The lawless land; Travel Forum

dory

Hello,

I've noticed over the past while that mods on the Independent Travel forum have stopped being mods and no new people have been selected. I reported some spam there a few days ago but it's still sitting there because there are no mods to get rid of it. We have category mods but they're not active on the forum.

I'm in the middle of trying to make a long overdue list of helpful threads as we keep getting the same questions over and over. I accidentally pressed submit before I was ready so now you can see my work in progress, but there's no mod to write to to ask to take it down until it's finished. Also, I'll only be able to edit the list myself for so long. Would be better if someone with mod powers could do this.

So....any chance of getting a mod? I'll do it myself if needs be. I've been a forum mod on other boards before.

Thanks

Ponster

Thanks for pointing this out. No Boards.ie forum should ever end up in a situation where there are no mods responsible for it.

We can probably get an emergency mod assigned until we find a full-time replacement.

dory

Btw, how long after I make a post can I edit it for? Just so I know with my current work in progress.

The Recliner

dory wrote: »

Btw, how long after I make a post can I edit it for? Just so I know with my current work in progress.

I think and I am open to correction on this that is is 48 hours

If there are no Mods around and you need it edited then you can contact the Cmods or Admins about it, they should have the ability to edit for you

Cabaal

Its 48hours afaik, though could be 24hours

AckwelFoley

I have found personally that there a quite a few forums on boards that dont seem to have an active moderator, and if they do, they probably dont visit there very often. I dont know how serious an issue it is, but something that may be worth looking into.

AckwelFoley

Cabaal wrote: »

Its 48hours afaik, though could be 24hours

I pretty sure its only 24 hours

Zaph

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I'll start the process of getting some new mods added.

P. Breathnach

Perhaps it is time to give some thought to how the travel forums are organised. It looks to me as if the present setup more or less "happened", and it is not always obvious which forum suits a particular post.

For example, if I am considering visiting Bratislava, I might want to discuss how to get there (Travel & Holidays), what activities might be available there (Things To Do In...), what other people thought of the place (Travel Reports & Reviews), and how to find cheap accommodation (Independent & Youth & Student Travel).

My personal preference would be for one general travel forum with a few destination sub-forums (e.g. Europe, North America, Asia or Australasia).

dory

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Perhaps it is time to give some thought to how the travel forums are organised. It looks to me as if the present setup more or less "happened", and it is not always obvious which forum suits a particular post.

For example, if I am considering visiting Bratislava, I might want to discuss how to get there (Travel & Holidays), what activities might be available there (Things To Do In...), what other people thought of the place (Travel Reports & Reviews), and how to find cheap accommodation (Independent & Youth & Student Travel).

My personal preference would be for one general travel forum with a few destination sub-forums (e.g. Europe, North America, Asia or Australasia).

Yes, I agree. I often miss interesting threads because people post in Travel and Holidays when I look mostly at Independent Travel.

Slidey

Zaph wrote: »

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I'll start the process of getting some new mods added.

Sailing & Boating also has no dedicated mods and has been that way for well over 6 months. I also brought it to admin attention in the mod forum months ago

oscarBravo

Slidey wrote: »

Sailing & Boating also has no dedicated mods and has been that way for well over 6 months. I also brought it to admin attention in the mod forum months ago

We should have that sorted shortly.

P. Breathnach

P. Breathnach wrote: »

My personal preference would be for one general travel forum with a few destination sub-forums (e.g. Europe, North America, Asia or Australasia).

I agree completely.. Going backpacking around Asia soon and didn't really know what forum to be looking at.

P. Breathnach

Following up on my own suggestion that a look be taken at how the travel forums are organised: will anybody pick this ball up and run with it?

I am not familiar with the inner workings of the site, but I suppose there is a mechanism for all the mods involved to have a consultation. Or perhaps it is enough to alert them to the fact that there is a suggestion on the table here, and invite them to join in this conversation.

I'll be offline for a few days (travel!) and I would be disappointed if, when I come back, I find this idea has been allowed die of neglect. I would be less disappointed if it died because a good case were made for keeping things as they are.

ghosttown

If I can add my tuppence worth here.... holidaying in Ireland this year, as many are, there is no Holidays at home / Ireland travel section under travel. I don't want to go into each region and county to hear about who's bins aren't being collected, it would be nice to have a section where people give their views on good Irish holidays.

(Maybe there is a section, I couldn't find it - sorry if so !)

dory

Good idea ghosttown.

I hope the mods have a mod party and discuss this!

Ponster

dory wrote: »

Good idea ghosttown.

I hope the mods have a mod party and discuss this!

You'd be surprised how close to the truth you are !

dory

Ponster wrote: »

You'd be surprised how close to the truth you are !

Well then I hope you had a great weekend! And that this was discussed at length....

