Welcome PM?

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Do you think automated Welcome-to-the-forum-PM's are really necessary?

I find them annoying personally. If you're going to PM me to welcome me, I want it to be a personalized one sent just to me... and dont tell me to read the rules!!

 

[The Dragon Master]

Meh I don't like them. They annoy me and all of them I've seen only say welcome and enjoy your stay. Which you get anyway from the introduction thread you make when you first join. If they had useful links then I would like them a bit more.

 

[Jazzy]

Do you think automated Welcome-to-the-forum-PM's are really necessary?

Necessary? No. Annoying? Yes. Especially when they tell you to make sure to read the rules. I have had a few Welcome-to-the-forum PM's that were actually very nice and were personally sent to me by the Owner/Admin. He/she welcomed me and instructed me that if I had any questions/problems not to hesitate to contact them directly.

There was one forum that after a generic welcome was sent, the Owner/Admin automatically showed up on your friendship list. I found that to be odd.

 

[DrLeftover]

There was one forum that after a generic welcome was sent, the Owner/Admin automatically showed up on your friendship list. I found that to be odd.[/font][/size]

How "MySpace"-y of them.

 

[Andrew Darmac]

They're annoying. I don't use them, and wouldn't unless they're personalized.

Which becomes difficult after a forum grows to be a certain size.

 

[Ashley]

I don't use these and I don't like them myself. I usually just skim them and trash them.

 

[Evil Eye]

They're nice as long as they're personal. Otherwise, no thanks.

 

[Success]

I don't mind them, they can be helpful sometimes. I was on a forum where when you posted in the introductions thread, the forum would automatically post on behalf of the admin which was weird.

 

[Nikki]

So far, I haven't had this happen to me.

 

[Ashley]

I don't mind them, they can be helpful sometimes. I was on a forum where when you posted in the introductions thread, the forum would automatically post on behalf of the admin which was weird.

What do you mean? Like when the admin says something like "welcome so and so to insert site name here!" right after you make an intro? I've been on forums before where some bot or something makes welcome topics for the members. Now THIS I'm not crazy about at all. I would much rather make my own topic and make myself known to the forum. I don't care to have someone do it for me.

 

[Sinon]

Anything based around automation irritates me. PMs, threads, posts etc. A forum I was on for a short time had a bot that automatically created a welcome thread any time a user registered or returned from an absence above 30 days. It just felt like a cheap way to add more posts to the statistics, and considering the lack of personalisation, it made the entire forum feel faceless.

I also hate it when staff members ignore their own rules. Like, they'll say "no copy-pasting welcomes" and then in every single introduction thread they post the exact same message, with just a username altered. It makes it feel faceless and usually leads to me not bothering with the forum much.

 

[DCoach_M]

I hear ya there. I really hate those Automatic welcomes.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I also hate it when staff members ignore their own rules. Like, they'll say "no copy-pasting welcomes" and then in every single introduction thread they post the exact same message, with just a username altered. It makes it feel faceless and usually leads to me not bothering with the forum much.

Yeah copy/paste welcomes are a turn off. I try to keep my welcomes different but sometimes I might say something similar to a different person.

 

[ConfabIt]

I never read them when I sign up to other forums; I imagine people wouldn't read the ones I could write on mine.

I just welcome them if they post an introduction, and sometimes say Hi on their profile!

 

[Hulk's iconHulk]

It annoys me so much at times.

Last forum that sent me one the admin that sent it got a very nice long PM with some very bad words in it.

Day later I got "This IP is banned from accessing this forum". Day after that the entire forum disappeared. Lol

 

[FTON]

Yes, they are necessary, as long you give the new members forum's main link.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Yes, they are necessary, as long you give the new members forum's main link.

"new members forum's main link" ? What is that? How does that make an automated welcome PM a necessity on a forum?

 

[Cedric]

I find them annoying.

 

[Ashley]

It annoys me so much at times.

Last forum that sent me one the admin that sent it got a very nice long PM with some very bad words in it.

Day later I got "This IP is banned from accessing this forum". Day after that the entire forum disappeared. Lol

Sounds like a classic case of someone had no clue what they were doing

 

[Bluezone777]

It really makes me wonder what you are doing running an online forum if you can't spare the time to genuinely welcome someone to your forum. If you don't have the time to welcome people to a forum then how are you going to have time to do anything else in regards to running a forum of any genre.