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Forum Requests - Charter & Procedure
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24-05-2016 12:41pmWelcome to Forum Requests.
Before submitting a request for a brand new forum, please have a look around Boards.ie - it's quite probable that there's already a discussion forum set up for what it is you'd like discuss. If there is no existing forum for the subject matter, and you feel there's a good reason we should create a forum for it, you may use this forum to propose such a request.
Please have a read of the requirements, and criteria for the proposing of forums, and indeed, who is and isn't eligible to participate in the process. When submitting a forum idea please take the below process & information into consideration, and have a look at the charters of similar forums and see if you can include what form you think the charter of the proposed forum would take (you can leave out the bits dealing with trolling / abuse etc) as this will give supporters/admins/cmods/mods a better understanding of what exactly it is you are trying to suggest. We also ask you to please respect that all Admin decisions on proposed forums are final.
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The structure of Boards.ie
Before submitting a request, it is important that you understand the difference between a topic, a forum, and a discussion thread. Some users may use these terms interchangeably, which can cause some confusion, so here we will define what exactly is what:
Topics - Boards.ie is broken down into several different topics (these can be referred to as Categories too). If you hover your mouse over the topics menu at the top of the screen, it will open up revealing the list of topics contained within (Education, Entertainment, Motoring & Transport, Social & Fun, and so forth).
These serve as the basis for sorting different types of discussions from one another, and help to keep discussions organised, and easy to find based on what it is you'd like to discuss. These topics/categories however, are only containers, and are broken down further into more focused areas called Forums.
Forums - Every topic/category, is broken down into different forums. This is because a topic can cater to a huge variety of different things. For example, look at the Music topic - in here, you can discuss aspects of Music that range from Band Promotion, to Classical Music, to Instruments, to Songwriting. There are many others, and these are what we call Forums.
Forums help to organise and categorise different types of discussions, in order to again make it easier to find what it is you'd like to talk about. Without forums, everything would be all squashed in together (going back to the Music topic again, there'd be discussions on electric guitars, songwriting, classical music, band promotion, etc, all happening alongside each other - this would make it very hard to find what it is you'd like to discuss). By having forums, a user that wants to discuss electric guitars for example, would navigate to the Music topic in the menu at the top of the screen, expand it by clicking the small arrow, and then click on the Instruments forum. This way, everything is nicely organised, and easy to find.
Threads - Once you've found the forum you want to be in, you will see it is populated with different discussion threads. Threads are the final way in which discussion is organised and further focused. Taking the Music -> Instruments example again (the topic of Music, and the forum for Instruments), a user will see that the forum has multiple different threads within, all discussing different aspects of musical instruments. From here, the user can partake in an existing thread if they choose, or they can create their own thread if they'd like to discuss something specific that isn't already being discussed.
That is in essence, the structure of Boards.ie (Topics for broad organisation, Forums for general organisation, and Threads for fine organisation).0 -
Who can suggest a new forum
Any user with 50 posts or over, AND who has been a member for at least three months can suggest a forum by creating a new thread here in Forum Requests. Users less than 3 months old have not had enough time to explore boards or get a feel for how the community works, and, user with less than fifty posts have not really contributed to or participated in the boards.ie community and it would be unfair to give that user an equal say in how the community evolves until they have a better understanding/idea of the community.
While a user can suggest a forum, the decision on whether or not that forum will be a sub-forum of another forum, what category it is placed in and how many moderators/who those moderaters might be in that forum is not a topic for discussion here. A location for the forum can be included in the suggestion or suggested later but ultimately it is the Admins/Cmods and Mods that have the responsibility to keep the site coherent while encouraging it to grow, and it is the Admins/Cmods and Mods that will decide , without any undue pressure from users - including PMs or Posts rallying support in forums - where any newly created forum will be placed. While discussion of placement is not against the charter, be aware that continued argument over an aspect that is beyond user control may be deemed to constitute trolling or a deliberate attempt to derail a topic. If you have a point to make, make it and then move on.0 -
Forum Request Procedure
When any new forum request is made, the Request will be left open for a maximum period of 6 weeks from the start date. At the end of 6 weeks the number of *clear* votes of support or opposition will be counted up. If the final tally (votes in favour/votes against ) is greater than +18 then the forum will be considered popular enough for consideration. If the tally of votes is higher than +20 for a continuous period of a week then the forum will be considered popular enough for consideration and the remainder of the 6 week period can be discarded.
