Approving new people

[Mike Hollingshead]

Should it really take longer than 2 weeks to get approved or rejected to a forum? It doesn't seem like it should. Can't mods say yay or nay when they come in?

 

[Joey Ketcham]

I thought it was actually Tim that approved/disapproved new members and not the mods?

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

I thought it was actually Tim that approved/disapproved new members and not the mods?

That'd be why I asked can't they. Seems like all it should really take is simply looking to see if they first used a real full name, then if they typed anything.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

My bad.. I mis-read..

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

And if not, then maybe add something to the registration thing saying, this will likely take 2-4 weeks, and that is normal. I get e-mails OFTEN.

 

[David Drummond]

On Jan 4, 2007 Tim made this post in regards to the growing thread about the declining quality on ST:

We have enabled essayed applications effective today. I think we've found a system that works well. Last year we had no alternative but to examine applications over on GMail, but thanks to vbulletin we've made application submissions a part of the board.

This should maintain quality as we roll into chase season, and it will eliminate the trickle of spam we've seen lately.

Tim

http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showpost.php?p=118356&postcount=105

When new users sign up there is a special forum that only that user and the mods/admin can see (for privacy reasons) where they leave their "essay".

When a new users signs up, they can see this on that forum:

Because of noise, spam, and off-topic content, open access to Stormtrack has been discontinued. To request access to the board, you must click here and make ONE post introducing yourself. Click "Start thread" and tell us about yourself and your weather interests. Your post will be private as only our staff can view content in this section. Allow up to a week for your application to be reviewed. Access is a privilege, not a right, and not all applications are approved. All decisions are binding. As we emphasized during the registration process, we accept real names only and will not approve users with nicknames or handles.

Lately it's been taking a little longer due to volume of new signups.

 

[Shane Adams]

I received another email today from yet another person wondering why it's taking weeks to get approved. This person's name is Joe Surfer. I met him in the chatroom about a month ago and he seemed pretty cool. Anyway, same old story from Joe: "Hey man, you seem to have been around a while so I thought I'd ask you....why is it taking so long to get approved? Does this mean I've been rejected or is ST a "closed society" type thing? I don't care either way, I'd just like some kind of reply."

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I received another email today from yet another person wondering why it's taking weeks to get approved. This person's name is Joe Surfer. I met him in the chatroom about a month ago and he seemed pretty cool. Anyway, same old story from Joe: "Hey man, you seem to have been around a while so I thought I'd ask you....why is it taking so long to get approved? Does this mean I've been rejected or is ST a "closed society" type thing? I don't care either way, I'd just like some kind of reply."

It's interesting that folks are emailing you instead of one of the moderators. I appreciate you forwarding the message on from this individual, though. It usually takes no more than a few weeks for an application to move through "the system". So, if you are one of those who registered for membership, sent the required email, and haven't heard from us in a few weeks, feel free to email about the status. For the record, we tend to get a couple to a few dozen registrations this time of year, down from 40-70 registrations per week that we see during the main chase season. Since we go through each and every email, one can see why this process can take up to a few weeks. We don't really require a whole lot in order to be approved to post (remember, membership isn't needed to view most of the content on ST), but we do have a few things that we look for.