Forum Rules

Michael O Leary

Hi all,

It has been suggested that I am breaking some forum rules and this is something I am keen not to do so can someone direct me to the forum rules where it deals with referring to closed threads and the roles of moderators? I have looked at the sticky for the martial arts/self-defence forum and could not find anything. Any help would be apprecriated.

Regards,

Michael O'Leary
www.wingtsun-escrima.ie

Dragan

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=304451

Hey Micheal, it is best to maybe take the Charter from AfterHours and apply it to the rest of the site tbh.

Basically it just goes along the lines of common sense. No pointless arguments, no petty name calling, no arguing with Moderators, no posting dodgy clips of stuff, the usual forum rules for pretty much anywhere.

cavedave

I have started up a closed forum where you cannot talk about all sorts of interesting subjects. If anyone is interested in joining, you cannot it is closed
David

Baggio...

breadmonkey wrote:

Post Delete - Mod

This is what I'm talking about...

Budo.Judo.Kev

Michael you shouldn't appraoch boards.ie as if there are some strict rules and if you obey them you will be fine and if you get some heat from the moderators and adimin you can't rely on the rules to save you. there is no right to appeal. you've no right to use this forum. this isn't the real world this is a private message board you're privaledged to use. if you're being genuine in your questioning then I must apologise, but if your trying to find loop holes in rules that don't exist you better just cop yourself on .

vasch_ro

try feedback or Helpdesk

the following may help resolve some questions you may have :

DEATHGIVER2003: Some moderators can be heavy handed though, they can go to far with their banning and editing and stuff.

amp: Yeah, moderators aren't perfect. They can have mood swings like most people. But generally moderators are only entrusted with a board if they prove to not be muppet (I am a notable exception in this case ) and there have been a couple of cases were a moderator has had their moderatorship removed.

A moderators job is to keep order in a board. Their prime directive is to allow civilised on-topic conversation to happen. Sometimes a moderator will have to get tough with people and make a few examples to return a board to order. Mostly this is done for the good of the board in question.

We currently have a few boards (mostly in the Society Section) where highly emotive subjects are discussed. These are very hard boards to moderate as members tempers can quickly flair and fights sometimes have to be broken up. So they tend to have more moderators than most they can seem very harsh sometimes.

DEATHGIVER2003: So what do I do if I feel a moderator is being unfair towards me?

amp: Well, the first thing not to do is argue with the moderator on the thread in question. The first thing you should do is relax, take deep breaths and re-read what happened. Posting in anger is never a good idea at anytime. When you're angry or upset you're not thinking straight. It's like ringing an ex when your drunk; you'll only regret it afterwards.
Another question you should ask yourself is "Am I taking this too seriously?" The Feedback/Suggestions board gets a lot of people posting about their outrage at the actions of moderator. Often, the person starting the thread becomes a target for veteran members to make fun of because of the relative triviality of the complaint.
Now of course the Admins would want to make the point that all complaints would at least be listened to. And almost always they make their opinion known and will act accordinly if need be. But their time is limited. They have jobs to do, real-lives(tm) to lead so posting or pming an Admin should be seen as a last resort.
Try pm'ing the moderator and try to understand the issue from the moderators point of view. After all the moderator will more than likely have been reading that board longer than you and therefore should have a better idea than you about what's acceptable behaviour. This isn't elitism, this isn't the "in-crowd" enforcing their will, this is the way boards is run.

DEATHGIVER2003: Sounds like a dictatorship to me.

amp: The official line on this is that yes, boards is a benevolant dictatorship. And this is the way it has to be currently. Unlike a real-life(tm) country the equipment that runs boards.ie is owned by a private entity, not the general population of boards. But unlike a real-life(tm) dictatorship the people do have a voice. If a general consensus happens on a particular issue then normally it's acted upon, if possible. If you've got a good idea about changes to boards.ie post them to Feedback/Suggestions.

