Make sure people read forum guidelines?

Community Website and Forum
1

Hello all,

I have realized that very few people have read forum guidelines. I had an idea... what if when a new user posts, there is a popup with the guidelines, and at the bottom, it asks the user for a random 'code' in the guidelines.
Maybe also have a timer to make sure they don't just scan for a random-looking bunch of characters quickly.

This won't ensure they read it, but it could make more people read the guidelines.

Maybe this could help. @anon44338819

2

I think people would just see that as a useless obstacle and "game" it. Then post without actually reading anything.

2 Likes
3

Putting annoying obstacles in the way is a pretty good method to get people to just not join the forum.

2 Likes
4

To cut to the quick, this was discussed here:

And that wasn't the first time.
C

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Sisyphus GIF - Animals Cats Kittens GIFs

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Now that I think about it, this is probably not the best approach.

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How about read and answer a simple quiz. 80% right answers gets you in.

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Still, a way to stop people from joining the forum.

9

Nah, make it a lottery. Every 100th player wins a prize. :slight_smile: Some compensation for a small pain. Or, set up a dunk tank and all the mean helpers take turns sitting over it. If you win, a meany gets dunked.

1 Like
10

Or to solve the code tag problem, whenever you reply, have the system guess if there is any code outside code tags and show a warning.

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IIRC it already does that in the "new" forum. Could be wrong, I skimmed that thread.

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New forum?

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Yeah, the forum software changed about a year ago.

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Am I somehow on old software?

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No, we're all using the same software.

1 Like
16

... and there is something wrong with that? (just kidding)

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I’ve seen on another (non technical) forum a pop up with check boxes asking for positive confirmation (for the first 5 posts)

  • â–˘ my post meets the best practices described here (link to doc) and contains all the relevant information.
  • â–˘ my post uses code tags for code sections
  • â–˘ I posted text using relevant tags and did not include useless screen grabs of the IDE code or serial monitor
  • â–˘ I understand that failing to do so will likely result in not getting help at all.

Oops - edit againAll looks good. Post

It seems to work well enough to motivate newcomers to double check. Once in a while you get offenders who just tick the boxes without caring and then it’s pretty easy to moderate them out (close their post with “post not matching the guidelines. Click here to contact a moderator” comment).

Side note: in order to see this popup you should already have registered so it’s not a deterrent for registration and as you only see this when you have put in the hard work to write your request, you are more likely to want to proceed than if there is some sort of mandatory training before posting your first question.

1 Like
18

Nope, it'd be way to stop lazy and/or disrespectful of the rules from joining the forum, stopping them to reduce unnecessary noise and let moderators avoid repeating always the same recommendations.
I don't see that as a negative thing...

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Well, most people start off lazy.

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and only put more energy in when lazy isn't fruitful. Sure. Only grease the squeaky wheel. So by allowing lazy, the forum encourages it; but by allowing lazy, it gets more 'action' on the forum. If the measure of success is the raw "post count", that's a good way forward. OTOH, if you measure the number of helpers who fade away in frustration, and measure success by an increase or decline in that count, I suspect you'll get a different forum. My suspicion is, the "successo-meter" isn't simply either.
YMMV