too many chiefs not enough indians

smashey

chrism2007 wrote: »

im new to this forum and the one thing that stands out straight away is just how arrogant the moderators are. unbelievably sad situation going on here

do these people have no lives or what?

example thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055457607

look at all the mods come on and throw there weight around before the regular joe soaps express there opinions


one actually locks the thread to not allow anyone else get there word in until the other mods get there to flame

I'm only seeing this thread now.

I'd just like to inform you that you are indeed correct in your assumptions. I'm an arrogant no-lifer and I get my kicks from throwing my ample weight around. Especially in fitness fora.

Let's look at what happened. The first post on that thread was reported and I happened to be online at the time. I read the post and, this is the part you might have difficulty with, I took it to be trolling. However, I left a message on the reported post saying that the thread was locked until g'em saw it and she could reply as she saw fit. (g'em is the perfect person to reply to this type of thread as she has experience of what the OP was talking about). The thread was re-opened after approximately 15 minutes and everything calmed down.

Now, here's the arrogant bit, I called it as I saw it and make no apologies for doing so and I will do the same in future.

Regarding this thread, I also see some mentions of "cliques" and as some people have pointed out, I have no time for cliques or anybody crying about perceived cliques. I'm with <3BeingIN6th on this one in that I really don't give a rat's ass who it is, I will deal with them within the rules of this site and the charters of the fora I moderate.

dr.bollocko

Cool_CM wrote: »

I don't really see that whole catty piccy thing catching on TBH mate.

brendansmith

tbh

if you think it's a troll - report the post. If you think it's a troll and you reply to it anyway, then, imo, you're just as guilty as the troll. This case mentioned is the very reason for the thought process above. A couple of users thought it was a troll and derailed the thread temporarily. It turns out it was genuine. Red faces all around. It wouldn't be tolerated in PI, so why should it be tolerated anywhere else?

Overheal

There is some truth in that new posters are looked on by everyone else (moderator and poster alike) rather skeptically. When the new guy with 8 posts starts making threads about discussions likely to wind up other users, it raises eyebrows.

However as I saw it the off-duty moderators in that thread were wrong to treat the post as they did: either ignore it, report it (or ignore AND report it), or answer the OP's question legitimately. As TBH says Thaed, it wouldnt be allowed in PI (or S&S)

I'm only mentioning you because your first reply set the tone of the whole thread.

311

After reading that post a few days ago ,I wasn't going to reply because I don't post in that forum.
But ,I didn't see anything wrong with the thread from the original posters point of view.

Maybe some of the mods on boards need to take a break and come back with a fresh perspective. It's not fair to make assumptions based on the history of boards ,especially when it discourages new people from joining.

I await the slaps now.

Overheal

311 wrote: »

After reading that post a few days ago ,I wasn't going to reply because I don't post in that forum.
But ,I didn't see anything wrong with the thread from the original posters point of view.

Maybe some of the mods on boards need to take a break and come back with a fresh perspective. It's not fair to make assumptions based on the history of boards ,especially when it discourages new people from joining.

I await the slaps now.

No, youre right I think. Like this other thread here: http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055457552 it got jumped on because of the moderation question and the moderation-related threads in feedback. Whether the OP was trying to stage a rant at a particular forum was irrelevant - I mean why not just answer the damn question and then see what he wants to do with it? Bad example, but when you go to a magic show to you shout out OH I KNOW HOW HE DOES THIS or do you shut the **** up and pick a ****ing card already and let the man entertain you at the very least? In this case shut up asnwer the question and listen to the OPs response before jumping down his throat.

Nevyn

Overheal wrote: »

As TBH says Thaed, it wouldnt be allowed in PI (or S&S)

But it wasn't either of those two forums, not every forum is as strict as PI
so don't try and make out like they are.

Overheal wrote: »

I'm only mentioning you because your first reply set the tone of the whole thread.

