too many chiefs not enough indians

chrism2007

im new to this forum and the one thing that stands out straight away is just how arrogant the moderators are. unbelievably sad situation going on here

do these people have no lives or what?

example thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055457607

look at all the mods come on and throw there weight around before the regular joe soaps express there opinions


one actually locks the thread to not allow anyone else get there word in until the other mods get there to flame

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Oryx

As far as I could see the thread was locked under suspicion of it being a troll, designed to irritate all the girls in the fitness forum. Good call, if you ask me, given all the pink and glittery ptaking.

Turns out it wasnt trolling, and the thread has continued ok since.

If you want to make your point, choose a better example than that one.

dr.bollocko

It appears to me that the OP of that thread was just trying to troll TBH.

Sincerely,
Big Chief Bollocko.

chrism2007

chances are the person who started the thread doesnt even know what trolling is. if the mods are gonna be offended why not just delete the thread rather than locking it and flaming her

seems to me if a mod doesnt agree with someone they lock a thread or ban the person

why not just delete it and pm the poster?

would that not stop people getting the impression that mods just love throwing there weight around?

Peared

I don't expect anybody to give a flying fock what I think as I don't frequent the Fitness forum but I think if I was the OP I wouldn't have bothered my ass coming back.

Boards Cliqueyness at its worst. Like being at girls school all over again. I hate when I see this.

dr.bollocko

Peared wrote: »

I don't expect anybody to give a flying fock what I think as I don't frequent the Fitness forum but I think if I was the OP I wouldn't have bothered my ass coming back.

Boards Cliqueyness at its worst. Like being at girls school all over again. I hate when I see this.

You have to understand that the thread appeared to be nothing more than a fitness forum troll designed to piss the women who frequent there off when the clique bit I think you are referring to happened. OK It may now be some sort of misunderstanding in this case but if I saw post one of that thread as a mod I would think that that thread is only going one way, badly. Speaking as one who has trolled the fitness forum in the past I don't really see a problem with a bit of light hearted banter rather than people rising to the bait which is what could have happened. It read to me that that was a bloke calling out women saying they cant lift weights. The OP used language that indicated same and did not say that she was, in fact, a she until after the whole thing. It's a misunderstanding. Lets leave it at that.

chrism2007

mods are very quick to gang up on people but when they realise there mistakes they will never admit it. thats the problem

Dudess

To me, it initially appeared to be someone looking to cause aggro - and I assumed it was a guy (I know, despite the avatar ) trying to piss women off (it has been known to happen ). The tone is quite antagonistic, and when someone is a new member and behaving antagonistically... alarm bells sound, as that is a classic troll sign.

However, that is me speaking as someone who has been a member here for three and a half years, and moderating for a year. So, putting myself in your shoes OP, I can see where you're coming from. On the face of it, I can understand how, to a newbie, it would look more like the aggression is coming from the moderators' side rather than that of the person who started the thread.

But smashey and g'em are actually great people so there was no mod cliquey carry-on, I assure you - no "haha! Let's belittle the newbie!" shenanigans. They just took the OP up the wrong way. And non Fitness moderators, well they're members like anyone else because they don't moderate Fitness. I moderate one of the music forums. If I trolled or insulted someone on After Hours I would get my ass banned so fast (in fact I got banned from there a couple of weeks ago but it was all a horrible mistake - boo hiss Terry! :mad: ). And I used to moderate After Hours too.

The Fitness thread was locked because it was felt it was a troll and possibly not worth keeping open, but then it was decided to reopen it when g'em came online, as she is a competitive lifter.

I don't think it's fair of you to say the mods are arrogant. There are several mods - three hundred I think - don't tar all of them with the same brush. And they're certainly not all singing from the same hymn-sheet.

