More info should be required for membership

Chocobo_Blitzer said:
I've been member to many forums, and anonymity was always considered as some kind of right of the users. It's never really dawned on me to force a profile. I suppose it is a good idea, at least on this particular board.
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Anonymity is not the question here, besides none of the information requested would compromise your identity or financial integrity. I for one would like to know if the person I am replying to in a post is a 14 year old wanna be or is he a bona fide expert in the topic under discussion.
 
What about this. Keep the same info requirements now, but have the mods create a 'test' to which those who claim military service would have to take. Make the test comprised of questions to which generally only military members would know. This would, in theory, reduce the number of users who lie about military experience (Kina).

Something else you could do is increase the level of information required to begin, but make that availible only to the mods. You could then set up a crossreferencing sytem and double check the info. I.E. cross reference zip codes with state and possibly (but unlikley) phone number.

I do agree that flamers and spammers and liars will never be eliminated entirely though.
 
OK, I'm very new to these forums, but I've posted in several other forums (a local one, a gaming one, and several professional ones) for years. I'm guessing you folks have been burned badly recently by folks passing themselves off as something they aren't, although I'm not sure how that could become that much of an issue. We've had no-it-alls who don't in other posts, and they were fairly soundly shut down by true experts who simply exposed them for what they are.

It seems obvious that many of you all know each other well, at least through these forums, and you're active enough to know newbs like me from regulars. A newb that starts sounding fishy can be checked out with some direct questions and chucked out if they fail.

If you only want military folks posting here, just say that. If the problem is simply folks spouting off about things they don't know about, well, that form of expression certainly isn't limited to non-military folks. My experience in the US Army, Kansas National Guard, and civilian life have led me to believe that a wide range of thoughts and ideas makes for a much better discussion.
 
We don't have any problem with non-military folks. We welcome them and many of our most senior members here have never spent a day in uniform.

What we object to is people showing up with a blank slate for info about them. Are you from the US? Great Britain, Ethiopia or Jordan, etc.? Are you male or female? How old are you? What do you have experience in? These are just simple basic questions that give us a frame of reference in knowing how to take what someone has said or how they might feel. I don't think that's too much to ask and judging from the responses here, I'm not alone in that sentiment.
 
I think anything is fair on a forum if the forum administrators agree to it. I've had my own website at www.mwashley.com for several years if anyone wants to know anything about me. Also, I'd be happy to answer any questions folks might have, but, of course, that's just me. I can see why some folks would rather keep their personal information personal unless you have some way of guaranteeing that someone who gets upset at what is posted here won't try and push things outside these forums. That's usually the fear most people have about sharing information these days.
 
We will keep an extra eye on the profiles from now on.
Country will be a minimum, and age is also preferred...

I don't want to force members to post more private info in their profiles right now.
 
As always, Redleg, you're fair and considerate in your judgements. I'm quite satisfied with your decision. Thanks!
 
Ref the changes of the forum rules/info:
http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3

I've now increased the privacy/security of your profile info a bit, so it's only visible to logged in users now.
I've also changed the registration page to reflect this, and encouraged new members to fill out as much info as possible there..


Hope this helps.. :)
 
RnderSafe said:
An introduction post is mandatory. PMs are sent to those with empty profiles to provide a bit more information about themselves - we try to get as much 'basic' information about new members as possible, esp those claiming military service.

Those that wish to hide and play games do get weeded out eventually.

I am not sure there is more we can do - members can help by using the report feature or PMing a moderator if you question another member.
Click to expand...

We seem to have a real slew of new posters on here right now who have not introduced themselves and have nothing up in their profiles as they run amok posting all about. Since the intro is mandatory do you, the mods, want us to use the ALERT feature to draw attention to this new breed?
 
I would ask - what information is mandatory? It's been a while and I forget whether there were any fields which were mandatory.

If you are seeking input, I would suggest at a minimum:

MANDATORY
Name/Nickname.
A 'PM' address. (Does not have to be public).
Age.
Country of origin.
If military or ex-military.... Service branch and service date(s) and whether it is active or ex-military (to be posted) . (This is after all a military forum).
If civilian - Job/job title (to be posted).
Sex (M/F).
Other information would be voluntary. (Understood would be available via profiles).

I realize I am not a moderator but the above seems reasonable.
 
New members must enter:
Username
valid e-mail
country
military status
age

The rest is optional.

Most of the profile fields were "lost" when we switched boards, so that could be the reason why many members have almost blank profiles now.
 
I was going off RenderSafe's post where he said an introduction was "mandatory"? Right, wrong, changed??
 
It's highly appreciated (and recommended) that new members posts an intro.
It's also stated in the welcoming e-mail.
 
what if you made it so that you had to post in the welcoming section before you could post anywhere else? possible?
 
There is no bomb proof method of ascertaining the credentails of any new posters, the more experienced posters, those serving and retired have a radar for for spotting the 'Walts'
'Walts' generally seem to want people to believe that they are SF, Airborne or Marines, never a cook or a postal courier, :-D they have also served in nearly every conflict since the dawn of man. A ' Walt' who posted on one of the Brit Mil sites had a great record of hot spots that he had been to, but his math wasn't too good. To carry out all his supposed active service assignments he would have had to enlist in the Para Regt when he was 13 years old. He was sorted!:-D
 
We've had a few "Walts" in here already as well, but I believe (hope) that most of them has been sorted out.

As you said, it's quite easy to spot them after a few posts.. :)
 
My favourite was the one I read about... F117 pilot and flying Blackhawks... female even... like 03 says, what a maroon. :)
 
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