NUIG forum mods

Raging_Ninja

Examples on this page of the thread in particular.

Its the longest thread there, and definitely the most random. Simply talk about whatever is annoying you in NUIG. Anyways, somebody makes a post about economics, somebody says he likes keynesian, and somebody then goes and claims keynes was an anti-semite, therefore he is wrong.

Now the discussion is actually getting interesting, and then the off-topic warnings are issued, and posts get deleted. Naturally enough, due to that one person (Jerkov) calling people anti-semites, he's insulted. Then a few more posts on the same topic (non-offensive) are made, and posts are deleted.

I ask via PM what was wrong with discussing economics in the NUIG forum (considering we learn it in NUIG and had the discussion going on there in the forum), and am told by KittyeeTrix that there is nothing wrong with discussing economics within the correct thread. I ask that the thread is split so the discussion can continue and have still not received a response.

Due to the heavy-handedness of moderating, with OT posts being deleted rather than topics being split, there has been a bit of a backlash, with a few of us openly complaining about it. These are naturally enough deleted.

The problem is that it is a smaller forum, with a few members who post frequently along with a bunch of people who come in to ask a few questions and so on. But the discussions that can go on can be interesting, and may result in threads going off-topic. Rather than these 'offensive' posts being deleted, at least a bit off effort should be made to preserve these posts in a new thread.

It doesn't help that at least one of the mods didn't even know what 'splitting a thread' actually meant. Instead, the mod just deleted the OT posts (which were fairly good ones regarding repeat exams and their merits) and created a new thread, saying how the previous discussion was interesting, but then the previous discussion no longer exists.

Intentionally or not, the heavy-handedness is having a stifling effect on discussion on the forum.

Toto Wolfcastle

Myself and the NUIG mods have already discussed the possibility of creating an Off-Topic Thread which might help with off-topic posts. I'm sure that they will take on board your feedback on board regarding splitting off-topic posts into new threads.

KittyeeTrix

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

Examples on this page of the thread in particular.

Its the longest thread there, and definitely the most random. Simply talk about whatever is annoying you in NUIG. Anyways, somebody makes a post about economics, somebody says he likes keynesian, and somebody then goes and claims keynes was an anti-semite, therefore he is wrong.

Now the discussion is actually getting interesting, and then the off-topic warnings are issued, and posts get deleted. Naturally enough, due to that one person (Jerkov) calling people anti-semites, he's insulted. Then a few more posts on the same topic (non-offensive) are made, and posts are deleted.

I ask via PM what was wrong with discussing economics in the NUIG forum (considering we learn it in NUIG and had the discussion going on there in the forum), and am told by KittyeeTrix that there is nothing wrong with discussing economics within the correct thread. I ask that the thread is split so the discussion can continue and have still not received a response.

Due to the heavy-handedness of moderating, with OT posts being deleted rather than topics being split, there has been a bit of a backlash, with a few of us openly complaining about it. These are naturally enough deleted.

I did not see the relevance of a bitch about some form of economics to NUIG. I believe it is much better discussion to be had in the Economics forum. If the problem was with how the subject was being taught rather than the actual content then I would see how it would have been relevant to the "bitch about NUIG" thread.
I myself studied Microbiology and there are many policies/techniques I would have issue with but these are not for discussion in the NUIG thread. These would be for the Biology Forum

The problem is that it is a smaller forum, with a few members who post frequently along with a bunch of people who come in to ask a few questions and so on. But the discussions that can go on can be interesting, and may result in threads going off-topic. Rather than these 'offensive' posts being deleted, at least a bit off effort should be made to preserve these posts in a new thread.

The thread was allowed to go slightly off-topic for a few posts before a gentle reminder to stay on-topic was made on thread. This was blatantly ignored and discussion continued. Moderating decisions were made in line with the charter and again posters have taken issue with this!!!
There was no attempt to take the conversation elsewhere at all even when it was suggested on thread by myself that this be done.

Actually, there was no attempt to discuss economics at all in any of the deleted posts so there were no actual discussion posts there to split into a new thread

It doesn't help that at least one of the mods didn't even know what 'splitting a thread' actually meant. Instead, the mod just deleted the OT posts (which were fairly good ones regarding repeat exams and their merits) and created a new thread, saying how the previous discussion was interesting, but then the previous discussion no longer exists.

Intentionally or not, the heavy-handedness is having a stifling effect on discussion on the forum.

I held my hands up during the last accusation that the Mods of NUIG forum were too heavy-handed and agreed that I had gotten it wrong with regards splitting the posts into a new one. I don't appreciate you raising that again in a totally unrelated incident, if I'm being honest!!

The forum has rules which are there to keep order for a reason. THere is only so much a Mod can turn a blind eye to and this is one of them.

I am now going to set up a separate chat type, off-topic thread to facilitate discussion of this type for the future but I would like to end my post here by saying that the posters in NUIG have to take responsibility for their own postings.

The moderation of NUIG forum will continue as it has been as myself and musical.x only respond to the posts which are placed there. If there is no problem with the posts then we wouldn't need to moderate but there seems to be a few who take issue with every single decision made and continually drag threads off-topic (deliberately at times, imo)

Ficheall

musical.x wrote: »

If you don't like the way the forum is run then don't bother posting here.

Just curious - is this the general consensus amongst the moderators?
I know the boards are privately owned, and therefore the comparison is moot - but at least the country's government were democratically elected, whatever complaints one might have about how they do things.

Raging_Ninja

and now the grievous sin of the 'inability to not post off-topic' has been committed, getting the thread closed.

Why? We're being treated like children, and its not going to end well. Unless you want that forum to degenerate to an FAQ section, something has to be done.

KittyeeTrix

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

and now the grievous sin of the 'inability to not post off-topic' has been committed, getting the thread closed.

Why? We're being treated like children, and its not going to end well. Unless you want that forum to degenerate to an FAQ section, something has to be done.

The thread has been closed so as to not incur any further discussion regarding moderation. It has become very apparent that certain posters cannot adhere to this within the forum and to be fair it is the Bank Holiday Weekend and we could all do without the extra moderation that goes along with the continuing off-topic posts!!
A link has been left to re-direct posters to this very thread.

I don't see how the enforcement of the charter rules is being interpreted as treating posters like children.
If there is a problem with posts then they are dealt with. If there isn't a problem, then they are left alone. It's really as simple as that....Nothing at all to do with treating ye like children.

Raging_Ninja

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I did not see the relevance of a bitch about some form of economics to NUIG. I believe it is much better discussion to be had in the Economics forum. If the problem was with how the subject was being taught rather than the actual content then I would see how it would have been relevant to the "bitch about NUIG" thread.
I myself studied Microbiology and there are many policies/techniques I would have issue with but these are not for discussion in the NUIG thread. These would be for the Biology Forum

Well what's wrong with bringing it up in the NUIG forum? Who knows, it could be interesting to those who never go to the biology forums, create a bigger discussion amongst people in the same college as ourselves who do different courses.

