Why do 25 messages need to be posted before a member can view his or her UCP?

[Squirrels]

Hi,

I would be interested to know why each of the 14,000 or so members of Wild About Britain must post 25 messages in the forums before they're able to access their User Control Panels? I'm sure it's for a good reason but I've been unable to find out anything about this so far - I think it should be mentioned prominently as it's one of the main features distinguishing WAB from the other forums I've registered on. On the others I've been able to access my UCP as soon as I've registered, but on WAB I'm being inundated with E-mail Notifications of Replies - I'm sure I'm not the only one who wishes I could immediately untick the box for receiving e-mail notifications!

[The Black Rabbit]

Quick...
4 more posts and you'll be able to do that!
I wasted no time at all stopping those emails also squirrels, but I know some people really appreciate them.
Doug

[Naz]

It isn't hard to reach 25 posts, but it would be nice to know the reasoning behind it.

[StuartDH]

There's some info on the info page > forum membership management - click on the info icon at the top of the screen

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...hip_management

[Surrey Sam]

Hello, I'm sorry to post this as my first post but I felt compounded to portray my first experience.

I have to agree with the original poster on this issue. Having embarked on upon the registration rigmarole which to be fair when compared with other forums I frequent it was relatively painless which is great, but I was then greeted with the below text:

Originally Posted by Wildaboutbritain.co.uk - Welcome Message

Thank you, Surrey Sam. Your registration is now complete.

You may now proceed to edit your Profile in order to fill in additional personal details about yourself, or you could modify your Options to customize your browsing experience of this site. If you would rather do these things later, you can do so by following the links around the site to your User Control Panel.

Alternatively, you can simply go back to the Forums and start posting in threads.

The blue parts are clickable links which if you follow the Profile and Options links, give you the message wherein detailing about having to the post on the forum 25 times before the privilege is gained. To some, it could be conceived as quite perturbing thus leaving a new user confused, having a negative experience from the beginning of their possible WAB participation. This may be compounded even further by the users who are not particularly "au fait" with the Internet - for example:

When I first found a forum that took my interest some 9 years ago, I didn't even join for the first year. Instead I read and followed the contributors posts quite content in learning and familiarising myself with this new phenomenon where faceless experiences could be shared in an almost real time environment. After that initial period I decided to then join the forum and it still took me nearly a second year to reach 30 posts.

Since that time I've obviously 'come out of my shell' so to speak, as I'm not as shy compared to what I once was which some certainly may depict from this initial post. The management in my humble opinion should carefully consider altering the first welcome message as it is not positive or comforting, which is what this should be trying to achieve.

[eeyore]

I kind of see what you are saying sam , but the 10,000 plus membership does kind of indicate that its not a major issue.

When I first posted here i had never been on a forum before but I found that the membership , mods, and admin were really freindly and helpful and i certainly wasnt put off by the initial message

BTW welcome to wab and i hope you stick arround to find out what a freindly place wab is really - if you need any help finding your feet here feel free to drop me (or for that matter any other established member, mod, ed, or admin) a pm.

[big bill]

I agre with eeyore its not long in attaining the 25 posts it soon flys in the main point is to enjoy a terrific site and particapate in the forums and pic galleries and your ratings soon go up enjoy

[astraman]

i never even knew about it dont even know how many posts i have