New Moderator

[jbwelda]

what i mean by that is that it seems to me like there has been an incredible amount of arguing, backbiting and petty bs going on here of late and thats why everyone escaped from "that other place" at one time. thats the problem: its not "the place", its the people that make the place.

pm if you would like a further explanation.

[Harry P.]

what i mean by that is that it seems to me like there has been an incredible amount of arguing, backbiting and petty bs going on here of late and thats why everyone escaped from "that other place" at one time. thats the problem: its not "the place", its the people that make the place.

pm if you would like a further explanation.

Seems to me that most people's complaint about "the other place" was always that it was moderated too strictly, and posts were locked and deleted too often. How often did we hear comments about "the sheriff" or "the forum nazi" or some other such slam aimed at J.H.?

So we gave you guys a freer, more open forum here, with less moderation, fewer locked topics... then you complain about that too?

Seems like there's no way to please some people. And I don't mean you specifically... I'm talking about all the people who seem to want it both ways... tight moderating AND an open forum.

How do you figure that's possible?

[PatRedmond]

I've only closed ONE topic temporarily since I started, only to clean up drama.

Both offending (In my opinion) posters were PM'ed and there's been no issues since.

The offending posts were removed, as I feel if they're left, more drama may result.

I like the candor and laid back attitude here.

[jbwelda]

ok lets talk specifics: for instance the "rants and raves" section is supposed to be about the hobby, not each other. yet a lot of stuff there either begins or devolves into back and forth not about the hobby but about people.

another example: not too long ago gregg or someone posted there would be no profanity or even allusions to profanity, yet i see "wtf" (would you like a translation) or my own example "bs" above with nary a complaint. so which is it?

another example: why isnt there some sort of moderation done to ask people to post topics in the proper category? for instance i can think of few reasons to post a build or project in the "general" category...in fact there should be precious few postings in that category though of course some fit.

i used to be all for "the less moderation the better" but more and more i think a moderator is necessary, not to keep people in line but to keep postings in proper categories even if it means moving them and replacing the original post with a "please post in proper category" message and moving the post to its proper place. in other words, keeping it simple, while keeping the in mind the point of categories.

being a moderator isnt easy but its impossible unless there are some standards that are adhered to across the board. establishing and enforcing those standards make it a lot easier to read and get useful info from forums like this.

that all may be a bit off topic and not address why i said "that other place" (ive never posted anywhere but here for car models so i am just speaking from second hand knowledge about other sites so maybe i dont know strictly what im talking about here...most of what i "know" has been drawn from postings here and it seemed to me the over-moderation at other sites came mostly from trying to curtail bickering though i had heard there was a lot of power tripping by moderators on other sites) but i have been dismayed by some of the threads and the evolution of them here of late. so im just saying i would like to get back to a more friendly forum...though i can see room for improvement in the way categories are managed etc.

but its not my forum and if i dont like it i will leave (without, let me add, fanfare or weepy posts declaring how much you all will miss me when im gone) but i havent yet so that says something right there.

anyway my real point was in my opinion a moderator should never let him/herself known and should be instead an invisible hand of God...otherwise personalities start coming up and the moderator will get endless opinions of why and how things should be done.

kind of like this post.

now i hear a kit calling me...

[PatRedmond]

I hear you and i'm learning as I go along. Slowly and surely the posts will be edited and or disappear.

First and foremost, this is Gregg's House. We're all guests here, including myself. I conduct myself carefully and encourage other guests to as well.

I don't want to have any enemies, but I do want people to know who is helping Gregg run the party.

[Harry P.]

ok lets talk specifics: for instance the "rants and raves" section is supposed to be about the hobby, not each other. yet a lot of stuff there either begins or devolves into back and forth not about the hobby but about people.

another example: not too long ago gregg or someone posted there would be no profanity or even allusions to profanity, yet i see "wtf" (would you like a translation) or my own example "bs" above with nary a complaint. so which is it?

another example: why isnt there some sort of moderation done to ask people to post topics in the proper category? for instance i can think of few reasons to post a build or project in the "general" category...in fact there should be precious few postings in that category though of course some fit.

i used to be all for "the less moderation the better" but more and more i think a moderator is necessary, not to keep people in line but to keep postings in proper categories even if it means moving them and replacing the original post with a "please post in proper category" message and moving the post to its proper place. in other words, keeping it simple, while keeping the in mind the point of categories.

being a moderator isnt easy but its impossible unless there are some standards that are adhered to across the board. establishing and enforcing those standards make it a lot easier to read and get useful info from forums like this.

that all may be a bit off topic and not address why i said "that other place" (ive never posted anywhere but here for car models so i am just speaking from second hand knowledge about other sites so maybe i dont know strictly what im talking about here...most of what i "know" has been drawn from postings here and it seemed to me the over-moderation at other sites came mostly from trying to curtail bickering though i had heard there was a lot of power tripping by moderators on other sites) but i have been dismayed by some of the threads and the evolution of them here of late. so im just saying i would like to get back to a more friendly forum...though i can see room for improvement in the way categories are managed etc.

but its not my forum and if i dont like it i will leave (without, let me add, fanfare or weepy posts declaring how much you all will miss me when im gone) but i havent yet so that says something right there.

anyway my real point was in my opinion a moderator should never let him/herself known and should be instead an invisible hand of God...otherwise personalities start coming up and the moderator will get endless opinions of why and how things should be done.

kind of like this post.

now i hear a kit calling me...

You make several good points.

I confess, when it comes to policing the forum I have a bit of a laid-back attitude... sort of "live and let live." And I realize that sometimes I may have been TOO laid back and let some things slide that, while they don't bother me personally, I should have realized may bother other members–or just be inappropriate for this forum in general. My bad, as they say.

It's always a judgement call as to what to leave alone and what to clamp down on. My personal style is to moderate as little as possible. I really hate to be coming down on people and to lock/delete stuff unless it's really way out of line. But I do respond to people when they PM me... I always check out what their complaint is, and I do take action if I think there's a real problem. The fact that Pat is also now moderating is a good thing, as it's always good to have another pair of eyes keeping tabs on what goes on here. I can't be here 24/7 and neither can Pat... but between the two of us we can be here at least for a good part of the time.

I guess the bottom line is, we moderate this place to the best of our ability. You guys have to realize that we don't have super powers... and the decision whether to "moderate" a given post is always subjective. It's not a science, it's a matter of opinion.

[PatRedmond]

Also, something I may have let pass will bother Harry and he will moderate that and vice-versa. Two sets of eyes are better. Everyone has an opinion and Harry and I are no different. As are you, Gregg, Bob, Sam, Dave, Huey, Dewey, Louie.

Like I said, i'm no fan of off topic drama and threads that wander off with no focus/worth. I'll let things go for a bit and see where they lead first, but i'll kill them if they're getting ugly/worthless.....at least remove the off topic bits.

[ricky12]

sounds like you and harry are off to a good start on makeing a good team keep up the good work . i for one look forward to forum that isnt full of drama