Also, when you're on Boards a long time, you get to know others (both moderators and members) and your perspectives of them change - so if someone whom you don't know seems like an asshole, you could get to know them six months down the line and discover they're fantastic, and what once appeared like asshole behaviour by them was actually reasonable.

randylonghorn

Tbh, I can understand why this post:

Just wondering, is there any females in Ireland who actually lift weights heavier than 3kgs??? Everytime im in the gym i see girls doing endless bicep curls with 3 or 4kgs, is there any girls out there who like to challenge themselves?

from a completely new poster might have led to a suspicion that this was someone trolling / just trying to annoy the women who post in that forum and are heavily into their fitness.

Looking at the OP's later posts, it becomes fairly clear that that wasn't the intent, and it's really just a choice of words that could be interpreted in 2 different ways. That's the problem with the net ... no body language etc. to help elucidate meaning / intent.

Smashey locked it temporarily when the first post was the only one available to judge by until someone more expert in womens fitness (i.e. g'em) got to it, and was able to respond more knowledgably ... partly I presume to prevent trolling if that was what it was, but by doing so also preventing the OP being flamed by others in the meantime.

G'em got to it a few minutes later, things were clarified and discussion has continued in a friendly and light-hearted manner.

A bit over-cautious? Perhaps, as it turned out, but there really are an inordinate amount of trolls on the web, and people WILL still insist on rising to the bait and getting into flame-wars, though they should really have more sense.

The end of the world as we know it? A thread locked for exactly 15 minutes? Yeah, right! :rolleyes:

kerash

Dudess wrote: »

Also, when you're on Boards a long time, you get to know others (both moderators and members) and your perspectives of them change - so if someone whom you don't know seems like an asshole, you could get to know them six months down the line and discover they're fantastic, and what once appeared like asshole behaviour by them was actually reasonable.

Sounds a lot like Stockholm syndrome:pac:

-As randy says perhaps a bit over-cautious but hopefully well intended and the op wasn't put off continuing to post.:)

tallaght01

Even if the thread was going to be locked, there's a polite way of approaching the poster.

I think the OP was definitely ganged up on.

It just looks bad, but at least she's still here.

chrism2007

there should be a process put in place. if threads are thought to be trolling they should be moved to a hidden moderators section and the poster should be private messaged.

ill say it once again

start looking at it from the point of view of people who arent 2000 posters or mods

abouttobebanned

Dudess wrote: »

To me, it initially appeared to be someone looking to cause aggro - and I assumed it was a guy (I know, despite the avatar ) trying to piss women off (it has been known to happen ). The tone is quite antagonistic, and when someone is a new member and behaving antagonistically... alarm bells sound, as that is a classic troll sign.

However, that is me speaking as someone who has been a member here for three and a half years, and moderating for a year. So, putting myself in your shoes OP, I can see where you're coming from. On the face of it, I can understand how, to a newbie, it would look more like the aggression is coming from the moderators' side rather than that of the person who started the thread.

But smashey and g'em are actually great people so there was no mod cliquey carry-on, I assure you - no "haha! Let's belittle the newbie!" shenanigans. They just took the OP up the wrong way. And non Fitness moderators, well they're members like anyone else because they don't moderate Fitness. I moderate one of the music forums. If I trolled or insulted someone on After Hours I would get my ass banned so fast (in fact I got banned from there a couple of weeks ago but it was all a horrible mistake - boo hiss Terry! :mad: ). And I used to moderate After Hours too.

The Fitness thread was locked because it was felt it was a troll and possibly not worth keeping open, but then it was decided to reopen it when g'em came online, as she is a competitive lifter.

I don't think it's fair of you to say the mods are arrogant. There are several mods - three hundred I think - don't tar all of them with the same brush. And they're certainly not all singing from the same hymn-sheet.

Also, when you're on Boards a long time, you get to know others (both moderators and members) and your perspectives of them change - so if someone whom you don't know seems like an asshole, you could get to know them six months down the line and discover they're fantastic, and what once appeared like asshole behaviour by them was actually reasonable.

wow...you have opinions on everything don't ya!

