The activation email

[keiths]

As more and more new members fail to follow the request made in the activation email, maybe it needs to be worded a bit more strongly. Here's my suggestion:

|+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|
| P L E A S E - R E A D - B E F O R E - Y O U - M A K E - Y O U R
| F I R S T - P O S T - T O - T H E - F O R U M!
|
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+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| V E R Y - I M P O R A N T
|
| Thank you for registering with The Art of Sound
| We think we are more than just a just a forum; The Art of Sound
| is a proper community of real people and we'd all welcome the chance to get to
| know you a bit better.
|
| So...
|
| *** YOUR FIRST FORUM POST M U S T BE MADE IN THE WELCOME AREA ***
|
| where we would like you to say 'hello', giving your proper first
| name, basic location, something about your system
| and something about your favourite music.
|
| You will be assured of a warm and friendly welcome!
|
| ***
| *** ANY POSTS YOU MAKE BEFORE YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR
| *** INTRODUCTION POST IN THE WELCOME AREA WILL BE REMOVED
| *** BY ONE OF OUR FORUM LEADERS!
| ***
|
| Thank you!
|
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[Beechwoods]

Thanks for your suggestion Keith. Its interesting that it irks you like it irks us! I wonder what everyone else thinks?

[Roy S]

Don't think it's too much to ask given how useful & entertaining the forum is

[Alex_UK]

Thanks for this Keith. As you will have gathered from me posting it earlier, it is a tedious job being a first post policeman, so anything we can do to improve matters (without scaring off genuine enthusiasts, of course!) is needed, I think.

[MartinT]

It's only common courtesy, but some new 'members' dive into the sales areas in their first post, ignoring the activation message and without so much as a hello

[The Grand Wazoo]

When writing those posts you have to tread such a fine line between grumpiness & friendliness! It's tricky.

[Wakefield Turntables]

When writing those posts you have to tread such a fine line between grumpiness & friendliness! It's tricky.

+1 but the rules of the forum are the rules of the forum. If people wish to join they should read and accept the rules. If they cant be bothered to follow suit like the rest of us then they dont belong. This is great for autoregulation of the forum.

[keiths]

Couldn't the vbulletin software be the policeman?

Create a usergroup "New Member" for all newly registered users. Set vbulletin to promote members from "New Member" to "Junior Member" when their post count equals 1. Ban members of "New Member" group posting on all forums other than "Welcome".

Assuming of course that vBulletin can do this

[Beechwoods]

We've had that same discussion behind the scenes Keith! We do a similar thing to restrict PM functionality below a certain threshold of posts, to avoid Spamming and the like.

Something like what you're suggesting is being worked on, though maybe not quite so draconian

[bobbasrah]

We've had that same discussion behind the scenes Keith! We do a similar thing to restrict PM functionality below a certain threshold of posts, to avoid Spamming and the like.

Something like what you're suggesting is being worked on, though maybe not quite so draconian

A LOUDER welcome email encouraging or forcing me to go toward the Welcome area would have probably drawn my attention to the requirement rather than skim over it IMHO.
However much I might object to being channeled, if it is clearly a prerequisite, it would not irk any more than realising my own stupidity after NOT complying....

Restricting capability to post a message until that is done, if technically easy to apply, would reinforce the point TBH.

Then all you are policing is the detal, such as why Mickey Mouse is living in Pseudopolis, with a passion for playing vinyl via cryogenically treated metal to glass tubes to Triffids, and other such improbabilities....