Alternative to 10 post rule

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undercover

Senior Member
Oct 10, 2010
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Suggestion regarding this thread.
Change it from 10 post thread to a Coffee Shop, like in RC, where we can discuss things that bother us as users about other user and general issues we have with them.

Take chit chat away from Feedback thread.

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KidCarter93

Retired Forum Moderator
Mar 26, 2012
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Suggestion regarding this thread.
Change it from 10 post thread to a Coffee Shop, like in RC, where we can discuss things that bother us as users about other user and general issues we have with them.

Take chit chat away from Feedback thread.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
I'm thinking that a coffee shop would be a great idea to be created but I think this should stay as is, simply because this topic is pretty big in that it constantly has people trying to get around it and discussion about it is brought up a lot as well.

I will have another think about it though. What do others think?
Will this be a poll once there are good ideas?
Possibly yeah. What's to say what is a good idea though? Simply by how many others agree it could work?

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undercover

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I want to ask noobs, ok not noobs, people with around 10 posts or the ones registered recently. What do you guys think would be a better alternative? Not just do away with it, but an alternative.

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XxLordxX

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I want to ask noobs, ok not noobs, people with around 10 posts or the ones registered recently. What do you guys think would be a better alternative? Not just do away with it, but an alternative.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

That's a nice idea, as it is about they that we're talking!

"The past is dead, it was all just a dream" - Magus (Chrono Trigger)
 

Dblfstr

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Mar 25, 2010
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I'm thinking that a coffee shop would be a great idea to be created but I think this should stay as is, simply because this topic is pretty big in that it constantly has people trying to get around it and discussion about it is brought up a lot as well.

I will have another think about it though. What do others think?

Possibly yeah. What's to say what is a good idea though? Simply by how many others agree it could work?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

A poll to see what is a good idea to add to a poll.
 

justmpm

Retired Senior Moderator
Dec 22, 2010
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I think the 10 post rule is good because it makes it perfectly clear that Development threads are special and at least some of the people remember that message long after they have accumulated 10 posts. I think that changing this thresh hold to thank yous or more and more posts probably won't change this aspect of the 10 post rule, plus the harder it is to reach, the more people will try and circumvent it.

Recently I found a captcha that asked a question: Which is larger? and I needed to select from a multiple choice list to pass the captcha. This meant that I actually had to read the question and the answers. Something like this could be used to reinforce "the rules" and other beneficial messages. For ex: Q: Searching before posting is a good idea because? A: It keeps down on repetitive posts, B: Everything tastes better with bacon. Obviously the Qs should be tailored to different sections and to the problems that are occuring there.

The noobs are getting a lot of blame for the state of xda, but if we are honest a lot of the problems are also caused by more experienced users. So Noobs would get this kind of captcha for their first 8 posts (or what ever their current limit is), and then the captcha would only appear for 1 in 10 posts and then less frequently as the post count goes up.

EDIT: Sorry KidCarter93, just saw your post in Requests to Moderators and Admins and my post is a variant of yours.
 
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...Awesome...

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^Two examples of abusing the 10 post rule! Go and enjoy posting in the Dev Section now!!!

Anyway....

You guys can change the rule to 100 post it still isn't gonna matter its gonna get abused regardless... When I started I opened a thread asking for help on my phone and got my first 10 post that easily.

The mods are never around to catch that 24/7 they are busy lurking where they are needed and handling reported post...

THE ONLY way that I can think of is anybody that opens a DEV thread have the ability to delete post. I opened 20+ dev threads and the first 3 pages are DOWNLOADING NOW, FLASHING NOW, WILL REPORT BACK LATER, THANKS, AWESOME, ETC... Having the ability to delete useless post will have smaller threads and real Development post. You see threads with 5000+ comments more than 75% are useless posts.
Having the OP of Dev threads can delete post will be more helpful than increasing the post count of new members. After all the purpose of dev threads are to report bugs, and anything that has to do with development.

