Religious Threads in After Hours

Brendan Flowers

Recently there seems to have been an increased amount of threads started in After Hours on the topic of religion. But I have to ask why any of these discussions are even allowed? There is a religion forum on Boards. Other topics such are sport and celebs are almost totally banned from AH with the OP's being usually told to take it to the correct forum.

So why not apply the same rule to religious topics? Also it seems that the majority of these threads taking a very negative view on religion. Is that why they are allowed?

Insect Overlord

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Recently there seems to have been an increased amount of threads started in After Hours on the topic of religion. But I have to ask why any of these discussions are even allowed? There is a religion forum on Boards. Other topics such are sport and celebs are almost totally banned from AH with the OP's being usually told to take it to the correct forum.

So why not apply the same rule to religious topics? Also it seems that the majority of these threads taking a very negative view on religion. Is that why they are allowed?

Which is it you want? Less threads about religion in After Hours?

Or a greater number of positive threads about religion in After Hours?

Brendan Flowers

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Which is it you want?

How about a bit of consistency. Like I said sport, celeb, tv threads etc are locked but religious threads are left. Why isnt it the same rule for every topic?

Super-Rush

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

How about a bit of consistency. Like I said sport, celeb, tv threads etc are locked but religious threads are left. Why isnt it the same rule for every topic?

We allow x amout of discussion on different topics.

When the forum gets over run with a certain topic we close/move etc.

If we were to move every topic to a specific forum there wouldn't be anything posted in AH at all.

Ellis Dee

Another problem is, I think, is that the religious forum is crammed with total religious nutbars,:D especially some of the moderators, who are utterly intolerant of any view that expresses doubt about the existence of a sky fairy or amusement at the more absurd ideas that many believers harbour. Anyone who isn't of their bent is instantly ganged up on and will receive infractions or bans on the slightest pretext.:)

Better to have the odd religion-related theme discussed here and let the holy joes learn that there are parts of the universe where they have to be exposed to views they can't shut down or silence.:eek:

Ellis Dee

(Cancelled) accidental double post. Sorry.

Beruthiel

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Recently there seems to have been an increased amount of threads started in After Hours on the topic of religion.

There seems to be no more than usual.
I've always seen a thread or two on different aspects of religion or the lack there of.
AH is there to discuss a bit of everything.

Also it seems that the majority of these threads taking a very negative view on religion

Is there a law against that?
People are free to knock religion if they wish.

Brendan Flowers

El Pistolero wrote: »

We allow x amout of discussion on different topics.

When the forum gets over run with a certain topic we close/move etc.

If we were to move every topic to a specific forum there wouldn't be anything posted in AH at all.

So whats the limit on religious threads? I've seen plenty of sports threads locked and the message from the Mod was "take it to the sport forum". I've never seen them say "We're locking this as there is already a few sports discussions ongoing in AH". Maybe Im wrong? As I've said there just seems to be a complete lack of consistency.

Penn

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

So whats the limit on religious threads? I've seen plenty of sports threads locked and the message from the Mod was "take it to the sport forum". I've never seen them say "We're locking this as there is already a few sports discussions ongoing in AH". Maybe Im wrong? As I've said there just seems to be a complete lack of consistency.

It's not a binding rule though. Discretion of the moderator. Mods can decide what threads stay and what ones are moved.

For example, if there's a religion thread where it's felt that most people will be very negative towards the religion, it probably shouldn't be moved to that religion's forum because that forum has different rules which may result in a large number of people being banned and could upset the people who use that forum regularly etc. Inversely, a thread being positive about the religion should maybe be moved to that religion's forum where other people likely share the same viewpoint and typical AH responses won't ruin that thread.

It's up to the mods to make a judgement call as they see fit, that's why they were chosen as mods.

ROFLcopter

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Recently there seems to have been an increased amount of threads started in After Hours on the topic of religion. But I have to ask why any of these discussions are even allowed? There is a religion forum on Boards. Other topics such are sport and celebs are almost totally banned from AH with the OP's being usually told to take it to the correct forum.