Nevyn

chrism2007 wrote: »

im new to this forum and the one thing that stands out straight away is just how arrogant the moderators are. unbelievably sad situation going on here

do these people have no lives or what?

IF you have an issue with a post then use the report post function.

Mods are just posters outside of the forums they mod and they are not perfect or paragons of virtue.

Karoma

tallaght01 wrote: »

Even if the thread was going to be locked, there's a polite way of approaching the poster.

I think the OP was definitely ganged up on.

It just looks bad, but at least she's still here.

Flamebait* attracted flaming. Gentle, light-hearted flaming at that. Shocker. Read all about it.

Even then, the OP rolled with it (Maybe it's a general fitness freak clique?!!11!). It's up to bleeding hearts unrelated to the thread to take offence and take up arms.


* Ignorance - check. Asinine assumption(s) - check. Borderline boasting build-up - check.

Terry

Dudess wrote: »

But smashey and g'em are actually great people so there was no mod cliquey carry-on, I assure you - no "haha! Let's belittle the newbie!" shenanigans. They just took the OP up the wrong way. And non Fitness moderators, well they're members like anyone else because they don't moderate Fitness. I moderate one of the music forums. If I trolled or insulted someone on After Hours I would get my ass banned so fast (in fact I got banned from there a couple of weeks ago but it was all a horrible mistake - boo hiss Terry! :mad: ). And I used to moderate After Hours too.

Peared wrote: »

Boards Cliqueyness at its worst. Like being at girls school all over again. I hate when I see this.

Boards clique me bollix.

Break the rules and you get banned.
I don't give a flying fúck if you own the site. In those cases, I can't actually ban you, but I'll tell you not to post in my forums and delete your posts if you do.

Yeah, I lifted Dudesses ban, but that was after she explained her post to me via PM and I ralised I was wrong.

Yeah, there are some mods in little cliques, but there are users in little cliques too.

I know who they are (mostly) and I don't care if they like me or not. I treat everyone the same.
Most moderators do the same thing.

If you think someone is involved in cliquish behaviour, then take it up in the help desk and the Smods (who are impartial) will deal with it.

seamus

chrism2007 wrote: »

there should be a process put in place. if threads are thought to be trolling they should be moved to a hidden moderators section and the poster should be private messaged.

Your suggestion has its merit, but I think you underestimate the size of the site. PMing every suspected troll would take up an inordinate amount of voluntary time for the moderators. The vast majority of threads which are believed to be trolls, are in fact trolls. The ones which aren't, like the one you quoted, will be resolved quickly and reopened for discussion.

I personally wouldn't have seen any reason to lock the thread in question, but then I don't really frequent the Fitness forum all that much, so threads making fun of women weightlifters might appear all the time.

When you see a moderator action which you think looks a little iffy, don't be afraid to PM the mod and ask (nicely!) why they did it. There will be a back story behind the action which you're not aware of.

There is no problem with people being vigilant about moderator's actions, in fact given the scale of the site, I would say that kind of checking is now essential. No moderator will ban you or otherwise take action against you for asking them a simple question in a friendly manner. If they do, you have someone you can complain to.

Hagar

Peared wrote: »

Like being at girls school all over again.

I wish.

g'em

chrism2007 wrote: »

look at all the mods come on and throw there weight around before the regular joe soaps express there opinions

I don't see anyone throw their weight around. I see a dodgy OP full of sweeping statements and generalisations of the nature that are absolutely sure to annoy the average Fitness Forum-er and people responding with understandable cynicism, but no weight throwing.

Peared wrote: »

Boards Cliqueyness at its worst. Like being at girls school all over again. I hate when I see this.

So you hate it when you see a situation you know nothing about in a forum you don't frequent and you have no understanding of what goes on in or how things or normally dealt with?

