Automated Message For Newbies?

[Raccoon]

Moo said:

Better to give a personal reply to two, than an impersonal reply to twenty.

Ultimately, someone who gets no responses may understand, given the busy nature of the forum. Or, they might get one later. Or, they might get a friendly welcome after their second post.
But someone who gets a copied-and-pasted message as their first response... well... personally, I'd prefer to get either a *totally* automatic message (one sent to all newbies, upon signup, automatically) or a welcome by a human being. This hybrid suggests that either the forum is not advanced enough to have a truly automated welcome message, or just doesn't care enough about its new users.

So, in the hypothetical, if newbies got an automated message, say via PM, what should it look like?

Something based on either of my two ideas, treasure hunt or ask-a-member?

Various site policies? - (a capsule summary) of "please, no bodily function intro threads, no drama, no L33t, no rudeness, no forbidden memes, look for low-postcount intro threads," and the like?

Links to stickies? The stickies themselves?

FAQ?

Recommendations on how to base trustworthiness? Or a simple, Darkfinnish "Trust No-one?"

Spoilering whichever of the above are included to make the APPEARANCE of the "handbook" not intimidating in its length?

Links to the wiki?

Or maybe the handbook in a newbie forum sticky? Or its own subforum, where individual policies had their own threads? So if guidance or reprimand were given to a newbie or any other member, the one doing the reprimanding or making the suggestion could simply link to the appropriate policy/rule in the handbook - and we would have everything a newbie should know in one place? (Yay newbie forum ) also see

Spoiler

I would just suggest having a more indepth introducation and FAQ about the forum all in one place or page, almost all the information/questions are already on the site, but as a newbie it can take a bit of digging before you are able to find it sometimes. (like some answers i found in announcements, some in administation, some in newbie questions, etc). Perhaps someone who has a few days to kill could centralize all those questions and answers on to one page if they really felt the need

 

[Goose]

Is there any way we can give a reward for someone sending a personal message to a newbie? I'm sure there's a mod out there somewhere for vBulletin that'll allow some kind of system like that.

 

[Pojo]

Is there any way we can give a reward for someone sending a personal message to a newbie? I'm sure there's a mod out there somewhere for vBulletin that'll allow some kind of system like that.

Why should you be rewarded for something as simple as greeting someone? If the only reason why you aren't greeting someone is because there is no incentive, then that's kind of selfish

 

[Mesmerale]

Why should you be rewarded for something as simple as greeting someone? If the only reason why you aren't greeting someone is because there is no incentive, then that's kind of selfish

Pojo, did you know that slavery is wrong?

Oh, you did?

Well, did you know that it happened?

Yeah, go figure, even though it was immoral/selfish/cruel, it still happened.

Get my point?

 

[Pojo]

Pojo, did you know that slavery is wrong?

Oh, you did?

Well, did you know that it happened?

Yeah, go figure, even though it was immoral/selfish/cruel, it still happened.

Get my point?

Oh right, I forgot that this and slavery are so comparable.

 

[Trevor]

Is there any way we can give a reward for someone sending a personal message to a newbie? I'm sure there's a mod out there somewhere for vBulletin that'll allow some kind of system like that.

That'd be positive rep, and I recall people saying that they do receive rep on occasion for responses in Greetings.

As to the original point, I don't see any problem with it. I can't say that I really believe that this forum and the culture are so complicated that it should require a primer, but it doesn't bother me if we send one. I don't look forward to the discussion of just what should go in the theorized message, though.

 

[Mesmerale]

Oh right, I forgot that this and slavery are so comparable.

*sigh* Work with me here, cow. :tongue:

I've been writing some damn English Outline all day. Slavery is all I've got on my mind...

Um...

Fuck the examples. Basically: Just because it isn't the right thing, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

So, just because we shouldn't have to reward people for doing something as nice as greeting a newbie, and just because people shouldn't be avoiding it simply because it has no immediate benefit, doesn't mean that they don't. And the simple fact that they do is the problem that must be solved, not the argument as to whether they should be doing it or not.

That'd be positive rep, and I recall people saying that they do receive rep on occasion for responses in Greetings.

As to the original point, I don't see any problem with it. I can't say that I really believe that this forum and the culture are so complicated that it should require a primer, but it doesn't bother me if we send one. I don't look forward to the discussion of just what should go in the theorized message, though.

I've gotten pos-rep from it! ^_^

Ooh, neither do I.. But it'll be fun...

Say, hypothetically, wouldn't we be able to ask the recently turned Regulars what they'd like to have been told when they joined?

 

[Goose]

That'd be positive rep, and I recall people saying that they do receive rep on occasion for responses in Greetings.

As to the original point, I don't see any problem with it. I can't say that I really believe that this forum and the culture are so complicated that it should require a primer, but it doesn't bother me if we send one. I don't look forward to the discussion of just what should go in the theorized message, though.