And ?
None of my posts in that thread were reported and neither of the mods
took an action on them.
Don't go expecting me to be as prim and proper in places that which do not required it. That type of presumption and attitude quite frankly písses me off
I am a user else where and can post how I bloody well please and if it gets me banned from those forums it gets me banned. Not that I am planning on turning into Mordeth but I will not have people trying to dictate to me how I should post in forum that I do not mod.

tbh

Thaedydal wrote: »

But it wasn't either of those two forums, not every forum is as strict as PI
so don't try and make out like they are.

So, can anyone decide that someone is trolling in any of the other forums and take the piss out of them?

And ?
None of my posts in that thread were reported and neither of the mods
took an action on them.
Don't go expecting me to be as prim and proper in places that which do not required it. That type of presumption and attitude quite frankly písses me off
I am a user else where and can post how I bloody well please and if it gets me banned from those forums it gets me banned. Not that I am planning on turning into Mordeth but I will not have people trying to dictate to me how I should post in forum that I do not mod.

what I see is that you are asking/expecting people to behave in a certain way in the forums you moderate, and you don't behave that way yourself in the forums you don't moderate. It's just bad form imo. Like, what made you take the piss out of that thread? Assuming you believed it was a troll, why reply? why not just report the thread? isn't that what you'd tell people to do in PI?

None of my posts in that thread were reported

interesting - when you had a problem with the "swallow..bitch" thread, it was pointed out to you that no-one had reported it. It didn't seem to matter then.

311

Thaedydal wrote: »

I will not have people trying to dictate to me how I should post in forum that I do not mod.

In fairness ,you tried to dictate to the op of the thread in question by making out they were trolling.

Nevyn

311 wrote: »

In fairness ,you tried to dictate to the op of the thread in question by making out they were trolling.

I didn't think they were trolling I thought that wow out of all of the irish forums and all of the fitness forums on the internet what there the chances that
the poster lucked out and picked the one with a female title holding power weight lifter as mod to ask that question. It made me laugh a lot, hence my post and flagging it to g'em by reporting it so she would reply.

Heavens forbid I should find something funny and try be helpful.

Ludo

Thaedydal wrote: »

Mods are just posters outside of the forums they mod and they are not perfect or paragons of virtue.

This line gets trotted out regularly. Then you see something like this:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58583517&postcount=140

No wonder people get confused as to the roles of mods. Yes that thread is a train wreck but just pointing out the silliness of the statement above.

And that is a hosted forum which is outside control of boards anyway from previous thread about the same mod.

Crash

Ludo: just to note - Beruthiel is an sMod, or supermod (cap included) meaning she has moderating powers all over boards. So bit of a different case to the rest of us there.

Ludo

Going Waterforward wrote: »

Ludo: just to note - Beruthiel is an sMod, or supermod (cap included) meaning she has moderating powers all over boards. So bit of a different case to the rest of us there.

I understand, but you see how confusing it all is for new people. How is anyone to know when it is not blatantly obvious under their name.
Especially when it says sMod and then lists forums which this applies to...of which conspiracy theories is not one.

Nevyn

http://wiki.boards.ie/wiki/Moderator

randylonghorn

Ludo wrote: »

Especially when it says sMod and then lists forums which this applies to...of which conspiracy theories is not one.

No, the forums specifically listed are the forums on which they also act as normal everyday mods.

I've always thought SMod should be short for "Site Moderator" ... i think it would make much more sense to people.

Ludo

Clear as mud then.

sMod: List of forums

implies Super Mod to those forums listed but this is not actually the case. Fair enough.

Hosted forums are not really under the boards.ie umbrella and should look after their own affairs but they actually are not.

Not having a pop or anything here (as beruthiels post was called for) but just trying to demonstrate how people get the wrong end of the stick around here and then get told off by the experienced hands (sometimes in tones which shall we say are not the politest in the world).

Small tidy up of mod tags to make things clearer would help and community person badly needed who has a lot of patience and will be able to repeat himself thousands of times without losing the head :-)

Overheal

Thaedydal wrote: »

Heavens forbid I should find something funny and try be helpful.

