Reporting Procedure

The Volt

Is there any chance that the way in which reports are handled could be made public? Also, how about some sort of system where users get notification of their report has been received? From the outside looking in, they fall upon deaf ears a lot of the time.

oscarBravo

Voltwad wrote: »

Is there any chance that the way in which reports are handled could be made public?

I doubt it. The fact that a post has been reported isn't even public, and for good reasons.

Also, how about some sort of system where users get notification of their report has been received? From the outside looking in, they fall upon deaf ears a lot of the time.

Reporting a post is a way to help moderators out. You seem to want to treat it as a formal complaint mechanism - I'm not convinced that's a good idea, and it would have the potential to greatly increase moderator workloads.

The Volt

oscarBravo wrote: »

I doubt it. The fact that a post has been reported isn't even public, and for good reasons. Reporting a post is a way to help moderators out. You seem to want to treat it as a formal complaint mechanism - I'm not convinced that's a good idea, and it would have the potential to greatly increase moderator workloads.

So in other words, the report system gets abused heavily? Would there be any way of running an automated message that appears in your inbox after your report has been at least looked at?

Cabaal

Voltwad wrote: »

So in other words, the report system gets abused heavily? Would there be any way of running an automated message that appears in your inbox after your report has been at least looked at?

Who said it gets abused?
Few things to bare in mind, a report post is to report an issue you see on the forum.....nobody needs to keep you personally informed on its progress.

Secondly a mod doesn't get paid a cent for the work they do yet you want to increase work load with no benefit other then a user being nosy?

oscarBravo

Voltwad wrote: »

So in other words, the report system gets abused heavily?

I wouldn't say that, no - but a public reporting system would be a nightmare.

Would there be any way of running an automated message that appears in your inbox after your report has been at least looked at?

I can't see the benefit in doing so that would justify the developers' time spent on it.

The Volt

Cabaal wrote: »

Who said it gets abused?
Few things to bare in mind, a report post is to report an issue you see on the forum.....nobody needs to keep you personally informed on its progress.

Secondly a mod doesn't get paid a cent for the work they do yet you want to increase work load with no benefit other then a user being nosy?

No but if I take personal offence to a post or I see a post that I feel should probably be dealt with in order to maintain consistency, it would be nice to know that the report wasn't missed

Tom Dunne

Voltwad wrote: »

No but if I take personal offence to a post or I see a post that I feel should probably be dealt with in order to maintain consistency, it would be nice to know that the report wasn't missed

When a post is reported, the moderators and the category moderators get an e-mail about it.

Along with that, the reported post creates a thread in the "Reported Posts" forum (private) for all moderators/cmods/admins to see.

So, there is a series of checks in place to ensure something is not missed.

You can always PM the mods if you feel your reported post warrants attention.

The Volt

Tom Dunne wrote: »

When a post is reported, the moderators and the category moderators get an e-mail about it.

Along with that, the reported post creates a thread in the "Reported Posts" forum (private) for all moderators/cmods/admins to see.

So, there is a series of checks in place to ensure something is not missed.

You can always PM the mods if you feel your reported post warrants attention.

That's perfect thank Tom. Didn't think PM'ing the mods would be appropriate but I'll keep that in mind in future.

AckwelFoley

Reporting a post doesnt actually by default mean there is someying in the post that contraveins the site rules, so if no action was taken - you can presumne the mods feel its fine.

Personally, if i think someonw is going to get banned for telling a troll to fcuk off or if the post something they shouldnt and i feel the poster is genuine and making a noobish error, i would pm them and give them a "heads up" on a possible site infraction / ban - giving them the chance to remove the comment that will likely get them banned.

I see it too often that trolls rise someone into a reaction that will get that person banned.

Frisbee

snyper wrote: »

Reporting a post doesnt actually by default mean there is someying in the post that contraveins the site rules, so if no action was taken - you can presumne the mods feel its fine.

+1, a lot of people are way too click happy with the report post icon. They use it to report something they don't particularly agree with rather then something that is really breaking the rules.

And reported posts I get I look at, but I don't necessarily take action on all of them.

pickarooney

Voltwad wrote: »

That's perfect thank Tom. Didn't think PM'ing the mods would be appropriate but I'll keep that in mind in future.

/dons flak jacket

If you genuinely feel a reported post has been missed as opposed to looked into and deemed OK, you can report it a second time, but you should probably assume the latter.

The Volt

pickarooney wrote: »

/dons flak jacket

If you genuinely feel a reported post has been missed as opposed to looked into and deemed OK, you can report it a second time, but you should probably assume the latter.

As someone who only reports when I reckon sensible, I can assure you there wont be any spam

Tallon

If you (or another user for that fact) reports a post more than once then it goes into the same reported post thread (afair)

So you could just report it again and 'bump' the reported post for the mods attention. But obviously wait about 24-48 hours before doing that

**Timbuk2**

Can only the mod of the forum that the post was reported in act upon the reported post(s), aside from admins?

