My idea

Christian I am getting so tired of reading all these welcome to the forum messages that I am thinking  stopping posting to this forum . All these guys want to do is get their  15 post in , in order to download . Why don't you do away with this rule  ?  Let the person who wants to download , just download  and get rid of them .   This is just my opinion about this whole ruling .  Regards Cornelius

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I'm one of those who thinks it's polite to welcome new people - acknowledge them. I don't think the 15 posts to gain access to the entire site is excessive - as a matter of fact, I thought it was a good idea. Registering and making a few posts is a benefit to the site and the member benefits with good downloads, gold, helpful answers, solid advice, contact with a fellow thunter, etc. Most people, who get something of value, end up sharing, in return, when they can. It's a win / win for all.

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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,4092.msg27481.html#msg27481

It is Great to have and Welcome New Members . It would be nice if the members first 50 posts you can "read" all documents and photos , even post images of your coins , gold and even your metal detector . Above the 50 or 100 level you can download anything on this Forum . I have been to websites where there is a download lock , but you can still read complete text and full articles , untill you join and reach a certain level . Another option is limit the files downloaded per daily log-in untill you reach 50 or 100 posts that are at least one paragraph . I would like to see all new members stay , so I am sure new reasonable system can be invented here to keep everyone Happy !!

  ..................Regards..........Eugene52 

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Thank you for bringing this topic up. Here are my thoughts on this matter:

First of all I think the welcome area is a good idea. Most forums have this board and I think it will encourage new members to participate in teh form when they receive a warm welcome. This has also been the expirience from running other forums.

However I agree that there is a problem with people trying to gain 15 posts in order to access all areas.

Many forums eitehr do not offer features like a Download area at all or it is only for paying charta members. This site will however remain free of charge at all times.

Right now the download area does not have that many things but it will be greatly increased in the future. I will add many new (open source) software packages for treasure hunters. This will however also result in greater server load if everybody was able to use these extra features. (e.g. 100 people downloading 50 MB in data month is quite a bit) Hence I feel it would be fair to limit it to active members only and it helps to keep the server cost on a economic level.

The basic idea is to encourage people to become active but as you can tell the system is not bullet proof.

However I think one has to distinguish between two things:

1. The 15 Post Count Limit
2. The New User Introduction Area

Here are the suggestions I have:

1. Deactivating the post count for the new user introductions, humour boards etc. I  have done this on some of my other forums and it worked fine. People will hence not keep on replying just to boost their post count.

2. As Eugene suggested raising the post count limit to 50 post in order to access the download area.

3. Or taking away the whole post count limit.

I suggest that this decission should be made in a democratic way and will thus add the necessary polls to this topic.

All board members are encouraged to cast their vote.

Thank you,

Christian


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I started out in the new user introduction area to get my 15 posts, but now That is the very first place I visit when I get on the forum. It is very nice to receive a welcome to a new place whether it be in real life or virtual life. Cornelius I'm sorry you feel the way you do, but not everyone on here is just trying to get their 15 posts. Thanks for letting me give my say so in this matter. Brian

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