Private messages...

I seem to be getting a lot of private messages whenever I help out in a thread. Usually if I don't explain well enough or what I have said doesn't work I end up with a pm asking me to solve it instead of just posting in the thread like any "normal" person would/should.

I even get a few messages asking me to write whole scripts for people because they don't get what people in their thread are telling them, I haven't even posted in that thread half the time.

I enjoy private messages because it gives a chance to communicate with other forum members off topic but if this keeps up I may have to disable my private messaging which would be a shame.

I'm sure other people must get this to?
Is there anyway to control this problem other than closing my inbox?

I wasn't aware that members were being bombarded with questions through their PM boxes. While there currently is no explicit rule on CF that prohibits one member from pming another to solicit help, I can see how this can become a problem.

For now if you feel "hassled" by another member (intentional or not on the other party's part), please forward the PM to me, and I'll take it from there. I'm open to the discussion of whether a rule should be added to discourage others from pming for help, if this is a big problem.

I had a similair problem at first, and responded to all of them with, basically, "please don't PM questions"; I won't offer help through PM, won't answer tech questions or participare in dicsussions which should be in the forum; just say no.

But that's not a golden rule; more like a guideline. I know it sounds harsh ... but it's not unfair.

i dont find it a problem anymore... but i used to get a few with html/css questions where i'd helped out but i took the same approach as brothercake... well... id ask them to post back to the thread... and then answer the question ;)