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Site is a graveyard - How can boards save itself? [Threadbanned users in 1st post]

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Comments

  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 52,639 Mod ✭✭✭✭Necro


    There's a whole Best Of option in the menu at the moment that has the sum total of nothing contained within. Why is it not populated with the sort of things that people are talking about here, Thread of the Day, Most Thanked, Post of the Day... Seems like a waste of a resource.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 753 ✭✭✭PmMeUrDogs


    Positives as requested -

    1. Post and thread of the day. Loved those.

    2. Love.php was always good craic.

    3. AH before CA. Now any "current affairs" go to CA, which I understand. But it's dry, serious and quite frankly a handful of posters arguing in circles. My suggestion would be allow current affairs in AH as well as in CA, or get rid of CA. It was always a mix of seriousness and light heartedness when discussing current affairs in AH, and that mix always felt good to me.

    4. In general, boards is fantastic as a resource. Why I'm still here, albeit on an "alt" account because I nuked my previous accounts.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,255 ✭✭✭nachouser


    I'd agree that the site can be a good resource but, let's be honest, "Thread of the Day, Most Thanked, Post of the Day..."

    They would all be CA anti-trans, anti-immigrant, 33k civs being killed is perfectly fine, etc. The sh*t posters would win out. You can add the anti-bus lane lads to the list:-)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,255 ✭✭✭nachouser


    I'd also wonder, why is there an actual allowed Gangland thread? With actual new accounts posting about stuff they've just done?

    Anyone?



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,053 ✭✭✭Quantum Erasure


    SHhhh, you'll spoil the fun for everyone.

    If you don't like it you don't have to click into it



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,815 ✭✭✭✭Esel
    Not Your Ornery Onager


    With actual new accounts posting about stuff they've just done?

    Can you give examples of the above? I read the thread, but can't recollect any offhand.

    Not your ornery onager



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,748 ✭✭✭SafeSurfer


    There seems to be a lack of consistency about what “being civil” means. For example the Russia thread is full of obnoxious racism which is never called out as long as it is aimed in the right direction.
    I was banned from the Israel/Gaza thread for suggesting that a future Hamas leader, like the PLO before them, could be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. For this I was labeled, by a mod, “a Hamas apologist”! Merely for pointing out historic precedent.

    Multo autem ad rem magis pertinet quallis tibi vide aris quam allis



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 18,504 ✭✭✭✭bucketybuck


    This weekend a poster quoted me to say I was talking nonsense, in fact I was talking complete bollocks, and that repeating it was on me than anything else.

    Civil?

    Apparently so, the mods appear to have no problem with the post. Its inherently a comment on a poster rather than the post, but all good seemingly.

    For myself I have no more interest in hearing about being "uncivil".



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,404 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    Haven't been feeling very positive here lately but mostly enjoy this site and have learned a lot from it since I started here .

    Love the DIY, Gardening and "things you remember threads ..helpful , amusing and easy going posters .

    Public transport is good too. Some very knowledgeable posters so I rarely contribute just read . Same with Construction etc very specialised but really good info .

    Current Affairs can be stimulating when it's going well but it does descend into a lot of fights and circular arguments on all sides. These threads definitely need more mods but the mods that are there are busy but fair and if you get a warning that you think isn't warranted they will look at it again and review it .. might still be upheld but it's a decent system .

    Agree that Post of the Day might be overtaken by some not so pleasant subjects these days , sign of the times maybe .

    My favourite thing about boards when I started was the advice and genuine help from boardsies in a lot of the practical forums . And the very witty people posting here who make me laugh every day .

    Gremlinertia et al on the Nocturnal thread kept me going when I was on breaks on night duty . Brilliant.

    I love the Music threads .

    They are still all plus points today and there are a lot more positives than negatives to being here. Despite Vanilla . T



  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 52,639 Mod ✭✭✭✭Necro


    Fairly easy solution to that. Exclude CA from the post of the day/thread etc and have it more focused on the smaller forums. Pretty sure similar used to be done with personal issues as well (for obvious reasons). There's a wide range of forums out there other than CA on Boards, if people could actually find them.

    Weather can be great when there's a storm coming. Motors has some nice threads on people's awful parking. A few people mentioned DIY having good threads too, these should be highlighted and not hidden away under the mess of a UI that there currently is to try and find them.

