Meh. That solves *a* problem, but not *the* QB64 samples problem. The idea of approved or otherwise specially favored users is simply adding a layer to the Captcha sequence at sign up. "Congratulations, you're not a robot" becomes "congratulations, you have gained sympathy the moderators, so you are free to create a reality show on your own personal thread, where we can inherit and then spread ALL of our old problems." You know the problems I mean: Is the newest version at the top or at the bottom? Oops, the images you need to download are on some other page. Where's the download button? What if someone just routinely deletes everything Clippy says in their thread for no reason? What if one guys lets you say "fuck" but another doesn't? Too slippery. Steve's suggestion could allow every poster to become AJoyfulProgrammer. Do ya feel me?
I think It will work like this:
First of all, the actual database containing the sample programs shouldn't be trusted to forum software/mechanics. Forums aren't databses. The actual data should be in an intuitive structure that we can move around, back up, etc., - completely independent of these forums. What about when [abandoned, outdated and now likely malicious qb64 dot net website - don’t go there] comes back, and then we have this weird hybridized forum thing? Nope, nope, nope.
Second, if we layer things right, and if the projects aren't too large, we can get double-duty out of this structure and replace the "samples" folder that comes with qb64.
So then:
There will be a Samples section, just like there is now, but it should be renamed to Archives to better describe its function. It will be curated by the same select few that Steve just named. (But don't forget Fellippe.) The programs that are uploaded there, along with their descriptions/tags, will be done by hand, by the mods, period. No broken English, no caps lock, no bullshit. It will be considered as a kind of museum, a place for finished projects that need minimal maintenance. This is true for most QB works out there - the authors are mostly gone.
As for the true "Samples" section, we clearly need a new thread for those on the forums. New and developing programs can be "hot" in the forums for months or even years. Once the novelty of a program wears off, it gets migrated to the Archive. If the program was never novel in the first place - if its a blatant reinvention of what's already there, then... the coder will have to make it unique enough to stand out. I don't want 5000 identical broken calculators cluttering our page.
Anyway, I'll "ask" Odin what he thinks about all this.