I will encourage those that are new in this forum to always visit the meta and reputation board, some cases over there will help you know what you should do or not do in this forum
This advice is not for beginners alone even some older members in this forum, because I believe some older members still don’t know all the rules.
Lastly try to read the pinned posts in every board you visit
Even you Op don't know all the rules on this forum, we all grow the basics rules and grow never to break them, have been corrected so many times at this level, not because I don't know the rules, we are humans and we make mistakes at times we forgot rules. Just as you said, we shouldn't be hard on any one that broke the rules, we should give the opportunity to correct themselves. If they keep breaking same rules then action should be taken asap.
No community can build well without rules and regulations, humans being can't work perfectly without law and discipline, that's why this forum has rules and regulations to guide our activities, we have to read them and try to keep them, newbie should not contribute to any thread without going through beginners and help thread, read all the rules and be use to it before making any post.