I got promoted, and now I don't have access to post new threads in any of the Welcome Area forums. I don't think it's on my end; logging in/out and changing browsers didn't help. I tried to get there directly by changing the URL, but the forum returned an Access Denied page.

Is this intentional?

Full member cannot create threads in welcome discussion. If you want new people to comment on your threads ask a mod to move a thread for you.

Full members can reply to threads in the Welcome Area.

Full members cannot create threads in the Welcome Area.

Please create new threads in the appropriate section of the full member areas (ie. Open Discussion instead of Welcome Discussion).

Firstly, congratulations on your promotion to full membership!

I'm fairly sure that loss of posting rights in the welcome area is meant to happen. Although it sometimes occurs as a result of a random error, the "Access Denied" mesage is a fairly clear sign that your account permissions have been amended. By my recollection, this may have been mentioned before. I just had a look at the Welcome discussion section and at my end there's a "new topic" button above the list of threads there. Perhaps that is a function of my senior membership, I never knew.

Having given this a further moment's thought it seems to me that this is a feature to ensure that newly promoted members get to notice the fact rather than simply plodding away unawares posting in the Welcome area for evermore.

Now you'll have to work out which section of the forum to post your thread in instead!

Hrm, fair enough. Kinda sad I didn't get to post my First Steps in Hyperspace thread, but that's all right. Question now is, what do I do with a chemistry thread that's too specific/technical for Open Discussion, too simple for Advanced Chemistry, and not specific to a particular tek?

I know it's nobody's fault, but I spent over an hour writing up a post to put in FAQ, only to lose it all when I clicked "Preview" and got an Access Denied page. Good reminder to use a word processor, but now I get to retype the whole thing... I had plans this evening!

the majority of us are not chemists, so any chemistry is advanced chemistry. and since there isnt a simple chemistry thread, im thinking take it to advanced chemistry. im pretty sure youre about to show us how competent you are, so dont worry what impression the placement of your posts gives.

Sorry to hear your post disappeared - usually I find things remain in the cache when using the back button (actually alt+left, being my keyboard shortcut).