Control for OP of Development threads to delete post. It will also help MODS concentrate on other areas such as themes, Q&A, General etc. Having the ability to delete post for a thread OP ONLY in the Dev section isn't a major "POWER" to give.

Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2
 
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Mazda

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Oct 19, 2008
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I have a few questions that maybe can better guide me into thinking of a solution.

What is the goal of finding an alternative method to the 10 post rule?

Are we trying to eliminate the spamming that goes on due to noobs trying to post in the development sections OR are we trying to make it easier for them?

Having been on XDA for a while, I've heard a few suggestions tossed around such as raising it to 50 posts and then there's the whole thing about going away with the rule all together. Both of which I don't think will help if the goal is to keep spammers away.

I don't think there's a problem with the rule that's in place right now due to the fact that the development section is not a place to ask questions. There's a section just for that. I've always thought the development section was to contribute to the conversation BUT noobs use it as their personal IT support desk.

Also it doesn't help that most developers actually encourage the asking of questions in their threads, instead of sending them to the Q/A section where those types of questions should be asked.

Anyways, those are my questions plus my 2 cents in all of this :)
 
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XxLordxX

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I have a few questions that maybe can better guide me into thinking of a solution.

What is the goal of finding an alternative method to the 10 post rule?

Are we trying to eliminate the spamming that goes on due to noobs trying to post in the development sections OR are we trying to make it easier for them?

I imagine it's about the spam... Well at least for me it is, do you have any suggestions?

"The past is dead, it was all just a dream" - Magus (Chrono Trigger)
 

Fallen Spartan

Moderator Emeritus- Irish Pride, Spartan Legacy
I have a few questions that maybe can better guide me into thinking of a solution.

What is the goal of finding an alternative method to the 10 post rule?

Are we trying to eliminate the spamming that goes on due to noobs trying to post in the development sections OR are we trying to make it easier for them?

Having been on XDA for a while, I've heard a few suggestions tossed around such as raising it to 50 posts and then there's the whole thing about going away with the rule all together. Both of which I don't think will help if the goal is to keep spammers away.

I don't think there's a problem with the rule that's in place right now due to the fact that the development section is not a place to ask questions. There's a section just for that. I've always thought the development section was to contribute to the conversation BUT noobs use it as their personal IT support desk.

Also it doesn't help that most developers actually encourage the asking of questions in their threads, instead of sending them to the Q/A section where those types of questions should be asked.

Anyways, those are my questions plus my 2 cents in all of this :)

Valid points. I think the aim is to prevent noobs using the dev forums as an Q&A and prevent or reduce the amount of spam. We have a lot of users complain that they can't use dev threads because of the 10 post rule. Personally, if they cannot be bothered to help 10 people then XDA is better off without them. Also, we can wave the 10 post rule for certain individuals who can prove they have experience/knowledge etc.....but again, to reach 10 posts is not a big deal. One of the issues I see is people blatently posting rubbish to reach 10 posts. Now obviously, if we (or somebody else) spots this, we can delete their posts and reset their account. But how many slip through the net and then ask a question which has been asked countless times before?
 
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mark manning

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Its a good idea to not change what isn't broken. The 10 post rule works a 1000 times more than it doesn't. There is a video people watch when the sign up and you can't force people to read. The best thing that you can do is promote the rules as much as possible. If you do such in a proper way, you end creating a loyalty to "the way things are" and develop members like us. Members who will understand the mentality of the site and project those thoughts to newer members who come on the site. At the same time when new members don't live up to their expectations you have members like us to report the post. If you ask me Xda has done an amazing job managing a forum with 5 million members.

There is a million things you can do...raise the post requirements, require a test on the rules to post in the dev section ect...ect... Nothing will change human nature. IMO the best thing to do is do what is currently being done. Coach the new people through leading by example and promote the rules. If you need an example of this working you need to look no farther than the OP. He hasn't even been here a year and look how well he turned out. In fact with the exception of maybe all but Tony Stark, Fallen Sparten and myself. You all went through the 10 post rule. I'm not saying every member will turn out like us but I guarantee you that if there was a way to measure this. That literally 99.99% of the new member don't go around spamming and turn out to be quality members that do follow the rules.