    We all know where CA is so I wouldn't have any interest clicking into a "thread of the day" from there tbh.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,626 ✭✭✭Shoog


    The forums should be a place to discuss politics and current affairs. What's needed is civility when having those discussions.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,302 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    I proposed as part of a larger post that CA could maybe become a members only for the more severe types of conversations.

    The forum could be hidden unless you requested access (a la the soccer forum), posts within could be excluded from daily 'most thanked' etc and moderation would be more hands off unless more severe lines were crossed such as direct abuse or anything that might present legal issues for the site.

    There's conversations that are unpleasant, and lead to harsh viewpoints but society needs to be able to discuss them in my view. Put them in a dark corner and then maybe the arguing in circles is left to those who want to be a part of it.

    This might allow AH to be the AH that it was for a number of years but hasn't been for quite a while.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 753 ✭✭✭PmMeUrDogs


    Genuinely think that's a great idea.

    There's definitely a place and a need for serious discussion, and I've often read CA threads in their entirety because some make for really good reading and knowledge. But AH seems to have been in decline since the separation a few years back or whenever it was.

    I agree with the need for a "serious" space like CA, but plenty of people want to discuss current affairs in a way that isn't quite so severe in manner.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,141 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    It will just evolve as it did before.

    There is already the politics forum yet most of the chat happens in CA. CA isnt even the 'serious' space.

    Hide CA away and AH will just end up as CA. You will have the same posters and topics that are on CA today but on AH.

    Thats why CA was split off from AH.

    Look at the top threads in CA. How could they be discussed in a less 'serious' / severe manner? You either couldnt discuss it or they would just end up becoming exactly as they are now. Because inevitably serious / severe points would be made.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,748 ✭✭✭SafeSurfer


    What I like about Boards is that no matter what the subject. No matter how black and white one believes an issue to be there will always be someone with a different, often well considered opinion.

    I think this is the value of the site for me. It should be allowed to be opposite of an echo chamber. Heavy handed modding makes this much more difficult.

    Multo autem ad rem magis pertinet quallis tibi vide aris quam allis



  • Administrators Posts: 14,690 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Big Bag of Chips


    Just a note regarding viewing "Thanks".

    On the mobile site if you tap the 3 dots at the top of a post and select "Log" you should be able to see all the thanks.

    On desktop it's a little more restricted. You can hover over the "Thanks" button and it shows you I think 6-8 of the thanks.

    Can a poster other than a mod test this for me? I know it's visible to us.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,571 ✭✭✭con747


    On desktop if you go to the profile of the user you want to check who thanked their post go to "reactions" and you can see more if not all those who thanked the post AFAIK.

    Edit

    I think it's restricted to 10 thanks.

    Don't expect anything from life, just be grateful to be alive.



  • Subscribers Posts: 41,963 ✭✭✭✭sydthebeat


    There is no 'log' option on mobile on chrome, just a 'flag' option



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,695 ✭✭✭archfi


    On iOS mobile, the three dots on a post when tapped gives only the option to flag a post.

    The issue is never the issue; the issue is always the revolution.

    The Entryism process: 1) Demand access; 2) Demand accommodation; 3) Demand a seat at the table; 4) Demand to run the table; 5) Demand to run the institution; 6) Run the institution to produce more activists and policy until they run it into the ground.



  • Administrators Posts: 14,690 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Big Bag of Chips


    Thanks both. @sydthebeat are you on Android or iPhone?



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  • Subscribers Posts: 41,963 ✭✭✭✭sydthebeat


    Android.



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 7,188 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hannibal_Smith


    This is it for me too. I think it was the Irish Independent who had the tag line 'Before you make up your kind open it' and this is what boards does for me anyhow. Sometimes I read a news story and I think you have all the angles to allow me make a decision and then I come on boards and you'll have people explain their experiences, or knowledge that fill in the in between the lines bit. It makes it very interesting.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,331 ✭✭✭Glaceon


    AH/CA were excluded from POTD back in the day. But it was usually some meme in CVPL that won it.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,473 ✭✭✭Tork


    I don't understand why there are separate Politics and Current Affairs forums. Sometimes there are threads on the same thing running in both.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,711 ✭✭✭✭Calahonda52


    The key to this question is what SEO data is being used to attract advertisers and other revenue sources.

    IMO, the platform is far too indulgent of open brackets ( racists….)

    The other problem with modern discourse today is that if I take issue with whats happening in Gaza you are flagged as anti Jew

    eg inside paywall but enough visible

    https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/educate-together-row-after-antisemitism-allegations-in-wake-of-ceos-protest-post-and-call-for-boycott-of-israel/a489962002.html

    We had the same with the gay marriage/recent referendums etc

    Its all reduced to a binary argument: for or against.

