Question/Suggestion regarding New Members and the NA Rules/FAQ

Boosted52405Boosted52405
in Site Suggestions & Feedback
Hey all,

  If this has been brought up and beat to a dead horse, my apologies and feel free to lock.  I continually am reading threads or situations on the site where new members simply didnt read the FAQ/NA Guidelines and it causes a ton of headache for the mods.  Ya know, for creating multiple threads, sending gift payments, hall of shame, thread bumps per 24 hours etc.



The FAQ/Guidelines seem to be slightly transparent for unknowing new members, at least I think it was when I joined back in 2011 (I could be wrong here).  I learned the guidelines rather quickly upon making a few mistakes myself.



Would it be possible for ALL new NA users, upon signup, to be forced to read through the FAQ/Guidelines of the site and actually checkbox agree to the conditions?  Possibly multiple checkboxes to cover each of the high volume headache scenarios as listed above?



This could be sort of a signup locked gate, in which the key would only be granted upon the FAQ/Guidelines being read and formally agreed upon.  If we did this, I would almost certainly expect a lot of new member headache behavior to decrease.



Just an idea, I'm fairly certain I have encountered this on other forums and thought it might be a good idea.  Perhaps it would be a substantial amount of work, but could be worth the work.



This site is massive and seems to only be gaining popularity...



Thanks all, have a nice day.

Comments

  • SamSpadeSamSpade
    I agree, way too many shitheads just showing up here to set up there BST threads and paying no mind to the rules. It's getting ridiculous at this point. I full on agree that everyone that joins should have to read the guidelines before posting.
  • RetroSauceRetroSauce
    Interesting suggestion. But I don't think providing check boxes is going to force anyone to read the rules. If you are the type to join a message board and not have a look at how things are run, then you're probably the type to check all the boxes without reading a word.
  • jonebonejonebone
    Yeah the FAQ really isn't an FAQ anymore, it's more like a Terms of Service. I agree it should be a force fed thing to new members, with a check box upon registration. I'm sure people may skim or skip it, but it certainly couldn't hurt any.
  • gutsman004gutsman004

    Originally posted by: RetroSauce



    Interesting suggestion. But I don't think providing check boxes is going to force anyone to read the rules. If you are the type to join a message board and not have a look at how things are run, then you're probably the type to check all the boxes without reading a word.



    This. Which goes back to what I suggested as an alternative to this.
  • Boosted52405Boosted52405
    Yeah I understand that the checkboxes could be checked without reading, but it would at least provide clear visibility and a formal agreement with new users. I dont think we can do anything to 100% force them to read and understand the rules, but I do think it would help provide the awareness.



    Heck, maybe it could be something flagged on every account existing and new and we could force existing members to take a few minutes to agree to...



    I was thinking something like this:



    1. User signs up for new account

    2. User is immediately directed to a Terms of Service/Rules dedicated page - I know we have these threads scattered around a bit now. Perhaps a dedicated page with a clear breakdown of the high volume issues/rules.

    3. In order to proceed and finalize Account setup, the user would have to check the following boxes

    A. Do you understand that only 1 active thread per section is allowed, and that it can only be "bumped" once per 24 hours? (Checkbox)

    B. Do you understand the risk in sending a Paypal gift payment and that NA in no way supports gift payments? (Checkbox)

    C. Do you understand how the NA Hall of Shame works and that your account can be flagged for malicious/irresponsible behavior? (Checkbox)

    D. Do you understand that bids in the NA Auction section cannot be retracted and if so, you will be added to the Hall of Shame? (Checkbox)



    And so forth...
  • GAiDENgtGAiDENgt
    I think making sure those "terms of service" are read is a good idea, but is real problem that random people are signing up simply to try and pawn something off or pick up items to resell from our community? I would assume that the people who don't pay as much attention to the FAQ/rules are probably the people who aren't here to contribute to the community -- they're just using NA as a utility.



    So my suggestion is, rather than, or perhaps in addition to, the creation of some checkboxes, perhaps we should enforce a rule that you cannot post for buy, sale, trade, or auction spotlight, until you have been a member for a short period of time and/or you have a certain number of posts. Something reasonable like 2 weeks / 10 posts would be enough of a hassle that those who truly weren't interested in the community, and just wanted to pawn some stuff of or maybe even setup a scam, may just move along.



    On the other hand, I could see this as being unfriendly to newcomers, and so it may not be something the community wants to endorse.



    But either way, I submit it as only a suggestion that could have a real impact on the behavior in question.
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