New members: updating your profile

[Ryan]

I recently got a question through the contact form from a new member who was trying to update his profile. I tried e-mailing a response but the e-mail got bounced for some reason. I just thought it would be worth reminding people here because it isn't the first time I got this question.

In order to prevent "profile spam" I had to make a tough decision. For new members, there is very little about your profile that you can update. Until you have made five posts, you can't update any visible parts of your profile, specifically but not limited to your signature and website address.

I'm sorry that you are forced into this limitation but it is for the good of the whole community. I hope you understand and can wait until you have made your first five posts before feeling the need to update your profile. Most of all, I hope the individual who contacted me will see this post.

If anyone has any questions about this policy, as usual, please let me know.

[Ryan]

Because of the questions that have been coming up about this, I added the following to the Forums FAQ:

Why can't I update my profile, other than a few account settings? Yet another issue with spammers. To prevent "profile spam", if you're a new member, you won't be able to update your profile until you have made 5 posts. This will help us to ensure that you will be a productive member of the community before you can add links in a manner that is easy to hide from the moderators. We're sorry that we have to do this but we hope you understand that it is being done for the best of the community as a whole.