AH moderation: Zero Tolerance to off-topic threads (Trimmed discussion)

joejoem

I think this thread belongs in Feedback.....

Trojan

joejoem wrote:

I think this thread belongs in Feedback.....

This is an informational thread for the users of the After Hours board, and will become part of the charter.

I think you belong in Prison.....

BossArky

Trojan wrote:

In an effort to make After Hours a more readable forum....

I was just thinking about this before reading the thread. Won't it be a better idea to be able to scroll down through all the postings / pages instead of having to click on a particular "first" "2" "3" or "last" button? I find this slows down the navigation.

Blisterman

it would be 555 long though.

WhiteWashMan

its easy.

if the post has a point, it probably belongs in another forum.

if the post is crap, spam, pointless poll, stupid questions, stupid people, idiotic opinions, links to britney spears latest boob job, discussions about fat and ugly people, or just general toilet/pub conversation, then it probably belongs here.

joejoem

Trojan wrote:

This is an informational thread for the users of the After Hours board, and will become part of the charter.

I think you belong in Prison.....

Sorry I just couldnt resist!

dawballz

There's too many forums imo.

Trojan

This place *is* big. I suggest people investigate subscribing all interesting forums and using this link: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/subbed.php?number=200&onlynew=yes&x=11&y=10


Victim #1.

Victim #2.

Kernel

Wasn't after hours always a laid back forum where people just shoot the breeze and talk about whatever? I understand your position on some blatantly off topic posts, but it's a little neurotic to want everything ordered neatly and categorised into their respective forums. Sometimes it's nice to have a place to talk about everything and anything, and if someone wants a more serious discussion/feedback on their post then they usually would go to the forum assigned to it.

Just my 2c.

OfflerCrocGod

Ye I like the haphazard approach of AH, the fact that every hour I could refresh and find another few threads which are just weird and not connected to each other or could belong on another board but instead were stuck in AH. It adds character and life to AH - I think it makes it the liveliest and most enjoyable board in boards.ie. Why does AH need to be tidy?

Giblet

Simple.
AH has become a cluster**** of a forum and makes me cringe even to look at the thread list. I'm all for anything that would make it better / more organised.

Kernel

Giblet wrote:

Simple.
AH has become a cluster**** of a forum and makes me cringe even to look at the thread list. I'm all for anything that would make it better / more organised.

Yeah, but it doesn't really lend itself to easy categorisation. Example: If you were in the pub with friends, do you say, right, tonight our conversation is about politics, any deviation from that is not allowed. Nah, you just go with the flow and shoot the breeze. That's how interesting conversations happen IMO.

Trojan

The metaphor is not correct. Web bulletin boards do not translate directly to pub conversations in the way you describe.

I understand your point about meandering conversation. Still, blatently obviously off-topic threads will be moved to the appropriate forum.

Kernel

Trojan wrote:

The metaphor is not correct. Web bulletin boards do not translate directly to pub conversations in the way you describe.

I understand your point about meandering conversation. Still, blatently obviously off-topic threads will be moved to the appropriate forum.

Fair enough, I don't start many threads anyway, so I'm safe enough.

nesf

Tbh it does make sense. We have other boards for a reason, and not everyone reads after hours, so moving threads to the correct forums might help them get the attention of people who are interested/care/are bored.

I really can't see what the fuss is about. If someone wants to talk about linux they should post in the linux forum no? That's what its there for...

AH shouldn't be just used as a general dumping point for threads by people who seem to have a problem finding the other boards. It's a place for odd topics and random discussion yes, but if there is a specific board on the topic that you are about to post on, why not post there?

dawballz wrote:

There's too many forums imo.

Eh? Seperate boards for distinct topics is a good thing. It allows easier communication and the feeling of community amoung posters. Big general topic boards can be very messy and tough to keep track of. Give me a set of smaller seperate boards any day.

Also different topics need different rules. Best to have seperate boards so the subject can be moderated seperately.

Rew

Trojan wrote:

In future, any threads posted that obviously do not belong in After Hours may be locked and moved it to the recycle bin, and the original poster may receive a temporary or permanent ban depending on circumstances.

Boards ASBOs eh? Cool

uberwolf

nesf wrote:

Eh? Seperate boards for distinct topics is a good thing. It allows easier communication and the feeling of community amoung posters. Big general topic boards can be very messy and tough to keep track of. Give me a set of smaller seperate boards any day.

Also different topics need different rules. Best to have seperate boards so the subject can be moderated seperately.

also - here's an analogy. Imagine Lansdowne Road trying to engage in one converstation. Then imagine trying to figure out what was being said where when you realise that people are talking about different things.

Now compare that to having 300 rooms, where genuine experts on those areas are in residence, willing to discuss and advise. It takes you less than a second to traverse between those rooms and at all times you have a read out of the most recent topics here. The interesting ones stay at the top, your specialist ones are at the top in their respective rooms when you return via the subbed list.