So why not apply the same rule to religious topics? Also it seems that the majority of these threads taking a very negative view on religion. Is that why they are allowed?

They're atheist threads disguised as religious threads, nothing more. Go through most "religious" threads in AH and they descend into "religion is stupid and so are people for believing it"

Brendan Flowers

Penn wrote: »

It's not a binding rule though. Discretion of the moderator. Mods can decide what threads stay and what ones are moved.

For example, if there's a religion thread where it's felt that most people will be very negative towards the religion, it probably shouldn't be moved to that religion's forum because that forum has different rules which may result in a large number of people being banned and could upset the people who use that forum regularly etc. Inversely, a thread being positive about the religion should maybe be moved to that religion's forum where other people likely share the same viewpoint and typical AH responses won't ruin that thread.

It's up to the mods to make a judgement call as they see fit, that's why they were chosen as mods.

Again this is showing a lack of consistency. Just look through Feedback. People have asked before why threads are locked rather than moving them to the correct forum and the AH mods always come in with the answer that the post may be against the other forums charter and could result in people being banned.

For example there was a Ronaldo thread started in AH today. Even though AH isnt "over run" with sports thread it was still locked. Not moved. But I rarely see this kind of thing happen to religious threads. And Im wondering why because I still dont think I've been given a satisfactory answer.

Super-Rush

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Again this is showing a lack of consistency. Just look through Feedback. People have asked before why threads are locked rather than moving them to the correct forum and the AH mods always come in with the answer that the post may be against the other forums charter and could result in people being banned.

For example there was a Ronaldo thread started in AH today. Even though AH isnt "over run" with sports thread it was still locked. Not moved. But I rarely see this kind of thing happen to religious threads. And Im wondering why because I still dont think I've been given a satisfactory answer.

A lot more people will have an opinion about religion than they would about Ronaldo.

Brendan Flowers

El Pistolero wrote: »

A lot more people will have an opinion about religion than they would about Ronaldo.

Comparing the Ronaldo thread to religion as a whole is a bit ridiculous. If you want to compare the two then why not compare religion to sport or the Ronaldo thread to the Cardinal Sean Brady thread.

Desire2

Another feedback thread that is only responded to by Mods.
before anybody suggests it, YES i am a Re-reg but not one who was banned.
The OP is worthy of discussion IMO.
Modding cannot be easy but feedback often appears as Boards going on the offensive towards registered posters more than a willingness to consider their opinion.
it scares off people who are afraid they might be seen as a troublemaker for posting feedback and will be held against them.

Should'nt feedback be treated as how people perceive boards and modding of it ,rather than an attack?

*ROLFcopter my apologies i tainted you as a Mod

Super-Rush

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Comparing the Ronaldo thread to religion as a whole is a bit ridiculous. If you want to compare the two then why not compare religion to sport or the Ronaldo thread to the Cardinal Sean Brady thread.

I'm only using the examples you used in the first place.

Desire2 wrote: »

Another feedback thread that is only responded to by Mods.
before anybody suggests it, YES i am a Re-reg but not one who was banned.
The OP is worthy of discussion IMO.
Modding cannot be easy but feedback often appears as Boards going on the offensive towards registered posters more than a willingness to consider their opinion.
it scares off people who are afraid they might be seen as a troublemaker for posting feedback and will be held against them.

Should'nt feedback be treated as how people perceive boards and modding of it ,rather than an attack?

The thread is about the forum i moderate so why shouldn't i respond to it?

Nobody is stopping the op from having or voicing his opinion.

You're right, modding is not easy, and its made a lot harder when you read posts like yours.

Brendan Flowers

El Pistolero wrote: »

I'm only using the examples you used in the first place.

Actually in my original post I used the example of sport/celeb threads when comparing to religion. It was only in a later post that I used the Ronaldo example because I was struggling to get an answer (which I still am).

Desire2

El Pistolero wrote: »

.
You're right, modding is not easy, and its made a lot harder when you read posts like yours.

