Why have mods status shown?

EKRIUQ

On boards.ie theres an under current which appears to be a “Mod” v “Registered User” in certain instances, the mods job as I see it is after being entrusted by the administrators to “moderate” discussions within the guidelines and charter of there given forum

I am a regular user on another forum for as long as I've been on Boards and its probably double in size and double the amount of users than boards has but the mods and admins status remains hidden until you break a rule. There pretty much there but very much in the background and no visual presence or anything in their profile

Where as here it's difficult to disagree with a moderator of a forum for fear of being banned and there is instances everywhere on boards.ie of mods showing who's boss and laying down the law in their patch and right fully so in a lot of instances.

If mods didn’t have the list of forums they moderate under their avatar but maybe the mod of each forum had their name at the bottom of the page, it could increase the flow of discussion on a thread, wipe out a lot of the running to the feedback forum, complaining about this did this and that.

The mods duties or integrity doesn’t change its just not as visual and the mod can become just another user.

Thanks my feedback which I think it could help boards.

Kiera

Nah, it works fine this way. If it aint broken, dont try fix it!

Nevyn

Even with the status under the avatar and on the bottom of the forum page posters at times don't cop that they have just answered back a mod when the mod has given a warning, I have seem a poster ask Beruthiel who do you think you are in PI after a warning to stay on topic.

Posters can also be unaware of the existance of a forum and only notice it when a mod of that forum posts elsewhere.

Mods are just posters in forums that they do not mod and are ment to be treated as such but I will be honest I get more irrate at mods who break the rules of any of the forums I mod more then a poster as they should know better, but if they choose to
ignore the rules they get banned just like everyone else.

EKRIUQ

Kiera wrote: »

Nah, it works fine this way. If it aint broken, dont try fix it!

If you look at the threads on this page I think there's something broken somewhere.

Why not try it for a trial for a month I'm sure it's a feature that could be easily turned off in the admin panel. The only thing that should change is a bit of ego lost for some mods and nothing else to the working of boards.

Kiera

Namesco wrote: »

If you look at the threads on this page I think there's something broken somewhere.

Why not try it for a trial for a month I'm sure it's a feature that could be easily turned off in the admin panel. The only thing that should change is a bit of ego lost for some mods and nothing else to the working of boards.

It's feedback. People come in here to give feedback about issues. This does not mean that boards is going downhill because people have something they dont like in one forum.

Its like what Thead said. I wouldnt know about half the forums on boards if i didnt see them on the mods profile.

Adam

Thaedydal wrote: »

Even with the status under the avatar and on the bottom of the forum page posters at times don't cop that they have just answered back a mod when the mod has given a warning, I have seem a poster ask Beruthiel who do you think you are in PI after a warning to stay on topic.

Posters can also be unaware of the existance of a forum and only notice it when a mod of that forum posts elsewhere.

Mods are just posters in forums that they do not mod and are ment to be treated as such but I will be honest I get more irrate at mods who break the rules of any of the forums I mod more then a poster as they should know better, but if they choose to
ignore the rules they get banned just like everyone else.

the mans just giving some feedback, who do you think you are?!

Gordon

Mirror wrote: »

the mans just giving some feedback, who do you think you are?!

The lady is just giving her feedback on his feedback.

Adam

Gordon wrote: »

The lady is just giving her feedback on his feedback.

feedback is bad for your ears

Gordon

Mirror wrote: »

feedback is bad for your ears

Trolling is bad for boards.ie threads.

cornbb

I would agree with the OP. Maybe it should be made clear that a mod is a mod only when they are performing their modly duties. Maybe there could be a "Mod Mode" check box for when mods are replying to a thread that would show their status only in that post.

Adam

i'm sure i'm not going mad and that this exact idea was raised quite recently...i think it's fine the way it is, if you're scared of "talking back" to a mod, build a bridge. it should be obvious when you will/won't get in trouble for it. e.g. debating whether or not all romas smell liike tunafish. you're perfectly entitled to disagree with mods opinions in such circumstances. but disagreeing with mods on they're moderation is just going to get you in trouble. simple really.

Zaph

Mirror wrote: »

i'm sure i'm not going mad and that this exact idea was raised quite recently...i think it's fine the way it is, if you're scared of "talking back" to a mod, build a bridge. it should be obvious when you will/won't get in trouble for it. e.g. debating whether or not all romas smell liike tunafish. you're perfectly entitled to disagree with mods opinions in such circumstances. but disagreeing with mods on they're moderation is just going to get you in trouble. simple really.