DEATHGIVER2003: What about freedom of speech? And what's the deal with the censor, I mean it's easily bypassed?

amp: The laws of freedom of speech and how they apply to sites on the internet are still a grey area. On boards.ie freedom of expression is generally applied except when an opinion breaks general anti-social rules like racism, sexism etc. Again, imagine a situation in real-life(tm) where you went up to a group of people to spout off some racist diatribe. You'd probably start a fight.

Talking about how to do illegal things is also usually restricted. An example of this is in Games were the moderators stamp out talk of warezed games with ferocity. Why? Because A: Copying games is illegal and B: Boards.ie could technically be shut down by the Garda for allowing illegal activities to take place. And if comes to a choice between Harry Homeowner being able to play The Sims for free or keeping Boards.ie running it becomes a bit of a no-brainer.

The single biggest threat to boards.ie and indeed any bulletin board is a big assed lawsuit. Apart from a server which is worth relatively little, boards.ie as a company has virtually no assets. So a lawsuit could kill it.

That's also why the censor is in place. There's ways round the censor but at least boards.ie can be seen to have done everything in it's power to prevent certain language being said.

Now, alongside this there seems to be a phenomenom on boards.ie which normally involves the Set My People Free phrase being said. There seems to be a growing number of people who want to fight the power for the sake of fighting the power. These rebellious newcomers just seem to have an irrational hatred of anyone in a position of authority


Full thread at http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=129605

Hope this helps to clarify your questions or at least point u in the right direction.

Colm_OReilly

Maybe the Newbie/FAQ board could help you?

I see my role as mod to keep things moving, avoid slanderous and abusive posts. As a forum on boards.ie, we are rife with arguments which would have been shut down on other forums.

Michael in light of your recent posts and threads I can't see this as anything other than stirring the pot, and frankly it's getting on my nerves. The links and quotes the other posters have put up will help. It would be a good idea to check out Afterhours, as it seems to be the pulse of boards.ie

Colm

Baggio...

Colm_OReilly wrote:

I see my role as mod to keep things moving, avoid slanderous and abusive posts. As a forum on boards.ie, we are rife with arguments which would have been shut down on other forums.Colm

Sounds good to me...

Colm_OReilly wrote:

Michael in light of your recent posts and threads I can't see this as anything other than stirring the pot, and frankly it's getting on my nerves. The links and quotes the other posters have put up will help. It would be a good idea to check out Afterhours, as it seems to be the pulse of boards.ieColm

I've always considered you a pretty cool mod (okay we don't agree on everything). But you are saying that Michael is stirring the pot. Well, I see some of the other guys stirring the pot with a shovel. So if you are going to point fingers, fair is fair....have a look at some of the other posters too.

Cheers,

Baggio.

Edited by mod

breadmonkey

Baggio... wrote:

Sounds good to me...

I think it was justified, but it was deleted so you can calm down now.

SorGan

breadmonkey wrote:

I think it was justified, but it was deleted so you can calm down now.

personal attacks are not cool,and take away from a lot of peoples enjoyment of discussion and debates on this forum.

breadmonkey

SorGan wrote:

personal attacks are not cool,and take away from a lot of peoples enjoyment of discussion and debates on this forum.

I know, and I'm sorry but I really think he deserved it for this. Calling Colm out or some crap. He knows very well he could use pms. Maybe he never reads other forums but people usually end up banned for this sort of thing.

SorGan

Budo.Judo.Kev wrote:

Post Deleted

he he:D

Baggio...

breadmonkey wrote:

I think it was justified, but it was deleted so you can calm down now.

I don't think it was justified...and it did not add anything to the post.

So good on Colm for deleting it.

Baggio...

breadmonkey wrote:

I know, and I'm sorry but I really think he deserved it for this. Calling Colm out or some crap. He knows very well he could use pms. Maybe he never reads other forums but people usually end up banned for this sort of thing.

