Not a complaint, but a request.
- Thread starter timselectric
- Start date
42OhmsPA
What's in a title?
I would say that If your build is ever truly done…it’s because you are already done …gone…river city…Elvis has left the building..
Then it’s truley done…
timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2022
- Messages
- 19,915
As long as you have trained a successor, it's never done.
Good luck cleaning your build thread up. You and sunshine_eggo are the only 2 contributors I always read. Always on point and brief.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the moderators will start throttling all the useless comments. The banner Will put up several months ago didn't help at all.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the moderators will start throttling all the useless comments. The banner Will put up several months ago didn't help at all.
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Bluedog225
Texas
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2019
- Messages
- 3,339
Old men need dialog. 
I've seen some people use the old "reserved" post for their second post in the thread. This was done frequently 20 years ago on forums before editing and unlimited post length was the norm (or at least less restricted post length)
If editing wasn't allowed, you could draft up a post and have a mod/admin insert it in that second post. Otherwise it was used when your first post ran out of length from editing in so much info
sounds good, then link to the old thread so people can see the history!
Daddy Tanuki
Solar Wizard
part of having a community is the useless comments and useless banter. its the building of online friendships that allows for people to push and prod others and sometimes pull them up to a higher level...
one would do well to realize that.
robbob2112
Doing more research, mosty harmless
I like the idea of a button to view the build only. But, if there was a way for the OP or to check a box and mark a post as banter/irrelevant then the person could view all or view only relevant.
And if the OP could insert posts near the top it might keep things more concise.
As is now seems like the simplest solution would be for build threads tomstart with 2 posts. First is a summary and description along with the first build post. Second post to be edited as things go along with links to the next stages of a build. That way someone could skip the banter as it happens.
A bit of a pita but I don't know how flexible the software is.
And if the OP could insert posts near the top it might keep things more concise.
As is now seems like the simplest solution would be for build threads tomstart with 2 posts. First is a summary and description along with the first build post. Second post to be edited as things go along with links to the next stages of a build. That way someone could skip the banter as it happens.
A bit of a pita but I don't know how flexible the software is.
dougbert
Solar Addict
I have some drift posts in my thread, but I also enjoy those who post info I am seeking or don't know about, as they comment on my mistakes, etc. And yes, my build thread is going on and on and on....yet I am polishing it over time as ideas and solutions come
fuzzmunky415
New Member
I recently modded at a site for a year (mods rotated every year to prevent burnout, power trips,etc.) that had an elegant solution to these and similar issues. (ask me about mod teams).
Indeed the solution was brought about by the restrictions that were placed by the chosen software (as so many forum issues are, software is rather restrictive) called Discourse. As the site was built, those given mod privileges were unable to actually delete content, only to move/hide it from public view. To users, no difference. Initially, this seemed like a flaw, but in terms of the construct of a forum, it fostered several concepts that I grew to appreciate: preservation of actual user content (described next) and extra scrutiny by admins before true deletion. cs1234, in the now-deleted thread, expressed concern about 'heavy-handed' topical moderation, (as opposed to housecleaning: spam, non-compliant posts, etc.) saying it was a whole different form of moderation. I would say it IS moderation. Housecleaning is dead easy..anyone can recognize and perform those duties. In fact, most mods don't mind doing it, and feel it contributes to the overall health of the site. Since moderation is typically voluntary, there has never been any requirement for mods to do anything more (sometimes anything at all), but others choose to do actual moderation. Anyway, enough backgrounding.
This Discourse site was set up to allow mods to hide content, by simply moving the posts/threads to another place, usually hidden from public/bot indexing,etc. Only mods/admins had access to this purged content, so it was visible to all staff at all times, and kept as a record. It also served as a resource for post-mortems on what went south in particular threads, and was similarly used to make strike/ban recommendations to admins. Housecleaning had its own private forum, moderation had its own private forum, and....wait for it...off-topic posts had its own PUBLIC forum.