Sent from my Nexus
 
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Mazda

Retired Recognized Developer
Oct 19, 2008
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Valid points. I think the aim is to prevent noobs using the dev forums as an Q&A and prevent or reduce the amount of spam. We have a lot of users complain that they can't use dev threads because of the 10 post rule. Personally, if they cannot be bothered to help 10 people then XDA is better off without them. Also, we can wave the 10 post rule for certain individuals who can prove they have experience/knowledge etc.....but again, to reach 10 posts is not a big deal. One of the issues I see is people blatently posting rubbish to reach 10 posts. Now obviously, if we (or somebody else) spots this, we can delete their posts and reset their account. But how many slip through the net and then ask a question which has been asked countless times before?
Ok thanks!

Well here's what I'm thinking and I'm not sure if this has been suggested before, if so my apologies.

Why not keep the 10 post rule that is in place now but require a sign off or a type of review of the 10 posts before he or she is allowed to post in the development section?

I know this may be time consuming and maybe looked on as extra work for moderators but if noobs are aware that "hey, spamming for 10 posts isn't going to get me in the door right away" THEN maybe they'll be a bit more discourage to spam the forums.

Also I'm sure with all the brilliant minds we have here on XDA, a script or something similar to that could be developed later on after this method is put in place.

Again if something similar like this has been suggested, my apologies :good:
 

Fallen Spartan

Moderator Emeritus- Irish Pride, Spartan Legacy
Ok thanks!

Well here's what I'm thinking and I'm not sure if this has been suggested before, if so my apologies.

Why not keep the 10 post rule that is in place now but require a sign off or a type of review of the 10 posts before he or she is allowed to post in the development section?

I know this may be time consuming and maybe looked on as extra work for moderators but if noobs are aware that "hey, spamming for 10 posts isn't going to get me in the door right away" THEN maybe they'll be a bit more discourage to spam the forums.

Also I'm sure with all the brilliant minds we have here on XDA, a script or something similar to that could be developed later on after this method is put in place.

Again if something similar like this has been suggested, my apologies :good:

You're not the first to suggest this tbh, and it has been ruled out for one reason alone. Numbers. If you look now we have 56,543 users online. On an average day we get between 2000-5000 new users. Now, to approve each post would be very time consuming, a full time job tbh, for a team of individuals and you have to remember that us mods are volunteers. We have other jobs and families. This idea, however good, is just is not feasible
 

XxLordxX

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Ok thanks!

Well here's what I'm thinking and I'm not sure if this has been suggested before, if so my apologies.

Why not keep the 10 post rule that is in place now but require a sign off or a type of review of the 10 posts before he or she is allowed to post in the development section?

I know this may be time consuming and maybe looked on as extra work for moderators but if noobs are aware that "hey, spamming for 10 posts isn't going to get me in the door right away" THEN maybe they'll be a bit more discourage to spam the forums.

Also I'm sure with all the brilliant minds we have here on XDA, a script or something similar to that could be developed later on after this method is put in place.

Again if something similar like this has been suggested, my apologies :good:

You're not the first to suggest this tbh, and it has been ruled out for one reason alone. Numbers. If you look now we have 56,543 users online. On an average day we get between 2000-5000 new users. Now, to approve each post would be very time consuming, a full time job tbh, for a team of individuals and you have to remember that us mods are volunteers. We have other jobs and families. This idea, however good, is just is not feasible

What if you get help to do it, you said there are 2000-5000 new users daily, but let's guess that only 1000-2500 get 10 posts in a day, so with the help of any RC, RD, SM, FM and FSM the task can be very small like for one person review 20 or 30 posts :)

"The past is dead, it was all just a dream" - Magus (Chrono Trigger)
 

