If at all possible you could make it so new people had to spend 24 hours before they could post their first post.  You could explain in their e-mail conformation that they should read over all the forum rules and read through some of the posts to get a feel for it.  That way(and don't get me wrong I think it's funny as hell) we wouldn't get all the "Hi I'm new here and want to make friends" threads that most the regulars jump on to make fun of the new people.  The only new member we get a thick skinned which is a good thing, but if we didn't scare off every new idiot that couldn't see the rules posted at the top then the community might grow a lil bigger which I would assume is a goal of the administration.  Just an idea I decided to throw out there, now I'm off to the thread to belittle a young girl I will never have to deal with in public.  toodles.