The thread was allowed to go slightly off-topic for a few posts before a gentle reminder to stay on-topic was made on thread. This was blatantly ignored and discussion continued.
Moderating decisions were made in line with the charter and again posters have taken issue with this!!!
There was no attempt to take the conversation elsewhere at all even when it was suggested on thread by myself that this be done.

Well, why didn't you[b/] split the topic? I asked you to and never got a response. Port the posts over to some other thread, so that the discussion can continue with previous posts. The discussion goes to where the posts are, not to an empty thread.

Actually, there was no attempt to discuss economics at all in any of the deleted posts so there were no actual discussion posts there to split into a new thread

There wasn't any discussion because you guys shut it down so quickly, issuing warnings and deleting posts, that there wasn't any time for it to develop. After a handful of posts and you guys rolled in and started slapping people down for 'posting off topic'.

I held my hands up during the last accusation that the Mods of NUIG forum were too heavy-handed and agreed that I had gotten it wrong with regards splitting the posts into a new one. I don't appreciate you raising that again in a totally unrelated incident, if I'm being honest!!

I was trying to demonstrate a pattern of heavy-handedness. I didn't want to name anyone.

The forum has rules which are there to keep order for a reason. THere is only so much a Mod can turn a blind eye to and this is one of them.

And I respect that, but there has to be leeway.

I am now going to set up a separate chat type, off-topic thread to facilitate discussion of this type for the future

Good, that's a great idea.

The moderation of NUIG forum will continue as it has been as myself and musical.x only respond to the posts which are placed there. If there is no problem with the posts then we wouldn't need to moderate but there seems to be a few who take issue with every single decision made and continually drag threads off-topic (deliberately at times, imo)

Honestly, I think its because you are going about doing things the wrong way.

KittyeeTrix

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

Well what's wrong with bringing it up in the NUIG forum? Who knows, it could be interesting to those who never go to the biology forums, create a bigger discussion amongst people in the same college as ourselves who do different courses.

Discussion of topics in a thread which are not related to the thread would serve to make the forums totally messy.
There would be no way of knowing what was contained in a particular thread or how to go about finding any information one may be looking for if topics could be addressed everywhere and anywhere.

Well, why didn't you[b/] split the topic? I asked you to and never got a response. Port the posts over to some other thread, so that the discussion can continue with previous posts. The discussion goes to where the posts are, not to an empty thread.

I was posting from my moblie for the past week and should have made this clear to you when you PM'd me so apologies:(
I wasn't in a position to port over the posts into a split thread and for what it's worth I didn't split them into a separate thread as I still don't believe that the discussion of theories of Economics is relevant to the NUIG forum.
However, I should have as I'm saying PM'd this to you to avoid any confusion.

There wasn't any discussion because you guys shut it down so quickly, issuing warnings and deleting posts, that there wasn't any time for it to develop. After a handful of posts and you guys rolled in and started slapping people down for 'posting off topic'.

It was not allowed to develop as it was not relevant to NUIG in my opinion. It was allowed time to fizzle out naturally but as usual in the NUIG after a gentle reminder to post on-topic the "heavy-handed" moderation accusations began in ernest again leading us once again to the helpdesk!

I was trying to demonstrate a pattern of heavy-handedness. I didn't want to name anyone.

That wasn't an example of "heavy handedness" but rather an example of a mistake which was totally owned up to in the previous helpdesk.

And I respect that, but there has to be leeway.

I have tried my damndest to facilitate posters and have definitely taken on board G'em's many suggestions following the last Helpdesk thread.

I isuue non-boldened gentle directions on thread along with an individual PM to the poster in question. If these are ignored I will then issue a more strongly worded boldened warning on thread before taking an action. If a poster continues to ignore this then I'm left with no choice but to act. As such, my hands are tied in this respect. As I've previously said there is only so much as a Mod you can ignore!

Good, that's a great idea

.

Than you:)

Honestly, I think its because you are going about doing things the wrong way.

What exactly is the problem in your opinion? If I'm aware of it, then I can look and see if it can be improved assuming there is basis for your discontent.

I cannot commit to keeping off-topic posts in threads which are unsuitable but like the idea of the off-topic thread these concerns can be addressed and solutions worked out:)

Fionn MacCool

I think the question the mods really need to ask themselves is WHY SO SRS

It's a thread called "Bitch about NUIG". Who really gives a toss if it digresses a bit? It's not like anyone is going to get wound up because some people are talking about economics in a large thread intended for tongue in cheek giving out. Let's be honest, the mods don't care that it swerved off topic a bit, they just wanted an excuse to use their 'authority' and make another nice big post in bold. Stop being a fanny and find more important things to do with your time than piss about with the vBulletin moderator options. Nobody is impressed.

Zaph

Fionn MacCool, moderating a forum is difficult enough without having to endure rubbish like that in Help Desk. I hope you have a few more manners when your ban expires in a week.

Nailz

As another relatively frequent user of the NUIG forum, I sympathise with what Raging Ninja is saying 100%, I'm on the same page with regards how I think the direction of the forum should go; but I also sympathise with where our Moderators, or at least one of them is coming from, I can see they're only doing the job they've volunteered to do based on the guidelines which have already been set, and I don't think they can be blamed for their actions in terms of following those rules.

But I, and the regulars (or those of whom have spoken out, at least) do have a valid point in my opinion concerning the lenience, or lack there of, to which it is moderated. To say the the thread would descend into a mess if it wasn't moderated in such a way, I believe is complete nonsense. I am of the opinion that all threads are bound to lead to off-topic discussions eventually, especially if the thread in question is as long as the "Bitch About..." thread in the NUIG forum. I think in such situations, especially in terms of the recent economics discussion, the discussion should be left to play out, as it can be a very interesting and somewhat educational conversation among the users, and when it is believed the topic has run its course, the mod should then step in and run it back on-topic. It was hardly given the chance to go that far, attempting to drag it into a different forum, even a different thread I think, kills that discussion. That is the fast track to, as Raging Ninja would put it, turning the forum into a FAQ section.

I also applaud the principal of an Off-Topic thread, and I'm glad to see that one has been started, I believe all forums should have one, but I am of the opinion as well that it is difficult to carry over a discussion from one thread to another, especially considering most discussions arise spontaneously, yet somewhat related to its thread of origin, I for one would find that hard to overcome, although I do welcome and support attempts for such a thing in the form of the Off-Topic thread.

I would like for Ficheall's question to be addressed as well, because I frankly find that quote laughable.

KittyeeTrix

Nailz wrote: »

As another relatively frequent user of the NUIG forum, I sympathise with what Raging Ninja is saying 100%, I'm on the same page with regards how I think the direction of the forum should go; but I also sympathise with where our Moderators, or at least one of them is coming from, I can see they're only doing the job they've volunteered to do based on the guidelines which have already been set, and I don't think they can be blamed for their actions in terms of following those rules.

