole forum is public (but anonymous, depending on how much info you share). Google as well as other search engines can and will index the whole forum. There is no personal setting to prevent this. Do not post anything you do not want to be public or that can compromise your identity.

I understand what you're saying.
My posts aren't showing through google though, if I copy and paste a comment of one of my reply's- on someone else's post, it will show.

I can't see a reason why my personal posts aren't showing?

 

[andreamysk]

Personally, I would prefer that the forum not be public and indexable, but visible only to members (this is not so much to protect members, but to better protect some categories of web surfers who could be very vulnerable). This is a completely personal and debatable opinion, I respect other points of view.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I can't see a reason why my personal posts aren't showing?

What do you mean with "personal post"? Your PMs are private and won't show in public if they are private messages. But anything you post in the public forums can show. Maybe google doesn't interpret your account as "relevant" and therefore it's not showing.

 

[itsalittlecold]

What do you mean with "personal post"? Your PMs are private and won't show in public if they are private messages. But anything you post in the public forums can show. Maybe google doesn't interpret your account as "relevant" and therefore it's not showing.

By personal posts I mean- posts I have created and posted personally.

Like this is mittymittens personal post we are commenting on.

I'd like to believe google determines that, if I copy and paste one of my comments from someone else's thread, it does show.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Personally, I would prefer that the forum not be public and indexable, but visible only to members (this is not so much to protect members, but to better protect some categories of web surfers who could be very vulnerable). This is a completely personal and debatable opinion, I respect other points of view.

This has been done several years ago (read in the suggestions/news sections) but it only lead to a massive increase of registrations.

By personal posts I mean- posts I have created and posted personally.

Like this is mittymittens personal post we are commenting on.

The current conversation is probably too new to be already indexed by google.

 

[andreamysk]

This has been done several years ago (read in the suggestions/news sections) but it only lead to a massive increase of registrations.

Thanks for the info (yes, I had read, and I can imagine the problem of having to manage/moderate an exponentially huge number of subscribers, but I still believe it would be preferable, in principle - just IMHO :-)

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Thanks for the info (yes, I had read, and I can imagine the problem of having to manage/moderate an exponentially huge number of subscribers, but I still believe it would be preferable, in principle - just IMHO :-)

Well there's a setting in robots.txt to tell the search engine robot not to index certain parts or a whole website but imo that's also against sharing useful information.

 

[rozeske]

Unfortunately what's said on SaSu doesn't stay on SaSu.

 

[itsalittlecold]

@itsalittlecold and @mittymittens

It has nothing to do with privacy settings. The whole forum is public (but anonymous, depending on how much info you share). Google as well as other search engines can and will index the whole forum. There is no personal setting to prevent this. Do not post anything you do not want to be public or that can compromise your identity.

Yep, I have to stand corrected.
With persistence I got it to show on google, I'm just the type that'll question everything…
I appreciate your responses.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

No, I don't think that you can. Whatever you post publicly can be searched publicly. This is why you have to be careful with what you post

 

[SoulWhisperer]

You searched with quotation marks and in Google engine "" means to search those EXACT words and since your post was publicly accessible by anyone on the internet, registered here or not Google picked it up because it matched your research.

However realistically the chances of someone casually matching your exact words and finding your posts without clues or hints is kind of low. As per the username I think it's even less likely.

Take my advice with a graint of salt because I'm no technical engineer.

 

[Kalista]

i have as well, this is a picture of my post coming up, when i go on incognito mode, im able to access my post View attachment 147087

incognito mode does not work like that. incognito only works on the local side, which is your side. what it does is it doesn't save cookies, cache, browser history and any urls you type in after closing the browser, so that any users who get on your computer won't see the previous activity. that's all it does.
it does not cover your tracks and prevent your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or Google from seeing your online activity.

unfortunately, whatever is posted on here will be easily searched through Google. you will have to find other ways of disconnecting your activity here and out.

 

[SilentSadness]

When your account is older you should be able to post in the sanctuary, which is a private sub forum.

 

[emma99]

When your account is older you should be able to post in the sanctuary, which is a private sub forum.

how long do you have to wait for that?

 

[damienlerone03]

how long do you have to wait for that?

I just got access to it maybe a week ago and i join in like april, though maybe just like the search bar it might be random for everyone