MikeChannon

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What if you get help to do it, you said there are 2000-5000 new users daily, but let's guess that only 1000-2500 get 10 posts in a day, so with the help of any RC, RD, SM, FM and FSM the task can be very small like for one person review 20 or 30 posts :)

"The past is dead, it was all just a dream" - Magus (Chrono Trigger)

Spreading the load of checking a persons first ten posts sounds good but still not practical. I don't have figures on how many folk reach their first 10 posts per day but you'd need to identify them using a script, then allocate them to somebody and either give powers to RCs RDs etc to approve them or to pass on a list to someone else to do the approving. You'd need to train many hundreds of RCs RDs etc on what is ok for the first ten posts as well. If there were any delays in the system, then Admins would be contacted with demands to be verified as they'd reached ten posts several days previously.

I'm sure there are other things I haven't even thought of, so it would be just too huge and unwieldy a system to operate.

In a sense we have a system to catch inappropriate posting already, and that is our Teams of Moderators and the ability of Users to report abuse. Though I appreciate they cannot watch each and every User, it's about as good as we can get unless someone can think of some effective automated system that could be used. But as pointed out in a post above, the 10 post system IS actually pretty effective, even if it can be annoying and the few it doesn't stop may feel like thousands but are actually a very very small number compared with the 50,000 online.
 
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Product F(RED)

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Sep 6, 2010
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I still don't understand why a new member absolutely needs post in a development thread.

- If there's a bug in a ROM/Kernel/Mod/etc, PM the developer. They're not going to sift through hundreds of pages to find your post.

- If you are a developer, help people in any other section of the site. It should be easy for you, since you are a developer.

- If you have a question, post in Q&A.

- If you want to say thanks, hit the Thanks button in the OP of the developer's thread.

It's really not a huge deal to get 10 posts. I don't know why people are complaining. Introduce yourself, post a screenshot of your homescreen, talk about your favorite device, show off your accessories, post in Offtopic. Do SOMETHING.

I'm just going to quote myself, because, no offense, but I think it's really stupid when people complain about the 10 post rule. I don't mean to come off as bitter, but if you can't make 10 posts about anything, then you shouldn't be on XDA at all. If you asked someone to make 10 posts on Facebook, they'd be done in under 5 minutes. Suddenly, when it's a forum, it's a mysterious task that no one knows how to do. If someone can't make 10 posts (They don't even have to be useful! Post in offtopic or talk about your favorite device!), what makes you think they'll be a useful addition to the development sections? People just want in immediately because they're lazy and think it's a club.

You wanna know what happens when a new user gets into the development section? Go look at 99% of ROM/kernel threads:

- "I flashed it but now my device won't go past the _____ logo."
- "EXCUSE ME CAN SOMEONE HELP ME I HAVE A BUG AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX IT CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME"
- "OMG THANK YOU DEV FOR THIS BECAUSE ITS THE BESTEST ROM EVER AND IT MADE MY DEVICE INTO A UNICORN"
- "What is root? SOMEONE ANSWER ME"
- " Can I flash this on my [a totally different device]"
- *Question that was answered in the OP and at least 100 times already*
- "This is great but can you add ______ [feature]???

Etc, etc.
 
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Fallen Spartan

Moderator Emeritus- Irish Pride, Spartan Legacy
I'm just going to quote myself, because, no offense, but I think it's really stupid when people complain about the 10 post rule. I don't mean to come off as bitter, but if you can't make 10 posts about anything, then you shouldn't be on XDA at all. If you asked someone to make 10 posts on Facebook, they'd be done in under 5 minutes. Suddenly, when it's a forum, it's a mysterious task that no one knows how to do. If someone can't make 10 posts (They don't even have to be useful! Post in offtopic or talk about your favorite device!), what makes you think they'll be a useful addition to the development sections? People just want in immediately because they're lazy and think it's a club.