I have no problem at all implementing the rules as they are set out in the NUIG charter and for the most part the several other posters seem to have absolutely no problem following them either. There exists a tiny subset however who seem to be continually unable to comply with these rules. I have discovered already in the short time that I've been moderating that any laxness at all with regards the charter is not necessarily a good thing and can leave a Mod open to all sorts of accusations regarding consistency.
For that reason I've made my post very clear with regards any moderation decisions I make.

But I, and the regulars (or those of whom have spoken out, at least) do have a valid point in my opinion concerning the lenience, or lack there of, to which it is moderated. To say the the thread would descend into a mess if it wasn't moderated in such a way, I believe is complete nonsense. I am of the opinion that all threads are bound to lead to off-topic discussions eventually, especially if the thread in question is as long as the "Bitch About..." thread in the NUIG forum. I think in such situations, especially in terms of the recent economics discussion, the discussion should be left to play out, as it can be a very interesting and somewhat educational conversation among the users, and when it is believed the topic has run its course, the mod should then step in and run it back on-topic. It was hardly given the chance to go that far, attempting to drag it into a different forum, even a different thread I think, kills that discussion. That is the fast track to, as Raging Ninja would put it, turning the forum into a FAQ section.

I can understand your concerns with regards the stifling of off-topic discussion and so hopefully now the provision of a off-topic thread will prevent this.
I do think it is necessary however to not allow a thread just roll on once it has gone very much off-topic. Where does it end? It could very well meander from one off-topic point to another.
My point being that if threads were allowed to just meander on without any type of charter control then the title of a thread would not necessarily contain relevant information. Surely, you must see where I'm coming from????
The discussion pertaining to economics was gently asked to be discontinued. It was suggested by myself that it could be carried on elsewhere (economics forum) which to my knowledge it wasn't.
Posters would complain in the past that it takes them good time to repost elsewhere but at the same time seem to have plenty of time to write posts concerning the moderation

I also applaud the principal of an Off-Topic thread, and I'm glad to see that one has been started, I believe all forums should have one, but I am of the opinion as well that it is difficult to carry over a discussion from one thread to another, especially considering most discussions arise spontaneously, yet somewhat related to its thread of origin, I for one would find that hard to overcome, although I do welcome and support attempts for such a thing in the form of the Off-Topic thread.

Seriously, how difficult can it be to continue a discussion in another thread? I personally think it is much more difficult to negotiate a thread on a particular topic which is cluttered with all sorts of off-topic posts..

I would like for Ficheall's question to be addressed as well, because I frankly find that quote laughable.

I can totally see where musical.x was coming from when she posted her response. It was a joke the amount of continued posting that went on from a small minority when she had expressly asked for it to be discontinued. It again goes totally against the charter to completely ignore a mod instruction repeatedly on-thread and quite frankly I'm surprised there were no bans handed out.
I fear if I had been online that I would not have been quite as lenient as she was!!

Moderating is not an easy gig as I have definitely discovered but I am now confident in what I am doing and so I will leave it with the CMods/helpdesk mods and again take on board any direction they may feel is appropriate.:)

joeKel73

As another regular on the NUIG forum I'd like to add my disappointment and frustration that the forum is recently having the life moderated out of it.

You'll see some clear rule-breaking on threads recently after warnings but this is just from the frustration of posters knowing that yet another discussion is being muted.

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

Why? We're being treated like children, and its not going to end well. Unless you want that forum to degenerate to an FAQ section, something has to be done.

Agreed completely with Raging_Ninja on the FAQ comment. If someone starts a thread it seems responses must be a specific answer to the question or they're getting posts deleted and/or thread closed. No discussion allowed!!

Here's a few examples (which I have brought up with KittyeeTrix already by PM)...

Example 1: "Repeating 4th year science"
Part of the OP was "Like my results won't just be capped at something like 40% even if I get say 70%?? (I know they do this for some repeat exams which I think is abit mean but anyway)"
I post "Completely agree on capping all repeats at 40% too.
I think deferrals should only be granted in exceptional circumstances anyway (good medical reasons) and should be able to get full marks"... post gets DELETED.
IMO this line of discussion isn't off topic, especially since the OP stated their own view on it in the first post.

Example 2: "Titrations"
The OP asks for help with Titrations.
KittyeeTrix replies with "Open up your chemistry manual, google or get a hold of Leaving Cert Chemistry book assuming you are in 1st year." or to go to the Phys/Chem forum. Kittyee then CLOSED the thread!! Why?!
This is an NUIG student looking for advice from other NUIG students. Students who have studies Chemistry in NUIG will know what's expected and taught here.

Example 3: "Need help with applied maths question for test tommorow"
The OP posts a question they're having trouble with.
RolandIRL posts a reply and the thread is CLOSED. Other posters could have expanded on that answer or explained it better, or the OP could have responded with follow up discussions.
When I asked KittyeeTrix by PM why it was closed I'm told "Roland is a very able mathematician and so I closed the thread. The last thing I felt someone needs is a variety of people giving several different answers to a Question (especially right before an exam)and muddling their head" :eek:
We need to limit information here in case we muddle our heads?? Alternative approaches can be a very good thing, as my Maths teacher always taught us "Question assumptions and generate alternatives". It'd rather the mods don't decide when we've had enough knowledge on any topic! :mad:

There is of course also the farse of the NUIG SU elections thread, where people had to post on a different thread to disclose their interests before discussing the elections. Anyone who didn't or missed the mod comment to do so: BANNED. Sure how do you know if declared interests or affiliations are true....? Pointless.

Anyway the moderation in NUIG just isn't working out. The mod has clashed with most regular contributors to the forum by this stage. NUIG should be a discussion forum, not a Q&A site.

joeKel73

Also, while an "off-topic" thread is a good idea... with the current moderation I can see a lot of on-topic comments being thrown in there instead of allowing natural discussions on a topic developing in a thread.

Ficheall

J o e wrote: »

Anyway the moderation in NUIG just isn't working out. The mod has clashed with most regular contributors to the forum by this stage. NUIG should be a discussion forum, not a Q&A site.

There does seem to be some confusion as to the purpose of the NUIG forum. eg.

musical.x wrote: »

the point of the forum is to help people. If you do not want to help then do not reply to a post.Simple.

Perhaps if this were addressed, it might help?

KittyeeTrix

J o e wrote: »

As another regular on the NUIG forum I'd like to add my disappointment and frustration that the forum is recently having the life moderated out of it.

You'll see some clear rule-breaking on threads recently after warnings but this is just from the frustration of posters knowing that yet another discussion is being muted.

Agreed completely with Raging_Ninja on the FAQ comment. If someone starts a thread it seems responses must be a specific answer to the question or they're getting posts deleted and/or thread closed. No discussion allowed!!

