I have to agree with some of the other Plinkers. I've been a member for quite awhile, but I don't post very often. Does that make me some kind of outlaw? I understand the rules, and try to stick to them. Is 50 post the magic number? Who can tell. My suggestion would be pick a number and only let members view that area. No guest, no one under the post count.
Hey Mike. If you reread this thread, you won't find many (I'd like to say any, but there is always one in the crowd) that view Plinkers as outlaws. It is only those that bypass the rules to sneak into the for sale area that are being debated.
Newbies are very welcome in the site. They can participate and get plenty of value here. It is just that there is an established history where people come in, post a bunch of useless one-liners, and then too often have ripped off longstanding members. I appreciate the attempt to protect board members from fly-by-nighters and keep this from becoming another hoosertopics.com. That B.S. would drive a lot of good people away.
No number of posts will provide the "magic level" to prove that all people are trustworthy, but it has been a good filter. I do very little buying/selling, but I do appreciate being able to have some type of track record here. I see that you have been on for same time with very few posts. Nothing wrong with being a lurker and just reading.
I made a suggestion similar to yours earlier in this thread about keeping people out of the classifieds until they qualified, but was shot down because apparently a lot of people find INGO via web searches and it attracts them to the site. Sigh...
Oh well, I guess this setup encourages more site supporters and more money to help Fenway with running the site. And so the eternal 50-post debate continues...