Frequently Posted Bugs/Suggestions

[Derek Stone]

• Why is the minimum search length 4 characters and how do I search for less?
  Searching requires indexing all words from the minimum length on
  up. To reduce the minimum length from 4 to 3 would require
  significant resources and slow the whole forum down. A method
  that can sometimes work when searching for 3 character terms is
  to use the wildcard * as the fourth character (ex. ADO*, API*).
• Why does it say <insert name of free email provider here> is a banned email address?
  This is to help prevent people from mass-registering or
  registering with fake email addresses. While we dont ban all
  free email services, when we have repeated problems with users
  using a service, we add it to the list. In addition, the server was
  being overwhelmed with bounced mail, mostly from these free
  email services.
• Why cant I select an avatar (have an image under my username in posts)?
  You need to accumulate 25 posts before you can have an avatar.
  This helps us to lessen server load and keep users who only visit
  a few times from taking up valuable server space with their
  uploaded images.

Thanks Keith for getting these together.