Here's a few examples (which I have brought up with KittyeeTrix already by PM)...

Example 1: "Repeating 4th year science"
Part of the OP was "Like my results won't just be capped at something like 40% even if I get say 70%?? (I know they do this for some repeat exams which I think is abit mean but anyway)"
I post "Completely agree on capping all repeats at 40% too.
I think deferrals should only be granted in exceptional circumstances anyway (good medical reasons) and should be able to get full marks"... post gets DELETED.
IMO this line of discussion isn't off topic, especially since the OP stated their own view on it in the first post.

I responded to you if I recall correctly that the OP was not looking for the opinions of other posters with regards to the capping of results.
They were looking for an answer as to whether their results would be capped.
It was an informational type thread as opposed to a discussion type one.
The thread however did throw up good discussion points which I suggested could be carried on in a different thread. Quite often a poster will subscribe to a thread and receive email notifications. It would be very annoying to continually be getting notifications for the thread which was full of opinions and not actually any answers to the question posed by the OP.
Again, the suggestion of opening a discussion thread was offered but not taken up so I opened one myself which did actually draw quite a bit of discussion....

Example 2: "Titrations"
The OP asks for help with Titrations.
KittyeeTrix replies with "Open up your chemistry manual, google or get a hold of Leaving Cert Chemistry book assuming you are in 1st year." or to go to the Phys/Chem forum. Kittyee then CLOSED the thread!! Why?!
This is an NUIG student looking for advice from other NUIG students. Students who have studies Chemistry in NUIG will know what's expected and taught here.

I made a decision based on my own experience of doing titrations in 1st science in NUIG and thought that this poster would be better served actually asking for some point directed help in the phys/chem forum.
You disagreed

Example 3: "Need help with applied maths question for test tommorow"
The OP posts a question they're having trouble with.
RolandIRL posts a reply and the thread is CLOSED. Other posters could have expanded on that answer or explained it better, or the OP could have responded with follow up discussions.
When I asked KittyeeTrix by PM why it was closed I'm told "Roland is a very able mathematician and so I closed the thread. The last thing I felt someone needs is a variety of people giving several different answers to a Question (especially right before an exam)and muddling their head" :eek:
We need to limit information here in case we muddle our heads?? Alternative approaches can be a very good thing, as my Maths teacher always taught us "Question assumptions and generate alternatives". It'd rather the mods don't decide when we've had enough knowledge on any topic! :mad:

I closed the thread as I know for a fact that Roland is a capable mathematician and based on years of experience studying I felt it was not in the best interests of the poster to have a variety of different answers the night just before an exam. Again, a personal decision which you found fault with but the OP did not as I didn't receive any PM's from them.
Roland also offered the poster PM help if further was required!

I'm all for questioning assumptions and generating approaches but there is a time and place for this and unfortunately the night before an exam I felt was not one of them.

There is of course also the farse of the NUIG SU elections thread, where people had to post on a different thread to disclose their interests before discussing the elections. Anyone who didn't or missed the mod comment to do so: BANNED. Sure how do you know if declared interests or affiliations are true....? Pointless.

This has already been discussed and explained by CMod Bobblehead Panda in the previous helpdesk thread and the possibility of not entertaining these election threads was even suggested by admin. This will obviously have to be looked at in the future

Anyway the moderation in NUIG just isn't working out. The mod has clased with most regular contributors to the forum by this stage. NUIG should be a discussion forum, not a Q&A site.

Some posters seem to have developed a major problem in the NUIG forum with the simplest Mod commands which seem to not be a problem in any other forums. I'm not sure what is behind this but i can assure you that discussion is welcomed but there are some instances where it is not appropriate as I've pointed to over the course of this helpdesk thread.

The recent economics forum is a prime example of blatant disregard for a simple mod decision. The Mod makes a suggestion to continue discussion elsewhere but this is ignored in favour of giving out about the decision.

The same posters keep blatantly flouting the rules and on-thread directions and then complain when any action is taken. It's bordering on the ridiculous at this stage....

KittyeeTrix

Ficheall wrote: »

There does seem to be some confusion as to the purpose of the NUIG forum. eg.
Perhaps if this were addressed, it might help?

There is no confusion on the part of myself and musical.x with regards the purpose of the NUIG forum. It is a discussion forum which should be both informative and helpful to posters. This sometimes requires a direct answer and other times requires a discussion in my opinion.

If a poster cannot be helpful when replying to an OP then it is most likely in the interest of the OP that they not post in that instance:)

Raging_Ninja

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

There is no confusion on the part of myself and musical.x with regards the purpose of the NUIG forum. It is a discussion forum which should be both informative and helpful to posters. This sometimes requires a direct answer and other times requires a discussion in my opinion.

If a poster cannot be helpful when replying to an OP then it is most likely in the interest of the OP that they not post in that instance:)

How can there be discussions if you keep closing threads and deleting what you regard to be 'off topic' posts?

Ficheall

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I closed the thread as I know for a fact that Roland is a capable mathematician and based on years of experience studying I felt it was not in the best interests of the poster to have a variety of different answers the night just before an exam. Again, a personal decision which you found fault with but the OP did not as I didn't receive any PM's from them.

Just because someone does not PM you it does not necessarily mean that they have not found fault with your decision. MannyFagnet could be wise beyond his postcount.
Or he could have found a better answer among the multiple suggestions here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78407674 .

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

Some posters seem to have developed a major problem in the NUIG forum with the simplest Mod commands which seem to not be a problem in any other forums. I'm not sure what is behind this...

I have my suspicions...

KittyeeTrix

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

How can there be discussions if you keep closing threads and deleting what you regard to be 'off topic' posts?

I have explained over and over again why some of these threads have been locked.................
There are only so many times I can repeat the same things. Some threads I feel are best locked at a certain time e.g, the titration one, the maths one for reasons already explained

The on thread bold warnings were not appreciated the last time a helpdesk was inititated. The admin suggestion was to delete or give a gentle warning on thread. These have still managed to enrage a small subset of posters.

Off-topic posting is not allowed in threads as it gets messy and so is reined in. It is not unique to the NUIG forum but certainly the resistance to it seems to be.

I'm going to take a break for the night now as i've spent the most part of a day trying to answer the questions here but to no avail i fear:(

KittyeeTrix

Ficheall wrote: »

Just because someone does not PM you it does not necessarily mean that they have not found fault with your decision. MannyFagnet could be wise beyond his postcount.
Or he could have found a better answer among the multiple suggestions here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=78407674 .

Thank you for that Ficheall. I suppose it could be a 50/50 situation but I'll assume he had no problem with it as he didn't feel the need to mention it on thread or in a PM.

I have my suspicions...

I'm not quite sure what this means

Ficheall

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

Thank you for that Ficheall. I suppose it could be a 50/50 situation but I'll assume he had no problem with it as he didn't feel the need to mention it on thread or in a PM.

