I think a limit like that would cause people to post more useless things just so they can get to ask their question. I'm still fairly new in this field so I have more questions than valuable input I can offer most of the time. But I do find a simple Google search very useful. )
Speaking as a brand new, complete and utter n00b who is currently plugging away at her CCE, I will add my 2 cents. Or pennies if you're on the other side of the Atlantic (Hi mum!) )
As of right now, I don't think you need me to inflate my post count by hearing me talk about discoveries like "OMG - look at what I found in the NTUSER.dat file!!!". Because I'm sure you all know exactly what I found in there and don't need me to tell you about it.
And although I'm not asking questions right now (did I mention I'm in the middle of my last CCE exam?) I'm sure I will be asking some stupendously dumb questions in the future because keyword searching does not always get you the golden needle in the haystack. Not even Google gets you the golden needle all the time.
A practical suggestion might be to set up a n00b forum so those that feel moved to answer dumb questions can do so, and we n00bies have somewhere "safe" to ask those silly questions that others with more experience may scoff at.
I would not approve of such a rule and I like the forum the way it is.
The people who post questions begging for help and 'abuse' the forum by 'leeching', still ask questions that when answered become a great resource for others to learn from.
I think if we keep the constraints on interaction to a minimum, we will keep the spirit of Forensic Focus as it was intended.
A great exchange of views on a tricky subject. A number of people have already expressed many of my own thoughts far more eloquently than I could have done but I'll make a stab at trying to make my own position clear…
Personally, I'm a little less concerned by the prevalence of some of the newbie questions we see these days than appears to be the case for a small number of other members - I think it's just the price we have to pay (to some degree) for being part of a field which has exploded in popularity over the past few years. I'm also not convinced that just because a potential answer to a particular question might be found using Google that that necessarily means the same question should not be asked in our forums - on the contrary, posting a question seems a perfectly reasonable thing to do and as has already been stated often leads to unexpected and interesting discussions which benefit all of us.
That said, I'm certainly not deaf to the criticism directed towards those who post without first searching the forums themselves - that's just poor netiquette and a source of irritation to all members, regardless of experience level. However, I don't believe that the suggestion to limit posts is either practical or desirable for many of the reasons already mentioned. My primary concern is that such a policy would make potential forum members - of all experience levels - less likely to join and post.
I don't think there's a silver bullet which can solve some of the problems discussed in this thread - frankly, there will always be people who try to take advantage of an open forum without giving anything back - but I can probably do a better job myself of emphasising the importance of the forum search feature and encouraging people to post more fully specified questions (for example, I can include something in the welcome message sent out to new members and add a relevant sticky post to each forum - something already suggested by Paul).
A number of other ideas have been suggested in this thread. Of these I think some are worth looking into further while others are probably not things I'd look to implement, not in the near future at least. A separate newbie forum is an interesting idea and one which we might end up trying but there are a few issues involved which make me slightly hesitant at the moment - I'd like to see if we can make some progress first without it becoming necessary to create such a forum.
I should probably add that forum usage which causes irritation to other users is not the sole preserve of the inexperienced. Occasionally one or two of us (myself included) are guilty of forgetting that these forums are not simply for questions and answers but, at their best, have the potential to offer a genuine sense of community to like-minded professionals and students. I'm constantly delighted by the fact that the vast majority of experienced members appreciate this and do their best - for no reward - to help others. Very rarely, though, irritation gives way to responses which are insensitive, discourteous or otherwise unacceptable. Where we come across a post which makes our blood boil I'd like to suggest that the best course of action in most cases - as suggested here a number of times already - is simply to ignore it. Posting a combative response generally does little more than give the post undeserved visibility and makes the forum seem rather hostile. I'm not saying that we should never engage with those whose posts make us gnash our teeth but tact and diplomacy really should be the order of the day.
I'm very much aware that for a small number of people such talk of community is nothing more than stuff and nonsense and that there are also those whose motivation for using these forums is less than altruistic. That's fine by me, all are welcome, but keep in mind that one of the goals of Forensic Focus is to provide an environment where novices are welcome and encouraged to participate - that won't change and I expect all members, regardless of background or post count, to be treated with the same degree of courtesy.
I welcome further thoughts and comments but for now I'm returning to the golf -)
Jamie