Making Forum Rules More Prominent

[bokeh]

Yesterday I received a pm from an administrator informing me the forum rules have been updated after the "disturbance" in the last day or so.

Anything to make the rules tighter, more rigid and less open to interpretation is a good thing but after I received the pm I thought to myself had I not received the pm I would not have been aware of the updated rules until I went looking for them buried in the FAQ section.

I'd like to suggest that it would be a good idea and more helpful to members if access to the forum rules was more prominent.

For example, an extra menu item "Forum Rules" in the main menu bar (Home - New Posts - Search.........) would make the forum rules far more prominent than they are now and members would be far more likely to read/consult them since they would be only one click away instead of the 2-3 clicks away they are now.

Also, for new registrations I believe it would be a good idea to have as part of the on-boarding process during registration a check-box the new member has to tick saying they have read and accept the forum rules.  After the potential member enters the account activation code sent to their email address a web page displaying the forum rules and the check box could be presented to the potential member and their account activation is not processed until the check box is ticked.

Of course this doesn't mean the potential member actually reads or accepts the rules but it does guarantee the potential member was presented with the rules at registration.  This reduces the "I wasn't aware of the rules" defence if an infringement occurs later on.

Just some food for thought

[Andy]

All new forum members receive a Private Message which welcomes them to the forum and informs them to go to the FAQ board to read the forum rules. The forum rules are the top post on that board.

ProBoards forces you to acknowledge their terms and conditions, but it is not an option for individual forums.

[bokeh]

I suppose the contents of the welcoming email is better than nothing but I wonder how many new members actually read a welcoming email.  I suspect most do not.

If forcing new registrations on PSE&M to acknowledge at least being presented with the forum rules prior to account activation is not an option, then it's a pity.  Many other bulletin boards force new members to at least acknowledge their forum rules before accepting them as members.

But making the forum rules more prominent by making them directly accessible from the main menu bar should be an easy implementation if you agree it is worthwhile.

Anyway, it was just a thought