Wouldn't it be better to allow all messages at first but give a warning with PMs from newbies such as something like "Find this message annoying? Go into personal settings to block messages from brand new/newbie accounts" etc?
I didn't do that because I think that only a certain subset of users (maybe a minority) want to ever receive PMs from newbies, so it seemed to make more sense for such people to opt in.
You're probably right and it will cut down on a lot of other unsolicited PM spam as well but I think the restriction/option to turn it on/off should be clearly stated so people are even aware of it. New users who run businesses here will likely want or need to receive PMs from them and they might be completely unaware of this restriction otherwise.
It is a great idea blocking newbies, was just a bit of a supprise. I don't know how many spam pm's you guys get cos I'm still a newbie so I dont get any, but I'm guessing that it's a really annoying problem. Think many people will be relieved that they can switch off to them.
This PM spam has become a huge problem and hence why changes had to be made. Staff are probably getting in excess of 50 reports a day and not all of them will even be reported.
can you make one post/day for first 14 days?
I don't think that's a good idea. Newbies are often here for Technical Support (just check the subforum for it) because their new and might need some help or made a mistake. Limiting them to 1 post/day, combined with the 1 pm/day limitation makes it a lot harder to help those with a problem - requesting more info will take a day, asking if it worked will take another day, and so on.
Yeah, this would be too restrictive/annoying and turn many genuine users away.