But on other threads recently some people have just been posting crap, just to stir things up, and are getting pretty snarky and insulting at the same time. So I'd like to see them get called on it too (that's if we are going to start pointing fingers).

breadmonkey

Baggio... wrote:

But on other threads recently some people have just been posting crap, just to stir things up, and are getting pretty snarky and insulting at the same time. So I'd like to see them get called on it too (that's if we are going to start pointing fingers).

That's why I never post here, I just lurk;)

Colm_OReilly

Baggio,

While I've no problem with posters stirring things in the sense of questoining other people's believes and ideas around ma, I meant stirring as in a direct attack against the SD/MA board and the mysterious bullying MMA faction.

And the amount of editing I have to go and do on this thread alone is starting to get to me. If someone posts something dubious (and by that I mean breaking the rules and civility we try to maintain) report it! Don't quote it, meaning I've to delete things twice.

Colm (the mod, not the poster)

Baggio...

Colm_OReilly wrote:

report it! Don't quote it, meaning I've to delete things twice.

Fair point... I'll let you know via PM in future.

Cheers,

Baggio.

Michael O Leary

Hi all,

I will get back to some of these points later.

Regards,

Michael O'Leary
www.wingtsun-escrima.ie

memphis

Colm_OReilly wrote:

Baggio,

While I've no problem with posters stirring things in the sense of questoining other people's believes and ideas around ma, I meant stirring as in a direct attack against the SD/MA board and the mysterious bullying MMA faction.

And the amount of editing I have to go and do on this thread alone is starting to get to me. If someone posts something dubious (and by that I mean breaking the rules and civility we try to maintain) report it! Don't quote it, meaning I've to delete things twice.

Colm (the mod, not the poster)

Sounds to me (and I have said it before) that you could do with some help with moderating the forum? Would i be correct in saying that? Modding such an active forum is not always easy, and if you need help then I recommend you request it. I'm sure you would find a suitable partner in crime to look after things along side you.

This is merrily a suggestion and in no way criticising you as a mod Colm, you do a great job, but sometime you need to admit that you can't do it all alone!! Your decision at the end of the day though!!

Budo.Judo.Kev

memphis stop canvasing.

Baggio...

memphis wrote:

Sounds to me (and I have said it before) that you could do with some help with moderating the forum? Would i be correct in saying that?

Sounds good! if Col needs a hand... Just as long as I don't have to do anything:D .
*scratches ass while eating a doughnut*

columok

Three moderators. Now admittedly its just Amz and Riley but I think that's fine as long as Repli is on board (pardon the pun) there won't be another mod. We're doing grand lads. And I agree with Kev. Stop canvassing.

Budo.Judo.Kev

Just stick to the snickers, the haribo and the green belt in TKD memphis we're sound for moderation here thanks.

memphis

God no lads, I'm far from canvasing. I've enough on my plate without taking on another moderator position. If I could drop the current forum I'm modding i gladly would. being mod is not always what its cracked up to be. You receive nothing but abuse and crticism from fellow users. I'm merrily suggesting that Colm may need an extra pair of hands (not mine). As it stands Repli is nowhere to be seen, and if you ask me its fair to say now an inactive mod.

As for the smart assed comment above Budo.Judo.Kev, just so there is no confusion... I am now in fact a red tag in TKD (so there!!!). LOL

Roper

LOL @ Kev!:D

Dragan

I must say, it is just a little funny that someone can point out that maybe Colm might need a bit of a hand dealing with some of the more childish moments on the board, especially as they become more and more frequent, and it can be met with nothing but backlash.

If Colm needs a hand I imagine that he will simply ask someone to do so, whether people like it or not?

Roper

I love forum topics about forum topics. They're so full of meaningless posts like this one.

Dragan

Roper wrote:

I love forum topics about forum topics. They're so full of meaningless posts like this one.

Maybe we can get a Forum Topics Forum set up????

Roper

^And that one^:D

Colm_OReilly

And now this thread is closed.

Don't discuss the modding of a forum in that forum. It's that simple.

If I feel under pressure I'll just hand out bans to anyone who thinks I need help, damnit!

Colm