As a new member how come I can't post a link in a private message?

[Lylat_Cruiser]

I can understand for forum posts where a new person can start trolling and start spamming links to unsafe sites but how come I can't share a link or even an image of the url to my google drive in a private message to someone who is trying to help me? I keep getting a message popping up saying:

Your content can not be submitted. This is likely because your content is spam-like or contains inappropriate elements. Please change your content or try again later. If you still have problems, please contact an administrator.
Please note if you are a NEW MEMBER you are unable to post any content that contains hyperlinks of any kind. Please ensure your post does not contain any links especially if you are quoting someone or replying to their post.
​

Is there any way to get around this? I even tried putting spaces in-between the link at various locations to try and tell the other person to just delete the spaces but the same message pops up.

 

[Chary]

You need to just have 5 more posts in forums that aren't intro or EOF, and you should be fine. I think the bypass is having 10 messages.

 

[Scarlet]

It's just to avoid spam. I think the site had a problem once where a spambot would PM users en masse. All you need is ten posts and you can posts links and PM users, so it shouldn't take long. Be aware posts in this section the introduction section and in EoF won't count towards this total.

 

[Lylat_Cruiser]

!!! It works! I just went back to the private message and tried sharing the link again! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[GensokyoIceFairy]

I feel like we should have a word-based blacklist of links instead so legitimate new members can post links but the spammers can't

Does this forum have any form of proxy/spam blacklist implemented?

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

I feel like we should have a word-based blacklist of links instead so legitimate new members can post links but the spammers can't

Does this forum have any form of proxy/spam blacklist implemented?

That wouldn't be enough. Spambots could simply start using any of the dozens of link shorteners to get around that easily, and it's much, much more difficult to go and figure out every single URL any given spambot might use. It's simply easier to keep the post limit for URLs instead.

 

[Scarlet]

With such a low posting requirement to circumvent it, it's a non-issue for legitimate users that really has no down side. My only real complaint regarding it would be the lack of communication. An error message saying "You need X posts to do this, please understand these restrictions are in place to limit spam" or something to that effect would do well in limiting these kinds of posts in site discussions and the associated confusion.

 

[Ariff Tsukasa]

You need to just have 5 more posts in forums that aren't intro or EOF, and you should be fine. I think the bypass is having 10 messages.

Oh I see... No wonder I can't update my status... XP