was there any discussion of reducing 180/180 to some other smaller multiple of 30 (to keep it in months) ?

I think OMNI or maybe Coupon Connection used to be 90/90. But both are at 180/180 and I think those are fair, attainable numbers.

I don't believe so. It may have been 90/90 at some point, but it wasn't enough for some of the trolls. Heck, I've found a few of them that have mutiple handles they are nursing in the event of a future suspension. Seriously. I think I have noticed and reported 3 of them because they can't hide their writing/posting style for very long.

At least a 6 month wait gives some more breathiing room.

When I tell you 180/180 is a blessing - I mean it.

Personally, if someone wants to make that kind of effort, well, let them troll. Nobody's that disruptive.

I don't have any problem with bona fide, committed FT newbies having access to OMNI from post one and day one.

But how do you identify them and single them out from the overwhelming, 24/7/365 onslaught that we get hit from by Spammers, Trolls and Search Engine Bots?

Our rather sophisticated software kicks them out of the system and into Mod Queue Limbo before 99.9% of FT'ers have to see their carnage.

Trust me the Spam and Troll attacks are ceaseless and persistent against FT and other similar websites and the 180/180 rules keeps the Barbarians At The Gate quite well nowadays.

The same way the moderators in the airline and hotel forums do? Are any of these unique to OMNI? We get all of those in the airline and travel forums, too. I regularly report them to the moderators when I see them before they do. If the forum needs additional moderators more could be appointed. OMNI has less moderators that either of the airline forums I post on.

Personally, I don't have a problem with search engines indexing anything I post publicly. I don't think OMNI should be a secret forum. With thousands of FTers already having access (is there a hard number?), I just can't imagine that anyone thinks what they post there is secret in any way and that a search engine should handle OMNI posts any differently than what I post on an airline forum. I have used non-FT search engines before to locate material on FT and it would just open up another forum that I could search in that manner, say for a consumer issue that might have been discussed before.

Actually, I believe they have reduced the days from 180 to 60 days & 60 posts. I think they will eventually to changed the days from 180 to 60 days who already joined FlyerTalk. They will allowed access into Omni. If some member who already have 60 posts & 60 days.

Would you consider it your "home" forum, though, much like I consider AA my "home" forum? Is is central to your FT experience? With 95 of your last 100 posts in OMNI, it looks like it is central to your FT experience. I can't see how it would not be. Why can't other members of FT decide on their own, without entry requirements, if they want to participate in OMNI at the same level you do, or at the same level I do? Most of them are locked out right now and don't have the option to decide what level they want to participate in OMNI.

I regularly post in OMNI and it's central to my FT experience, just as the airline and hotel forums are. I visit that forum everyday. I may not be a heavyweight there but I've posted regularly there my entire time on FT.

You and I have an opportunity to add to post count in that forum while others without access have to get it by posting in airline and hotel forums. I've seen members post before that it's hard to answer questions on those forums, and get post credit, because questions tend to be answered within 5 minutes and they don't have anything additional to contribute. It's a long road to get to 180/180.

Why shouldn't all members that want to participate in OMNI, and decide if it's central to their FT experience, be able to do that, be it for games, politics or consumer issues, now that every post there counts the same as a post in an airline or hotel forum? That's how OMNI was when I started here. I'm just asking Talk Board to turn the clock back on this, just as they have done this week with OMNI post count.

If any changes are made, will you please consider people, like myself, who have been members for many years, and who only post when they feel they have a unique contribution to make to a discussion, so have a low post count.

In theory, I could make a batch of posts, but they possibly wouldn't be adding anything to discussions that have not been covered already.

What are the qualifying criteria for omni? if it is 60/60 how do I gain access as I am above both figures?

The current qualifying criteria are 180/180, so you don't yet qualify. When you do, it will automatically appear, and if it doesn't, log out and then log back in.

You should always feel you have something to add. Unless you're just repeating what was already said, different people have different things to contribute. Even if something was already said, but you have a personal opinion or experience, share it!

You could send a note to the Omni mods (cholula & essxjay) or to the CD and asked to be allowed access based upon your years of membership and contributions.

Being a contributing member was one of the reasons to only allow access after a period of time and posts. For Omni, the other, was to keep out trolls and spammers.

Absolutely correct. The 180/180 thing is not meant as a punishment to a contributing member who doesn't post all that often but has been around a few years. It's meant primarily to keep out trolls and Spammers but also, importantly, to let Newbies see what FT is all about before taking up permanent residence in the OMNI's.

I view time as a member as more important than number of posts when making a 180/180 exception. But all such requests are passed along to the CD who ultimately flips the switch if she agrees.

I just passed 180 posts and have been a member for more than a year. How do I get access to OMNI, the coupon forum (I think that's what it's called), etc.

It should happen quickly, but IIRC you need to logout and login again for the system to update your access privileges.

Thanks, NSX. I'll try that.