I usually don't make suggestions because I have no idea how much work it would be on "The Management". However, a recent post that may have been spam got me thinking. Other forums don't allow new users to post links until they have a few posts, say five. If we could have that same rule here, it would prevent all of those posts from users who will only ever have 1 post with a link to a scam, phishing, or virus/malware site.

Excellent idea.

Agreed. Sounds like a good plan.

Hello folks,
I am a long time lurker on this great site, but when I saw the starter message on this post I was immediately aroused to indignation - How the **** could I, as a first time poster, ask for help?. Send five (or n) stupid, time wasting questions? Not very user-friendly, not in the general ethos of the Geek!!!

Then I read the reason for this "alarming" suggestion - perfectly reasonable, even highly desirable.

But how to implement it??? How about a "prove you're human" box, when at least a real email address could be subsequently blocked if necessary. No doubt 99.9% of readers of this site are genuine would-be geeks or at least value geeks for their knowledge, helpfulness, and tolerance of newbies like me. So, Mr. Geek please bear this in mind when you spend more of your valuable time and intellect contemplating this matter!

mgbinnewhaw, I think your point is well understood. But what do YOU suggest for the case at hand. Security arrangements are always a pain in the neck (see what we are subjected to at airports these days), but as long as they apply to everyone, it should be OK. What you do not want to do is profiling a certain subset of people. But as long as you know ahead of time what to expect, the proposed procedure should be acceptable. I would, however, be very interested in your proposal.

Issues with Dubya's original suggestion:

-most new topics, by new members in the 'Build Your Own PC' forum often contain multiple links to parts.
-most, if not all bot registrations have been eliminated since implementation of the 'prove your human' captcha at signup.
-we have previously been spammed by members after their first post.

We have members and mods that practically live on these pages and we average less than one spam per day. Any spam or other nonsense is not up for long.

It's not as if I have a problem with this though.

I do have to agree with Scott, on that our spam count is easy enough to handle on a daily basis.
But I do hate hotlinks that are just "click here" or similar. Moderators have to check each one quickly, to make sure they are not leading to a nasty site.
If you look at all the links I put up, at least you have an idea of where you are going. Stamps foot!

Well, if the mods are happy, there is not much more the inmates can say.

mgbinnewhaw. 4 years ? I very much doubt it.
I am sure you could find something to offer. Even if it is only in Off Topic :)