the email address has been posted on the about page for about a year, so far I haven’t had a problem. It is a very low volume site. If it becomes a problem I’ll remove the link and delete the address. I have the opposite problem.
the topic ToddZ posted mostly wrote off the idea as inviting abuse. I wouldn’t want this as a general feature for all users, just a way of people being able to contact me without having to join my forum. Posting my email obviously does invite spambots and abuse.
If a simply button on the About page allowed a non-member or non-logged in member to post a private message to one account it would (IMHO) help me drive engagement. I have, as I suspect most forums have, a lot of lurkers who seem unwilling to join. If it got out of control, have a simple way to turn it off.
And since I’m here, I’ll give my exact use case:
I do live events. I sometimes offer prizes (t-shirts) to viewers/participants. I would like a way for people to be able to contact me to get their prize shipped. I don’t want them to have to join the forum to claim their prize. It is enough that they know about us, maybe later they will end up joining.
Thanks
Andy