Due to intelligent spambots sending out private messages, that option for newly joined members has been disabled. Once you become a Citizen, you can PM. Until then, have you tried using Visitor Messages instead?
If you jump into the forums you can see, welcome other new members and go into the book forums and post there, you'll be at 25 posts in no time. Then the Citizen application can be filled in, and you'll be in the City pretty soon.
I was completely unaware that new members couldn't pm. But Erin had a very good point about visitor messages. If you go to someone's profile, you can send them a visitor message. So if you need help with something or want to talk to someone, you could send them a message that way until you are a citizen and get the option for pm's.
Yes, the pm for members who've not yet become Citizens was disabled due to a large amount of spam by spambots. It is very unfortunate, and hopefully the mods will find away around this, but until further notice it's just something we'll have to work around - for example using the methods suggested above.
I was trying to PM a new member the other day and couldn't figure out why I wasn't able to find a link for it... was quite frustrated. Glad to know why now. So I left a visitor message instead. Do they get some sort of notice that a visitor has left a message??
I only wish to add that you can feel free to VM me too.
I got a strange commercial PM the day we were transfered to the new boards.
I trust it that this is what you solved?
You were very much not alone in that. Every time someone reports a post or PM, it creates a thread in Mod Squad to alert us. Mod Squad was VERY busy for a day or two there...