[Touch Pro, Fuze ROM Development] dharvey4651:
The poll...

Here's my 2 cents on everything.

Question and Answer before being allowed to post

If the users have to read the whole Question and Answer section before being allowed to post, all they're going to do is click 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc... until they reach the end of the thread/forum and then once it's been marked as read, they're just going to go ahead and post the same stupid questions regardless without having read anything. I won't lie, I'm probably guilty of this myself.

A membership fee

I think this could be an idea that could work but then if you are forced to pay a membership fee, the end user would feel like they now have the right to post whatever, where ever, since they paid to do it.

A time period before the user can post

This is a good idea but what happens when you create a time period before being able to post? Users will either go elsewhere to get what they want(believe me, it's all over the net, you just need to look) or they will register, leave the window open and wait it out.

A peer rating system

This could be problematic. We have a flaming problem as it is. Creating a peer rating system would only create problems with more flaming. People would post a message, someone else wouldn't like their reply, that someone else would give that user a bad rating and then that user that got the bad rating would then post another stupid post taking the thread off topic by asking why they got a bad rating... It would only lead to fights and would only cause members to be driven off even faster...

Chefs to have complete control of their thread

This is a good idea. I actually voted for this one and I have mixed feelings about it. Giving chefs full control over their threads would allow the chef to keep their thread on topic and make sure that people are being generally helpful. At the same time, some people would take this too far. Giving the chefs complete control over their threads could lead to chefs deleting posts that are either off-topic or have been answered numerous times already(I know... That's the idea) but this would cause the poster to only post it again either thinking that the post was missed and their question wasn't answered. That or the person who made that post will get mad and post that they are and eventually, be driven off out of frustration and anger.

Email to include conduct policy when joining the site

This is a good idea but who actually reads these? I know that I too have gotten emails of the like when joining sites before but only clicked the activation link and never read the email. I would estimate that 80% or more would not read it and then go and post the same stupid things over and over again just like they do now. Problem is, since they received a conduct email(which they never read to begin with) disciplinary actions for those users posting that crap would be more severe. Warnings on first offenses and a quick BAN for not following the rules they didn't even know existed. Not an excuse I know, but inevitably would cause noobs to be driven off and decrease the amount of potential contributors.

A cookie that validates they have ready certain pages

This is a bad idea. A lot of people have their browsers set to delete cookies periodically or every time they visit a new page or even every time they exit the browser. This would also make it very hard for people who are posting from their mobiles as I know a lot of people use Clear Temp and clean their devices quite frequently. Also, what happens when you join the site today, become an established member and contributor and then log in on another PC? You lose that cookie and now you have to go back and re-read those threads again before you can make a quick reply to someone asking a question. This is even harder from a mobile since they're not necessarily as fast as a PC. This could also be a problem if you upgrade your browser or switch to another browser.

A point system flagged by other users

What happens if a noob gets a bad flag from another user? They are gonna start an argument right there in the thread they were already asking a stupid question in. This would be an obvious problem. Creating a system like this would only lead to noob users getting flamed, humilitated, and eventually drive them off. Those noobs could have been contributors in the future too... Too bad...

A dedicated forum for users to ask 'silly questions'

I thought we already had this... Isn't a 'Questions and Answers' forum exactly this? Creating a new forum for this would be pointless because most users would just post their question wherever they want anyway... We have the Questions and Answers forum now and we already have this problem...

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Here is my idea:

A noob is about to make a post that has been posted/asked/answered hundreds of times already in more than just one thread or forum. It happens. We all know it does, we're all guilty of doing it at one point or another. That user types their message and when they hit 'Submit Reply' they get a new screen. The new screen contains a form to complete and a timer.

The user would have to check one of the options when submitting their message. The timer would be like a RapidShare or MegaUpload "Wait so many seconds before posting" type deal. The user would have to fill out the form and while waiting for the timer to expire. The option they select would be visible in the same area that displays 'last time edited'. Depending on their answer, a moderator could opt to delete the post or warn the user for not following the rules.

This is just my idea...

Dan.