Well, it would have been difficult to mention it on thread, given that you'd locked it, non?

KittyeeTrix

Ficheall wrote: »

Well, it would have been difficult to mention it on thread, given that you'd locked it, non?

Oh, sorry Ficheall. My bad. I should have said "in another thread" or "started another thread":)

Ficheall

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

Oh, sorry Ficheall. My bad. I should have said "in another thread" or "started another thread":)

No worries. But again, had he mentioned the issue in another thread or started another thread, he would, no doubt, have landed himself in the "small subset of posters" who take issue with the forum's moderation...
It's probably better that he sought assistance elsewhere.

FTR - I've no issue with Roland's response.

joeKel73

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

It was an informational type thread as opposed to a discussion type one.

And who decides which thread is which?

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

The thread however did throw up good discussion points which I suggested could be carried on in a different thread. Quite often a poster will subscribe to a thread and receive email notifications. It would be very annoying to continually be getting notifications for the thread which was full of opinions and not actually any answers to the question posed by the OP.
Again, the suggestion of opening a discussion thread was offered but not taken up so I opened one myself which did actually draw quite a bit of discussion....

People don't like having to type out their discussion again, especially on something which is being already discussed on a relevant thread.

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I made a decision based on my own experience of doing titrations in 1st science in NUIG and thought that this poster would be better served actually asking for some point directed help in the phys/chem forum.
You disagreed

I don't disagree on directing them to a phys/chem forum, they might indeed be able to find some help over there too.
I do disagree with you giving that response then closing the thread for anybody else to help out. Some of us who have also done titrations may have given a more helpful response to the OP.

I know your reply to this will be "Sure you could PM them"... We can't keep doing that - this is a forum for open discussions.

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I closed the thread as I know for a fact that Roland is a capable mathematician and based on years of experience studying I felt it was not in the best interests of the poster to have a variety of different answers the night just before an exam. Again, a personal decision which you found fault with but the OP did not as I didn't receive any PM's from them.
Roland also offered the poster PM help if further was required!

I don't question Roland's mathematical abilities at all, but how do you know there aren't others here that can give better advice? Other posters you don't know personally.

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I'm all for questioning assumptions and generating approaches but there is a time and place for this and unfortunately the night before an exam I felt was not one of them.

Should the mods really be deciding when is the correct time to be discussing what?? We're being treated like kids here.

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

Some posters seem to have developed a major problem in the NUIG forum with the simplest Mod commands which seem to not be a problem in any other forums. I'm not sure what is behind this but i can assure you that discussion is welcomed but there are some instances where it is not appropriate as I've pointed to over the course of this helpdesk thread.

The reason people are having issue with "simplest Mod commands" is because of the sustained over-moderation recently. It's a case of "Ahh no, not this again...".

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

Oh, sorry Ficheall. My bad. I should have said "in another thread" or "started another thread"

You consider slight deviations from a very linear question + answer messy, but you think starting new threads for variation a good idea?

joeKel73

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I'm going to take a break for the night now as i've spent the most part of a day trying to answer the questions here but to no avail i fear:(

Imagine if you came back and your replies were deleted and you were told to start another thread with your points (which have been deleted).... Get me?

Toto Wolfcastle

Let me start this by saying that I'm on my phone and will not be at a computer for a couple of days so I cannot respond to specific posts. I do want to respond though.

Looking at the issue of off-topic posts in the bitching thread, I think the mods dealt with the situation well. They gave a couple of options to posters to take the discussion to PM or to a relevant forum. There's no point in saying that they should have split it into its own thread because it wasn't relevant to the NUIG forum. People continued to go against the mod warning so the mods had to take stronger action. Some posters took exception to this and discussed the moderation of the forum on thread. Tbh even if this was allowed it wasn't exactly done in a constructive manner. I'll get back to that in a minute. The posts in the thread in question were off topic. There was no reason to split then into a new thread because they were off topic for the forum. The mods were dealing with a very difficult situation and I think they did well.

In general though I think that there is a problem in the NUIG forum. This is what I think has happened:

The mods were chosen. They probably got off to a bad start because they were a bit heavy handed. People didn't like it so they reeled it in and responded positively to what people had to say. Certain people have continued to question nearly everything they do.

The forum was without a mod for a long time. People got used to this. Now that someone is actually enforcing the charter people don't like it.

I keep an eye on the forum because I have an interest in it. I also get notifications of reported posts. There aren't many. From what I've seen there should be.

I've started and stopped this post a few times because I had to do a few things so it's a bit all over the place.

My point though, is this: Posters need to start taking responsibility for their own behaviour. The mods are open to changing if it is necessary. Some posters don't seem to be. Unless both sides are willing to take responsibility then the forum won't work. If you gave a problem with a mod decision you need to PM the mods. If you don't feel like you are getting anywhere you can PM me. What I will say though is that anyone who questions a mod decision on thread will be getting an infraction. It's disruptive. I will be suggesting that the mods add this to the charter so that everyone is aware.

So, in summary mods are going to split threads to keep things on topic, and the posters are going to stop questioning mods on thread and realise that they are doing their best and are always trying to improve.

Ficheall

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

The mods are open to changing if it is necessary.

Are you sure?

musical.x wrote: »

If you don't like the way the forum is run then don't bother posting here. It's as simple as that.

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

Certain people have continued to question nearly everything they do.

I would be interested to know who the mods feel these "certain people" and the "small subset" KittyeeTrix refers to are. As far as I can tell, they seem to make up the majority of the regular posters on the forum.

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

The forum was without a mod for a long time. People got used to this. Now that someone is actually enforcing the charter people don't like it.

Was this before brianthebard and RolandIRL? I do not recall there ever not being a mod of the forum [edit: in the time that I've been here]. I'm sure I would have noticed that, as the forum would no doubt have descended into complete chaos within days.

That you are away from your computer is acknowledged. No rush.

Zillah

It has been my experience that the moderation on the NUIG forum is frequently heavy-handed and unnecessary. Mods seem to leap at the opportunity to use their powers for the flimsiest of reasons without asking themselves "Is moderator injunction actually necessary at this point?" - the answer would almost invariably be "no" but they lock threads, delete posts and issue OFFICIAL MODERATOR WARNINGS at the drop of a hat regardless.

I wouldn't suggest changing the mods at this point, that would be a little extreme, but I would suggest that the mods, KittyeeTrix in particular, learn to take a few breaths and decide if the discussion would genuinely benefit from their involvement or might things be ok on their own.

A post been reported by multiple people that have valid grievances?
- Get involved.

Off-topic posts are becoming so bad that the original poster's topic has gotten drowned out?
- Get involved.

A person posts something that is not strictly on topic but isn't going to ruin the conversation?
- Leave it alone.

Right now it seems to me that the biggest reason the NUIG forum is struggling is because mods are needlessly choking the life out of it. It's about ensuring an environment where discussion can thrive, not administering your little patch with stasi-like efficiency.

