Hello everyone,

I am new to all this forum area, but am actively developing a web-site with lots of relevant content, and an integrated forum...

Prime objective is to get people to use it regularly and to register.

I have planned phases of growth, which will work best if I know more rather than less about people, and am stuck/dithering with the following question:

What personal data will people actually give when registering in a forum, and what will put them off registering?

My thoughts are there are probably 4 categories : Required, Ok - I Will Then, Maybe, and No Way?, which could be as below

Required:
Username, Password, Email

OK -I will then:
First Name, Year of Birth, Where I heard of the site

Maybe:
Surname, Date of Birth, Location Guide (City/State)

No way:
Home Phone number, Home address, Zip/Post-Code, Qualifications, Relationship Status
Salary
Employer
Employment Function

Any help with this or views or references of sites/fora that do this well would be really appreciated...

I know that the relationship and relevance will help drive some lower levels up the list, but what other methods could there be?


Thanks,

Sandysays