I feel suitably chastised.

chrism2007 wrote: »

mods are very quick to gang up on people but when they realise there mistakes they will never admit it. thats the problem

I'll be the first to admit when I'm mistaken and have no problem whatsoever apologising when I've done wrong by someone. In this case I don't feel I have any need to say sorry or admit any wrongdoing.

It's the 9th of January. The gyms are full to bursting. The Fitness forum is awash with threads asking for advice on fat loss, weight gain, dietary improvement and howtogetmusclezwithoutgettingtoobig. We have an amazing cohort of posters who takes a lot of time out of their day to answer these queries in great detail and with a lot of patience. They do this for no other reason than to help out another person looking to achieve their goals - it's a benevolence shared on many fora across boards.ie, but on a personal level I believe that it's particularly strong in the Fitness forum.

But we also attract the trolls and people who have nothing better to do with their time than to stir Sh!t. The OP of that thread reeked of poop. It was the second thread today that questioned or made fun of the ability of women to lift weights and we were cautious about it. If the OP feels that she was ganged up on then I absolutely apologise for that - I'm always delighted to see girls posting on the forum and even more so when they share my love of lifting.

Having said that from reading later posts from the OP within that thread I think she can see how what she posted was perhaps easy to misinterpret. I do hope she sticks around and becomes another member of our ever-growing community.

To the OP of this thread: if you're going to preach about manners and people throwing their weight around, would it have been too much to ask for you to contact us directly instead of coming here to bemoan and criticise us without first knowing anything about what was actually happening in the forum?

Talliesin

Mods posting in thread mentioned = 2
People posting in thread = 18

Percentage of posters who are mods = 11.(1)̇%

Posts by mods = 5
Posts by everyone = 42

Percentage of posts by mods = 11.(904761)%

You fail at basic maths.

Peared

I read the forum gem, I just don't post in it.

And I am as entitled to an opinion as your good self.

chrism2007

Talliesin wrote: »

Mods posting in thread mentioned = 2
People posting in thread = 18

Percentage of posters who are mods = 11.(1)̇%

Posts by mods = 5
Posts by everyone = 42

Percentage of posts by mods = 11.(904761)%

You fail at basic maths.

rediculous reply. how many people replied when i started this thread?

g'em

Peared wrote: »

I read the forum gem, I just don't post in it.

And I am as entitled to an opinion as your good self.

You are indeed, but if the opinion was an informed one it would be fairer to everyone involved.

Talliesin

chrism2007 wrote: »

rediculous reply. how many people replied when i started this thread?

Yes. Clearly at that time the 2 moderators were totally ganging up on the other 12 posters

LOL. I was joking the first time, but you really do fail at basic maths.

Lazarus2.0

As a member who reads loads more fora than I post in - and I certainly dont read or post in Fitness ( one of the few places I post in is moderated by Smashey) -I have no doubt that he was right to temp-close the thread . The OP of the linked thread reads as antagonistic and the thread could have gone badly wrong . Instead it became a light-hearted yet constructive discussion which the OP seemed happy to be involved in . How can that be bad moderation ? I'd say both mods did well to turn it into a positive .
As regards cliqueness (is that even a word?) my experience of Smashey is he doesnt buy into it - quite the opposite . I cant comment on g'em other than the above as I dont post where she mods . Doubtless there are boards where mods get things wrong and refuse to be corrected but there's a lot of mod-bashing going on lately and it seems more like bullying/bandwagon stuff - the more a mod replies on feedback the more derision they seem to get .

Maybe I'm the lucky boardsie who only gets what he deserves !

Sully

Can see where the OP is coming from and others. I see the reason for caution but at the same time you have to consider the eventuallaty its not a troll. Sometimes people come across the wrong way without meaning it.

All thats needed here is to be a bit more friendly and relaxed when approaching without the piss taking/laughing until the OP feels more comfortable in his/her suroundings.

Temp locking was fine, I don't think hiding it would have done any good bar confused the person.