P. Breathnach

It's been a week since I wrote

Following up on my own suggestion that a look be taken at how the travel forums are organised: will anybody pick this ball up and run with it?
...I would be disappointed if, when I come back, I find this idea has been allowed die of neglect. I would be less disappointed if it died because a good case were made for keeping things as they are.

I am disappointed. There is no sign of anybody who is "officially" involved looking at ways of improving the organisation of the travel forums or telling us why things should be kept as they are.

trout

P. Breathnach wrote: »

It's been a week since I wrote

I am disappointed. There is no sign of anybody who is "officially" involved looking at ways of improving the organisation of the travel forums or telling us why things should be kept as they are.

Well ... that's not quite true. It's apparent to me, and I'm not a regular on the forums, that the structure of Travel can be improved.

There is a level of interest in improving the structure of the various Travel forums. The mods have some ideas ... which need to be considered. Right now, the discussions are on hold, as some of the key players are on holidays ... hopefully travelling to exotic destinations.

It should pick up again next week ... expect to see something from the Travel mods shortly after. I'm not driving this change, but I have an interest in it, as will the other Rec cmods.

I remember you had some good suggestions back in May / June of this year ... that's the kind of input required. For my own part, I'll make sure that thinking is included in the discussion when it picks up again.

The discussion needs input from Travel mods and forum regulars equally.
Have you expended on your own suggestions, since June ?

I can see why you're disappointed ... it is slow moving, but it's moving.

tl;dr ... watch this space

dory

"So the tumbleweed says to the tree....."

Hate to bother you people....just wondering what is happening!

g'em

Hi dory, there were a lot of folks away for the past few weeks, myself included I've started looking into this again and hopefully we can get the ball rolling very soon. It can be awkward when there's a lot of people AFK and sometimes these things do slip back from time to time, but it's not been abandoned!

dory

Thank you! I'm planning a holiday in Ireland soon and would love a place with thread full of Irish holiday ideas. Think of it as boards doing some public service by aiding people to holiday at home.

Ponster

dory wrote: »

"So the tumbleweed says to the tree....."

Hate to bother you people....just wondering what is happening!

I named myself as the person to run with the ball but that was just before a 3-week holiday of which I am on week 3

P. Breathnach

Ponster wrote: »

I named myself as the person to run with the ball but that was just before a 3-week holiday of which I am on week 3

Okay, Ponster, you will probably be back soon, hopefully well-rested and in form to take this thing forward.

I'm putting down a proposal, which I hope can be used as a basis for discussion:
1. That there be a General Travel forum for all travel posts that do not fit readily into any sub-forum;
2. That there be destination sub-forums as follows: (a) Ireland, north and south; (b) Europe, including Britain; (c) Australasia; (d) US and Canada.
3. That the content of the other travel forums be subsumed into the new structure (i.e. that they be abolished).

I think some thought should be given to stickies. This can be discussed if and when the structure of the Travel forums is agreed.

My guess is that most people who visit the travel forums don't spend much time hanging around here, so I suggest that when Ponster takes up the cudgels (or whatever implements are necessary) there be a note stickied in each of the existing travel forums to make people aware that this discussion is taking place, and offering a link to this thread or whatever thread replaces it.

P. Breathnach

Tum-ti-tum-ti-tum;
Tum-ti-tum-ti-tum;
Tum-Tum.

Anything gonna happen?

mike65

I thought boards.ie was being run like a business these days? Leaving postions open for weeks and months is very old school hippy collective.

Ponster

P. Breathnach wrote: »

Anything gonna happen?

Eventually I suppose.

You know that you could repost your suggestion in Helpdesk or Feedback Public and it could get a ball rolling ?

RoundyMooney

Ponster wrote: »

I named myself as the person to run with the ball but that was just before a 3-week holiday of which I am on week 3

Ponster wrote: »

Eventually I suppose.

You know that you could repost your suggestion in Helpdesk or Feedback Public and it could get a ball rolling ?

That ball is after being kicked to touch I think

I jest, but I think this was the place for PB to raise the issue again. It has only been a month, but a lot of folk have said they were acting on it, which I suppose accounts for peoples queries.

If the fora aren't coming on the radar as being troublesome, then they slip down the list of priorities, I imagine.

Ponster

RoundyMooney wrote: »

If the fora aren't coming on the radar as being troublesome, then they slip down the list of priorities, I imagine.

> I named myself as the person to run with the ball but that was just before a 3-week holiday of which I am on week 3

That refers to the travel forum being possible rebuilt with a change in the existing forum change but has nothing to do with finding a mod for the Independent Travel forum which is out of my hands


The modless forum isn't troublesome as such. All reported threads (but 1 as far as I can see) have been properly dealt with. Though I do accept that it doesn't look very 'professional'.

I suggested to cmods to not find a new mod for the forum in the event that the forum gets removed with the travel "shake-up" but install a temp mod instead.