Yes, we preserved user content, even when it went off topic. It went into the 'Landfill' forum. Interestingly, on slow days, it was as much fun to visit the Landfill and catch up on the non-contextual drama the preceding day. I would visit it every few days to get caught up, and began to notice several things: 1) Moderation (like cs1234 mentioned) is public. All users can see what triggered a Landfill post(s). 2) Preserved content, a user may be annoyed he got moved to Landfill, but he was still visible, his time posting was respected, it was simply deemed OT for the thread. This helps to remove the 'cabal' feeling that users tend to get when they begin to feel the mod team is against them/heavy-handed,etc. 3) Users become more compliant, even when drifting off topic, and on occasion fellow users would say 'careful or we're going to Landfill'...self-moderation. 4) Posts in Landfill can be reviewed when a user contests the move, but often it is so benign, users would rather simply move on and not waste staff time. There's more, but ya'll get the idea.
So I propose the following for staff:
Create a Landfill forum, public view (no need for indexing). Mods to move OT posts to Landfill to keep threads on the rails.
Create a Housecleaning forum, staff view only (if one doesn't already exist). Mods move housekeeping to its forum, admins/staff make final decisions on this content.
I believe this would foster better on topic participation, add transparency to moderation decisions and depersonalize the effects of those decisions.
Talk amongst yourselves...heading to enjoy some photons on a Saturday afternoon.
Indeed the solution was brought about by the restrictions that were placed by the chosen software (as so many forum issues are, software is rather restrictive) called Discourse. As the site was built, those given mod privileges were unable to actually delete content, only to move/hide it from public view. To users, no difference. Initially, this seemed like a flaw, but in terms of the construct of a forum, it fostered several concepts that I grew to appreciate: preservation of actual user content (described next) and extra scrutiny by admins before true deletion. cs1234, in the now-deleted thread, expressed concern about 'heavy-handed' topical moderation, (as opposed to housecleaning: spam, non-compliant posts, etc.) saying it was a whole different form of moderation. I would say it IS moderation. Housecleaning is dead easy..anyone can recognize and perform those duties. In fact, most mods don't mind doing it, and feel it contributes to the overall health of the site. Since moderation is typically voluntary, there has never been any requirement for mods to do anything more (sometimes anything at all), but others choose to do actual moderation. Anyway, enough backgrounding.
This Discourse site was set up to allow mods to hide content, by simply moving the posts/threads to another place, usually hidden from public/bot indexing,etc. Only mods/admins had access to this purged content, so it was visible to all staff at all times, and kept as a record. It also served as a resource for post-mortems on what went south in particular threads, and was similarly used to make strike/ban recommendations to admins. Housecleaning had its own private forum, moderation had its own private forum, and....wait for it...off-topic posts had its own PUBLIC forum.
Yes, we preserved user content, even when it went off topic. It went into the 'Landfill' forum. Interestingly, on slow days, it was as much fun to visit the Landfill and catch up on the non-contextual drama the preceding day. I would visit it every few days to get caught up, and began to notice several things: 1) Moderation (like cs1234 mentioned) is public. All users can see what triggered a Landfill post(s). 2) Preserved content, a user may be annoyed he got moved to Landfill, but he was still visible, his time posting was respected, it was simply deemed OT for the thread. This helps to remove the 'cabal' feeling that users tend to get when they begin to feel the mod team is against them/heavy-handed,etc. 3) Users become more compliant, even when drifting off topic, and on occasion fellow users would say 'careful or we're going to Landfill'...self-moderation. 4) Posts in Landfill can be reviewed when a user contests the move, but often it is so benign, users would rather simply move on and not waste staff time. There's more, but ya'll get the idea.
So I propose the following for staff:
Create a Landfill forum, public view (no need for indexing). Mods to move OT posts to Landfill to keep threads on the rails.
Create a Housecleaning forum, staff view only (if one doesn't already exist). Mods move housekeeping to its forum, admins/staff make final decisions on this content.
I believe this would foster better on topic participation, add transparency to moderation decisions and depersonalize the effects of those decisions.
Talk amongst yourselves...heading to enjoy some photons on a Saturday afternoon.
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
As a former MOD for another site, I am sure you appreciate that such a suggestion might get more traction if it had its own thread and may benefit from other comments as well. TLDR.
fuzzmunky415
New Member
Yes, considered before posting, but with Will's deletion of two separate threads on this topic, decided to not foster any more disruption on the topic, and I don't have the cache around here to begin launching anything to gain traction. I figure the important folks Will see it.
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