Catari Jaguar

Thaedydal wrote: »

IF you have an issue with a post then use the report post function.

Mods are just posters outside of the forums they mod and they are not perfect or paragons of virtue.

So why didn't you do that initially when you assumed the poster was a troll instead of ripping them to shreds with fatmammycat?

I thought it was very bitchy and definitely purposely making fun of the OP.

Nevyn

Lil Kitten wrote: »

So why didn't you do that initially when you assumed the poster was a troll instead of ripping them to shreds with fatmammycat?

I thought it was very bitchy and definitely purposely making fun of the OP.

Actually I reported the post and THEN replied to it, the fact I DID report the post meant both smashey and g'em got to it. Sure I poked fun but that is far from ripping someone to shreds, trust me if I had of done that I would have been banned from the fitness forum and rightly so.

Hagar

Lil Kitten wrote: »

So why didn't you do that initially when you assumed the poster was a troll instead of ripping them to shreds with fatmammycat?

I thought it was very bitchy and definitely purposely making fun of the OP.

I think it never went much further than a gentle ribbing. Good natured banter goes on all the time. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the moment and read malice into a situation that was never there. Remember nuances and tone of voice do not come across very well in print so something intended as tongue in cheek can easily be misinterpreted.

In my humble opinion it was innocent fun that got taken up wrong.

My 2c.

Cool_CM

smashey

chrism2007 wrote: »

im new to this forum and the one thing that stands out straight away is just how arrogant the moderators are. unbelievably sad situation going on here

do these people have no lives or what?

example thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055457607

look at all the mods come on and throw there weight around before the regular joe soaps express there opinions


one actually locks the thread to not allow anyone else get there word in until the other mods get there to flame

I'm only seeing this thread now.

I'd just like to inform you that you are indeed correct in your assumptions. I'm an arrogant no-lifer and I get my kicks from throwing my ample weight around. Especially in fitness fora.

Let's look at what happened. The first post on that thread was reported and I happened to be online at the time. I read the post and, this is the part you might have difficulty with, I took it to be trolling. However, I left a message on the reported post saying that the thread was locked until g'em saw it and she could reply as she saw fit. (g'em is the perfect person to reply to this type of thread as she has experience of what the OP was talking about). The thread was re-opened after approximately 15 minutes and everything calmed down.

Now, here's the arrogant bit, I called it as I saw it and make no apologies for doing so and I will do the same in future.

Regarding this thread, I also see some mentions of "cliques" and as some people have pointed out, I have no time for cliques or anybody crying about perceived cliques. I'm with <3BeingIN6th on this one in that I really don't give a rat's ass who it is, I will deal with them within the rules of this site and the charters of the fora I moderate.

dr.bollocko

Cool_CM wrote: »

I don't really see that whole catty piccy thing catching on TBH mate.

brendansmith

tbh

if you think it's a troll - report the post. If you think it's a troll and you reply to it anyway, then, imo, you're just as guilty as the troll. This case mentioned is the very reason for the thought process above. A couple of users thought it was a troll and derailed the thread temporarily. It turns out it was genuine. Red faces all around. It wouldn't be tolerated in PI, so why should it be tolerated anywhere else?

Overheal

There is some truth in that new posters are looked on by everyone else (moderator and poster alike) rather skeptically. When the new guy with 8 posts starts making threads about discussions likely to wind up other users, it raises eyebrows.

However as I saw it the off-duty moderators in that thread were wrong to treat the post as they did: either ignore it, report it (or ignore AND report it), or answer the OP's question legitimately. As TBH says Thaed, it wouldnt be allowed in PI (or S&S)

I'm only mentioning you because your first reply set the tone of the whole thread.

311

After reading that post a few days ago ,I wasn't going to reply because I don't post in that forum.
But ,I didn't see anything wrong with the thread from the original posters point of view.