RoundyMooney

Ponster wrote: »

The modless forum isn't troublesome as such. All reported threads (but 1 as far as I can see) have been properly dealt with. Though I do accept that it doesn't look very 'professional'.

I wouldn't worry too much about that, once the bases are covered, which they are in fairness. If there's a rejig in the offing, might it be a topic for Feedforward?

P. Breathnach

Ponster wrote: »

... That refers to the travel forum being possible rebuilt ....

And that's what I was asking about. I envisaged that a conversation might take place that would be open to interested parties, and I supposed that it might take place here.

P. Breathnach

RoundyMooney wrote: »

... If there's a rejig in the offing, might it be a topic for Feedforward?

In my opinion, it's not really a big-deal strategic thing, more a housekeeping job. I think FeedForward is intended for general policy and strategy, more of a boards-wide review.

trout

Ponster wrote: »

I suggested to cmods to not find a new mod for the forum in the event that the forum gets removed with the travel "shake-up" but install a temp mod instead.

In recent days/weeks I've identified 2 likely candidates ... and the Admins have run the rule over them both and given the green light ... at the risk of sounding like a policitian... we've turned a corner

RoundyMooney wrote: »

I wouldn't worry too much about that, once the bases are covered, which they are in fairness. If there's a rejig in the offing, might it be a topic for Feedforward?

P. Breathnach wrote: »

And that's what I was asking about. I envisaged that a conversation might take place that would be open to interested parties, and I supposed that it might take place here.

I see no problems with having the conversation in Feedback ... so long as there are enough interested parties and everyone gets their spoke.

P. Breathnach

trout wrote: »

... I see no problems with having the conversation in Feedback ... so long as there are enough interested parties and everyone gets their spoke.

Sound fair to me.

I have no special standing in the travel forums, and you have. What would you say to putting a message (perhaps a sticky) in each of them to invite participants to have a look at the conversation here, and say what they might like to happen?

Ponster

ghosttown wrote: »

I don't want to go into each region and county to hear about who's bins aren't being collected,

Just to point out that in Travel, we don't have any regions, just one main forum though a separate Ireland forum may be of use if the posts are there to support such a forum.

Ponster

P. Breathnach wrote: »

What would you say to putting a message (perhaps a sticky) in each of them to invite participants to have a look at the conversation here, and say what they might like to happen?

Will do tomorrow (linking to a new thread in feedback rather than this one).

Ponster

Ponster wrote: »

Will do tomorrow (linking to a new thread in feedback rather than this one).

??

I made a thread but for some reason it seems to have disappeared?

I'll find it and put it back tomorrow morning.

In the meantime we (at last) found someone who has accepted to bring some law to the Independent Travel forum. Hoping they'll be installed this weekend !

dory

I would love someone to open a discussion on the re-jigging of the travel forums.

At the moment many people are posting independent travl questions in the regular travel sections and not getting many replies. And the people who do reply are different to those who reply on the Independant Travel forum. If it was arranged by continent it would be far more organized.

And the 'What to do in' is a terrible forum as I feel the posts there would get far more replies if they were in a specific location category.

One suggestion could be:

Holidays
Oz/NZ
North America
Europe
South America/Africa/Asia
RTW/Long Haul Travel
Ireland

Could be more, but I'm not sure how many forums we're allowed! I think the Ireland one is very important as more people seem to want to holiday at home these days.

Slidey

Slidey wrote: »

Sailing & Boating also has no dedicated mods and has been that way for well over 6 months. I also brought it to admin attention in the mod forum months ago

oscarBravo wrote: »

We should have that sorted shortly.

Just as a matter of interest, define shortly

Black Swan

There is a new "Future of Travel" thread that focuses on the restructuring of the travel forums, so to avoid duplication, please see also the discussion there:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056056019

Savman wrote: »

Definitely needs re-organising IMHO. Rather than 'North America' (which I think is an ambiguous title) what about renaming that one 'USA & Canada'?

Blue_Lagoon wrote: »

Agree! I was referred today to this thread by two of my Cmods (trout and g'em) regarding this very issue.

I've been the mod for the North America forum for over a year now. It appears to have grown a bit, especially Canada and the USA. Mexico has been largely dormant, with the past flu epidemic discouraging interest somewhat.

For months now, several Canada posters have expressed an interest to have their own unique forum.

What do you think about restructuring the North America forum into 2 separate forums, Canada and USA, deleting the North America title, and reassigning Mexico to So/Central America forum?

This would also serve to eliminate the occasional ambiguity associated with what North America represents, where new members erroneously post to one of the other travel forums.

If 2 separate forums are created for Canada and USA from the existing North America forum, I would like to remain a mod for both the new forums, and help them to continue to grow.

oscarBravo

Slidey wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest, define shortly

Fell between the cracks.

Resuscitating, please wait...