Hi, I’m new to postcrossing, and more than a little forgetful. I sent two postcards out today without their postcard IDs, what is the protocol? Do I message the recipients immediately to let them know? Or do I allow an amount of time to pass first? Thanks for your advice!
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Hello @KGPP777 
and WELCOME:tada:
I would contact the individuals you mailed a 
too ASAP and let them know.
It happens to the best of us😉
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It’s happened to me. I just message them and let them know that I forgot to put the ID on the card and I tell them what it is. I think many of us have done that. This is normal. Enjoy Postcrossing! It’s a wonderful hobby.
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Thank you both!
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I did it once too, early in my Postcrossing career, and another time I forgot the stamp ( until I was about to put it in the mailbox and then grabbed it back!)
So I created a protocol for doing my cards. First, choose the card. Then put the stamp on it and then the address. Then put the ID in two locations. Then the date and weather. Only then do I write the card.
Haven’t had any problems since adopting this method
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You should never message the recipiant because that spoils the surprise (see Postcrossing guidelines) I would wait some time. When a card arrives without an ID the recipiant can contact the postcrossing team to help find the ID. That works really well. If within a due amount of time the card still is not registered you can still message them.
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I also think this, but the problem is, not all know about this, or don’t care.
I think even when one should not contact the receiver, there are exceptions when it’s ok.
Someone has contacted me when they forgot the id, I liked it, because when the card arrived, I already had the id. Also if it’s a common country card to a member who receives many cards, it’s not always easy to find the id.
Especially now when it’s a new member I think it’s ok to contact the receiver, to help to get the card registered in time. (For example if I see there is no id, I wait until I have time to take photos of the card, or read the postmark, maybe one or two day delay, so not much that ways too, but I understand for a new member waiting can be very hard 
)
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As @Robinchen already wrote: Please don’t ruin the surprise for that member.
Only if the card is not reported after an acceptable period of time you should write to the recipient - but at the latest before the card expires.
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Yesterday, this happened to me twice In the morning, I received a postcard from the USA, but the postal machine almost destroyed the entire ID number on it. During registration, I indicated that the number was not visible, and the technical support sent me the correct ID within an hour. I was able to register the postcard without any problems.
The second story happened in the evening, amusingly, in contrast to my postcard in the USA. After I had already sent it, I remembered that I hadn’t specified the ID. I worried about it for two days, wrote to the recipient that if the postcard arrived without a number, it was mine After that, I sent a second postcard with the number 
. Yesterday, the recipient also used the lost ID form and registered my first postcard without a number. The second one will be a surprise for her So I think there’s no need to worry – if the postcard arrives, the recipient can identify it without any problems.
I like the idea of sending a second card
I have received a card from Russia, when we still got mail from there, the sender told it’s their first card, but there was no id 
that was never found out, because I received a lot of cards from Russia, it’s not easy to tell what it was. Same with Germany, I received a partial card, but there is no id visible, it was not possible to tell who the sender is.
I still feel bad about the Russian card 
and wish they had contacted me, maybe not at once, but at some point maybe.
So when the card is from common country to common country, it can be hard to tell who the sender is if there is no other specifications, like photo, name, city, postmark etc.
Good thing is, most missing and unclear id’s are found!
(And in this case, the card is from common contry, I don’t think much surprise is spoiled, they know they will get a card, not from where, but likely it’s Germany or USA and there still is the message what is a surprise of course, and maybe the photo. But let’s hope the receiver asks for the id and it’s found easily.)
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I appreciate your guy’s feedback. I did end up messaging the recipients. One of them has messaged back graciously saying that they would register the card once it arrives. I certainly didn’t want to ruin their surprise, I just wanted to make sure they got the ID. If I ever forget again, I might wait until a normal amount of time has passed. I was just a little worried 
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You’re welcome.