Blogging Anonymously.

Is it possible to allow anonymous blogging with Dolphin 7?

My users are in a highly specialized industry and would like to get credit for some blog posts while also having the ability to blog anonymously for others (yet still follow comments, have blog show on Blog Home, Spy Wall (Anonymous), Rate, Categories, Tags, etc.).

Is there currently a mod available to "Post Anonymously" which would keep the authors information private while also allowing the author the same editing abilities as the rest of the blog.

 i think you should post this as a job .. cuz this requires a customization

Programmer geniuses:  Any ideas on how (from a programming stand point) allow users to follow the anonymous blog without revealing the authors identity?

The problem is blog's are attached to a users profile (usually displayed on the left column in Dolphin 7.0.6 default template.

I have one suggestion which I'm sure more experienced Dolphin users could provide some feedback about:

On my site, the user signs up with a "Nickname", but it never displayed.  Only the real name (First Last Name) are displayed.

Perhaps blogging anonymously could actually be done by blogging under the Nickname, but not allowing the Nickname to display the real name of the member?

You could just allow guests to blog. If they want to be anonymous, then just have them log out to create the post.

Allowing anonymous anything usually just opens you up to all kinds of spam. Maybe it would be better to just build the functionality into the blog mod that hides a posters credentials with the click of a button?

 SkyForum,

I agree with you 100%. Allowing guests to blog would allow them to be anonymous, but would also not allow them to follow their own readers comments, allow people to follow the blog, and would definitely open up a world of spam.

I'm wondering if just hiding the authors information would be sufficient enough.  It looks like the blogs URL are created with the title of the blog and the date is added when two blogs have the same name:

• http://yourwebsite.com/blogs/entry/First-blog-test
• http://yourwebsite.com/blogs/entry/First-blog-test-2011-07-01

The more I think about it the more I'm thinking about allowing the users to post a blog as RealName OR as their NickName.  Obviously, I would ask that the members create NickName's with non-personally identifiable information. 

This way, the same member could have the benefit of blogging as identifiable or anonymously along with the ability to see who is commenting on their posts.

Any thoughts?

IMHO, real names, nicknames is just a bit too complicated. I would just give them the ability to hide their info. maybe label them as "Registered Anonymous" letting people know he or she is a registered member of the site but has chosen to hide their identity..

It appears the URL of the blog is created with the blog Topic and not the Nickname, FirstName, or LastName.  I two blogs have identicle topics the date is added on to the URL to distinguish the two:

• http://website.com/blogs/entry/First-blog-test
• http://website.com/blogs/entry/First-blog-test-2011-07-01

I plan on changing the display name to FirstName LastName.  Here is an example:

• kartingconnect.com

• http://www.boonex.com/forums/?action=live_tracker#topic/Show-first-last-name-under-Avatar.htm

I believe the solution might be to allow the blog author to post as either FirstName LastName OR Nickname (Username):

          Post blog as:   Select One              *

                                  Skylar Franklin

                                  SkyForum

           *NOTE:  Please select whether to post the blog as your real name or as your username.  To post the blog anonymously, please select username and make sure your username does NOT have any personally identifiable information.

DISABLE profile hyperlink in the "Overview" section of the blog when "Username" is selected to protect the author's identity.

ENABLE profile hyperlink in the "Overview" section of the blog when "Real Name" is selected to reveal the author's identity.

Someone could easily take the username and put it into a google search to see if other websites might link the person back to their real name.  AntonLV let me know the current version (Dolphin 7.0.6) of Boonex relies heavily on the username to generate the blog blocks.  This may lead to being able to identify the authors Username when they posted something as "FirstName LastName", thus defeating the purpose of posting anonymously.

I'm just throwing ideas out there. The reason why I suggested to display the username is so that other users could search the username on the website if they heard about a popular blogger and see the other blogs they posted. 

If the blogs were always posted as "anonymous" by all users then there would be no way to follow a good anonymous blogger as opposed to an anonymous blogger who only produces junk.

Your thoughts?