Maybe some of the mods on boards need to take a break and come back with a fresh perspective. It's not fair to make assumptions based on the history of boards ,especially when it discourages new people from joining.

I await the slaps now.

Overheal

311 wrote: »

After reading that post a few days ago ,I wasn't going to reply because I don't post in that forum.
But ,I didn't see anything wrong with the thread from the original posters point of view.

Maybe some of the mods on boards need to take a break and come back with a fresh perspective. It's not fair to make assumptions based on the history of boards ,especially when it discourages new people from joining.

I await the slaps now.

No, youre right I think. Like this other thread here: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055457552 it got jumped on because of the moderation question and the moderation-related threads in feedback. Whether the OP was trying to stage a rant at a particular forum was irrelevant - I mean why not just answer the damn question and then see what he wants to do with it? Bad example, but when you go to a magic show to you shout out OH I KNOW HOW HE DOES THIS or do you shut the **** up and pick a ****ing card already and let the man entertain you at the very least? In this case shut up asnwer the question and listen to the OPs response before jumping down his throat.

Nevyn

Overheal wrote: »

As TBH says Thaed, it wouldnt be allowed in PI (or S&S)

But it wasn't either of those two forums, not every forum is as strict as PI
so don't try and make out like they are.

Overheal wrote: »

I'm only mentioning you because your first reply set the tone of the whole thread.

And ?
None of my posts in that thread were reported and neither of the mods
took an action on them.
Don't go expecting me to be as prim and proper in places that which do not required it. That type of presumption and attitude quite frankly písses me off
I am a user else where and can post how I bloody well please and if it gets me banned from those forums it gets me banned. Not that I am planning on turning into Mordeth but I will not have people trying to dictate to me how I should post in forum that I do not mod.

tbh

Thaedydal wrote: »

But it wasn't either of those two forums, not every forum is as strict as PI
so don't try and make out like they are.

So, can anyone decide that someone is trolling in any of the other forums and take the piss out of them?

And ?
None of my posts in that thread were reported and neither of the mods
took an action on them.
Don't go expecting me to be as prim and proper in places that which do not required it. That type of presumption and attitude quite frankly písses me off
I am a user else where and can post how I bloody well please and if it gets me banned from those forums it gets me banned. Not that I am planning on turning into Mordeth but I will not have people trying to dictate to me how I should post in forum that I do not mod.

what I see is that you are asking/expecting people to behave in a certain way in the forums you moderate, and you don't behave that way yourself in the forums you don't moderate. It's just bad form imo. Like, what made you take the piss out of that thread? Assuming you believed it was a troll, why reply? why not just report the thread? isn't that what you'd tell people to do in PI?

None of my posts in that thread were reported

interesting - when you had a problem with the "swallow..bitch" thread, it was pointed out to you that no-one had reported it. It didn't seem to matter then.

311

Thaedydal wrote: »

I will not have people trying to dictate to me how I should post in forum that I do not mod.

In fairness ,you tried to dictate to the op of the thread in question by making out they were trolling.

Nevyn

311 wrote: »

In fairness ,you tried to dictate to the op of the thread in question by making out they were trolling.

I didn't think they were trolling I thought that wow out of all of the irish forums and all of the fitness forums on the internet what there the chances that
the poster lucked out and picked the one with a female title holding power weight lifter as mod to ask that question. It made me laugh a lot, hence my post and flagging it to g'em by reporting it so she would reply.

Heavens forbid I should find something funny and try be helpful.

Ludo

Thaedydal wrote: »

Mods are just posters outside of the forums they mod and they are not perfect or paragons of virtue.

This line gets trotted out regularly. Then you see something like this:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58583517&postcount=140

No wonder people get confused as to the roles of mods. Yes that thread is a train wreck but just pointing out the silliness of the statement above.

And that is a hosted forum which is outside control of boards anyway from previous thread about the same mod.

Crash

Ludo: just to note - Beruthiel is an sMod, or supermod (cap included) meaning she has moderating powers all over boards. So bit of a different case to the rest of us there.