That's pretty much it really, except that you can disagree about moderation in the appropriate forum. Mods are entrusted with keeping Boards running smoothly, nothing more, and the rest of the time we just like to debate/argue/talk crap as much as the next poster. I have no problem someone telling me my opinion on something is wrong, he has an opinion too and it would be a pretty dull place if we all agreed on everything.

However, in common with all mods, I do have a problem with someone telling me on a thread that I've made a bad moderating call for two reasons. First, it disrupts the flow of the thread and can often take it wildly off-topic. This immediately makes my task of helping Boards run smoothly more difficult. If someone has a problem with my moderation they should post a thread in Help Desk (preferably) or Feedback, not on the thread. They're quite entitled to disagree with my decsions, if it's a legitimate complaint it will be dealt with appropriately. Second, a lot of moderating decisions are judgement calls. Most are pretty clear cut, however there are those that aren't. What people should remember is that mods are just people too, we're not robots. We're capable of making mistakes just like anyone else, and in the case of a close call our views on something will inevitably differ from a lot of other posters. However, it's usually only those that disagree that make a fuss about the decision. If mods were paid to take some of the abuse I've seen dished out it would be one thing, but we do this voluntarily to try and help the site function as best it can. If the Admins believed that a person who complains a lot could do the job better than whichever mod they were complaining about, they would have given that poster a modship already.

tbh

I like wibbs' use of the bold font for mod-posts and regular type for contributions as a poster. My 2c, i don't really like the moderator tag, and would prefer that it would only be moderator in the forums they moderate, and registered user in all others. But I don't really care enough to do anything about it or anything

RoundyMooney

I saw Wibbs posting today and thought pretty much the same thing.

While a list of forums on the left there is handy, and I think it should remain, perhaps the use of a, I don't know, "mod button" on the forums one mods to maybe post in a different font when the person is modding rather than participating would clear up a lot of confusion.

Aside from willy waving, the list of forums can serve a useful function, as said, by sending people to places they may not normally notice, or think of visiting.

WindSock

I would like not to show up as a mod on other forums. Oftentimes people have argued with me and called me names such as mod. I don't like having to repeat the old mods on other forums are just regular posters adage. There are so many users who don't get that bit. Stop calling me names

KnifeWRENCH

Thaedydal wrote: »

Posters can also be unaware of the existance of a forum and only notice it when a mod of that forum posts elsewhere.

Kiera wrote: »

Its like what Thead said. I wouldnt know about half the forums on boards if i didnt see them on the mods profile.

+1.
I too discovered various forums from the list under a mod's name.

By and large, I've always found that mods are always treated like regular users outside of the forum's they mod. I don't see them being treated any better or worse if they break a rule in the charter than a regular user would be.

I do also agree with Zaph that it's wrong for people to argue with mods on-thread about mod decisions, that should be done via PM, Feedback or HelpDesk. But again I don't see this happening a lot (maybe I'm not going to the right forums? )

Sully

I prefer to know exactly who mods are and whos pulling my leg. Iv been on forums and received PMs from "Mods" who were not actuall mods. Didnt know only I knew the site owner and asked him. This particular forum doesnt state whos a mod/admin publicly. A large majority of sites have it similar to Boards.

Prefer the system as it is tbh.

kaimera

is it that time again?

I know this has come up before iirc and it seemed that it wasnt worth removing mod status outside their for(um)(a).

I'm in favour of it tbh; everyone is equal and all that outside of the for(um)(a) they look after.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Namesco wrote: »

On boards.ie theres an under current which appears to be a “Mod” v “Registered User” in certain instances, the mods job as I see it is after being entrusted by the administrators to “moderate” discussions within the guidelines and charter of there given forum

I am a regular user on another forum for as long as I've been on Boards and its probably double in size and double the amount of users than boards has but the mods and admins status remains hidden until you break a rule. There pretty much there but very much in the background and no visual presence or anything in their profile

Where as here it's difficult to disagree with a moderator of a forum for fear of being banned and there is instances everywhere on boards.ie of mods showing who's boss and laying down the law in their patch and right fully so in a lot of instances.

If mods didn’t have the list of forums they moderate under their avatar but maybe the mod of each forum had their name at the bottom of the page, it could increase the flow of discussion on a thread, wipe out a lot of the running to the feedback forum, complaining about this did this and that.

The mods duties or integrity doesn’t change its just not as visual and the mod can become just another user.

Thanks my feedback which I think it could help boards.

I've seen it myself on other forums too where the moderators aren't listed. One forum I know of , the mods and admins are more or less the same people. There's about 5 of them and they post just as much as regular "reg. users" . The thing in that case is that when someone is banned nobody else knows about it and it's all done in secret. There's no feedback or help desk or prison. That forum also has a fairly small community, "clique" one might say.

