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Welcome! Since you are a new member your first few posts need to get approved by the volunteer moderators. This helps cut down on spam.

Taipan said:

Hello DSM363,

Fully understand the spam-cutting issue.

There were questions to answer in those two threads I was involved in.
What do you recon will be the delay for my answers to be approved ?

Best regards,

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Which threads are they in (if you have the links that would be helpful)? Someone may not simply have seem them yet. Thanks.

My messages which have links don't appear either. I posted one yesterday and one a few hours ago. Neither have appeared. There was a message saying it needs moderator approval. Aren't those pending messages added to a general queue where any moderator can approve them? Why is there so much delay?

Teo said:

My messages which have links don't appear either. I posted one yesterday and one a few hours ago. Neither have appeared. There was a message saying it needs moderator approval. Aren't those pending messages added to a general queue where any moderator can approve them? Why is there so much delay?

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You have to have a certain (variable) number of posts. This is to limit spam. As you add more posts, more features will be activated.

I posted another message in the same topic where my two previous messages got stuck and this third message didn't appear even though it had no links or images. There was no note about moderator approval either. In other words, my message disappeared and nothing happened after I clicked the button. I suspect follow up messages by same user are merged into one and if the initial message is stuck because of a link so will be the follow up messages even if they don't contain any links.

This is too bad because when somebody needs help urgently and you post an message, your message doesn't appear because it has a link. It won't be apprpved for a day or possibly longer. If you try to correct it by avoiding a link, those messages won't appear either causing further annoyance to a newcomer. This is definitely not a welcoming experience for a user who is just trying to be helpful.

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I understand that. But how many messages? I have checked the following pages:

1. FAQ
2. Forum Rules
3. Terms of Service
4. Advertising policy

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I can't find any information about the threshold. Somebody said 9 messages. So maybe we should suggest each user to post 9 random messages in off topic to avoid an annoying experience.

Teo said:

I understand that. But how many messages?

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The number varies randomly so that spammers just can't write a script that posts X number of messages.

How about putting the pending messages in one big pool where many volunteer moderators can approve them? This would shorten waiting times.

Teo said:

My messages which have links don't appear either. I posted one yesterday and one a few hours ago. Neither have appeared. There was a message saying it needs moderator approval. Aren't those pending messages added to a general queue where any moderator can approve them? Why is there so much delay?

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We generally have ~1,000 members online at any one time, the current record was 9,350 members online simultaneously. We have >26k threads with ~700k posts and a handful of unpaid, volunteer moderators who also have jobs/spouses/families etc. Unfortunately mods sometimes also take vacations or business trips and we try to cover for each other as much as possible.

With new members we not only need to approve posts but also to check the links that are posted; that means watching video, reading articles etc which takes time. If you feel that a post has been missed or forgotten feel free to PM one of the section moderators where you posted and we'll get to it as soon as we can.

Nigel I understand the need for spam prevention. I would like to know more about how it works.

Option 1: If a new member posts a certain number of messages without any links and then posts a message with link his first message with a link won't require an approval because he or she is has already passes the random message count threshold

Option 2: If a new member posts a hundreds of messages without any links and then posts a message with link his first few message with links (determined by a random number) will still need approval.

Which one is it? Also are links and images considered the same? I could include either a link or an image. Both would work to communicate the information across. I would like to know if both are stuck by the same criteria or if images are not stuck or if there is another random count.

I would suggest finding a way to make all this information cleared to new members.

I wouldn't worry about it. You only have to do a few posts and then they are no longer in moderation. You should be good.

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Teo said:

I can't find any information about the threshold. Somebody said 9 messages. So maybe we should suggest each user to post 9 random messages in off topic to avoid an annoying experience.

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No. We suggest members post relevant things where they want them with the understanding it takes time to get them approved.

Also how about editing my messages? As a non-native English I make more spelling mistakes than the average user. I would like to know at what point I will be able to start correcting them. Is all of this tied to message count. Is it the same random message count that will remove all limitations or are some features tied to a secondary random message count or user reputation? I bet it would be easier if there was a video all new members needed to watch. Things would be so less annoying.

Teo said:

Nigel I understand the need for spam prevention. I would like to know more about how it works.

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I understand, but not publicizing details of spam prevention policies also prevents spammers circumventing those policies. Unfortunately that's the world we have to live in.

As Dave said, your posts should all have been cleared by now. Do PM any of us if there's posts still stuck.

For the same reasons as NigelM said above. Just continue to participate and you'll have that ability soon. It's really not a high bar.

Hi,

I do now see an edit button under my messages. I tested and I can now add images and links. I guess the annoying part for me is not being warned about this. If I knew the limitations I would avoid posting links and images. In the following topic yesterday I wrote a long message with many links and it is still not approved. It certainly doesn't make sense that somebody still needs to check those links even though the limits are lifted now.

BMW and Tesla converse about share Supercharger network - Page 5

I have a suggestion:

When you sign up display a page with an image of the edit button and warning that says "New members can't edit their messages or add links or images to their messages. After a few plain text messages those limits will be lifted. When you see an edit button under your messages it also means you can add links and images without moderator approval."

By the way, the quick reply button has a too short time out. When you wait a few minutes and then press "post quick reply" the page refreshes and nothing happens. Your message is gone and you have to retype.

Teo said:

Hi,

I do now see an edit button under my messages. I tested and I can now add images and links. I guess the annoying part for me is not being warned about this. If I knew the limitations I would avoid posting links and images. In the following topic yesterday I wrote a long message with many links and it is still not approved. It certainly doesn't make sense that somebody still needs to check those links even though the limits are lifted now.

BMW and Tesla converse about share Supercharger network - Page 5

I have a suggestion:

When you sign up display a page with an image of the edit button and warning that says "New members can't edit their messages or add links or images to their messages. After a few plain text messages those limits will be lifted. When you see an edit button under your messages it also means you can add links and images without moderator approval."

By the way, the quick reply button has a too short time out. When you wait a few minutes and then press "post quick reply" the page refreshes and nothing happens. Your message is gone and you have to retype.

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Thanks for the feedback.

Are you sure you clicked submit? It's not there in moderation.

Hi,

Thanks for trying to help. If it's not there then it must have disappeared because of timeout problems. Before I posted in the BMW topic I had once seen the "moderator approval needed" message. So yesterday when I posted in the BMW topic and it didn't appear, I assumed it must be awaiting approval. But now that you have mentioned it is not there, I think it got lost in quick reply timeout which is a shame but no big deal.

This is a different problem from new member issues and I want to describe it in case there is a regular message disappearance problem in this forum experienced by others as well. The problem happens when you click "reply to thread" then take too much time to reply. Then you click on "post quick reply" and the page reloads but your message isn't there and there is no warning message. Everything you typed is lost for good. When you click browser's back button it doesn't help recovering the text. Maybe vbulletin has some timeout setting, I don't know. I thought I will mention it.

Edit:
I checked my subscriptions on the following page:
Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum

and the BMW topic is there along with all other topics that I posted in. So now I'm back to thinking my message might still be stuck waiting approval. However the discussion has already moved on. Even if my message appears it won't be on the last page and therefore won't be seen at all unless somebody is reading the entire topic from first page to the last. This is no problem if you have posted a short message with a link on it. However it is a shame if you have spend half and hour researching and typing. It doesn't make sense to block messages without making it clear that

1. your messages will be on hold if there is a link in them
2. the limits will be lifted after a few plain text messages
3. when the limit is lifted you will see your edit button
4. don't keep posting follow up messages immediately after a blocked message because they will be invisible too even if they don't have any links