Being an anonymous poster has NOTHING to do with a person's character. Nor does membership automatically make someone kind and good. There are certainly people of both extremes here, and membership or lack of it is not a factor.

I think the elders or whatever you wish to call them should get off the membership business as being the method to eradicate poor behaviour here. Certainly some of the members are just as guilty when it comes to rudeness. Perhaps they are even more responsible when it comes to the condescension which can make a person feel just as unwelcome.

I am not saying that there are not GUESTS who abuse the site with their sniping and petty comments, but being a guest does not automatically make your post worthless, something to be ignored. There are members' posts which are just as ignorable in my opinion.

Whether I post as GUEST, GUEST,Henry, [member] Henry, or some fanciful name such as Dingleberry would make no difference in what I have to say or what I think about what goes on here.

Having said all that, yes, it can be a friendly place, and that is what you will find most of the time. If you ask a question you are almost certain to meet with an honest attempt to answer your request. I won't mention those who are most likely to spend time and effort to answer your question because I would most certainly leave some out. Those who perform this valuable service for you know who they are, as do most of the people who come here even semi-regularly. They probably do not get enough thanks but that is the nature of serving sometimes.

There are others who may not ordinarily post requested lyrics, chords, or whatever for you, but will take a great amount of time and effort to answer your questions about instruments, theory, available recordings, and such a wide variety of other things as to be nearly mind boggling. The collected knowledge which is imparted to even a casual visitor is freely given, and I doubt that there is another place where you can gather so much hard to find information, and all of it free of charge.

If you need a particular recording or other information, some member [or yes, a non-member, too] is almost certain to tell you exactly where you can find it. Failing that, they may well offer to send you a tape or whatever else you require at their own expense. I could go on and on, but I expect I have already done that.