    BB over on AM just deletes sh$t he does not want on his site, end of.

    A lot to be said for it

    “I can’t pay my staff or mortgage with instagram likes”.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,331 ✭✭✭Glaceon


    Politics is the “high brow” forum, they won’t tolerate CA-style posts.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,302 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    I don't think CA is the serious place, it is the 'heated' place. But the heated discussions are the ones that I think need some sort of space, but try to limit their negative impact while allowing them to serve their need better than what is currently happening. The politics forum is indeed the place for serious discussions and works well in this way I feel.

    CA being hidden from all except those who requested access may influence this.

    And if contentious threads were polluting AH, move them to CA and inform the OP or users that they need to request access to the forum if they want to take part.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,141 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    So you could have threads on the same topic, say Russia-Ukraine war Or say Hate Crime Bill.

    On Politics, CA, and AH.

    And the same posters potentially posting on all three? With the same standard of posting in CA and AH.

    I can't see it working. It will be very obvious from the outset of most threads that it will end up heated.

    if contentious threads were polluting AH, move them to CA and inform the OP or users that they need to request access to the forum if they want to take part.

    That's exactly what was happening and why CA was created. This will just restart and repeat the cycle.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,285 ✭✭✭✭EmmetSpiceland


    It would be great if a ban from CA could extend to AH or, even, “Social & Fun” in its entirety.

    “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish nation” - Thomas Davis



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,302 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    With the same standard of posting in CA and AH

    No. That is the point.

    And it might seem so much like things becoming heated, that people just stay away. I'd imagine it would become an echo chamber of sorts for some discussions. But that might be a price you have to pay if it means allowing more of the platform to function as it is intended. Its a room with no windows and you have to ask to enter.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,302 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,141 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    People can stay away from Current Affairs as things stand today.

    If you pitch this new CA forum to have a lower\looser standard of posting than CA does now, it will presumably still need a lot of moderation for personal abuse, trolling, threadbans etc. And CA is one of the most actively moderated forums I imagine given volume of posts.

    I don't think the platform intended to function as an echo chamber either nor as an unmoderated free for all for such discussions.

    And then seemingly you have AH discussion of current affairs moderated to the same standard CA is now. Or else the topics not discussed at all. So even more heavily moderated actually.

    Doesn't add up for me at all, but you have made your case so it is for the powers that be to assess.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,285 ✭✭✭✭EmmetSpiceland


    A much “lighter touch” form of moderation in CA would be great. Let posters know that reported posts, short of abuse, won’t be actioned.

    This would keep the CA “types” away from the, more, normal parts of the site and you could have, somewhat, serious discussions in AH while, also, having a laugh.

    “It is not blood that makes you Irish but a willingness to be part of the Irish nation” - Thomas Davis



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,141 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    I don't see the benefits. Based on what you have outlined, you would just have the CA discussions that are happening now in CA in AH. And possibly some free for alls in CA with lighter touch moderation - maybe that would appeal to some.

    But nothing to stop the CA "types" from "moonlighting" on the corresponding AH threads, posting to the same standard they are currently posting to in CA right now. So why wouldn't they?

    Post edited by odyssey06 on

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,316 ✭✭✭✭pjohnson


    CA was created to keep some of the more troll like dregs away from AH iirc.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,141 ✭✭✭✭odyssey06


    It seems like shuffling the problem posters around rather than tackling root cause.

    "To follow knowledge like a sinking star..." (Tennyson's Ulysses)



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,896 ✭✭✭Bobson Dugnutt


    It was and it was effective for the most part. I loved getting stuck in to a good old tit-for-tat in CA the odd time; that shinnerbot lad with 80 accounts was always good for sport.

    Being young is a great advantage, since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes - Greta Thunburg



  • Administrators Posts: 54,256 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭awec


    @Gusser09 this isn't a place to moan about specific mod actions against you. Take it to DRP.

    Post deleted.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,058 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    It's however many years later and they still can't even stop PI/RI threads appearing on the front page. So I can 100% guarantee that all of the above is utterly beyond Vanilla.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,404 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    Then how is it decided who takes part in the discussion?

    Another can of worms!

    While I agree with you that the discussion needs to be allowed to flow, the problem with that is how far , as some will take that as am excuse to troll and be uncivil and it will still end up being moderated then in the end ?

