It appears, not sure why, that you cannot post a reply until you have made 3 other posts. ?????????? Seems to be a waste of DB space and time if you ask me. Here's what to do. If you do not have anything to post, just post this: Post 1, Post 2, and then Post 3 of minumal input. This will let you respond/reply to YOUR OWN question thread. Seems stupid doesn't it? This will allow you to THANK someone on YOUR POST for their valuable help.

It is a waste of time and space if people do what you suggest, however it isn't a waste if they search out other posts to help themselves, or ask similar questions in them etc. I suppose it stops someone asking a question and then saying "i dont understand, i'm a real newbie, please give me step by step so i don't have to do any research!"

or is it other way round ??? i.e you can't create a new thread until you have 3 posts.

The search engine is a great tool for finding answers!!! I just can't see why a newbie cannot reply (continue their own original thread) without posting something off task, somewhere else. What solution/non-question does a newbie have to post of value? They can post a new question anytime they wish. ... Can they not stay focused(by thread response) on THEIR original post? What you have here is the inability of a newbie to continue the very discussion they initiated!!!! Hey there's nothing like locking out the very initiator of the discussion!

For clarification: New members cannot post URL's until they have a minimum number of posts (ie, three), not that they cannot post a reply at all until they have three posts. (Think about it -- if the latter were true, new members could never post at all)

The purpose of this "3 post minimum" rule is to prevent spammers from signing up and then just filling the forums with garbage. True, there may be a slight chance that it could impact a legitimate user who wants to include a URL in his/her first or second post, but this is only a temporary condition.

Furthermore, do NOT post a bunch of useless "Post 1", "Post 2", etc comments just to get your post count above three. Those kinds of stunts are very much frowned upon. If you really, really need to include a URL and you are below three posts, just format it a little differently: www - whatever - com

People will be able to figure it out. Thanks