A personal attack?
look mods must at least meet the standards they impose on others,otherwise there will always be tension.
The OP made a valid point,there was no need to circle the wagons.

Super-Rush

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Actually in my original post I used the example of sport/celeb threads when comparing to religion. It was only in a later post that I used the Ronaldo example because I was struggling to get an answer (which I still am).

You've been given answers but your peoblem seems to be mainly down to these threads being negative towards religion. If you don't like it then don't read it. People are entitled to give their opinions both good and bad as long as they stay within in the rules of the forum.

Desire2 wrote: »

A personal attack?
look mods must at least meet the standards they impose on others,otherwise there will always be tension.
The OP made a valid point,there was no need to circle the wagons.

So who is supposed to answer the questions the op has to ask?

Who circled the wagons?

Take off the tinfoil hat.

Desire2

El Pistolero wrote: »

So who is supposed to answer the questions the op has to ask?

Anybody with a reasonable opinion.

Who circled the wagons?

People with any form of mod after their name as so often happens in feedback

Take off the tinfoil hat.

Now is that a worthy answer from a Mod?.
i have made it clear that i know it is not easy to mod,but if i had suggested that your answers were based on a Tin foil hat i have no doubt i would have had an infraction by now.

El Weirdo

Desire2 wrote: »

Anybody with a reasonable opinion.

Don't you mean an opinion the same as yours?

Desire2

El Weirdo wrote: »

Don't you mean an opinion the same as yours?

No El Weirdo it would be a very boring site if we all agreed on everything!:)

Brendan Flowers

El Pistolero wrote: »

You've been given answers but your peoblem seems to be mainly down to these threads being negative towards religion. If you don't like it then don't read it. People are entitled to give their opinions both good and bad as long as they stay within in the rules of the forum.

No, it had nothing to to with negative threads. I think I made that clear in my follow up posts. I just want to know what the limit on religious threads? As I've already said I've seen plenty of sports threads locked and the message from the Mod was "take it to the sport forum". I've never seen them say "We're locking this as there is already a few sports discussions ongoing in AH". Maybe Im wrong? This question is what I was hoping you'd answer.

Desire2

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Maybe Im wrong?

In my experience you are not wrong when it comes to expecting an unbiased answer in feedback.
loads of questions are treated like you were hell bent on attacking Boards or Mods.
Some Mods treat feedback as a place they can attack a poster and be sure of back-up by fellow mods.

To be fair many do not though.

Diabhal Beag

See the thing is that religion threads always go the same way. Say somebody starts a thread about Jesus it goes from talking about Jesus to arguments over beliefs. A discussion is fine, albeit if you're trying to debate somebody about religion there is no winner, but eventually it turns into the usual "Those Children should grow up and stop believing in their stupid imaginary God". Now I know religion is something a majority of people have strong feelings of but it seems a bit sad that when people like me (or to reverse say an atheist is being mocked) are told to stop believing what we believe even though I've never forced my religion on somebody. It's basically bannings and a lock waiting to happen.

Beruthiel

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

I just want to know what the limit on religious threads?

How long is a piece of string?
What are you looking for here Brendan?
Do you want us to tell the Mods of AH that they can only have one thread per week?
What if the thread from last week is still going, then we have two. Do they wait until people stop posting in the first one before another one is allowed to be set up?
Sorry Brendan, it is unacceptable to ask the AH Mods to work within such a tight framework.

The Mods of AH are picked because they know how AH works and are trusted by the Admins of this site to run the forum as they see best for the majority who use it regularly.

If you do not like the threads on religion in that forum, just don't read them.
Considering that most of those threads get a lot of posts, one would have to assume that the majority have something to say on the subject.
They wouldn't be set up if people weren't interested in discussing the subject.
At the end of the day, that's what AH is for.

Brendan Flowers

Beruthiel wrote: »

How long is a piece of string?
What are you looking for here Brendan?
Do you want us to tell the Mods of AH that they can only have one thread per week?
What if the thread from last week is still going, then we have two. Do they wait until people stop posting in the first one before another one is allowed to be set up?
Sorry Brendan, it is unacceptable to ask the AH Mods to work within such a tight framework.

