Mr_G Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 How do I get validated? This is the question that the staff gets asked probably more than any other. This post will try to explain the system and provide some tips on what we look for, what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. Why do we have a validation system? So why isn’t everyone validated as soon as they register? The answer is that while the majority of people are decent and genuine, unfortunately there are trolls, troublemakers and (especially regarding a fetish website) those who will register for nefarious purposes. In order to protect the existing membership from such people, we require new members to prove themselves by means of positive contributions before they are given access to certain areas of the forum e.g. Member Profiles, Private Messaging, Adult Board and Trading Post. When will I be assessed and validated? Most accounts are assessed somewhere between 50 and 100 posts (as long as the member has been active/posting for at least 4 to 6 weeks) and the majority (but not all) are then validated, if the member has made a positive contribution to the forum. The most important point to remember from this thread is that members are judged on the quality of their posts, not the quantity. If you remember nothing else, please remember this very important point. The staff takes a dim view of “post padding” i.e. posting a large number of short comments in a few days just to increase your number of posts and if anything, this will count against you. We are looking for positive contributions. What should I do? DO post your own topics e.g. observations, stories, artwork are good, as long as some effort has gone into them. DO post topics that start interesting discussions – this can be either sneeze related (in general discussion) or non-sneeze related (in off topic). DO make thoughtful posts in other people's topics. DO participate in different areas of the forum. DO try to post things in the right place – the staff don’t mind moving threads occasionally, but if you are not sure, ask the staff using the “Contact Staff” feature. DO be polite, respectful and pleasant at all times. What shouldn’t I do? DON’T break any rules! – this sounds obvious, but make sure you are familiar with the rules of the forum by reading the Guidelines. DON’T respond to every observation/story/artwork you can find with “thanks for sharing” or “nice” just to increase your post count. DON’T resurrect extremely old posts without good reason. Again, if it’s just to increase your post count, it’s not a positive contribution. DON’T pester people to comment on your posts – if people are interested in what you have said, they will respond. DON’T post one paragraph of a story and then ask people if they want you to continue. We (and most members) prefer either completed work or at least a significant portion of it. DON’T post a topic or ask a question that has recently been asked. Have a look first to see if there is already a thread that you can add to, before starting a new one. DON’T ask the staff “when will I be validated?” other than in exceptional circumstances. We all act on a voluntary basis and have other commitments, but the admins try to consider accounts for validation at least once a month. Warnings If you have been issued with a warning, you will not be considered for validation until the warning has expired. Again, this is to protect the existing membership, and to ensure that the warned member has proved their good character before they are validated. Summary We hope that this gives you some idea of what we look for when we assess accounts for validation. We are sorry if the whole process seems somewhat prolonged, but we have had problems in the past with trolls and others, and our members very much value their privacy. We have to balance the needs of new members with those who have been contributing for a while, but new members can still participate in many places, so please enjoy those areas and the others should be available to you in due course. Thank you for reading! The SFF staff Link to comment
Recommended Posts