Hi,
Today I closed two announcement windows that appeared on top of every page in the forum. These are faded yellow lines with big text on them. One said "read forum rules" and the other was about reservations for an upcoming event.
My suggestion is to use those announcements for new members so they don't have the same problems I had. The warning could say something like "Read new member limitations about posting links". When you click on it, it should open to a page that makes it clear that:
1. There is a limitation on new members.
2. If they add links or images their messages will be on hold pending moderator approval which could take a few days.
3. When the message is approved it will appear in the topic on the last page at the time it was originally posted. For example when you post a message and the topic is currently three pages long and two days later it is on the sixth page, your message will appear on the third page making it practically invisible to all people who have been following or posting in that topic. This is another reason why new members should avoid adding links until the limitations are lifted.
4. If they post a follow up message immediately after a message that is on hold, the follow up message will be invisible until the first message is approved even if the follow up message is just plain text with no links. The reason for this is because follow up messages are merged to previous messages if there is no message by somebody else in between.
5. Also it should mention that the edit feature is disabled too but after a few messages all limitations will be lifted and when users see an edit button under their messages it means they can now post links without moderator approval.
I had a terrible experience with those limitations even though I bothered to check each of the following pages trying to find information:
1. FAQ
2. Forum Rules
3. Terms of Service
4. Advertising policy
The limitation was lifted on my 8.th message but by the time I had already 4 messages blocked in two different topics. First I posted a long message with lots of links and text on it. It took me half an hour to write and research. After I posted it, it didn't appear. It still hasn't appeared after two days. I can see the topic in my subscriptions along with every other topic I posted in but my message isn't in it. Even if it appears now it is pointless because the discussion has moved on and approved messages appear in earlier pages depending on the time they were originally posted, not on the last page.
If I knew how the limitations worked I wouldn't have posted that message before the limitations were lifted. I would have waited until I saw an edit button under my messages if I knew the edit button was an indication of lifted limits for adding links.
In another topic I posted another message with some links and it was blocked too with a message saying pending moderator approval. At that time I knew from my earlier experience that it would take far too long to appear. What I didn't know was that the limitation depended on message count and I could tell that the limitation was lifted when I see an edit button.
If I knew that instead posting messages with links, I would have joined a few off topic discussions until I saw the edit button. Anyway so my message in this second topic is blocked too and I knew nothing about how this works. So I tried to work around the limitation by retyping the whole message and trying to post links as unclickable text. That didn't work because after that second message again I saw the moderator approval pending warning. I thought this is getting silly. I will just post plain text with no links. So I did that and this time I didn't see the moderator approval pending warning. However my message didn't appear either. Of course the reason is because follow up messages are merged to previous messages.
In the meantime I wrote a few messages in this feedback section and the limitations were lifted. So I went back to the topic that had blocked my 3 messages. They were still blocked. I re-posted the same content. At the end I posted the same content 4 times. When the earlier 3 suddenly appeared it was confusing and messy to other people who are trying to find information.
If I compare my experience as a new member on this website to other sites, probably this hasn't been the best user experience I had. Problems with settings and website functions can happen in any website. I think what makes the difference is how people respond to problems. So I hope the site administrators here will care to improve the experience for new members.
Today I closed two announcement windows that appeared on top of every page in the forum. These are faded yellow lines with big text on them. One said "read forum rules" and the other was about reservations for an upcoming event.
My suggestion is to use those announcements for new members so they don't have the same problems I had. The warning could say something like "Read new member limitations about posting links". When you click on it, it should open to a page that makes it clear that:
1. There is a limitation on new members.
2. If they add links or images their messages will be on hold pending moderator approval which could take a few days.
3. When the message is approved it will appear in the topic on the last page at the time it was originally posted. For example when you post a message and the topic is currently three pages long and two days later it is on the sixth page, your message will appear on the third page making it practically invisible to all people who have been following or posting in that topic. This is another reason why new members should avoid adding links until the limitations are lifted.
4. If they post a follow up message immediately after a message that is on hold, the follow up message will be invisible until the first message is approved even if the follow up message is just plain text with no links. The reason for this is because follow up messages are merged to previous messages if there is no message by somebody else in between.
5. Also it should mention that the edit feature is disabled too but after a few messages all limitations will be lifted and when users see an edit button under their messages it means they can now post links without moderator approval.
I had a terrible experience with those limitations even though I bothered to check each of the following pages trying to find information:
1. FAQ
2. Forum Rules
3. Terms of Service
4. Advertising policy
The limitation was lifted on my 8.th message but by the time I had already 4 messages blocked in two different topics. First I posted a long message with lots of links and text on it. It took me half an hour to write and research. After I posted it, it didn't appear. It still hasn't appeared after two days. I can see the topic in my subscriptions along with every other topic I posted in but my message isn't in it. Even if it appears now it is pointless because the discussion has moved on and approved messages appear in earlier pages depending on the time they were originally posted, not on the last page.
If I knew how the limitations worked I wouldn't have posted that message before the limitations were lifted. I would have waited until I saw an edit button under my messages if I knew the edit button was an indication of lifted limits for adding links.
In another topic I posted another message with some links and it was blocked too with a message saying pending moderator approval. At that time I knew from my earlier experience that it would take far too long to appear. What I didn't know was that the limitation depended on message count and I could tell that the limitation was lifted when I see an edit button.
If I knew that instead posting messages with links, I would have joined a few off topic discussions until I saw the edit button. Anyway so my message in this second topic is blocked too and I knew nothing about how this works. So I tried to work around the limitation by retyping the whole message and trying to post links as unclickable text. That didn't work because after that second message again I saw the moderator approval pending warning. I thought this is getting silly. I will just post plain text with no links. So I did that and this time I didn't see the moderator approval pending warning. However my message didn't appear either. Of course the reason is because follow up messages are merged to previous messages.
In the meantime I wrote a few messages in this feedback section and the limitations were lifted. So I went back to the topic that had blocked my 3 messages. They were still blocked. I re-posted the same content. At the end I posted the same content 4 times. When the earlier 3 suddenly appeared it was confusing and messy to other people who are trying to find information.
If I compare my experience as a new member on this website to other sites, probably this hasn't been the best user experience I had. Problems with settings and website functions can happen in any website. I think what makes the difference is how people respond to problems. So I hope the site administrators here will care to improve the experience for new members.