New Registrant Welcome Letter Needs a Link to the 3 Steps Post
 

Great site.

Just a thought: I think it would reduce the confusion and frustration felt by some new members if, in the welcome letter sent to new registrants, a link was provided to the "How to Enter the Forum in 3 Easy Steps" post, pointing out that the final step, the introduction, has to be moderated before a new member can start posting in the main site. Also, an explanation of why that is done would help as well.

Looking forward to becoming a useful addition to the community!

Welcome. All this information is in fact located in the stickies, which you should have read :)

Admittedly, it's been years, but when you first sign up and get your free posts it should clearly state what it takes to gain access to the rest of the site.

No, I agree, it's all there in the stickies... and over there in FAQs... and over in there in the rules. I read them all and it took a while; but anything worth it takes a while.

It would just be kind to new members to give them a definitive "Start Here" link to make the process less daunting.

Misterstyx will probably see this and chime in, he's the suggestion box. Watch out though, he's a Canadian.

Someone call me?..BOING!..I am here!

..since we assume that you are over the age of consent and can read we post threads all about the rules,the Forum and its Policies in plain view.
It's a Self help Forum and since it has no Vocal ability to tell you how to navigate the Site all material is readable by the new viewer so they are able to expand their knowledge of the Forum while learning about the Rotary side of life.

We only ask that you put a name and location in your Intro.
If you go up to someone and shake their hand and leave they would go "..WTF!..who was that??..".....SEE?..Not saying your name says NOTHING .and if you Say nothing IN your INTRO then it is NOT an INTRO so it gets WIPED.

So..moral of the Story..
Stand up For Literacy!..Read the Stickies.
Stand up For Yourself!...put your name in your INTRO!

Wow, interesting response. I was just trying to make a small suggestion to help new members.

I withdraw my original comment, and in future, I guess I'll keep my suggestions to myself.

Thanks.

I just type words in caps for emphasis...(you'll see that a lot if you frequent the Forum!..I just plain out type funny.)

Just as the Rotary is a unique engine,the rules on here are a bit different. But they work well and honestly since they have been revised the Site has been pretty comfortable for it's members,both new and old.
Since it's membership holds over 100 thousand it relies on the policies so it can have some stability..and since the newly registered need to know that any actions that are not within the confines of the Rules can upset the "ebb and flow" of others here, the rules need to be laid down.

Protecting it's members but yet trying to have new members follow policy is a 24/7 job.
Adding more hurdles to the entry process is not what the Forum wants to instill on it's new registrants.But at least overseeing that someone can observe the rules and are able to grasp the rules is a way of finding out who will play nice with others.

I do agree though that it would be easier having a "click this to agree" would be a nice suggestion in an Email registration,but at this point there is just so much that staff can handle without making a mountain out of a mole hill.
It may be easier but it may take away the human observation of new entries and eventually that would be like letting a fox into a hen house.
Some things are best left to a human touch and not a computer.

Now,if you will excuse me I have to change the batteries in my pace-makerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I'm OK......!!!

I warned you, this guy is Canadian...he talks funny, types funny, acts funny, and more than likely looks funny! These Canucks mean you no malice :).

Please, continue to make suggestions, be involved, learn, share, etc. You already are making more contribution than the new members who come on here just to make 10 posts to buy/sell and never come back. THAT's why the system is the way it is, to deter those kinds of people.

-Sigh-

I wasn't saying that the site site should be redesigned or that the post-before-you-join-the-main-site should be tossed out (I get why it's done this way and I agree with it) and I never suggested a click-to-agree method for full access.

What I suggested was that in the first communication from the forum a link be added that directs the new user to the page that outlines the process so he knows where to start. And maybe a sentence or two as to why it's done this way, again in the spirit of informing the new member of the culture of the forum.

I interact with Canadians all the time and, yes, we are a funny bunch. Some funnier than others.

I got a contact at IB..(shh...don't tell anyone!)..
When things were "really,really" clusterfarked the operation of the site was like navigating a mine field.

Your point is well taken and I've had to tell new members to READ the rules,Constantly when they post so although the rules have been revamped they still have some glitches.
I will look into having an addition to the agreement and see about a Rules link...IF it is at all possible it will get done.
Thanks.

.....2 Canadians walk into an alphabet bar..What's goin on Eh?.....NO I am D...A is over there.

Thanks, that's more like the response I was expecting the first time around from a fellow Canadian: friendly, considerate, with a little bit of self-deprecating humour (yes, with a 'u') thrown in. Perfect.

**ba dum tiss** :facepalm:

My welcome letter came in 2009 and I've been away for awhile. Now I see the stickies, but the links to the old welcome threads go to dead ends and I can't find any thread on "How to Enter the Forum in 3 Easy Steps".

I see the announcement in big orange letters that has a bunch of "do not..." and only allows three welcome posts per day.
RX7Club.com - Announcements in Forum : Introduce yourself

I see the sticky that says to NOT ADVERTISE in the intro threads, and has a reference to the "...Three Steps" thread.
https://www.rx7club.com/introduce-yo...ction-1087355/

And I see the sticky that says to not post more than three welcome replies per day.
https://www.rx7club.com/introduce-yo...ction-1079355/

Is there a "...Three Steps" thread that I missed by not getting the most recent welcome letter?

Well, there used to be an announcement at the top of the New Member Section/How to use this Site sub-forum with the title "READ THIS! HOW TO ENTER THE FORUM IN 3 EASY STEPS!..read this!!" in bold red lettering, but it is now gone. It seems to have disappeared sometime after March 2016, but you can see it at the Internet Archive here.

But I don't think those archived instructions are still valid; none of the referenced threads to gain post count are in the forum anymore. Buried in the Basic Guidelines for this Forum announcement are the rules that you need 10 posts to place or reply to a classified ad, and 50 to enter the lounge.

Now that that old announcement is gone, all that is left are a whole bunch of stickies telling you what you can't do. (And, in my head, I hear the song, "Signs, Signs, everywhere a sign, blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this! Don't do that! Can't you read the sign?")

We recently revamped all the rules and Cut the Crap to give you easy access by not having to Jump through hoops.
Just Read the TOP Of the Intro Section on basic rules and go and have fun.
BUT Ya..the Classifieds are a BONUS to Members only we ask that you at least "try" to become familiar with the club and get TEN POSTS To place or reply to ads.

* I took off my hat and said "imagine that ..HEY what gives you the right?''....(I'm a MOD..heh..I got pull...!)

Yeah, not concerned with the classifieds. Just want to ask questions outside the kiddie pool. And all the references to the non-existent threads were confusing. I thought there might be a specific intro thread you had to post in (other than the intro forum), or a rules thread you had to post "read and accepted" or something.

I did look through each of the New-Member forums and sorted them by number of replies to see if there were in-fact some sort of omnibus reply thread. No dice. I found a couple of locked threads that were built just to pad post counts. But nothing that looked like anything that was still active.