Okay, would it be hard to write/find [find would be easier, I'm sure, but I could probably write a mod for it] that would automagically add 1 rep point to someone's account when they sent a message to someone in the newbie category?

Or would that make rep points too easy to obtain?

 

[Mesmerale]

Okay, would it be hard to write/find [find would be easier, I'm sure, but I could probably write a mod for it] that would automagically add 1 rep point to someone's account when they sent a message to someone in the newbie category?

Or would that make rep points too easy to obtain?

Yeah... Auto-rep == a biiiigg no-no...

Too many reasons not to do it...

You've already mentioned the main one.

 

[Trevor]

Okay, would it be hard to write/find [find would be easier, I'm sure, but I could probably write a mod for it] that would automagically add 1 rep point to someone's account when they sent a message to someone in the newbie category?

Or would that make rep points too easy to obtain?

Stop the bus! Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. I meant that positive rep exists as the potential reward for making good greeting posts, same as it does for making other posts. I definitely didn't mean for people to get positive rep just for making a greeting post. That'd make them way too easy.

 

[Goose]

Stop the bus! Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. I meant that positive rep exists as the potential reward for making good greeting posts, same as it does for making other posts. I definitely didn't mean for people to get positive rep just for making a greeting post. That'd make them way too easy.

The problem is that most newbies don't always get the "rep" system. So there's not necessarily a "real" reward since the chances of getting rep from a good greeting are low.

But it would make them easier, I do agree... I figured that would make it way too easy to get rep.

Meh, just an idea.. Back to the drawing board.

 

[dogboy]

And then all you would have to do is respond to 10 introductions and you would become a VIP, all to quick and easy.

 

[Raccoon]

Hmmm So maybe the handbook could exist as a reference but not be foisted on all newbies? So those that did not catch on as easily as others, or who "got" most site policy could be referred just to the helpful hints they needed to see?

I agree that requiring reading a massive tome as a prerequisite is a bit much.. but then, so is talking some people through our particular rules and customs.

The problem being that after a bunch of replies attacking their grammar and then their spelling and then their facepalming and then their fapstories, new people think we are unfriendly, or simply have standards they can't match. And when they get ignored after a 5 or 10 post thread in intros, before they are promoted to regulars, their thread gets buried.. and they turn inactive.

Maybe some of the innocuous or really short intro posts are not down to the newbie being lazy or blank-minded, but are due to their being intimidated.
Yep, this is a poser... Well, you can just rock me to sleep tonight.

BTW, even if we allow that my experiment was valid (whether it should have been done at all is a different issue) my methodology was crude... I should have not posted it to already participating people; it shouldn't have gone to people who displayed obvious forum-participation skills, like Wizard-detective; I should have kept it to the people whose intro post is a one-liner or one word "hi", who needed to be led through the forum, or prodded into doing it themselves.

 

[Talula]

We should have a quiz!!

"Before we send you the activation link, please answer these short questions. If you recieve less than 50% or come accross as an obnoxious pratt than you will not recieve your link. If you wish to study for this test then please read our rules, which can be found here [linky]"

Hehe.

 

[Peachy]

Hmmm So maybe the handbook could exist as a reference [...]

The problem being that after a bunch of replies attacking their grammar and then their spelling and then their facepalming and then their fapstories, new people think we are unfriendly, or simply have standards they can't match. And when they get ignored after a 5 or 10 post thread in intros, before they are promoted to regulars, their thread gets buried.. and they turn inactive.

A "handbook"? Seriously...do you read the handbook/manual for any machine before you first operate it? Most people are too exited about their new purchase to bother - they rip open the package, plug it in and do the trial&error method. Why should we compile a massive "handbook" and bother slapping it into people'S face when it's against human nature to read it?
If you join a new group, it's your responsibility to familiarize yourself with their rules and standards - it's not the group's responsibility to teach you in all detail. And if people fail to familiarize themselves with the ADISC ways before posting their fap material/Deeker stories/lies and bullshit, I believe they deserve all the ridicule and unfriendliness coming their way. That's life!
Other than that, I still believe it's a good idea to make all the information we do have (or want to create) accessible from one page (in the Wiki), and I would gladly agree to create a(nother) sticky in the Greetings-forum linking the Wiki page for newbies. People who want to read up on the ADISC ways have a central place to go to, those who don't, can skip it and try the trial&error-method.

"Before we send you the activation link, please answer these short questions. If you recieve less than 50% or come accross as an obnoxious pratt than you will not recieve your link. If you wish to study for this test then please read our rules, which can be found here [linky]"

Let's say that the admins have had a similar idea. We dubbed it the "Mr. T-page" ("Go read the rules, fool!")

Peachy