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Sorry guys but I have decided not to respond to a post from someone who has not completed their profile - language levels and country.
Lo siento chicos pero he decidido no responder a un mensaje desde alguien que no ha completado su perfil - Los niveles de idioma y país.
13 Answers
I started this as a comment but it turned out to be a little lengthy so I am putting it in as an answer.
Yeah, I back you up on that. How do we get everyone to understand that.? The most straightforward way that I can think of is to require a profile as a system requirement for posting a question. Do you have some "pull" with the administrators? A stop gap method would be to simply answer those posts with "Complete your profile, including language level and country, so we can better understand your situation and we will answer you."
I'm just bumping up my own plea.
If people want some help it is available here but if the "user" can't be bothered to fill out their profile - then I can't be bothered to offer any.
Ok, I have to 'support' my 'sister' annierats, so here's another female contribution. Not a very logical one, as I indeed do not mind as much as you do, guys.
Yes, I do dislike the 0-0 profiles, and I also dislike people putting in 'fluent' when they cannot even write one flawless word in the language they are so fluent in; but the dislike isn't that strong.
If I go to a profile it usually is to find some more information on that person and then I am mainly interested in the info in 'more about myself'.
I do not visit profiles that often .... I think I have seen all of the people I encounter here regularly in games and most of them have filled in that part of the form.
I have updated that info once (read: deleted 50% of the initial 'info') and I wonder how many of us do that regularly.
I cannot imagine feeling threatened by anyone knowing the things about me that SD asked me to fill in. I think that people who do see it as an invasion of their privacy should stay away from multiperson activities on this worldwide web altogether.
But I am really quite neutral, though I strongly prefer ReAL people, so I'm willing to back you guys up and reply in the suggested manner: "please fill in your profile blablabla"......
I strongly doubt, you want more female contributions after this ; - ) Hahahahahahahahahahha
I have repeatedly suggested that a "native language" field be added and that field displayed along with the user name and thumbnail pic on every question and answer. It could be placed just under the user name. A very simple fix.
Or instead of "native language" maybe a field "learning English/Spanish, select one" so we know too which language the question is referring. And it should be a required field.
I disagree with language level questions as they are very subjective. I had an issue with a couple of members disparaging me for the level I posted.
To make compliance simple the site could announce a start date for the mandatory field and then automatically log everyone off. Upon logging in again the field would be required to be completed before you could use the forum.
On the other hand, most of us are capable of assesing which sex we are and where we come from. I'm in favour of having to put up basic information, it can't hurt anyone and would avoid many mistakes in our answers.
True, I can even do it in the dark.
And as a good citizen, am willing to ask for assistance when independent verifcation is required.
Note, I'm not advocating SD should require that.
Also, this is a language with Genders. And one can´t always tell from a screen or avatar name the gender of the poster. That makes it impossible to correctly check their work in some cases. If this were only about English, the gender might be interesting and helpful for context, but I wouldn´t strongly miss not having it. Here, it´s really necessary. It also makes it easier for the answerers, who are after all, doing the questioner a favor, to write simpler answers, and not to put in things bonito(a), trabajadoro(a) etc etc.
I agree Ian. I do think it's impossible to assess one's own language skill. Some people are intermediate one week and the very next week they have become natives.. Others stay beginners for life.
On the other hand, most of us are capable of assesing which sex we are and where we come from. I'm in favour of having to put up basic information, it can't hurt anyone and would avoid many mistakes in our answers.
I am right behind you Ian , I find this not only annoying , but a little disrespectful.
I am tired of flying in the dark , not knowing who or what someone is , can lead
to an embarrassing answer or comment , so be upfront and front up .
I agree that it is useful to know someone self assessed level of fluency. It is equally valuable to know their native language and country. All of this is pretty safe information to reveal. So what is the issue.?
If this is a petition consider this my signature!
When I see someone with 3 zeros I assume they are looking for a homework answer regardless of how well they write the posting.
Please! Don't allow zeros after English and Spanish in the profile. There needs to be a word after each (perhaps in a dropdown menu) such as: beginner, intermediate, limited usage, frequent usage, advanced, fluent. Gender should be required. These three fields should be required before postings can be made. You can take birthday out that really doesn't tell us much.
Hmmmm, just noticed with the exception of Annie, all the advocates stumping here are guys. Are we all being too control-freaky? 
Or just more comfortable with the idea of having more personal information made public maybe?
Just thought it was interesting.
Well. I'm lazy. There I said it. I never go to users to look at the profile before answering a question. That's why I advocate a Learning: Spanish/English or a Native Language: Spanish/English be displayed below the user name on every question and answer.
The most straightforward way that I can think of is to require a profile as a system requirement for posting a question. Do you have some "pull" with the administrators? A stop gap method would be to simply answer those posts with "Complete your profile, including language level and country, so we can better understand your situation and we will answer you."
I'm all for that. The good thing about that is,even if the site doesn't adopt it, a large number of users could, and it would defacto trend to becoming the norm.
And yes, though level is subjective, it needn't be perfect to be useful, At least having a vague, even if imperfectly accurate assessment is a good starting point, and much better than nothing. This is not a case where rigor is required.
Also, a simple extra sentence in the sighup procedure mentioning that more will respond, and will respond better,, would go at least a good ways to getting people to fill the info out.
Otoh, sites like this are run by advertising, and a site owner wouldn't readily adopt anything that might deter new users. We, as current users, can make it clear, by both statements and actions, that W.E. require it.
Very good thoughts Ian.