Ludo

Going Waterforward wrote: »

Ludo: just to note - Beruthiel is an sMod, or supermod (cap included) meaning she has moderating powers all over boards. So bit of a different case to the rest of us there.

I understand, but you see how confusing it all is for new people. How is anyone to know when it is not blatantly obvious under their name.
Especially when it says sMod and then lists forums which this applies to...of which conspiracy theories is not one.

Nevyn

http://wiki.boards.ie/wiki/Moderator

randylonghorn

Ludo wrote: »

Especially when it says sMod and then lists forums which this applies to...of which conspiracy theories is not one.

No, the forums specifically listed are the forums on which they also act as normal everyday mods.

I've always thought SMod should be short for "Site Moderator" ... i think it would make much more sense to people.

Ludo

Clear as mud then.

sMod: List of forums

implies Super Mod to those forums listed but this is not actually the case. Fair enough.

Hosted forums are not really under the boards.ie umbrella and should look after their own affairs but they actually are not.

Not having a pop or anything here (as beruthiels post was called for) but just trying to demonstrate how people get the wrong end of the stick around here and then get told off by the experienced hands (sometimes in tones which shall we say are not the politest in the world).

Small tidy up of mod tags to make things clearer would help and community person badly needed who has a lot of patience and will be able to repeat himself thousands of times without losing the head :-)

Overheal

Thaedydal wrote: »

Heavens forbid I should find something funny and try be helpful.

What was helpful about it? Imagine a tourist goes asking a local for directions, the local laughs their ass of at them and rides off like a ballerina - whats helpful there? You couldve spent a line enlightening the OP with your funny bone by saying something like, oh, i dont know:

"of all of the irish forums and all of the fitness forums on the internet what there the chances that
[you] lucked out and picked the one with a female title holding power weight lifter as mod to ask that question."

?

Anyway.

I don't remember having the ropes shown to me as a rookie either, and its become evident that new posters probably need to be aware of ground rules. Not many of them will find their way to Newbies and FAQ so it would seem prudent to have an auto-generated PM feed them the guidelines:

- Explanation of User Ranks, Stars, Moderators and Site Moderators
- Rules that vary from forum to forum
- List of key site charter rules (no slander/libel, legal or medical advice, discussion of how to perform illegal activities)
- The proper method for reporting posts or PM'ing your moderator before going to the help desk or feedback
- Clarify the difference between feedback and help desk
- Explanaition of the Hosted Sub-Forums
- etc

randylonghorn

Ludo wrote: »

Clear as mud then.

sMod: List of forums

implies Super Mod to those forums listed but this is not actually the case. Fair enough.

Same format applies at Admin (i.e. the highest) level.

e.g. CuLT shows as "Admin: adverts.ie Moderators, Development" which actually means that he is a site administrator but also specifically mods these two forums.

I agree though that it doesn't exactly jump out and explain itself until you get used to the way things work.

I'm not the most techie person so I'm not sure how easy it would be to start changing the way the mod tags display in vBulletin, but I'm guessing probably a lot more work than it sounds ... such things normally are.

Plus the next site you wandered into that uses the standard approach, you would end up twice as confused ...

Ludo wrote: »

... and community person badly needed who has a lot of patience and will be able to repeat himself thousands of times without losing the head :-)

I don't think Ruu is available ... :pac:

Chinafoot

Overheal wrote: »

I don't remember having the ropes shown to me as a rookie either, and its become evident that new posters probably need to be aware of ground rules. Not many of them will find their way to Newbies and FAQ so it would seem prudent to have an auto-generated PM feed them the guidelines:

If you can find your way here, register and start posting then you can find your way to the FAQ. The link is provided in the PM you get when you register ffs. This attitude of "oh well nobody told me, how was I to know?!" is such bullshít. Ignorance is no excuse, all the information is there for people to see.