Ficheall

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

Raging_Ninja wrote: »

It doesn't help that at least one of the mods didn't even know what 'splitting a thread' actually meant. Instead, the mod just deleted the OT posts (which were fairly good ones regarding repeat exams and their merits) and created a new thread, saying how the previous discussion was interesting, but then the previous discussion no longer exists.

I held my hands up during the last accusation that the Mods of NUIG forum were too heavy-handed and agreed that I had gotten it wrong with regards splitting the posts into a new one. I don't appreciate you raising that again in a totally unrelated incident, if I'm being honest!!

Point of information: Assuming you're referring to the previous Poor moderation in the NUIG forum thread, there was no mention therein of the thread RN is referring to, as it did not open until a month after the previous Helpdesk thread had been closed. Or was there some other, more recent place which I've missed wherein you again held your hands up and agreed you had gotten it wrong since the last Helpdesk thread?

RolandIRL

Just want to throw in my 2 cents here.

It's clear from this thread (and others) that some posters just don't like being moderated. To openly question moderator decisions on-thread has never been allowed in the NUIG forum (or anywhere on Boards) in my time here, yet I've seen time and time again, multiple posters from this thread do it since the current mods were appointed. Frankly I'm surprised they didn't ban people for it, despite multiple warnings on the subject and it being in the charter (iirc I was the one who put it there months ago, if not it was one of the mods before me). There's a reason it's kept to PM and the Helpdesk so that the thread doesn't get derailed and end up a mess.

To say that the "economics" discussion was relevant to NUIG was a stretch. It started out as a bitch on why two vending machines had different prices and developed into quips about anti-Semitism...in what world would any good of come of that, especially when someone began calling people anti-Semitics (i think that post has since been deleted). That wasn't discussion, that was a flame-war waiting to happen, and it did happen to an extent with one or two posters hurling abuse.

Saying that the mods want to "flaunt" their authority, do ye really think they want to put extra work on themselves by dealing with the fallout of bans and infractions? Modding is no easy task, and I don't envy KittyeeTrix or musical.x for doing it, as I know first-hand how challenging it can be.

Regarding the "Titrations" and "Applied Maths exam" threads, homework threads generally go unanswered in the NUIG forum, given that it's not a particularly busy forum compared to the other college fora and are best redirected to the relevant forum, where they usually get answered quicker and better. I offered help to MannyFagnet (the OP for the Applied Maths thread) by way of PM if he wanted it, but given he hasn't been online since he started an identical thread in the Maths forum at the same time, I think it's a non-issue that Kittyee locked that thread. If he had any problems with it, he could have PM'd her to re-open it.

Ficheall, the "mod-free" period Bobblehead is referring to is when brianthebard went AWOL in May last year (here's hoping all's well with him btw) to the point where I was appointed mod in November last year. Brian was listed as mod, but in essence NUIG had no mod for that time.

TL;DR: Some of the posters here think they can challenge mod comments and actions on-thread (which has never been allowed on boards afaik) and get away with it, given that from what I've seen, the mods don't seem to take tough enough action on these posts.
Rather than point blame at the mods, why not look at your own posting styles and see if they could be improved so that you don't need mod action? They don't do it for the lulz.

Ficheall

RolandIRL wrote: »

Ficheall, the "mod-free" period Bobblehead is referring to is when brianthebard went AWOL in May last year (here's hoping all's well with him btw) to the point where I was appointed mod in November last year. Brian was listed as mod, but in essence NUIG had no mod for that time.

Ah yes, I remember how the forum went to hell in a handcart around then.....

I agree that the anti-semitism bit was out of line, and the mods were absolutely right to nip that in the bud. But "in what world would any good come of that" - seriously? It's a completely pointless thread in a largely pointless forum. The only good that might conceivably come of it is a little entertainment. The NUIG forum should, in my personal opinion - which may well be at odds with others' - serve a dual purpose; both to provide answers to questions about NUIG, and to provide a platform for discussion amongst NUIG students and alumni etc. The mods are doing a reasonable job of maintaining the Q&A part, but stifling the entertainment/discussion side of things.

I wouldn't say that the mods are trying to flaunt their authority - just, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, that they are overzealous. I remember way back when I was about 16 I ended up in charge of some group on myspace. I ran it into the ground, and paved over it with my good intentions. Had everyone in the group followed my instruction, it would have served its purpose wonderfully, but that didn't happen. With power comes the urge to do something with it. In my efforts to ensure the group was the best it could be, I irritated and drove away the people who had been participating. When that happened, it made the moderating very easy, granted, but it didn't do anything for the group. Sure, new people joined occasionally, but with no regulars there, there was no reason for them to hang about. Eventually I stopped logging in altogether, and I'm fairly sure that the group recovered*. I'm not advocating that the mods stop, mind - I'm just trying to illustrate why I've since taken a minimalistic approach to any moderating I've done. It's certainly a less head-wrecking policy.

As an aside - I'd like to apologise to KittyeeTrix if she feels like we're ganging up on her here. It certainly feels a little like that from this side, and I hope that she realises it's not from any animosity towards her, rather that we may be getting carried away with having somewhere to vent where half an hour's work will not simply be deleted if someone takes offence at something contained therein.




*edit:Myspace has, of course, effectively died since then, but I'm fairly sure that had little to do with my poor moderating.

KittyeeTrix

I feel I must say just three things at this point

1) I didn't realise the forum had been modless for a time so this goes some way to explaining the reason for continuous mod challenges within the forum..

2) I take no offence at all that I seem to be the mod on the receiving end of the complaints. The simple fact is that I'm on-line more frequently and am 'first to the scene' if you will...

3) I only react to posts which contravene the charter and sometimes musical.x and I encounter situations which are not covered in the charter per se and are at the mods discretion e.g. titrations/ maths help thread. I shall with musical.x be looking closely at the charter to ensure the charter is clear on this type of situation

There is now a lovely chat/off-topic thread for discussion of off-topic matters to a posters hearts content.
Please avail of it

KittyeeTrix

All of the above said I am willing to step back a bit and allow a certain amount of off-topicness to develop before I make a decision to split the thread ( if it's deemed necessary to split - as in the case of a thread where an OP requires a specific answer)....

There will however be no more on thread challenges of mod decisions allowed. A warning will be given and from there on in infractions handed. Follow the advice of Bobblehead Panda as given earlier

Ficheall

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I didn't realise the forum had been modless for a time ...

Just as a matter of interest - did anyone notice that the forum was without a moderator for 6 months?

empacher

J o e wrote: »

Example 2: "Titrations"
The OP asks for help with Titrations.
KittyeeTrix replies with "Open up your chemistry manual, google or get a hold of Leaving Cert Chemistry book assuming you are in 1st year."

