Me too. It is a very helpful thread. Most of newbies don't read it but some of them will do read it. It can be helpful for old members who have not known about many threads in the list.
Pinned / stickied threads are for people who need it, not for all, not for spammers, scammers, etc.
Half of the first page will be covered with stickys. If this comes true i would love an option to hide the stickys.
All that can be avoided with a simple Welcome message, while is more likely to be implemented.
Just a simple link in news feed for the first 7 days online should be enough.
theymos. Please pin the thread "Writing a welcome message" in Meta or B&H. I made my proposal about it but the community seems not support the idea.
Log-in pop-up Welcome message is more favorite by community. I think it is a good idea.
@OP,
The forum is not built for merit, it is built for bitcoin, then after long path it was opened for altcoins and some other things. Merits naturally help the forum a better place (less spam, higher quality post, more actively scam-fighting/ spam-reporting, etc.). If one need to know about merit sytem, how to earn merit, that thread
Merit & new rank requirements. Read that OP and scan some merited posts inside are enough.
Of course, the
Welcome message can help too.
All topics you listed in OP are from lazy members who don't use Search of the forum. It is easy to find what they need for by Searching.