# Main > Technical Support and Notices >  Wasn't it 3 posts??

## jjreal

I feel like last time I logged on it required only 3 posts now its up to five. I myself am not an avid poster and I feel like I'm being blocked by the site. Its damn frustrating!

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## Voolf

It you are reffering to Private Message, as far as i know it was always unlocked after first 5 initial posts.

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## Mouse

Well at least it isn't 50  :Smile:

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## ChickPea

Hey Voolf, I think he's probably referring to the fact that the first five comments from new members have to be manually approved by CLs.

Hi jjreal, I'm sorry you're frustrated but no-one is trying to block you. We require all new members have their first few comments manually approved to stop spam. It's always been five comments, which really isn't so many. If you reply to this comment, that'll be your fifth comment and after that new posts will go through automatically.

The fight against spam is relentless. We recently had to implement a new policy where profiles are also locked down until you make five comments, as the latest spam trick is to fill profiles with nonsense text and links to dubious sites. Because these spammers never posted, it was harder to spot them. I'm telling you this in the hope you'll understand why we have to take these measures. Spammers sign up for this site every single day hoping to pollute the forums with their garbage. I can understand it might be annoying to have to wait an hour or two before your comments appear, but we have to consider the user experience for the site overall. Spam kills forums, but these days there's almost none at the Guild because of the measures we have in place.

So, go post one more comment and then you'll be a full member and free to post without moderation.  :Smile:

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## Mouse

Cheer up.  Its not as if you are the only one who has to pass the test.  

Every single last one of us here has passed the same 5 comment test when we first singed up.

Even people who are ultimately destined to become CLs like ChickPea had to go through it when they first signed up

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## Glacialis

I thought it was posting five *topics*, and as a (currently) unskilled amateur I didn't think I had enough material to start five threads. Woohoo!

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## ChickPea

Nope, five comments. Once you've made five, a script runs once an hour to upgrade you to a regular member and comments will post automatically after that. Easiest way to 'upgrade' yourself is to have a browse through Finished Maps and leave a few comments on maps you like.

Welcome to the Guild!  :Smile:

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## swiss

> Nope, five comments. Once you've made five, a script runs once an hour to upgrade you to a regular member and comments will post automatically after that. Easiest way to 'upgrade' yourself is to have a browse through Finished Maps and leave a few comments on maps you like.
> 
> Welcome to the Guild!


I made 5 comments last night but I don't think that script ran for me

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## ChickPea

Hi swiss. Firstly, welcome to the forum.

The reason your comments haven't been showing is because they've been sitting in moderation. Making posts in random threads saying little more than "2/5" and "3/5" makes us think you're either a bot or a spammer, as we get plenty of those trying to sneak past us. 

I can see now that you're not a bot, so I've approved a couple of your posts, but we're not going to approve comments where you are blatantly only trying to boost your post count. It adds nothing to the forum discussions, and it's a little disrespectful to the person whose thread you're posting in. 

All you have to do is pick a few threads and say a variation of 'Nice map' and your comments will be approved immediately. Have a browse through Finished Maps and spread some love, and you'll soon be a full member of the site.

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## swiss

> Hi swiss. Firstly, welcome to the forum.
> 
> The reason your comments haven't been showing is because they've been sitting in moderation. Making posts in random threads saying little more than "2/5" and "3/5" makes us think you're either a bot or a spammer, as we get plenty of those trying to sneak past us. 
> 
> I can see now that you're not a bot, so I've approved a couple of your posts, but we're not going to approve comments where you are blatantly only trying to boost your post count. It adds nothing to the forum discussions, and it's a little disrespectful to the person whose thread you're posting in. 
> 
> All you have to do is pick a few threads and say a variation of 'Nice map' and your comments will be approved immediately. Have a browse through Finished Maps and spread some love, and you'll soon be a full member of the site.


Apologies. I've never seen a spam deterrent that consists of incentivizing people to post a bunch of messages when they sign up. Seems a bit ironic. The thumbnail page of the finished maps is off limits to me (the page in question: https://www.cartographersguild.com/finished_thumbs.php). It says "You must be a Guild Member to view this page." Can you grant me access to that page? Cheers,

Sincerely,

Not a robot

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## ChickPea

Our five posts rule isn't so much to incentivize people to post. It's more 'prove you're not a spammer and have benign intentions'. It used to be that new members could post in the forums right away, but the spam levels were getting to be beyond a joke and something had to be done. Excessive spam kills forums, so the five posts moderation rule was put in place. 

I know it's frustrating when you want to dive right in, but you can't cos you're waiting on someone approving you. However, we feel that forum spam sucks more, and for most people, the approval process is a minor inconvenience that they move beyond within their first few days (or hours) of membership.

You've got six comments now, so as soon as the server runs its script to update memberships, you'll have all privileges. It might take up to an hour (though likely less) and then you can do and see what you want.  :Smile:

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## madeiner

I agree, this is kinda limiting for benign users.
I tried to contact someone on the facebook page to get approved, but didn't work  :Smile: 
I wanted to commision some work and be able to PM users... but it's been hard.

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## nopkin

ChickPea, I think you guys are doing a great job moderating these forums! Five posts isn't too much (besides, you don't have to make five comments to get your message to show up, you just have to bear with a little delay until it's approved).

We often take for granted the nice experience of browsing through all these conversations without having to see even a single spam post, but that doesn't come for free. So thanks to everyone who spends their time and effort to make this an awesome place!

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## Mouse

*chuckle*

It does make me laugh when people start moaning about the anti-spam measures, but the truth is the people who complain would probably be the first to abandon this site if it was even just half as spammed as some of the other forums I've seen  :Razz: 

Three cheers for the Community Leaders!  :Very Happy:

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## MapMappingMapped

But seriously, some forums are so easily invaded by trolls! I was surprised when I came across this one. Like, really. Some forums are entirely made out of spam.

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## Azélor

Anyone here has been on the Deviant Art forums?
Just go check for a minute to see what a forum can become with no moderation.

I think DA is a awesome place as long as you stay away from the forums and the bad people.

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## Falconius

No, I didn't even know DA had forums.  I use it to follow artists and favourite their work.  DA functionality is kind of too broad and shallow though, I think they could do with some revision of their system in general, not just moderating the forums.

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## DanielHasenbos

I really don't understand why people complain about having to make 5 posts before getting full access to the forum. As many people already pointed out, this place is completely(!) free of spam. I've been here since 2015 and never came across a post that doesn't belong here. As I understand it, the 5 posts rule is for the most part the reason for that, together with the wonderful management of the Admins and Community Leaders. 

Making 5 posts isn't that hard either. I mean, just find the first 5 threads in the finished map section and say "This looks good!". Before you know it you have full access. I don't get why anyone would make a big deal out of it...

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## MapMappingMapped

I didn't even have to go on the Finished Map threads. Five posts is nothing. In a day (or two) I was free as a bird!

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## Kalium

As someone still on their first five, I don't mind. You gotta keep out spam and from the looks of it you guys are doing a good job. (Nor am I a fan of unmoderated wilds. DA is indeed a scary place!) If I need to do something to prove I'm not spamming, this isn't painful.

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## ThomasR

Azélor is right, I've just checked the DA forums ... that's pretty awful !

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## Diamond

> Making 5 posts isn't that hard either. I mean, just find the first 5 threads in the finished map section and say "This looks good!". Before you know it you have full access. I don't get why anyone would make a big deal out of it...


cough*entitlement*coughcough

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