Stop the post count on the sub form LQ Member Intro.

It's dumb, you keep adding post counts for people saying "Welcome to LQ"

There is no sense in that, stop it

But welcoming people to the site is an integral part of the community. It makes people feel welcome which (hopefully) translates into a useful member. Not so dumb, eh

Also a new user who really needs to post a link in the first post but cannot yet contribute in any ongoing discussions is now encouraged to post an introduction - as this message counts, user is not tempted to post something of little value in an existing discussion or ask a question without really being interested in the answer.

Hmmmmm......is this a "high value" way to increase YOUR post count???
If you would like to see changes in the procedures here, let me suggest not using the imperative.

More importantly, I am aware that my high post count is indicative of only one thing: that I have a lot of posts. Nothing else.

I always (as do Jeremy and the other mods) make clear that a high post count is meaningless in terms of post quality.

How do you think XavierP arrived at 14000+ posts?

He's the welcoming comittee

A mod, upholder of decency and goodness, padding his posts with warm hellos? Say it ain't so!

Ya'll beat me again, do you go up two when you are the first to answer a post?

Yes, you are right, this is a thread where people with 1000+ post count explain to people with 500- post count why nothing should be changed in the post counting system.

Seriously, you get double bonus for the first post, as this will be you who will be asked directly by topic starter further in the thread. Somehow it is very probable that you will end up with second post count boost in the thread. Surely, original poster will get more. It is so excluding some extreme cases, like, say, this thread.

I've been a member here for nearly 6 years, back when I hit 1000 posts it was still a memorable occasion - there used to be "congratulations" threads.

I reiterate: all a high post count shows is that the poster has a high post count.

I have seen a huge number of knowledgeable members with very low counts and that is what matters: that the person who is giving you advice is someone who knows their stuff. Back when 5000 posts was something special, Jeremy IIRC pointed out that the number was meaningless. The main trigger for removing General from post counting was that we had a couple of members who had only ever posted in General about to become Gurus (when that was the only title available for 1000+ post members).

Maybe this reiteration can be done in another form:

There is no way an automated post counting system on this site can distinguish asking 5 beginner-level questions from answering 5 expert-level questions.

And even if it could, messages posted a year ago do not tell anything about member's expertise in a technology that has appeared a month ago. A newcomer has probably learned its way (and maybe mastered this tech), and an expert hasn't experienced any need in this particular set of tricks.

Maybe there should be an option in profile to hide post count?

"The main trigger for removing General from post counting was that we had a couple of members who had only ever posted in General about to become Gurus (when that was the only title available for 1000+ post members)."

I remember participating in that discussion. The basic problem is that linuxquestions assigns titles to members based on the number of posts and the number of posts bears no particular relationship to a member's qualifications to answer questions. The concensus of opinion was that removing General from post counting would go a long way toward solving the problem. It didn't because there still is no relationship between the number of posts and technical expertise.

I think that the best way to fix the problem is to stop handing out merititious titles. We should still display the post counts but the only titles should be Member and Moderator. Perhaps Jeremy should have the title of Owner. Yes, we should drop Newbie because I have seen some Newbies post silly posts simply to drive their status beyond Newbie.

As to dropping post counts for LQ Member Intro. I don't see that will do anything worthwhile.

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Steve Stites

The titles are not meant to signify anything apart from LQ posting - in English this time, Jeremy has always said that LQ falls or stands on the members alone. The title simply shows that a member has contributed to LQ by posting.

The answers (IMO) have more weight than the questions, but even someone just asking questions contributes to LQ. But, if someone who is not a member has the same question as someone here who has posted and is brought here to discover the answer, then LQ grows.

Newbie, Member and the rest do not and should not lead anyone to weight one person's post over another. I agree, that having read what I have just written, it seems as if I am advocating losing titles altogether but that isn't the case. The titles give our active members ... something. I remember the feeling of accomplishment I gained each time my title changed, and the run up to 1000 posts was exhilarating!

Maybe we should put a caveat in the Rules or FAQ or the "welcome" email that post count signifies nothing with regard to knowledge or ability. Discuss

Thank god nobody knows that I was still a linux guru even after the title was deprecated - oops!

Now that we know titles DO MEAN SOMETHING everydoby repeat after me:

Must delete windows partition,must mail funds.... repeat a while

Seriously - who cares?

Actually if I would care about post counts I'd be inclined to have posts in threads like 'post your last screenshot' not included (except it's about an explanation how you take a screenshot of your Linx desktop from a running windows system on the same box after 10 sixpacks).