The Mods of AH are picked because they know how AH works and are trusted by the Admins of this site to run the forum as they see best for the majority who use it regularly.

If you do not like the threads on religion in that forum, just don't read them.
Considering that most of those threads get a lot of posts, one would have to assume that the majority have something to say on the subject.
They wouldn't be set up if people weren't interested in discussing the subject.
At the end of the day, that's what AH is for.

You might want to re-read this thread because it was an AH Mod who said that when the forum becomes over run on certain topics they start locking threads. So obviously you'd expect they'd have some way of gauging this. However I think they reply from the Mod was just an attempt to shut me up.

I've asked for better clarification but rather than do that he just seemed to reply to minor things I mentioned in my posts. As I've said, what is the limit on sport topics for example? If I go into AH today and start a thread on the Carlos Tevez saga will it be left open as there seems to be no other sports discussions going on at the moment in AH?

Beruthiel

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

You might want to re-read this thread because it was an AH Mod who said that when the forum becomes over run on certain topics they start locking threads.

So, Mod discretion.

I've asked for better clarification

It is a fluid thing and there will be no further clarification than what I gave you above.
Again, it is Mod discretion.

As I've said, what is the limit on sport topics for example?

As above, Mod discretion.

Can you tell me Brendan, what is it you are looking for here?

I get the feeling that you are not so much bothered about religious threads in AH as you are about religion in general getting bashed.
If it is because of that, then I will suggest again that you just don't read them.

Religion is discussed on this site.
If you want the polite discussion, we have specific forums for that.
But, we will not be ignoring the fact that an awful lot of people now have no time for religion whatsoever and they also get to have a voice.

The Recliner

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

I've asked for better clarification but rather than do that he just seemed to reply to minor things I mentioned in my posts. As I've said, what is the limit on sport topics for example? If I go into AH today and start a thread on the Carlos Tevez saga will it be left open as there seems to be no other sports discussions going on at the moment in AH?

This may have not been the best example to use as Soccer on Boards has a bit of a history of causing problems

This is why the Soccer forum requires people to request access and be vetted in order to post in it as the nature of Soccer leads to tribalism and people getting a bit wound up

So due to the nature of the set up of the Soccer forum most soccer based thread outside of the Soccer forum get shut down, exceptions have been made in AH for big events like the Henry handball and possibly going forward discussion will be allowed on Major Tournaments (this is up to the Mods to decide)

But there are no hard and fast rules around any of this so as Beruthial as pointed out if you are looking for clarification there probably isn't any more that can be clarified, it is up to the Mods to take stock of the mood/direction of the forum and decide what should and shouldn't be allowed

believe it or not most things on this site work better when the rules are a bit vague and the people trusted to enforce them are allowed to use their own common sense, there are plenty of recent examples in this forum of instances where rules have had to be applied where common sense would be prefferable but you will always have people arguing over which is better

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

mcmoustache

Ellis Dee wrote: »

Another problem is, I think, is that the religious forum is crammed with total religious nutbars,:D especially some of the moderators, who are utterly intolerant of any view that expresses doubt about the existence of a sky fairy or amusement at the more absurd ideas that many believers harbour. Anyone who isn't of their bent is instantly ganged up on and will receive infractions or bans on the slightest pretext.:)

Better to have the odd religion-related theme discussed here and let the holy joes learn that there are parts of the universe where they have to be exposed to views they can't shut down or silence.:eek:

Getting a bit off-topic here but I disagree.

The mods are pretty reasonable when you consider that the forum is for discussions about Christianity. If anyone could intervene in every discussion and say something like "well that's a load of bs because there is no god", the discussions would be ruined for those involved. For those arguments, the mods there have provided a superthread to discuss the absense/existence of God.

Don't forget as well that quite a few atheists post there, myself included. Zombrex posts there all the time (and if you feel like losing the will to live, check out any of his discussions with Philologos). The mods have no problem with atheists and most atheists have no problem with the mods either.

