I have been on some forums where your first post had to be in "X" sub-forum before you could post to the main forums.
Currently on this site it is accepted practice that new signups should introduce themselves first. I think this is a good idea and many do, but many don't for one reason or another. Perhaps they didn't see the Introduction forum or didn't realize it would be rude to just start off with a question. When this happens they are often very rudely welcomed by some of the regulars and I don't see how this is a good thing for the forum. We were all new at one point and I know if I had been verbally attacked after my first post that I probably wouldn't have come back.
I agree that all the new people asking questions that have already been answered is a little aggravating, but telling them off after their first post is definately not the way to handle the situation. This forum is great because many people are open to sharing ideas, and if we scare people off they will never have the opportunity to contribute to the community in the future, even if they may not have much to add at the present time.
Perhaps it should be mandatory for the first post to be in the Introductions forum (if that is an option with the current software) or another option is that their first post must reply to an all encompassing "Read this first FAQ" sticky post that answers some of the really frequently asked questions, and tells people about the introductions forum, how to use the search feature, how to ID metals, link to the Escrap FAQ, etc etc. I think it could help the site a lot by being more welcoming to new users and less tedious for some of the regular posters who are obviously getting frustrated by all the new inexperienced users.
Your thoughts?
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