KittyeeTrix issued me a warning for telling someone to google something before. Reason being i was unhelpful. Its funny you doing science and not knowing that in NUIG 1st year chemistry the molarity formula you have to use, is different from the leaving cert method ( even though its more tedious, but yields the same results. ) Molarity formulas are what titrations are all about.

''Subset'' you make us sound like the 1%ers be real were the 99%. Your constant deletion of posts ruins threads. On the ''Bitch thread'' you deleted a weeks worth of posts consisting of on and off topic posts. Yet on all 80 pages of that thread there is other off topic posts. Just you haven't taken offence to it.

Face it were college students. Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices. We are overflowing with sarcasm, and cynicism. We won't follow rules to the t, we will push boundaries.

An off topic thread won't solve anything. Honestly, ( I know how harsh this sounds) But your style of moderation isn't suited to this forum, If you don't take what we say on board all you'll be doing is directing Malaysian students to the accommodation and first year medicine threads.

Your acting like a parent which is what people go to college to get away from. Clearly your at fault otherwise this wouldn't be the second thread in help desk in two months.

Every one of your replies here, reek of smugness. When your needed someone will push the report button until them leave it be.

Musicial.x has little to no presence on the forum bar the occasional post in bold.

Ficheall

empacher wrote: »

Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices...

In the words of the great Homer J. Simpson - "Uh, your Honor - I would like to be tried separately..."


The off-topic thread is a great idea and may well help the situation. I trust everyone can appreciate some posters' concerns, though, about posts being shunted in there willy-nilly by the mods.

Zillah

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

I feel I must say just three things at this point

1) I didn't realise the forum had been modless for a time so this goes some way to explaining the reason for continuous mod challenges within the forum..

2) I take no offence at all that I seem to be the mod on the receiving end of the complaints. The simple fact is that I'm on-line more frequently and am 'first to the scene' if you will...

3) I only react to posts which contravene the charter and sometimes musical.x and I encounter situations which are not covered in the charter per se and are at the mods discretion e.g. titrations/ maths help thread. I shall with musical.x be looking closely at the charter to ensure the charter is clear on this type of situation

There is now a lovely chat/off-topic thread for discussion of off-topic matters to a posters hearts content.
Please avail of it

Why are you so unwilling to accept that maybe you've been a little over-zealous moderating? Just take a chill pill and be a bit slower to reach for the mod gun and everything will be much much better.

KittyeeTrix

Ficheall wrote: »

In the words of the great Homer J. Simpson - "Uh, your Honor - I would like to be tried separately..."


The off-topic thread is a great idea and may well help the situation. I trust everyone can appreciate some posters' concerns, though, about posts being shunted in there willy-nilly by the mods.

All I can do Ficheall is to give you my word that I will not shunt posts willy-nilly into the off-topic thread.
I suppose all I can ask is that ye give us the benefit of the doubt and adapt a wait and see approach.

If ye feel it's not working, then PM and let us know what is bothering ye and we'll do our best to work it out.

KittyeeTrix

empacher wrote: »

KittyeeTrix issued me a warning for telling someone to google something before. Reason being i was unhelpful. Its funny you doing science and not knowing that in NUIG 1st year chemistry the molarity formula you have to use, is different from the leaving cert method ( even though its more tedious, but yields the same results. ) Molarity formulas are what titrations are all about.

For what it's worth I did not issue you with the infraction - it was musical.x, however I agreed with her call 100%.

I would have no idea that the molarity formulae used in the Leaving Certificate curriculum differ from those used in 1st Science as I never studied Leaving certificate Chemistry and even if I had it was 20 years ago so would probably have moved on a bit since then.

I made a decision which I believed to be right and I stand by it. You disagreed and that is perfectly fine but you are still not permitted to argue it on thread. PM me for reasons for any of my decisions and I will gladly give you one. If you aren't satisified with my reason then you are free to PM the NUIG CMod Bobblehead Panda/Spurious and seek further clarification. However, argue my decision on thread with no attempt to PM me and I will infract you.

''Subset'' you make us sound like the 1%ers be real were the 99%. Your constant deletion of posts ruins threads. On the ''Bitch thread'' you deleted a weeks worth of posts consisting of on and off topic posts. Yet on all 80 pages of that thread there is other off topic posts. Just you haven't taken offence to it.

I do not take offence to posts at all, I haven't even taken offence to this post.......
I respond to posts as I see fit. If they are outside the charter rules then I take action. If the posts fall within the charter rules then I have no need or want for action to be taken.
Again for what it's worth I was not responsible for ~90% of the deleted posts in the 'Bitch' thread last week. This is neither here or there as the posts deleted were worthy of much more than deletion which Bobblehead Panda even said earlier.
I tell you this because it is clear Empacher from this post that you don't like me as a Mod even when your dislike is unfounded

Face it were college students. Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices. We are overflowing with sarcasm, and cynicism. We won't follow rules to the t, we will push boundaries.

That is a lovely sentiment and is one which will carry you far in life and most likely in your career but there is also the ability to know when to adhere to rules. Posting on Boards is one of those times as too will certain times in your work perhaps.

An off topic thread won't solve anything. Honestly, ( I know how harsh this sounds) But your style of moderation isn't suited to this forum, If you don't take what we say on board all you'll be doing is directing Malaysian students to the accommodation and first year medicine threads.

I believe the off-topic thread will work very well but then again it will only do so if people give it a chance and not try to scupper it before it gets going.
I have taken on board what posters/admin have said as was evident in the dropping of the boldened posts, we listened to ye and dropped the Events thread.

Your acting like a parent which is what people go to college to get away from. Clearly your at fault otherwise this wouldn't be the second thread in help desk in two months.

I think this is where the problem lies if i'm honest...........I recognised I may have been wrong and try to modify my actions whereas you have not. You see no need to and so here we are again!!

Every one of your replies here, reek of smugness. When your needed someone will push the report button until them leave it be.

As was mentioned earlier the report function is not being used as often as it should be but that does not mean that the forum should be left bereft of moderation.
I don't think I'm being smug but then again I seem to be wrong about everything so????

Musicial.x has little to no presence on the forum bar the occasional post in bold.

Musical.x is silent but deadly (okay,joking) but we have a system which works for us....

Zaph

empacher wrote: »

Face it were college students. Through education were thought to question things, stand up for our rights, protest in justices. We are overflowing with sarcasm, and cynicism. We won't follow rules to the t, we will push boundaries.

Oddly enough, the students who use the other college forums don't seem to have any problem following the rules. I must remember that if an NUIG grad's CV ever lands on my desk.

joeKel73

Zaph wrote: »

Oddly enough, the students who use the other college forums don't seem to have any problem following the rules.

I find it hard to believe that other forums have had the trigger-happy moderation we've had recently, so I've had a very quick look on the first page of a couple of other college forums...

Athlone Institute of Technology: "Library" - Post #6 would have been deleted and warning given by NUIG mod.