All requests have to be valid and valid reasoning provided. Please try not to suggest silly, inappropriate, or pointless forums. Each request will be dealt with on a case by case basis. There can and will be instances where certain forums deemed silly may be be approved. However please bear in mind this is down to the request, the support behind it and the final Admin decision on it. If a request is considered outright stupid and pointless and/or has lack of support, the request will be rejected.0 -
How to vote on an existing Forum Request:
Simply thanking a post is not a vote. thanking a post is just that, a thanked post.
Posting +1 is counted as support.
Posting -1 is counted as opposition.
Posting a reason that clearly shows support or opposition is counted.
Posting conditional support (good idea, +1 from me as long as X,Y or Z is included) is not counted as the end forum may or may not include x,y or z in its final state.
Posting a vote multiple times will negate any previous support or opposition you have shown for the forum.0 -
Who can vote
A user must have 50 posts or more, AND have been a member of the site for at least three months in order to vote on any new forum proposals. Users less than 3 months old have not had enough time to explore boards or get a feel for how the community works, and, user with less than fifty posts have not really contributed to or participated in the boards.ie community and it would be unfair to give that user an equal say in how the community evolves until they've a better understanding of how things work. These restrictions are also in place to prevent abuse such as a user suggesting a forum and then either getting a load of friends to sign up to support it, or worse, signing up multiple accounts to give a +1 and then disappearing, or indeed a user doing the same tricks to oppose a suggestion.0 -
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Consideration Procedure (What Happens Next?)
Once a forum is accepted for consideration (tallies to at least +18 at the end of six weeks), it will be discussed in private in two or three stages.
Admins:
The admins will discuss the forum and try to determine if
a: there is any policy that may prevent the forum creation
b: potential issues regarding legality and atmosphere of boards.ie
c: Alternatives that ultimately achieve the same end
Cmods:
a: Which category the forum belongs in.
b: forum or sub-forum
c: potential mods (if a full forum) , new mods/existing mods for a sub-forum
d: anything overlooked by admins
Mods:
a: if a sub-forum, what lines mark the sub-forum content from main forum content
b: charter and modding issues
c: future pitfalls / possible issues
d: anything overlooked by admins or cmods
Once the discussion stage is complete the forum request thread will be updated to indicate if the request was accepted or rejected. The displayed tag will be changed to reflect this status and the thread will be moved to the forum request archive. A redirect to will be left in the main forum for 1 week after the move. If rejected a synopsis of the discussion leading up to the rejection will be posted in the thread.0 -
Reconsideration Procedure
We have a 6 week window for forum requests to get votes. If the submission fails to get enough votes it can not be resubmitted for a time period determined by how many votes the original got (more is better):
For those with > 15 +1 responses, requests can be resubmitted after the original 6 weeks has elapsed, + 2 additional months from the post date of the original request.
For those with > 10 +1 responses, requests can be resubmitted after the original 6 weeks, + 4 addiotional months from the post date of the original request.
For those with > 7 +1 responses, requests can be resubmitted after the original 6 weeks, + 6 additional months from the post date of the original request.
For those with < 7 net +1 responses, requests can be resubmitted after 1 Year from the post date of the original request
There is no option for discussion of a decision once it is made. This is not to say that if asked, the admins wont clarify or expand on a decision, but we know well that some users can be quite passionate about a forum request idea, and arguments over a decision could go on for a very very long time.0 -
General guidelines
Discussion: while discussion is permitted it must be limited to the creation of the forum or aspects of the forum. this is not a social forum like others on boards.ie, this is for discussion of Forum requests ONLY. Any "off topic" discussion will be deleted and if the poster continues with derailing threads with off topic posts, they may be banned from the forum requests forum.
Abuse: Personal abuse will not be tolerated and will lead to a ban without warning. It's very easy to submit a forum request and keep things civil, so please treat this forum with respect.
Trolling: As usual, trolling will not be tolerated. Posters must be aware that those requesting forums most likely feel quite strongly about the subject matter. This forum is not for your opinion on the subject but instead on the need for a forum dedicated to it. Posts attacking the subject matter will be deemed trolling, and will be actioned accordingly.0 -
Further Considerations:
- Existing forums do not set precedence for any other/new forum request.
- If a forum (new or old) is deemed as being dead, dying, or inactive, we do reserve to right to close that forum in order to keep the structure of Boards.ie as efficient and usable as possible.
- Requesting a forum does not automatically make you a moderator of that forum.
- Polls are forbidden to be added to requests - the reasoning behind this as a poll adds no more discussion to a request and frankly anyone can click yes/no without giving a reason, or while passing through
- You are allowed to make people aware of a forum request by means of a link or image in your signature - however we frown against users spamming support, or constantly posting over boards to get support for a forum
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Thread Prefixes:
- New
- Ongoing
- Approved
- Rejected
- Expired
- 1 Week
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This discussion has been closed.
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