Admittedly, you do get the odd nutter but the mods ban them if they go too far with their bigotry. I've seen it happen fairly often with misbehaving Catholics. The mods don't tolerate abuse and they are quite even-handed and patient in carrying out their duties.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't believe in any of that God nonsense but I do like that forum and I don't think you were being fair in your description of it.

Xenophile

Brendan Flowers seems to be a person of conviction. Agree with him or not, I admire the fact that he has put time and energy into what he feels strongly about. And I do think has a point. What's the old saying about Sex, Religion and Politics..............at least we can talk about them nowadays lets keep them to their own homes where people who are interested can carry on respectful discussion.

Xavi6

Apologies for the old thread bump but it contains the example for my query. I of course used the search function however the first page of results doesn't really help.

Basically I'm wondering if policy has changed from this -

Super-Rush wrote: »

We allow x amout of discussion on different topics.

When the forum gets over run with a certain topic we close/move etc.

If we were to move every topic to a specific forum there wouldn't be anything posted in AH at all.

to this -

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=84508238&postcount=37

AH is a sports free zone.

Did a 'control + f' search in the charter and it says nothing about sports specifically so it should probably be added if the stance has changed.

Micky Dolenz

AH has always been a sports free zone with the rare exception of World Cup threads.

Sex, religion and politics come no where close to how contentious sport can be.

Xavi6

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

AH has always been a sports free zone with the rare exception of World Cup threads.

Sex, religion and politics come no where close to how contentious sport can be.

That's fair enough if it's the policy but it's not stated anywhere. Bannable offences are in the charter for example so sticking this in would be no harm too to cover yourselves.

Would stop whingers like me

Brendan Flowers

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

AH has always been a sports free zone with the rare exception of World Cup threads.

Sex, religion and politics come no where close to how contentious sport can be.

Could you be a bit more specific here because I would have thought religion and politics threads were a lot worse than sport?

Canis Lupus

No one needs boring soccer threads in AH :P

Brendan Flowers

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Could you be a bit more specific here because I would have thought religion and politics threads were a lot worse than sport?

As you are probably aware, there is a strict charter and access process in the soccer forum - the strictest on boards. The reason for this is because soccer is a painfully contentious subject, the soccer mods work damn hard to keep the forum in line. Other sports - like rugby - also get extremely heated, maybe not to quite the same extent, but heated nonetheless.

So for obvious reasons, we keep soccer in the soccer forum. We can't allow some sports and not others, that would cause offense and be inconsistent.

Cabaal

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Could you be a bit more specific here because I would have thought religion and politics threads were a lot worse than sport?

Far more people get heated over soccer then religion, this is why the soccer forum is so strict with access to the forum, bans etc

biko

Sports threads are more work that religious threads by far. You'd think the maddest hatters were religious but nope it's the soccer fans.
There a reason Soccer forum was made private many years ago but Islam, Atheist and Christianity forums are still public access.

Xavi6

So will the ban on sports threads be added to the charter or documented in any way seeing as they're not allowed?

Seems like it's all official so no reason why not.

Edit:

Deleted User wrote: »

As you are probably aware, there is a strict charter and access process in the soccer forum - the strictest on boards. The reason for this is because soccer is a painfully contentious subject, the soccer mods work damn hard to keep the forum in line. Other sports - like rugby - also get extremely heated, maybe not to quite the same extent, but heated nonetheless.

So for obvious reasons, we keep soccer in the soccer forum. We can't allow some sports and not others, that would cause offense and be inconsistent.

Of course you could, you already allow some topics and not others so it's the same principle.

The soccer forum access just gives a handy excuse not to have soccer related threads because the AH mods wouldn't want to manage them. And I don't blame them.

Using it as an excuse to stop chat on golf or athletics though is stretching it a bit much. A thread on Rory McIlroy winning something would be farce less hassle then a debate on Catholicism yet the former is banned and the latter is allowed slide. That's the inconsistency which remains.

