Completing profiles in reasonable time!!!
This is particularly a question for all the Mods ( and Rockers!, just joking about Rockers! lol hehehe)
Could we make completing your (one's) profile a condition for posting a question in future so that if a person did not complete their profile details either
1.upon joining SpanishDict or...
2.within a set (prescribed) time limit say 1 month, they would not be able to post a question or continue posting questions/answers?!
I am sure that I am not alone in being sick and tired of asking new members to complete their profiles so that we know their gender and especially their level of proficiency (ability) in both Spanish and English! 
I have no desire at all to turn away new members or discourage existing members from continuing to participate with us but having to remind people on an almost daily basis to fill in their profiles is beyond a joke!!!
Surely there must be something we can do (or that can be done) to improve the situation?! Does/would the Spanishdict management team support such a move?
I would be interested to hear the views of other people here, especially Spanish-speaking natives and others who use various language wesites, as I do, how these sites deal effectively (or not, as the case may be ) with the same issue!
I look forward to reading your contributions! 
You don't all have to agree with me lol but please just disagree in a respectful manner giving valid reasons!
10 Answers
Well I haven't completed my profile yet. I could of course complete it with lies! However, when I first signed up I did put my gender the country where I lived and my language level as that impacted on any posts I wished to make.
I may put more information later.
I do think it shows a thoughtlessness for other forum members if you choose not to put the minimum information before you ask a question. I have put before that there should be give and take.
However, do you want to risk scaring off some of the newer learners who may think you are being nosy or bossy? Some of the posts a probably from teenagers who are oblivious to what they should do.
I get fed up with silly comments [ie not a question] and requests for translating a very short simple phrase with no context or suggestion as to why they think it is difficult.
The people who have added to the post are all keen contributors to the forum - it is a pity we do not know what attracts frivolous posts and empty profiles.
I definitely post asking people to add the details if it is their second question or a clear 'I cannot be bothered to do my homework'
I will stop now as I am getting splinters in my bottom!
This is not an unreasonable request. Many on-line websites such as "memrise.com" where I am improving my Hebrew, require a profile before you can do anything.
After all, if one is displeased with SD, all one has to do is delete the user name and the profile and "el splitto."
I hate to discuss realism, okay maybe that is not always true, frequently I like to play the devil's advocate, even for things I don't support.
But to win this, like anything, you need to frame things from the perspective of who you are trying to convince. Not from your own- I have seen many arguments where two people spout off at each other ad nauseum and never make any headway.
So, the owners make their money selling ads- traffic is what makes them money- the more new visits, the more people looking at the ads, the more money. I don't know what the formula is, our how their "hits" are calculated for the advertisers- new vs. return, members versus non-member looks, etc. But they do, and if they fear making signup take more steps will result in less new signups and so less advertising revenue, they won't do it.
What the convincing factor will need to be is that perhaps if we have more information, and so can give better answers, those people will come back for more answers (if that generates more revenue?). But it has to work in their business model.
Keep in mind this is a business. And our free site, that we all love so much, has to be supported somehow.
So you need to convince them it is to their benefit, not ours.
I have suggested, and continue to suggest, that completing a profile be a requirement when someone joins SD. I want to ask each of you to do the same. If enough members send in their support for this idea, eventually I believe it will be implemented.
It's fine to open a thread like this to see if others feel the same and I think it's a good idea, but we all need to send these suggestions to SD through the Feedback, or by sending an email. They need to hear from you as well as me and the other moderators.
I see no reason why potential members should not want to give language details, after all, this is a language learning site.
Please send in your suggestions.
The registration process could be altered to require basic profile information before granting access to the forum.
Come on guys we are not asking the impossible nor the unreasonable.
I never vote for anyone who has an empty profile.
Most people reveal far more on their Facebook account.
Not me of course far to dangerous and intrusive.
We are just talking minimum requirements here:
1.gender
2 Level of proficiency in Spanish and English.
Not rocket science, really! Beyond that, they can say as little or as much as they want in their profiles....these 2 basic requirements are not deeply personal information!
Perhaps a note could be added on the forum explaining that the quality of the answers they receive and our ability to tailor them to their needs will depend on their cooperation in completing this basic information!
The bottom line is this: if we not know the native language they speak and understand nor how well they can communicate in that language they may not understand our replies and fail to be satisfied with our replies! They may then turn to other language websites to obtain better responses and Spanishdict could lose potential business!
May I inject a little realism here.
We are not talking about "members that are here to
learn Spanish/English and from day one contribute to the forum , complete
lessons and make flash cards etc, they have their profile filled and we know who
they are and quickly get to know them as friends and members that are here as
much to learn for themselves as they are to help us in our quest to learn.
No this is about the "Students " that are here merely for their homework ,
often they just post a few words nothing else , and a few members
(the same few) are masters of the dark art of 'prescience' so they answer them
other students post great tracts of Spanish saying "I want this translated now.
and they get it done by these same "seers" who offer them a fish never the rod
which I think does them no good, they probably graduate with great marks
but when they enter the real world they will be ill equipped to compete with
students that have worked for their degrees.
Ray you are being cynical ! How can you know this?
Well I have been working for 8 hours a day as have the
other mods reading every post and comment ,I give a welcome to every student
and ask for their profile to be filled in mainly the language level ,after they have
posted 3 times I send them a PM asking why they do not comply ,and in
all these years not ONE student has sent me a reply ,the only replies that I
have had have been from genuine members three of whom recently are now
acting as correctors for us.
In the past few weeks I have watched students
getting more attention and answers than members that spend many hours
writing up a thread for the betterment of all members , and then get wry
comments from members that rarely if ever answer our threads , I have
reached the point where I can no longer bother posting a lesson which has
received as little as 1 answer and maximum of 4, or translation exercise with the
same dismal response .I am here to help, teach and to learn , not to watch over
students that are quite plainly here to cheat .
I think that it is time that I moved on, I can no longer fight for our members while
my ankles are being bitten from behind , we are nothing without 100% support.
I have just sent feedback the following note:
In addition to any other requirements to sign up for spanishdict.com, please require of new members, before they are accepted as members able to post on the forum, that they put in their profiles:
1.gender
2 Level of proficiency in Spanish and English
I want to help new members with their questions about Spanish or English, but it is difficult to respond to them if this information is lacking.
Thank you, Jubilado, member since Feb 08, 2011
I find this a vexing question because for me it is a matter of common courtesy ,all the members here that contribute regularly have our names and proficiency out on show , (whether they are our real names is immaterial ) but for a new member to come on and write a few words expecting us to know what they are wanting , and without introducing themselves is just plain ignorant , I dislike it immensely. It is like walking up to someone in the street and just saying,"hey you translate this" .From my observations it is only young students that do this ,most members that are genuinely wanting to learn a language will comply to our requests for a profile . rac 1 is correct if enough members send feedback then this problem will dissipate , after all all we are asking is the most basic of human interactions namely, "-G'day my name is Ray I am a complete numbnut in spanish ".