Dyr

uberwolf wrote:

Now compare that to having 300 rooms, where genuine experts on those areas are in residence, willing to discuss and advise. It takes you less than a second to traverse between those rooms and at all times you have a read out of the most recent topics

To make the analogy accurate: you have 300 rooms each of which has its own set of rules to read through before you enter and then a FAQ handbook or two full of pointers. Once you read through those, you then need to check through the minutes of that room to make sure your topic wasnt already covered at any stage of the proceedings, all slightly longer than a second i think. THEN you can join in and hopefully not incur the wrath of some eager chairman due to your n00bness

I know boards is a pain to mod due to its size/traffic but bear in mind it can also be a pain to post on for the same reasons. a bit of leniancy as opposed to a "dont say you werent warned" mentality would help, especially on an "off-topic" forum like AH . For example i was going to throw a post up here about what a pain in áras it is to register on ebay from ireland. That might have got me imprisoned

uberwolf wrote:

under this regime...

aidan_walsh

Bambi wrote:

To make the analogy accurate: you have 300 rooms each of which has its own set of rules to read through before you enter and then a FAQ handbook or two full of pointers. Once you read through those, you then need to check through the minutes of that room to make sure your topic wasnt already covered at any stage of the proceedings, all slightly longer than a second i think. THEN you can join in and hopefully not incur the wrath of some eager chairman due to your n00bness

I know boards is a pain to mod due to its size/traffic but bear in mind it can also be a pain to post on for the same reasons. a bit of leniancy as opposed to a "dont say you werent warned" mentality would help, especially on an "off-topic" forum like AH . For example i was going to throw a post up here about what a pain in áras it is to register on ebay from ireland. That might have got me imprisoned

uberwolf wrote:

under this regime...

But if I was to enter such a room knowing having read the rules, quite possibly the first thing I would check is "So what are we talking about?" and, if I had a topic I wanted to raise, quietly ask one of the experts had it already been discussed.

In other words, check before you post. There is no excuse not to.

Cake Fiend

It's good netiquette to read in the background on a web board system for a while before you go posting willy nilly. Anyone who follows this guideline will be familiar with the type of posts expected and the rules of the region before they post.

Dyr

All true but missing the point somewhat lads, unlike many other forums which have a general set of guidelines (with maybe a couple of addendums for each sub forum) there's a lot of rooms here with a lot of rules, people can make mistakes or (oh the shock ) occasionally post on a forum without fully (re)checking the rules, I was just pointing out I dont think its as easy for some people to navigate the waters of boards without the odd slip as uberwolf etc believe it to be.

uberwolf

I cann't remember my n00b days really, but I'll acknowledge what you mean - there prob is a culture there. It depends on the forum, cycling for example has always been softly softly - I'd PM a user to explain something if they'd got it wrong. Politics N00bs have been banned within 2 posts before.

What I was trying to get at though was to emphaisise that without multiple fora this place would be useless chaos.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Lafortezza

If people don't have the common sense to read a few charters here and there, and to get a feel for the place before diving in and contributing, then they're probably not intelligent enough for teh boards...

The General

stupid

seamus

*bump*

seamus

*bump*

tinkerbell

Hey Trojan - where is the infamous Monty these days?

sceptre

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

I'd tend to agree.

I never read the things (except on the Security board because there was a nice big warning of bans about it - hey, like here) and I've probably never been warned at all* and I haven't been banned from anywhere yet. However, I've bitten my lip on numerous occasions, edited the odd post rather quickly and have reasonable common sense and understand the notion that you wouldn't throw anything at anyone that you wouldn't be willing to throw at the big gorilla down your local in person.

If you don't read the charter and if you don't know the rules or guidelines you've only yourself to blame if you get a wee warning or a big ban. It should be common sense if you've got the sense of the average bear but either way the rules are there. With the proviso that due respect for people takes you away from the trouble zone in the vast majority of cases.



*though there was that time when ecksor locked my thread on the mustard board all about moose turd (it's a dessert btw). I suppose I could have been banned there if he'd felt like it. Mustard is a serious affair

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

sceptre

daveirl wrote:

This post has been deleted.

Ah I forgot about that.

Daveirl banned from every board with a name beginning with the letter Y.

Ciaran500

Is this still being enforced?

A look through the first pages shows threads which should of been placed else where.

seamus

Report them

Ciaran500

I'm not doing your job for you.

Fortinbras'

seamus wrote:

OK, Actually going Zero Tolerance now.

There will be no consideration or leniency, all off-topic threads (that is, threads which obviously belong elsewhere) will be binned and earn the starter a week's ban.

I was taking a per-case approach, but it's just not working. This is in effect from 10.30 this morning.

Ok i will keep away so!

muckwarrior

Just wonderin why my thread got moved http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=267447
and this one didn't http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=267478

seamus

muckwarrior wrote:

Just wonderin why my thread got moved http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=267447
and this one didn't http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=267478

First one was a crazy thread, second I missed.

It's been dealt with accordingly.

Hobbes

seamus wrote:

There will be no consideration or leniency, all off-topic threads (that is, threads which obviously belong elsewhere) will be binned and earn the starter a week's ban.

I was taking a per-case approach, but it's just not working. This is in effect from 10.30 this morning.

Why not just move the thread to the right place rather then bin it. and if your not going to leave a link to it then PM the person where it is when you ban them?

seamus

Hobbes wrote:

Why not just move the thread to the right place rather then bin it.

Tried it. People don't learn. It's just work for me.

and if your not going to leave a link to it then PM the person where it is when you ban them?

I do (PM them when I ban them)