DCU: "Computer Science UCD or Computer Applications DCU? " - OP asks for comparisson between two courses and discussion leads to which course is hardest in college (#7, #8, #9). This would definitely see deletions and bold warnings in NUIG to only answer the OP's question. Note conversation naturally turned back "on topic".

UL: "40 bonus points?" - A few jibes between posters at the end and the thread dies off itself. Would have been warnings, bans and locks flying around in NUIG.

musical.x

empacher wrote: »

Musicial.x has little to no presence on the forum bar the occasional post in bold.

I have actually posted a fair bit in the forum in plain writing but it seems you have overlooked this in order to drag up previous events that have already been dealt with.

Kittyeetrix was not responsible for half of the posts deleted in the "official bitch" thread. I posted asking everyone to stay on topic and this was completely ignored. If I posted it in bold there would be more complaints of the mods being power hungry and heavy handed. It seems no matter what we do everyone finds fault with it.

We were fairly heavy handed at the beginning. Both myself and Kittyeetrix will agree on that as that was what we were led to believe was the way to run the thread. We have actually lightened up a lot since we started but it seems that everyone wants to post what ever that want where ever they want and for that to be accepted and encouraged.

If you want to discuss a topic that arises in the bitch thread or elsewhere, we can easily move the posts into a new thread and let it go from there. Would that be fair enough?

I do understand where Ficheall is coming from with a post being deleted after someone has spent a fair bit of time to write it up. Instead of deleting a post maybe we could suggest that a new thread be set up in order to discuss it fully, or if we set one up would you actually use it or just keep on posting in the original thread?

If you can give myself and Kittyeetrix an idea as to what would make a good compromise then we will all be able to get along a bit better and make the forum go a lot smoother

Also if you have a problem and your pm hasn't been answered by one mod, then just pm the other.

Toto Wolfcastle

Ficheall wrote: »

Are you sure?

From their interactions with me and on this thread, yes I am sure. We all have off days. Perhaps that was posted in frustration.

empacher wrote: »

Clearly your at fault otherwise this wouldn't be the second thread in help desk in two months.

I disagree with this. I have kept a very close eye on the forum for the last while and I would be of the opinion that while some mistakes have been made as they were finding their feet (and this has been admitted by the mods) posters also need to take responsibility for their behaviour, which in a lot of cases has not been constructive.

Ficheall wrote: »

The off-topic thread is a great idea and may well help the situation. I trust everyone can appreciate some posters' concerns, though, about posts being shunted in there willy-nilly by the mods.

I think that this is appreciated and by all means, if you feel like something has been moved that should not have been then report the post and it can be looked at, or you can PM the mods.

I really feel that the way in which some posters have acted towards the mods has been unfair. There are ways to approach situations that you are not happy about, as I have said above. I hope that this thread can address that while also addressing any concerns posters have.

I also want to thank the posters in this thread who have discussed this in a rational and constructive way because it makes things much easier.

I'm not going to be around for the next while so I wont be able to follow this thread but I think that it is obvious from their responses that the moderators are willing to work with the posters. I hope that the posters are willing to do the same.

joeKel73

musical.x wrote: »

If you want to discuss a topic that arises in the bitch thread or elsewhere, we can easily move the posts into a new thread and let it go from there. Would that be fair enough?

Fair enough moving an off-topic discussion but the borders of "on topic" have to be relaxed a bit...

musical.x wrote: »

I do understand where Ficheall is coming from with a post being deleted after someone has spent a fair bit of time to write it up. Instead of deleting a post maybe we could suggest that a new thread be set up in order to discuss it fully, or if we set one up would you actually use it or just keep on posting in the original thread?

Do you both understand splittingthreads?

musical.x wrote: »

I have actually posted a fair bit in the forum in plain writing but it seems you have overlooked this in order to drag up previous events that have already been dealt with.

Kittyeetrix was not responsible for half of the posts deleted in the "official bitch" thread. I posted asking everyone to stay on topic and this was completely ignored. If I posted it in bold there would be more complaints of the mods being power hungry and heavy handed. It seems no matter what we do everyone finds fault with it.

We were fairly heavy handed at the beginning. Both myself and Kittyeetrix will agree on that as that was what we were led to believe was the way to run the thread. We have actually lightened up a lot since we started but it seems that everyone wants to post what ever that want where ever they want and for that to be accepted and encouraged.

If you want to discuss a topic that arises in the bitch thread or elsewhere, we can easily move the posts into a new thread and let it go from there. Would that be fair enough?

I do understand where Ficheall is coming from with a post being deleted after someone has spent a fair bit of time to write it up. Instead of deleting a post maybe we could suggest that a new thread be set up in order to discuss it fully, or if we set one up would you actually use it or just keep on posting in the original thread?

If you can give myself and Kittyeetrix an idea as to what would make a good compromise then we will all be able to get along a bit better and make the forum go a lot smoother

Zillah's advice is good;

Zillah wrote: »

A post been reported by multiple people that have valid grievances?
- Get involved.

Off-topic posts are becoming so bad that the original poster's topic has gotten drowned out?
- Get involved.

A person posts something that is not strictly on topic but isn't going to ruin the conversation?
- Leave it alone.

Ficheall

KittyeeTrix wrote: »

All I can do Ficheall is to give you my word that I will not shunt posts willy-nilly into the off-topic thread.

That's fair. There will inevitably be differences of opinion over what is defined as "willy-nilly shunting", but in theory that would work.

musical.x wrote: »

I have actually posted a fair bit in the forum in plain writing but it seems you have overlooked this in order to drag up previous events that have already been dealt with.

I think that the reason empacher brought it up was to illustrate that KittyeeTrix gave some largely unhelpful (no offence) advice to the poster here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=78426758&postcount=2 , whereas posters have been chastised for advising others to "google it" or "look it up on the NUIG website".
Related to that topic, I see no reason why a thread from a student asking for help with some aspect of their course shouldn't be allowed to remain open so that other students might offer assistance.

musical.x wrote: »

If I posted it in bold there would be more complaints of the mods being power hungry and heavy handed. It seems no matter what we do everyone finds fault with it.

Personally, I have no issue with mods posting in bold. I think it became a focus for some posters' vitriol because it was symptomatic of the heavy-handedness.

musical.x wrote: »

If you want to discuss a topic that arises in the bitch thread or elsewhere, we can easily move the posts into a new thread and let it go from there. Would that be fair enough?

I do understand where Ficheall is coming from with a post being deleted after someone has spent a fair bit of time to write it up. Instead of deleting a post maybe we could suggest that a new thread be set up in order to discuss it fully, or if we set one up would you actually use it or just keep on posting in the original thread?

That sounds fair, though things might get a little messy with all the off-shoot topics that may spring up, and I hope you're aware of how much extra work you're potentially putting on yourselves here
Some threads, such as the capping of results, will need to be split into their own thread, whereas it might be easier to let the off-topic conversation in others peter out - as the economics one would surely have done had the anti-semite not arrived on the scene...