You wanna know what happens when a new user gets into the development section? Go look at 99% of ROM/kernel threads:

- "I flashed it but now my device won't go past the _____ logo."
- "EXCUSE ME CAN SOMEONE HELP ME I HAVE A BUG AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX IT CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME"
- "OMG THANK YOU DEV FOR THIS BECAUSE ITS THE BESTEST ROM EVER AND IT MADE MY DEVICE INTO A UNICORN"
- "What is root? SOMEONE ANSWER ME"
- " Can I flash this on my [a totally different device]"
- *Question that was answered in the OP and at least 100 times already"

Etc, etc.

Sadly yes, but we do encourage people to make 10 USEFUL posts instead of spamming our threads.
 
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    Suggestions/Alternatives

    *Change 10 post to x number of thanks - Pros : It would take longer for users to gain access to development forums. - Cons : Users will beg for thanks more and possibly spam thanks to help each other gain access.

    *Complete a quiz during registration - Pros : Could possibly reduce the number of people allowed in development forums. - Cons : Too hard because different people have different levels of knowledge + couldn't be multiple choice because too easy to get around.

    *Let OPs of dev threads delete posts - Pros : Cut down on the useless posts. - Cons : Won't happen because only mods/admins will have ability to delete posts. Devs could show favouritism + take too much of the devs time to delete posts.

    *Review posts before they appear in development - Pros : If possible, no crap would appear in dev threads. - Cons : Not possible because of the massive workload on the manpower of the mods.

    *Deny access to Off-topic until user has 10 posts - Pros : Stops a lot of people posting there to get to 10 posts. - Cons : Users will be more likely to spam in the device forums instead.

    *
    15
    Alternative to 10 post rule :)

    I'm creating this thread as a place to centralize all alternative ideas to the 10 post rule.

    Obviously, a lot of different suggestions have been made over the time and we've been told that the admins won't change the rule unless a better solution can be proven to work.

    So if you have any suggestions as to what could be used instead of needing 10 posts to post in development, then post your idea in here.

    *If you're not sure why there is a limit to post in development, read the following thread - Postcount limit in developmental fora

    *If you want to moan about the rule, don't post it anywhere on this site as we've heard it all before.

    *Need to help someone in a development thread? Or give developer a logcat? Private Message them. It exists :eek:

    *If you have less than 10 posts, don't post here UNLESS you are suggesting a different alternative.



    *NOTE* As mods, senior mods and admins may be checking in here, don't use this thread to try and gain your first 10 posts because your comment will most likely be deleted.
    13
    Ok folks, just to let you know, I have subscribed to this thread and will be looking with interest at any ideas posted. I will reply to the more serious suggestions and I will delete posts by those wishing to boost their post count

    Ta

    Rick

    ...........................
    You can lead a fool to wisdom but you can't make him think! XDA, mobile wisdom, not a n00b feeding ground!!
    10
    Why are you even asking what answer it was when you've already said that you're going through my post history? Find out for yourself. And stop going off topic!!!!! Stop spamming dude!!!

    Nice, you just earned yourself an infraction.....please, carry on
    8
    JJJAGUAR said:
    The truth is that this rule is frustrating. Many want to ask something urgently, and the post 10 post of spam (be realistic) does not prove that we know what we are talking about. It is especially annoying to those who do not speak English as their first language.:rolleyes:

    This part of your statement is the problem with most new members.

    "Many want to ask something urgently"

    The development forums are NOT supposed to be used to "ask" things that is why we have questions and answers/help sub forums (that new members with less then 10 posts can post in)for just about every device.

    New members have this idea that they will get a better/faster answer if they ask in the development section which just shows the sense of entitlement that most new members have when they join xda. Instead of taking the time to do some research and see if they can find the answer to their question since 9 times out of 10 it has already been asked and answered they want to jump right into the dev section to post their all important question that doesn't belong there in the first place.

    Development is just for that development, members who can post logcats and help with bugs, not to ask questions.

    Senior Moderator