Zappa.com

I've been noticing difficulties some people are having joining this forum. I just registered. I followed the instructions. I got my activating email. After clicking on the activating link I noticed that I couldn't post anywhere. The activation message failed to mention that I had to post once in the Activation thread, but at the top of each forum is a New member? Read this! announcement which tells you just that. After starting a new thread in Activation, posting buttons appeared at the bottom of threads. So that's the final step. Wander about and make ten posts and see what happens next.

Okay, I just posted a note in the "what are you listening to? • 2010 • 2011 • 2012" thread and was informed that my post would not be publicly viewable and had to be checked first. Hmm.. that's not happening with all my posts here, so, does it depend on which forum I try to post in?

Okay, I tried again in the "Randomonium" forum. I tried to post a reply in the "Unlcle Meat bird on the inside gatefold" thread and got the following message.



So, is it just 10 posts that newbies have to write, or is it 10 approved posts, or what?

Probably just the first ten posts. And it probably takes a while for the moderator to chew through all the spatbot first posts to get to the humanoids.

Patience Grasshopper.

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When the going gets weird the weird turn pro - HST

Miasma!

... sproing ... sproing ...

(imagine an impatient grasshopper leaping about)

Okay, as soon as I passed 10 posts the forum changed and all sorts of links appeared at the top of the page. There's a search link and member names are now shown as links where I can click to see their profiles. I'm still not allowed to post in any of the main forums so I guess I'll still have to wait for the moderators to check my attempts to post in those.

I'm also new. Or, more correctly, I had such a hard time getting my old account up and running, I got a new s/n and started all over again. I've been writing some magnificent posts, but I don't know if they'll ever be approved so that my fellow Zappa fans can also enjoy them.

I should write a few crappy posts just to get over the ten post count, so I can be a made Zappa-man.

-jim

Gee, that one went right in. I'm somebody now, I'm really somebody! The new phone book's here!

-jim

I've already tried to explain the unnecessarily convoluted process of joining up to this place and the above just emphasises this.

Hey, justanotherfanfromLI, new member posts will always show up straight away in this, the "Zappa Forum Announcements" thread and also the "Frequently Asked Questions" thread. It's posts to the main forums that get checked before they appear. At some point, if you have posted 10 posts to either of the two threads mentioned above and have tried a couple to the main ones so that they can be checked by the admin, it shouldn't be too long before you can post anywhere and see it straight away. And after a few days you should get a post from the admin to say that your missing posts have been accepted.

Maybe the admin believe that explaining the process too well will make it easier for spammers, but that's ridiculous. We don't want to put genuine new members off and like Bonny says, only a regularly attending admin will be able to get on top of the truly dedicated spammers.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

Yeah I can understand why the policy is implemented, but posts shouldn't take so long to approve. I seen that one guy waited like 3 weeks for a post to show up.

I'm not a very active user, 'cause I only want to write really important things or ask questions to other forummembers, but until now I can't do it! All my posts have to be checked or something, and until then the discussion is over. I'm waiting for a week or so and no one is interested in it anymore!
Slowly all my hopes of being a part of interesting discussions fade away.
Please stop treating new members like idiots!

That would be the opposite of what's happening here. If they were treating new members like idiots it would be easy. They're actually treating new members like mutant mind readers.

Can you see a PM button below my post? Just reply here to let me know if you can't, but if you can click it and send me a hello post. I'll reply with some tips to help get past this bullshit.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.

Thanks for trying to help, but I can see only a "profile"-button on the left and the "quote"-button on the right.

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You have just destroyed one model XQJ-37 Nuclear Powered Pan-Sexual Roto-Plooker
And you're gonna have to pay for it!

Yeah, this is a bit absurd.

I have heard of micro management but this is ridiculous.

Without exception, this is the only forum I have even seen that requires you to wait this long as your (soon to be irrelevant) posts trickle on to the board.

Yea ive been waiting so long to get my posts approved.

Yaa, I'm new as well with just a few or more at least... attempted posts.

My second post was a thread started asking if there are any musician forum members. I waited almost a week before my post was finally "approved".
Unfortunately I guess as a "newby" everybody just lurked around and read my thread, but nobody replied.
So I guess therefore surprisingly I am the ONLY musician forum member.

I find it frustrating that despite proving you are not a spammer by initially posting in the activation thread, once registered you still apparently for whatever reason have to have your posts "approved" before they appear for a "magic" number of 10 times?

This excessively restrictive policy along with the typical impersonal and inclusive nature perhaps of all web forums makes me already have doubts as to whether I may even continue to attempt to participate here much in the future. Life's to short to wait almost a week to communicate with people, it's the 21st century.

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Umm...neat picture?

I'd post one in response, but I'm probably not allowed to yet.

Although I am not a musician there are many, many who have been or still are, I believe that ZPZ band members lurk here also...we have a group of very smart and skilled individuals from every walk of life, some scholars, some proffessionals, and others who have developed their own nitch in the world. Hang in and hang around, you may enjoy it.

Want a board where they treat the new guys like crap, check out the primusville board (or Bull Board as we called it back in the day). Not talking smack, but those were the good ol days before Trolling was an internet term lol

Glad to post a reply that has nothing to say so I can get "initiated". I hate spam too so I guess precautions can be a good thing.

Well said 2Tuff, it may be totally ridiculous, but it's not that difficult if you really want to post here.

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The way I see it Barry, this should be a very dynamite show.