Dav

Would an addition of "we don't talk about Sports here in AH - go see the Sports Category" to the charter fix that? Seems like a quick and easy win.

However, is it even a problem at the moment that you need to have a specific rule for it?

biko

I know soccer is expressibly not allowed, that's in the charter.
AH is a catch-all forum but whenever a Golf/Rugby/Surfing thread is closed with a note to "take it to sports forum" there is usually no quarrel.
Tbh I don't see any particular reason to change anything, it's already well known that AH isn't right for sports chat unless the mods deems it's good for a laugh or there is a tournament on or something more sinister I cannot reveal.

Xavi6

biko wrote: »

I know soccer is expressibly not allowed, that's in the charter.
AH is a catch-all forum but whenever a Golf/Rugby/Surfing thread is closed with a note to "take it to sports forum" there is usually no quarrel.
Tbh I don't see any particular reason to change anything, it's already well known that AH isn't right for sports chat unless the mods deems it's good for a laugh or there is a tournament on or something more sinister I cannot reveal.

Exactly, there are exceptions which is why I'm questioning the response -

AH is a sports free zone.

It either is or it isn't. If it isn't then you're right, no need for change. If it is though then it should be on the list of things not allowed like "Yore ma" and whatever else.

A bit of clarity is all I'm asking for one way or another.

Zaph

Are you planning to go through every forum charter looking for "clarity"? Because I'm sure there's plenty in need of change before AH. And I fail to understand why it matters so much to you anyway. The AH mods do a bloody difficult job extremely well, so they really don't need another mod coming out of the blue to publicly question how they moderate their forum. Other than single megathreads during things like the World Cup, sports threads have not been permitted in AH for quite some time. That it's not in the charter is irrelevant, it's a long established convention in the forum. And tbh, we all know that most people don't read the charters, so would it make any significant difference if "no sports threads" was added?

Xavi6

Less of the hostile response thanks Zaph, I was told on thread to take it to feedback so I did. Questioning ANYTHING these days seems to met with that sort of attitude, even if it's simply a suggestion to cover bases. You'd almost think feedback isn't wanted

Sports threads are either allowed or they aren't. If they are then the mod's response was incorrect.

And tbh, we all know that most people don't read the charters, so would it make any significant difference if "no sports threads" was added?

T&Cs for anything are rarely if ever read, it doesn't mean something just gets left out. I'm genuinely surprised at the staunch objection to adding a single line to the charter. At the very least the mods should have a consistent response, not one saying they're allowed sometimes and another saying they're not at all.

I've made my suggestion as per the mod instruction I was given so might as well lock her up if it's not something of interest. I won't post any more on it.

dr.bollocko

This is what is in the charter, there is an example list of where some threads should go - but it's not an exhaustive list. If it was, we'd need to list every forum on the site.

It doesn't say "All threads relating to motors go here", but we all know - that if someone starts a thread about what car has the best MPG, it will be locked and the the poster will be directed to motors.

So it is catered for in the charter, the wording may not be as specific as some like, but it's impossible to cover every eventuality.

If sports threads were regularly being started in AH, we would consider having a more exclusive point in the charter, but as it stands - they're a rarity.

dr.bollocko wrote: »

There are a huge amount of forums on boards.ie. Often it can be difficult to locate the one you are looking for. If you need help please ask in newbies and FAQ.
If you post a thread in After Hours that is more suited to another forum it will either be locked or moved to the correct forum. If you are unsure if a topic is suitable for After Hours please send a private message to any of the moderators.

For example:

• Dublin Forum for anything relating to Dublin.
• Television Forum for TV related threads
• Cool Vids & Pics & Links for all YouTube videos etc.
• Ranting and raving for when you just need to vent and you don't want to argue. (PM me for access)
• Politics forum for all serious political discussion
• Irish economy forum for all issues relating to the Irish economy.
• Celebs and showbiz for general celebrity gossip.

dr.bollocko

Xavi6 wrote: »

Sports threads are either allowed or they aren't.

