# Member v. Guest

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/member-v-guest/686790>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [April 23, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/member-v-guest/686790 "2014-04-23T17:43:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![staballoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@staballoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/staballoy)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/member-v-guest/686790/1 "2014-04-23T17:43:47Z")

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I registered some time ago, am listed as a Guest. What does one do to become a member, and how does membership vary from being a guest?

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/member-v-guest/686790/2 "2014-04-23T18:30:07Z")

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One pays.

Click on User CP and on the left side of the page is a link for Paid Subscriptions.

Members can get custom titles, visible post counts, and a no ads, plus a few other odds and ends. But it’s mainly to support the site.

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**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/member-v-guest/686790/3 "2014-04-23T20:56:56Z")

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And before you ask, Charter Members were people who paid for membership when the site first transitioned to a pay site. But as Telmark says, membership is really about supporting the site.

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**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/member-v-guest/686790/4 "2014-04-23T21:24:47Z")

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Who else was hoping for another ‘shark v. bear’ type thread?

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**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/member-v-guest/686790/5 "2014-04-23T22:34:44Z")

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Guests have the numbers, but the members are probably better organized. I predict a tight match.