One thing that does bother me is when mods post in a thread that they've banned someone. I've never seen that before. As someone has said a mod posting in a thread can sometimes derail it if there's mod powers being used. If there's a hot thread, with say a contentious topic, and someone gets banned and the mod then posts that "so and so is banned", there's going to be backlash and then the thread turns into a "why was so and so banned"

I think that that's soemthing that could be looked into. Although I'm still fairly new to boards so I don't know. In some strange way boards' authority system sort of resembles a standard socities one. You could heads of state that pass down laws and then those who enforce them. With that I suppose it breeds it's own problems.

Red Sleeping Beauty

square_igloo wrote: »

+1.
I too discovered various forums from the list under a mod's name.

Not all threads that are listed in a mod's profile are accesible to everyone. I've no idea what or where the "BAPS" or the "#boards" forums are . There's a few others as well that I've seen which I can't remember.

Karl Hungus

Namesco wrote: »

If you look at the threads on this page I think there's something broken somewhere.

Could it be something on the user's end, and not down to the fault of mods? Just about every thread decrying mods is based on something the user has done wrong, be it not bothering to read the rules, or general muppetry. Do we really need to pander to these users?

Red Sleeping Beauty

I wouldn't say this thread is decrying mods and I don't think the op has done anything wrong. It's feedback and discussion about an element of the forum.

Steve

tbh wrote: »

I like wibbs' use of the bold font for mod-posts and regular type for contributions as a poster.

I totally agree with that. There are times when a mod posts an instruction or warning in-thread that they are also contributing to and sometimes newer users just can't see it.

Namesco

Namesco wrote: »

The mods duties or integrity doesn’t change its just not as visual and the mod can become just another user.

Thanks my feedback which I think it could help boards.

Mate I would take feedback from you with a pinch of salt given that you were perma banned from a forum here for trolling (IcdG) and for bringing that dispute with a boards.ie forum mod onto digital spy and generally re registering quite a few times to get round it-more recently via your "partner".. which is up there with my brother posted that...or oh noes it wasn't me it was my brother etc etc...

Anyhow just bringing in a bit of usefull information to the public domain

Toto Wolfcastle

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Not all threads that are listed in a mod's profile are accesible to everyone. I've no idea what or where the "BAPS" or the "#boards" forums are . There's a few others as well that I've seen which I can't remember.

I don't think BAPS exists any more really.

On topic, why would someone to be afraid to disagree with a mod? If you're disagreeing on a normal topic and get banned for it then you know something will be done about that. If you're disagreeing about a mod decision in a thread then you deserve to be banned, or at least warned.

Karl Hungus

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

I wouldn't say this thread is decrying mods and I don't think the op has done anything wrong. It's feedback and discussion about an element of the forum.

Not in the slightest did I say that this thread was decrying mods, or that the op has done something wrong.

Agent Smith

janeybabe wrote: »

I don't think BAPS exists any more really.

Oh we exist, We have Just moved to a dedicated forum off site.
Its a webgame called Cybernations

the BAPS forum here is kinda like an emergency Broadcast System.

EKRIUQ

Deleted User wrote: »

Mate I would take feedback from you with a pinch of salt given that you were perma banned from a forum here for trolling (IcdG) and for bringing that dispute with a boards.ie forum mod onto digital spy and generally re registering quite a few times to get round it-more recently via your "partner".. which is up there with my brother posted that...or oh noes it wasn't me it was my brother etc etc...

Anyhow just bringing in a bit of usefull information to the public domain

I was banned from the satellite forum by you (Earthman) and that's over 4 years ago Oct 2004 and it wasn't for trolling it was you got the hump over a signature I had I still have the PM's.

Re: second account I went to the help desk to and asked can I have a second account for my partner I don't see anything wrong with that! and I'm pretty sure that account has never posted in Satellite, if I want to see the satellite forum I just log out.

I don't know where that came from I just posted a topic for discussion then this former mod brings up something that's over 4 years old. Correct me if I'm wrong but Earthmans name used to appear here more often than most other mods over they way he controlled his forums.

Toto Wolfcastle

Agent Smith wrote: »

Oh we exist, We have Just moved to a dedicated forum off site.
Its a webgame called Cybernations

the BAPS forum here is kinda like an emergency Broadcast System.

Yeah and that's what I meant because you told me before!

Now get back to work.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Black Briar bringing 4 year old rubbish from another forum in here is a bit off topic like.

Gordon

Then don't reply/comment on it and bring it more off topic.