Also what happens if a post is reported in a Hosted forum, as HMods don't have access to the Reported Posts forum? Is it left for an Admin to deal with?

Tallon

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Can only the mod of the forum that the post was reported in act upon the reported post(s), aside from admins?

Yes, only the mod of said forum is allowed act upon it

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Also what happens if a post is reported in a Hosted forum, as HMods don't have access to the Reported Posts forum? Is it left for an Admin to deal with?

Private / hosted forums are different, Hmods don't have that much access so a general rule of thumb is to PM the moderator and not report posts.

DeVore

The Cat Mod can too.

DeV.

TommyKnocker

Voltwad wrote: »

Is there any chance that the way in which reports are handled could be made public?

I also would not be in favour of this as it could lead to tit for tat post reporting.

i.e. Poster B reports a post by Poster A. If this were public knowledge, then you could have a scenario where simply to get back a Poster B, Poster A reports his next post and so on back and forward. Now although this would lead to warnings/infractions/bans, I could see it happening.

Voltwad wrote: »

Also, how about some sort of system where users get notification of their report has been received? From the outside looking in, they fall upon deaf ears a lot of the time.

The only time it appears to "fall on deaf ears" IMHO is when a reported posts is checked and deemed not to warrant moderation. So the reporter does not know whether the post was checked or not. Before I was given the privilege of becoming a moderator I also used to wonder sometimes whether posts I had reported and on which no action was taken, had indeed been checked. But seeing the standard of moderation on the forum was IMHO top notch, I assumed that it had been and deemed to be ok, and that the problem with the post was purely mine.

In saying that, since I have been a mod I would normally send a short "Thank you" PM back to the reporting user for any reported post that I deal with and if I take no action I would explain briefly why, which usually leads to a thanks from the reporter.

My reasoning is that I understand the feeling of not knowing whether your report was received or not and I think it is a nice courtesy. Also I hope it would encourage posters to report posts to the moderators rather than engaging in an arguement on thread which could lead to them receiving the warning/infraction/ban


M

Quazzie

How about when a user reports a post, and the thread is created in Reported posts that the user has access to see replies to that thread, in a similar way to how the report sig function works.

So here is the scneario.
1. Quazzie reads B-Builder's posts and finds it inapporopriate and reports the post.*
2. Thread is created in reported posts for the attention of the moderators of the forum in question.
3. Moderator looks at B-Builders post, reviews it, and write back on the thread "

I reviewed this and although I can see how this post might be seen as inappropriate I deem to be ok because x.y.z

" or

Thank you for reporting the post appropriate action has been taken

4. Post by moderator is sent by standard e-mail notification, similar to the way SigPo now works.
5. User knows that his reported post has been acknowledged and leaves with satisfaction that at the very least his complaint was considered and has a better understanding of how the forum is moderated.



*I used B-Builder as he was the last to post before me. No other reason

TommyKnocker

Hi

I honestly don't see why the user needs to be involved in what happens after they report a post.

And as OscarBravo said earlier it would be hard to justify the expense to change the reported posts section to allow a poster access to the reported post thread whcih is kicked off when they report a post.

I am sure in fairness that Mods/CMods/Admins don't ignore reported posts, and a reported post will either be moderated or it won't.

If a post is moderated, then the user who reported the post will see the evidence on the thread the post was posted on. If the post is not moderated, then the user should assume that the post will have been checked and the reviewing Mod/CMod/Admin will not have agreed with the reason for the report.

At least that was how I viewed things as a regular poster.


M

Quazzie

B-Builder wrote: »

If a post is moderated, then the user who reported the post will see the evidence on the thread the post was posted on. If the post is not moderated, then the user should assume that the post will have been checked and the reviewing Mod/CMod/Admin will not have agreed with the reason for the report.

I'm sure you've heard the story about yourself, meself and the donkey before

Lenny Lovett

Cabaal wrote: »

Secondly a mod doesn't get paid a cent for the work they do yet you want to increase work load with no benefit other then a user being nosy?

So what motivates a Mod to be a Mod? Power? Why would they make any effort to keep the flow free and the decisions fair?

Insect Overlord

Lenny Lovett wrote: »

So what motivates a Mod to be a Mod? Power? Why would they make any effort to keep the flow free and the decisions fair?

Power? Eh, no.

The chance to help out by care-taking? Yes.

If you post somewhere long enough it's easy to pick up on what makes that forum work so well, and what things impact on it negatively. Regular, positive contributors are more likely to be asked to help out in the future, rather than those who cause trouble or disrupt the flow of good conversations/debates.

Keeping a free flow and fair decisions makes a forum easier to moderate, because (in general) posters will see the positive effects of these actions. For example, I hardly ever have to interject as Mod on C&H because the regular posters have learned what is acceptable and what is not, and act accordingly. They report the posts that might need to be looked at. None of the mods is in it for power.