Point well taken tilly. My intention wasn't to suggest a quiz or test be a core part of what PerlMonks is. What I've seen here in my brief stay is what I've seen in other technical communities. There are people that have come here and asked for help in maybe the only way they know how. And that's to basically ask someone else to do what they are trying to do. I've also seen these nodes get very negative reputations along with people responding in a way that lets them know that getting someone else to do their work for them isn't welcome here.

I have the feeling that a lot of these people never come back. Probably in part do to the fact that some of them have no desire to spend any time here if they don't have a problem to solve. But I'd also hazard a guess that some of them didn't feel welcome. Now if that's their general M.O. then they probably don't fit in with people here. But what about the people that just aren't aware? In their eyes, I'd imagine that posting a question and learning that the reputation being -8 is a really bad thing might not sit to well with these people. And all this is happening without them really knowing why.

Granted, it is partly their fault for not reading the FAQ's beforehand. But it's also something that people here have to deal with, and there's probably some people that would enjoy PerlMonks who never stick around.

With the negative responses that have been posted here, I can see why a "quiz" may not be the best thing. It was my idea for a means to an end. That end being to create an introduction for newcommers.

Would those who don't like this idea be opposed to something during the account creation process (without a test). Some reading that would possibly enlighten some of the people to the general expecatations? Answer some common questions? Present them with the FAQ?

Rich