Suggestions for newbie control & management
Reply #4 – 2003-11-16 15:54:11
1.- Put a notice in large, attention-drawing letters on the "Post new topic" <snip> Good idea. See my last post.1.5.- In addition to the encouragement to read FAQ/Wiki/TOS and use Search, threaten the new user with probable harsh responses by the members if the question shows that s/he didn't do his/er homework. Reason: Fear sometimes works. IMO most likely this will make things worse than better, because it will encourage some people to response in a harsh manner leading to things between unnecessary unfriendlyness and flames.2.- Make a forced tour through the TOS page and FAQs to complete the registration process. (This might be already implemented, I don't know. I don't remember having seen something like this when I registered two years ago). Reason: Some newbies are lazy and will want to get "straight to the point". 2.5.- Tour makes you manually tick every TOS point to ensure you've read them. Reason: Some newbies are VERY lazy and won't read even what is put in front of them. Good idea(s), but I don't see a way how to make sure that people read the TOS/FAQs instead of searching for the "By clicking here I confirm that I've read and understood the TOS + FAQs"...3.- First 'x' posts by a new user automatically go into a "Newbie" forum not visible at the portal until a moderator or a senior member (or group of specially designated senior members) has a look at it and, if deemed appropriate, promotes it to the general forum. Incidentally, a moderator could demote a "well-standing member's" post to the newbie forum if the answer could be easily found on the FAQ or search function. j/k. This would mean much work for moderation/administration with questionable outcome. It's only a minority of new members' posts that are that lazy-newbie-like, so a change like this isn't justified IMO.