I don't feel the need to cater in absolute blanket rules in everything all the time to spoil the fun for everyone. Sports threads are not allowed. With occasional exceptions for big deals. World cup thread in AH was a laugh in the past. It was worth being catered for.

This kind of questioning spoils the fun tbh. Talking about adding lines to charters because it suits your mood to go looking to poke holes is just a waste of time.

Steve

I don't think Xavi6 is asking for a specific rule in the charter - just a general hint that sports topics belong elsewhere. And yes, I just had a reasonable look at the charter and it's not apparent.

The spin that 'it's been like that for ages' or 'the regulars know that is the case' is bullcrap tbh if a mod can't back their actions up by reference to posting guidelines or rules somewhere. It's all to easy for regulars and mods alike to assume everyone knows what goes because they are up-to-date on current decisions - and those decisions have become policy but without the forum rules being changed to reflect it.

How, in that case, is a new user (or indeed an experienced user who doesn't frequent the forum but knows to peruse the charter before posting) supposed to know how to behave or what to post or not post?

padd b1975

dr.bollocko wrote: »

Talking about adding lines to charters because it suits your mood to go looking to poke holes is just a waste of time.

Maybe you and your mods should look at removing lines from the charter.

EG.

Irish economy forum for all
issues relating to the Irish economy.

No way is even a token effort made by you guys to enforce this.

K-9

Steve wrote: »

I don't think Xavi6 is asking for a specific rule in the charter - just a general hint that sports topics belong elsewhere. And yes, I just had a reasonable look at the charter and it's not apparent.

The spin that 'it's been like that for ages' or 'the regulars know that is the case' is bullcrap tbh if a mod can't back their actions up by reference to posting guidelines or rules somewhere. It's all to easy for regulars and mods alike to assume everyone knows what goes because they are up-to-date on current decisions - and those decisions have become policy but without the forum rules being changed to reflect it.

How, in that case, is a new user (or indeed an experienced user who doesn't frequent the forum but knows to peruse the charter before posting) supposed to know how to behave or what to post or not post?

We don't prohibit sports discussion for something like a World Cup, European Championships or an Olympics. For something like an All Ireland win for Donegal :cool: or SAF retiring we'll direct to the appropriate forum, just close the thread and point to the appropriate forum.

I suppose there is no harm in updating the charter, it hasn't been an issue at all during my time modding. The few times people did post something outside the charter it was sorted easily enough, no big deal. I think it is covered by the appropriate forum rule, but sometimes people will look at the technicalities of the charter and focus on that, meanwhile ignoring the overall ethos or general feel of the forum.

LizT

Steve wrote: »

I don't think Xavi6 is asking for a specific rule in the charter - just a general hint that sports topics belong elsewhere. And yes, I just had a reasonable look at the charter and it's not apparent.

The spin that 'it's been like that for ages' or 'the regulars know that is the case' is bullcrap tbh if a mod can't back their actions up by reference to posting guidelines or rules somewhere. It's all to easy for regulars and mods alike to assume everyone knows what goes because they are up-to-date on current decisions - and those decisions have become policy but without the forum rules being changed to reflect it.

How, in that case, is a new user (or indeed an experienced user who doesn't frequent the forum but knows to peruse the charter before posting) supposed to know how to behave or what to post or not post?

This line from the charter pretty much sums it up

If you post a thread in After Hours that is more suited to another forum it will either be locked or moved to the correct forum. If you are unsure if a topic is suitable for After Hours please send a private message to any of the moderators.

I'm taking an educated guess that the reason sports isn't specifically mentioned in the charter is that there are simply far too many sports forums to mention individually. It is its own category after all. I'm also taking an educated guess that the reason the likes of Dublin City, Celebs and Showbiz etc are mentioned is that they're the forums that threads should be posted in, rather than AH. That's certainly been my experience.

As Dr B said, is there a need to create a blanket rule specifically for this? IMO, no. In my short time as a mod, I can only recall one sports thread cropping up in AH and being subsequently locked (there have very possibly been one or two more, my memory is sh1te). I don't think that this is such an issue that amendments need to be made to the charter to be honest.