"Post Approval" Feature

[Matticus]

I wish to express my displeasure with this "post approval" feature. This has already been discussed here and here, but I wanted to add my own two cents.

I get the thinking behind it, but when it is enforced on long-time contributing members, it is both frustrating and annoying.

Let me break down my problems with it:

1. While I carefully review posts before submitting, sometimes a typo or error slips through, which I like to fix. If I'm waiting for my post to be "approved", chances are I'll miss the edit time-frame.

2. Sometimes I'll take the time to write a detailed response, if a question hasn't been answered yet. Now it's quite possible other people have already responded, but since their post is waiting to be "approved", I'll waste my time writing up a redundant response.

3. It's a major turn-off, for both new people asking questions and long-time regulars trying to answer them. Speaking for myself, one of my prime motivations for spending time here offering assistance is the satisfaction of helping others. Having my posts parked in some queue awaiting approval for who knows how long hurts that sense of satisfaction.

4. It's detrimental to the purpose of these forums. Oftentimes, posters engage in a regular back-and-forth during the process of solving a problem. Abruptly discontinuing a conversation is a hindrance to this process.

5. While open communities have to deal with annoyance with regard to spam, closing off the community (even partially) will drive away members, both new and old.

I would be extremely surprised if there wasn't a way to white-list legitimate members so we would not have to be subjected to these frequent frustrations (as others have mentioned, post count might be a good indicator). I also don't think it's too much to ask, especially for the members who have spent countless hours contributing to these forums and making them what they are.

That about sums up my thoughts on the matter.
Thank you.

[Salem]

I absolutely agree with you Matticus.

Not only does it harrass members like yourself, and cause work for the mods, it is almost completely ineffective at identifying the real spam which comes to this board.

The real spam is efficiently dispatched by my own robot.

I've suggested to webmaster that the server side thing be disabled, but so far zilch.

[userxbw]

yep, I agree, sit behind a computer and type out sometimes a lot of code and explanations behind it, then post it only to see that message mod took it, then sit and wonder if it will even get posted, while that other person is waiting for an answer to his or her question, someone already posted it, now it is "lost" in limbo, wondering if it will even be found and posted. alll of that time taken to try and help someone only to see it removed, kind of makes me feel Like I am waiting my time.

[GReaper]

Is this post approval feature random? I'm asking because I have only heard about it but not once experienced it myself.

[Matticus]

It actually seems pretty random. It only happens to a small percentage of my posts, but it is quite frustrating when it does happen.

[Salem]

The 'feature' was enabled at the beginning of the year, and is a 'service' provided by Akismet: Spam Protection for WordPress

What actually triggers it is a mystery.
URLs perhaps, but the actual spammers post nothing but URLs to all sorts of crap, and are barely impeded by this filter.

Post length?
Certain keywords?

TBH, I think Scotty sums it up nicely.

The actual spammers with their clickbait links are reaped very successfully by my own robot.

[Guest]

I had the impression it's tied to code/formatting, i.e. very elaborate posts with lots of examples having a better chance of triggering it. But maybe I'm imagining that, and it's tied dictionary words, who knows!

I've suggested to webmaster that the server side thing be disabled, but so far zilch.

I presume you got a message in response, though no action followed?

[splitfunc0]

As a new user i total agree with what you all have said. Having registered i submitted a new introductory thread. After submitting the post i could not locate it. To me i felt my account was not yet activated or maybe even blocked. It took me time to understand that there was an approval process in place.

If this act is to make the forum unique all well and good. But personally I am not so much in support of it.

That is my 2cent.

[Matticus]

When I wrote the original post, I intentionally focused on the effects to regular members, as at the time I did not know if there was value to "post approving" new members. After what I've learned in this thread, I could easily write several more paragraphs as to why this feature is also bad to implement for new members. But this does not seem necessary, since everyone seems to be on the same page.