I see what you're talking about. I don't think there's a lot we can do to force members to post an intro thread. We can try to suggest it when answering their first post, but I think the larger problem right now is that some do post an intro thread and aren't welcomed, or are only welcomed by one or two people.
Its obvious that a large majority of these new members simply dont read through the "New Member" suggestions and I understand why. Most people, primarily the young ones, nowadays are flat out lazy and at first glance it just looks like a lot of seemingly unimportant chatter. I believe it would help to greatly enlarge and boldly color the important title sections, such as "
New Thread Rules"or "
Read this Before Posting". I strongly believe it'll encourage at least a few more new members to at least read the most important suggestions. I'll gladly help with that given I have experience with such things.
Ill gladly add these ideas to the suggestions section, but its relevant to the topic and I'd like to see what others think about it. I also suggest a warning and new rule for new members along the lines of the following; all new threads that do not abide by forum rules will be deleted entirely regardless of the amount of replies received. Perhaps the threat, in bold large lettering, that they will get absolutely no answer will prompt them to be a little more diligent with their threads.
It's not like our forums are exactly cluttered right now. If they were, I'd be hugely concerned with unnecessary threads. As of right now, all they're doing is generating additional discussion...
The forum may not be exactly cluttered, but there is no denying that that has been a large increase is poorly written, indirect, repetitive, improperly titled and nonsensical threads. Many of us dont exactly feel encouraged to share our time and knowledge with someone who cant respectfully take the time to write a clear thought. Im sure some of you already know me for being the guy to always remark on that. Requiring numerous replies to figure out what the opening post meant, and should've explained, is a large waste of time for everyone. I would hope that having quality discussions would, at least some times, outweigh quantity of discussions. My suggestions above should help reduce the garbage long-winded threads that sometimes lead to unneeded arguments.
