Thanks!
I wondered if it might be something like that (and I can even support that rationale)... ...but that only adds to my frustration since, as I said, I registered specifically to reply to another user's post, and I spent a couple of hours trying to find out how to make my reply, and now another couple of hours with this thread!
BTW, I forgot to mention earlier that I also already checked the FAQ to see if my problem (being unable to reply to another's post) was addressed there, but it didn't seem to be. Nor could I find any Forum Rules that indicate anything about the problem (e.g., explaining any newbie restrictions).
Did I miss this newbie restriction somewhere??? I certainly looked for it, and if I had seen it, I would have completely understood the rationale and wouldn't have wasted my time trying to post a reply or my posts in this thread, not to mention everyone else's time reading this thread!
I've run into one forum where newbie privileges are completely restricted (can't even access your own user profile) until you've made at least one post to introduce yourself, another forum where you have to complete a user challenge (e.g., Captcha) for the first 5 posts, and a third forum where you can't add a sig until you have at least 5 posts, but in each case the limitations were explicitly stated up front so you knew what to expect. I certainly understand the need to prevent spamming and reduce hijacking, but such newbie restrictions are certainly not typical on the VAST majority of forums, and I don't understand imposing such limitations without making them explicit so a newcomer doesn't have to experience so much frustration and waste so much time trying to figure it out.
Not exactly user friendly... (!) ...Even with your reply, I still have no idea how soon I would be able to post the reply I intended to post in the first place!
And even if automatic newbie restrictions explain my being unable to reply to another user's post, what does that have to do with being unable to access my own user Profile? (My guess is that average newbies would probably never have figured out that they could access their profile from the second item in the dropdown menu even though they couldn't by clicking on their name.)
Again, I understand the need to prevent spamming, and I've seen forums that were destroyed by spam when some kind of restrictions weren't used (registration at a minimum). But I'm sure the goal isn't to frustrate and drive away satisfied users of a fantastic product!!!