Inform new users?

[79wjd]

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

I hate those too, wait to be approved by a mod. But the minimum post count before you can create a topic is okay I guess. Can't remember which one I visited a while back. Minimum was like 5 or 10 post count before you can start creating a topic. And it was easy, comment in bunch of random threads and viola, create thread achievement unlocked.

It's still stupid. If I have a question I'm not going to want to post 10 comments first. 

[NumLock21]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

It's still stupid. If I have a question I'm not going to want to post 10 comments first. 

i guess it's their way to know if that member is going to stay or not

[ARikozuM]

2 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

I hate those too, wait to be approved by a mod. But the minimum post count before you can create a topic is okay I guess. Can't remember which one I visited a while back. Minimum was like 5 or 10 post count before you can start creating a topic. And it was easy, comment in bunch of random threads and viola, create thread achievement unlocked.

I'm assuming you meant "voila"? 

 

I agree with setting a 5 post minimum unless there can be a way for temporary accounts to be created and deleted after a day or two.

[NumLock21]

Just now, ARikozuM said:

I'm assuming you meant "voila"? 

 

I agree with setting a 5 post minimum unless there can be a way for temporary accounts to be created and deleted after a day or two.

never heard of voila. It was some other forum a long time ago.

 

[79wjd]

3 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

i guess it's their way to know if that member is going to stay or not

2 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

I agree with setting a 5 post minimum unless there can be a way for temporary accounts to be created and deleted after a day or two.

I don't see the problem with one time posters who just want a question answered but don't want to partake in the forum. 

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

never heard of voila. It was some other forum a long time ago.

 

He meant, the word is "voila" not "viola".

[ARikozuM]

Just now, NumLock21 said:

never heard of voila. It was some other forum a long time ago.

 

Instead of "comment in ... and viola" it should be "and voila". Unless you meant the musical instrument...

[colonel_mortis]

Returning to the original topic

• No, we will not enforce a minimum post count before members can start topics - a lot of accounts are created just to ask a question, and to require those members to make other posts just to be able to ask their question is just going to drive them away and/or make them spam to get there. Not happening.
• We would like to implement some system for helping users to become more engaged and to show them things like quote, report, etc. However, the forum software doesn't have any relevant features, so it's not an easy thing to implement. It is something that we (I) will look into seriously in the future though, subject to time constraints.

[79wjd]

31 minutes ago, colonel_mortis said:

Returning to the original topic

• No, we will not enforce a minimum post count before members can start topics - a lot of accounts are created just to ask a question, and to require those members to make other posts just to be able to ask their question is just going to drive them away and/or make them spam to get there. Not happening.
• We would like to implement some system for helping users to become more engaged and to show them things like quote, report, etc. However, the forum software doesn't have any relevant features, so it's not an easy thing to implement. It is something that we (I) will look into seriously in the future though, subject to time constraints.

Is there no way to prompt the user with a page that they have to dissmiss upon successfully making an account? Like a TOS page -- I know some forums have that, although I don't recall if they were on IPBoard.

[colonel_mortis]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

Is there no way to prompt the user with a page that they have to dissmiss upon successfully making an account? Like a TOS page -- I know some forums have that, although I don't recall if they were on IPBoard.

No, but even if there was, I suspect that the click through rate would be exceptionally high - if someone has created an account to post a question, they aren't going to read a tutorial about how to use the site. A successful solution would have to be more seamless than that.

[79wjd]

2 minutes ago, colonel_mortis said:

No, but even if there was, I suspect that the click through rate would be exceptionally high - if someone has created an account to post a question, they aren't going to read a tutorial about how to use the site. A successful solution would have to be more seamless than that.

I was thinking hiding the continue button somewhere in the concluding paragraph or something rather than in a more traditional spot. But it's not an option anyway. 

[colonel_mortis]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

I was thinking hiding the continue button somewhere in the concluding paragraph or something rather than in a more traditional spot. 

That wouldn't fix it though, it would just annoy people. How many time do you read the terms of service/license agreement for a piece of software, regardless of what tricks they have to make you pretend to read it (such as making your scroll to the bottom)? From your point of view, the guide is far more interesting and useful than ToS, but from a user who is just registering to ask their question, it has the same effect.

Something inline, or after they have posted, would probably be more effective, but the only way to know for sure is to actually try it.

[79wjd]

Just now, colonel_mortis said:

That wouldn't fix it though, it would just annoy people. How many time do you read the terms of service/license agreement for a piece of software, regardless of what tricks they have to make you pretend to read it (such as making your scroll to the bottom)? From your point of view, the guide is far more interesting and useful than ToS, but from a user who is just registering to ask their question, it has the same effect.

Something inline, or after they have posted, would probably be more effective, but the only way to know for sure is to actually try it.

If a TOS was short and simple I would probably read it. So in this "guide" I would just make a few bullet points and have a picture or two and put the "agree" button somewhere in the last sentence. 

[colonel_mortis]

Just now, djdwosk97 said:

If a TOS was short and simple I would probably read it. So in this "guide" I would just make a few bullet points and have a picture or two and put the "agree" button somewhere in the last sentence. 

I still think that relatively few of the people who need to would actually read it properly, but there's no built in mechanism for it anyway, so there's nothing that we can do about it at the moment. If I add do end up implementing something, I will do a more thorough test to see what system works well, but that won't happen for a while.

[2FA]

My gaming community has a website where you can sign up and the application has a bunch of questions that are technically optional in order to submit the form but are pretty much required to be answered. We have a pretty high rate of people that just ignore those questions, and this is a site that gets 1/1000 of the traffic of LTT or even less. 

 

TL;DR Humans are lazy.