    I also agree with what you said about moving CA so it's less visible but not with making it a private group .

    It'll end up as a group of the same posters with similar views and most likely just an echo chamber so that there won't be any inconvenient disagreements.

    I think the contentious CA threads need more moderators than a lot of the hobby sites and the charter needs to be updated to limit repetitive arguments , spamming and low level trolling

    Also @Big Bag of Chips are banned posters rereg-ing more common now since Vanilla or is it the same as it always was or more difficult to spot ?



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,392 ✭✭✭✭Furze99




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,392 ✭✭✭✭Furze99


    "I think the contentious CA threads need more moderators than a lot of the hobby sites and the charter needs to be updated to limit repetitive arguments , spamming and low level trolling"

    Be careful what you wish for!!! It'd certainly reduce the post count from a good few.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,404 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    I am fully aware and think that may be a positive in some threads .

    If it makes for a more constructive and pleasant experience for all or certainly for those who just want to discuss freely without constant bickering or without being got at personally I am completely on board ,no pun intended .

    Would be some of the other fora that need more post traffic .



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 22,302 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    Then how is it decided who takes part in the discussion?

    Another can of worms!

    Same as it is decided on the soccer forum. Those who want to be in that environment request access to it and then take part as they wish. Those that don't, don't.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,404 ✭✭✭✭Goldengirl


    Have never wanted to be in the soccer forum so would not have known that!

    So do people get refused access and on what basis , is my point or why is that access pemission necessary ? Or is it to just block browsing or reading/ lurking / repeat offenders ?

    I can see how it would reduce footfall alright to those discussions or control them .





  • soccer used to be open for all many many moons ago.
    But soccer is a contentious topic at times and trolling etc was unmanageable so it became restricted access.
    if it was opened up to everyone again t would be Armageddon for the mods.

    I’m not a soccer mod but that is my understanding of the reasons.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,711 ✭✭✭✭Calahonda52


    More of the binary type stuff that is a problem here and else where

    German university rescinds US scholar’s job offer over pro-Palestinian letter

    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/10/nancy-fraser-cologne-university-germany-job-offer-palestine

    the following is striking

    "Cologne University said in a statement its decision to cancel the invitation had been made “with great regret”. It said the reason was that in the letter signed by Fraser, “Israel’s right to exist as an ‘ethno-supremacist state’ since its foundation in 1948 is called into question. The terror attacks by Hamas on Israel of 7 October 2023 is [sic] elevated to an act of legitimate resistance.”

    ethno-supremacist state… wtf

    A lot of BS could be removed if troublesome stuff was just deleted: what will they do?

    go to ECHR ….

    “I can’t pay my staff or mortgage with instagram likes”.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,138 ✭✭✭✭Tom Mann Centuria


    Soccer opened up for big tournaments before and was tolerable, and since the considerable drop off in numbers I honestly don't see the harm in at least trying.

    Oh well, give me an easy life and a peaceful death.



  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 33,506 CMod ✭✭✭✭ShamoBuc


    Soccer had many trolls and reregs. Between being banned and the Vanilla move, Soccer is a lot better I think at the moment. The quantity of posts is down overall but the quality has improved.

    Opening Soccer up could lead it back to the bad old days and really would be an absolute headache for Mods - far less Soccer Mods now than before also and getting New Soccer Mods is a lot harder than you think.

    If we opened it up and it didn't work, I'm not sure how easy it would be to revert to a Group, would each poster need to be Re Admitted by a Mod like they currently are ( That would not happen) or can Vanilla do it with a flick of a switch, for all 6894 posters who currently have access? I wouldn't trust Vanilla to get it right if I'm honest - but maybe it is something Admins can do easily?

    As it currently stands, if you want access to the Soccer Forum, a 1 line post in the Soccer Access Thread is all that is needed. Once you have 50 posts, or are a long term poster with less, you will be given access 99% of the time - if you have a Rake of Warnings, you might be asked to try again in a couple of months if free from any further warnings.

    If a poster won't even post 1 line for access. I very much doubt they would add very many posts to the Forum anyway or have any interest at all.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,571 ✭✭✭con747


    How about putting restrictions on certain posters who have a constant need to open new threads about complete sh1te? There is a few come to mind who are like a plague with the amount of new threads about nonsense and it is just mad to leave them at it. I think most here know who I mean.

    Don't expect anything from life, just be grateful to be alive.



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