Not all artists want the galleries opened up to all viewers...the harvesting of graphics by mass downloaders is an issue. No one should download graphics without the permission of the artist (just because you can doesn't make it the right thing to do)....it's bad enough that community members do that to each other but why would we want to make it even easier for strangers to suck the galleries dry and then post the stolen goods, without credit, onto other sites? There is also an issue of direct linking draining bandwith...talk about an idea that would slow this site down even more!!! Open galleries just make it that much easier for the art and bandwith thieves....what part of that is a plus? It is very easy to register, it's free, and I think if someone is so lame they can't do that little step then they aren't really serious about viewing the galleries, and why should that kind of limp interest be cared about? And it is also very easy to let someone from the outside view your own gallery. I don't see the great advantage to making it a free for all, when no one is charged the price of admission in the first place. But I still want to know how rankings slow down the website.