Is there any way to "force" new subscribers to fill out their PC-data in the profile?
I hate to see all these PC-specs in the various posts.
Also, Signatures should not be "abused" by filling the PC-specs in there.

You can't force them. And many of them wouldn't even understand what the fields in the computer specs mean.

I would like to force people to read the community guidelines and the "how to make a post worth reading" thread.

Any offers of server side mass mind control devices are welcome

Maybe give out common sense brain implants to TS members?

No
How is it abuse?, maybe people like perporting their systems so everyone can see them

Like Nodsu says, we can't force users to fill that information... you have my complete support however to initiate a campaign against long signatures.

According to our posting guidelines, signatures should be =< 4 lines.

http://www.techspot.com/extras/forum...es/index.shtml

Whereas I agree that I prefer sig's to be short & to the point, I'm not quite sure I agree with you when you say If someone is asking a computer related question I much prefer the person to list his specs in that post instead of just say click on my profile...
It saves me from opening another tab (and since I'm usually using 5-8 tabs at any time one more can be a hassle), and allows me to focus on that one tab (plus any searching I might have to do).

Yeah, I'm lazy when it comes to this, but since I'm not the one who's doing the asking...

Putting the most relevand specs of your system in aproblem post is OK in my opinion. It saves time and makes it easier to comprehend the whole post (and all help is needed when trying to understand the posts of some people).

Also, it would be an overkill to expect someone to fill in her whole profile if she just wanted to ask one single question about, say, being able to write a CD in her DVD drive.

Thanks for all your answers.
Julio answered one which might be "enforcible", i.e. limiting the signature to 4 lines. This could be realised (me thinks) by limiting the Signature area to a pre-set number of characters including spaces (4 x 100?) spread over maximum 4 lines (HTML anyone?)

Let me re-phrase my original text:
Would it be possible to "encourage" new-comers to fill out the specs, by informing them properly of the benefits, when they sign up? E.g. not referring only to "read the forum rules" but asking/telling them on their first Sign-up page?

I am not paranoid about these things, perhaps just too clinical.

Thanks again for listening to my ramblings.

If the new members are anything like me then all they are thinking while registering to somewhere is "I want in! I want in!" - all they read are the (possible) spam check boxes.

Noone bothers with all that "be nice" and "we are not responsible for anything" crap. You just scroll to the bottom and click "I agree".

Hehehe, you're not the only one who thinks that way nodsu

Besides, if we do see anyone with long sigs, images etc. the person will get a PM asking him/her to remove the offending parts of the sig.
And if, after a while, nothing has happened one of the mods might change the sig for the user....

But if you feel there's someone who's having a way longer sig than (s)he should, send a mod a pm, and they'll look into it...