# Have I failed to spot something obvious or is this new? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 3, 2001, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726 "2001-08-03T02:30:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/1 "2001-08-03T02:30:21Z")
Either I’ve been completely oblivious on a kewl feature, or you’ve added a kewl new feature and someone needs to be congratulated for it. On the main page ( [http://boards.straightdope.com](http://boards.straightdope.com) ) the bar at the bottom that tells me > [@](#): > > Currently Active Users: There are currently 115 member(s) and 34 guest(s) on the boards. is cooler than words. It’s scratching an itch I didn’t know I had. But if it’s always been there, I’m gonna be embarrassed. Fenris ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/2 "2001-08-03T02:44:12Z")
I think it’s a new one. It has appeared after last weekend’s maintenance. I like it too. A lot. Just a question though, “Guests” are what exactly, unlogged Dopers, lurkers or what ? ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/3 "2001-08-03T03:02:30Z")
“Guests” are probably unregistered lurkers, although there seem to be a lot less of them than I thought. In fact the whole community seems smaller than what I imagined, but I like that. Much homier. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/4 "2001-08-03T03:15:16Z")
Thank you **Myrnalene**. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/5 "2001-08-03T03:25:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Just a question though, “Guests” are what exactly, unlogged Dopers, lurkers or what ? [Bingo!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1478290#post1478290) ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/6 "2001-08-03T12:53:42Z")
If you scroll up a little bit in **Cajun Man** ’s link, you’ll find **UncleBeer** ’s post about the feature: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by UncleBeer \* > \*\*That is a feature that is normally turned off. The techs will toggle it on occasionally for short durations when running tests. There’s another portion of that feature that isn’t on now, but is also used intermittently by the techs. It shows, in addition to how many users are currently browsing, the screen names of everyone logged in. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/7 "2001-08-03T14:12:06Z")
The view has been modified to show only totals, not names. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/8 "2001-08-03T22:49:20Z")
And if the version of vB here has the same features as we are running over at MousePlanet, then not only can it tell us how many people are currently here but also what the all time maximum was. Probably a good thing that option is turned off or we would have people trying to arrange record breaking numbers. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/9 "2001-08-03T23:23:27Z")
Personally, I only noticed it due to the hyper-intelligent shade of blue that was used. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/10 "2001-08-04T02:47:42Z")
You mean, as opposed to the dumb-as-a-bag-of-rocks shade of blue that’s used as the logo background? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/11 "2001-08-04T03:31:34Z")
I believe that when the SDMB made the Great Change from ubb to vBulletin, they turned on the option of showing which users were logged on. It only lasted for a day or so, because some users expressed concerns about their privacy. ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-i-failed-to-spot-something-obvious-or-is-this-new/74726/12 "2001-08-04T03:45:47Z")
If anyone didn’t want to have thier name displayed, they could select ‘invisible mode’ in thier user profile. [sub]Whoa, deja vu[[/sub]