Automatic Member Intro Thread

Who wants to see an automated "Welcome new user" thread

  • Yes

    Votes: 26 60.5%

  • No

    Votes: 17 39.5%
  • Total voters
    43
  • Poll closed .
Nemos Janitor

Nemos Janitor

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I have seen many new members register and not know where to introduce themselves. Often in the middle of a thread, out of the blue and hoping for some form of recognition. Most are ignored.

Two examples today were KoiKoi and JAX.

Now if a thread was automatically opened for them on registration where they introduced themselves and we gave our normal warm welcome i am sure they will feel a lot more at home.

What i am saying is before a new member can post in a thread he must give a high 5 to all and get his own personal thread.
 
And i am going to add our newest member liman. No welcome. Come on MASA mods and WHERE HAVE ALL THE REGULARS GONE

Consider your ears ringing.
 
Errrm...NJ... It's 03:00 AM :p
 
Excellent idea NJ! I am not an IT fundie but I don't see this as a huge problem to do. I notice with our post maniac thread it IS automated so all this software needs is a little mod and voila you got an
Automatic Member Intro Thread
 
I remember not too long ago someone got rapped on the knuckles for introducing a new member and opening a thread for someone else but I think if we have this then we can "see" the new members and help them along - besides with the hobby alot of the newbies need help with the site and I think that's what makes them shy away from posting (I'm speaking from personal experience) So maybe take this to a poll and let see what the others have to say - but from my side this got my :thumbup:
 
I took weeks to post - first I wanted to see what the forum was like and whether I really wanted to join, then I read and read and read before posting - I personally think we should let people post when they like, there is nothing wrong with asking a member to introduce him/her self if they post in a thread as mentioned above.

My 2c Souf Effriken rand, worth boggerall in the real word.
 
mnd123 said:
I took weeks to post - first I wanted to see what the forum was like and whether I really wanted to join, then I read and read and read before posting - I personally think we should let people post when they like, there is nothing wrong with asking a member to introduce him/her self if they post in a thread as mentioned above.

My 2c Souf Effriken rand, worth boggerall in the real word.
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and your 2c doesnt even maak en souf effriken raaaaand:) although i quite agree with what you are saying.

Nj i think you have a very valid point and i do think that we could look at a way to improve the visability of new memebers. MASA has gone so far as to set three guys aside and asked us to try welcome and introduce new memebers with a longish meaningful post or two, tobes jacques and i get to those memebers fairly well i think.

Chicoboo i was the one who shouted about opening a thread about a member who has just joined as frankly saying hello to someone who joins but does not post is rather pointless. Its the new memebers who join and tentativley say hello from across the room that we need to make feel that they are welcome and included. And very often its these guys who are full of LFS info that need our help the most. Also people join here with totally different levels of experience and for totally different reasons. I joined in order primarily to buy second hand equipment, i stayed because of the quailty forum that it is.

Personally i think a compromise between what NJ is suggesting and keeping new members visable. I would suggest that perhaps after the fith post a memeber gets an automated welcome with a visable thread to the greater masa masses, although i have a feeling that newbies (as oppsoed to noobs) are greeted and made to feel welcome way before they post five times.

Basically i feel its those the join and post and interact with MASA that need a greeting and welcome not those that join (esp at 3am:p)
 
Good morning, Nemo's Janitor..... sorry man - but me have been very busy ;)

Not a bad idea. We will perhaps have to vote on it....

I will create a new vote for this now, and see what the biggest portion of the crowd says.
 
This seems like another thread about nothing.

How did all the 1500 previous members introduce themselves ?

Going be great having the forum clogged with automated messages of members joining, birthday notices, post counts etc. :(:(
 
I just think (well... a couple of people have mentioned this to me some time ago) that sometimes, newbies do not know how a forum works, they would love to post, but do not know where to "start" reading. An automated message when the newbie joins a forum, to the newbie, directing him to the new member introduction section, might be worth it.

Or....., if he registers as a new member, he is sort of "forced" to post his introduction (with a guided message/page) before his registration is complete, meaning, a page that'll open, a thread title he has to fill in, and his introduction in not less than 1000 words....:lol::thumbup:
 
Although it sounds good, many people sign up and are then just content to sit and read, i dont think forcing somebody to post will make them more relaxed. Remember guys posting on a forum is like standing up doing a public speech to a hall full of people who are friends and your the only stranger........very daunting in the beginning.
 
Good point Allan. What i am trying to get across and dont want to ruffle any feathers on this one is once a new member registers he is advised to post his/her details experiences. We should never force anything as this tends to drive people away. But a "introduce yourself now" or "remind me later" type thing maybe.
 
How about having a box u can tick saying "would you like to introduce yourself" for example YES or NO. That way if they choose YES it opens a new thread where they can introduce themselves and if they are not comfortable to do so as yet and would rather just browse the forum they can just tick the NO box. This way you are helping those that would like to introduce themselves but dont know how, while also not forcing anything on those that dont.
 
yeah, an option to do so might be better. possibly with a whole bunch of links saying this is how to do this etc? just to give them everything they need on the first go to make their experience here less of a technical nightmare for those who arent so computer minded
 
scubaninja said:
yeah, an option to do so might be better. possibly with a whole bunch of links saying this is how to do this etc? just to give them everything they need on the first go to make their experience here less of a technical nightmare for those who arent so computer minded
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My thoughts exactly! If after this the new member doesnt wasn't be active on the forum - too bad - but if they respond and ask for assistance then we can try to the best of our ability - whether it is tank related or forum related or just general assistance in life! Very true there's a big difference between a new member and a noobie to the hobby but like in real life being introduced to a diverse lot of people sometimes needs a helping hand (if they willing and ask for it) I'm with Scuba's idea and also gets a :thumbup: - Ok what happened to our poll for these idea's?;)
 
Some good comments. We could probably have an automated thread creator installed, I am sure there is one available, although I'm not too sure if this would be the best way to go, need to give it some thought and hear some more opinions on this.

What we currently have is a welcome email and PM that gets sent to a member when they register. Perhaps we could add something into the PM? This is what it currently says...

Thanks for registering at $vboptions[bbtitle]! We are glad you have chosen to be a part of our community and we hope you enjoy your stay.

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your tank or 'tank to be' by starting a new thread in the New Members forum.

Also have a look at our help forum which will show you how to work your way around the forum.

Any questions? Send a PM to any of our moderators, they are here to help you.

All the best,
$vboptions[bbtitle]
Click to expand...
 
Kunhardt said:
How about having a box u can tick saying "would you like to introduce yourself" for example YES or NO. That way if they choose YES it opens a new thread where they can introduce themselves and if they are not comfortable to do so as yet and would rather just browse the forum they can just tick the NO box. This way you are helping those that would like to introduce themselves but dont know how, while also not forcing anything on those that dont.
Click to expand...

THIS, I like :thumbup:

Hennie
 
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