Newbie accounts and PM privileges

1Athena1

Mods, I know we communicated in regard to this privately, so my intention is not to rehash our conversation. I thought it might be useful for everyone, though, to know the policy regarding a person's ability to send messages.

I know that technical glitches made it possible for an account with no posts to send a PM today. I'm wondering if you have an ETA for a fix to the glitch, and whether there is any minimum number of posts a person has to have before PM-ing? What's the rule?

Also, are new accounts still restricted from using the "report this post" button? How many posts/days do they have to have in existence before they have the privilege?

Finally, out of sheer curiosity, when a person opens an account is there still an initial limit on postings per day? I know it used to be five per day, then it changed, but I'm not sure what the change entailed....

Thanks in advance!

Moderators

Members have always been able to send PMs without also posting, and we don't expect that to change. We've heard over the years from many members who use PMs to contact others with the same diagnosis, or who've read someone's comments about a surgeon, and want to ask a question privately after reading the boards. If someone receives an unwanted PM, they can just delete it, or report it to us, as you did by PM.

There is a limit on the number of PMs a new member can send, and that's intended to thwart PM spammers. New members automatically get full PM and reporting privileges after a set number of days (not saying how many, to keep that detail from bot runners).

There is no limit on how many posts new members can make in a day. New members often have lots of questions about their symptoms or new diagnosis, and we don't want to limit their ability to find all the information and support they need.