What was helpful about it? Imagine a tourist goes asking a local for directions, the local laughs their ass of at them and rides off like a ballerina - whats helpful there? You couldve spent a line enlightening the OP with your funny bone by saying something like, oh, i dont know:

"of all of the irish forums and all of the fitness forums on the internet what there the chances that
[you] lucked out and picked the one with a female title holding power weight lifter as mod to ask that question."

?

Anyway.

I don't remember having the ropes shown to me as a rookie either, and its become evident that new posters probably need to be aware of ground rules. Not many of them will find their way to Newbies and FAQ so it would seem prudent to have an auto-generated PM feed them the guidelines:

- Explanation of User Ranks, Stars, Moderators and Site Moderators
- Rules that vary from forum to forum
- List of key site charter rules (no slander/libel, legal or medical advice, discussion of how to perform illegal activities)
- The proper method for reporting posts or PM'ing your moderator before going to the help desk or feedback
- Clarify the difference between feedback and help desk
- Explanaition of the Hosted Sub-Forums
- etc

randylonghorn

Ludo wrote: »

Clear as mud then.

sMod: List of forums

implies Super Mod to those forums listed but this is not actually the case. Fair enough.

Same format applies at Admin (i.e. the highest) level.

e.g. CuLT shows as "Admin: adverts.ie Moderators, Development" which actually means that he is a site administrator but also specifically mods these two forums.

I agree though that it doesn't exactly jump out and explain itself until you get used to the way things work.

I'm not the most techie person so I'm not sure how easy it would be to start changing the way the mod tags display in vBulletin, but I'm guessing probably a lot more work than it sounds ... such things normally are.

Plus the next site you wandered into that uses the standard approach, you would end up twice as confused ...

Ludo wrote: »

... and community person badly needed who has a lot of patience and will be able to repeat himself thousands of times without losing the head :-)

I don't think Ruu is available ... :pac:

Chinafoot

Overheal wrote: »

I don't remember having the ropes shown to me as a rookie either, and its become evident that new posters probably need to be aware of ground rules. Not many of them will find their way to Newbies and FAQ so it would seem prudent to have an auto-generated PM feed them the guidelines:

If you can find your way here, register and start posting then you can find your way to the FAQ. The link is provided in the PM you get when you register ffs. This attitude of "oh well nobody told me, how was I to know?!" is such bullshít. Ignorance is no excuse, all the information is there for people to see.

311

Chinafoot wrote: »

If you can find your way here, register and start posting then you can find your way to the FAQ. The link is provided in the PM you get when you register ffs. This attitude of "oh well nobody told me, how was I to know?!" is such bullshít. Ignorance is no excuse, all the information is there for people to see.

Ever see the stickers they now put on usb cable ends ,that tell you to put the CD in first.

They didn't always come with stickers.

Chinafoot

311 wrote: »

Ever see the stickers they now put on usb cable ends ,that tell you to put the CD in first.

They didn't always come with stickers.

Ah so we should hold the hand of those too lazy/stupid to click the link provided to them? We should spoon feed every bit of information even though it's all readily available to them, a few mouse clicks away in fact?

Do we not have a search function? Do we not have charters in every forum? Is there no biki?

311

You cannot compare your knowledge of the web with people who might have just bought their first computer.

As far as they are concerned a link might be an advertisement for a bus route or something.

EDIT : Just a thought ,a small video clip of what way boards runs downloadable from a registration email.
Wouldn't even have to be on boards servers ,could be hosted elsewhere and could generalise things making them simple.

Nevyn

what makes you think this place wants to be for or catering for people who have never been on the web before and need hand holding ?

Kintarō Hattori

Boards is great the way it is, I wouldn't have it any other way. Sure it might seem arrogant, even a little intimidating to new users but that's because it's a community. We have characters, we have injokes....... it simply takes time for a new user to settle in and get a feel for the place.

Would people really prefer a sterile forum without any personality? No, I didn't think so. You'll either get with the program and join the fun or not...... how much you get out of it is all down to how much you put in.

Chinafoot

311 wrote: »

You cannot compare your knowledge of the web with people who might have just bought their first computer.

As far as they are concerned a link might be an advertisement for a bus route or something.

I'm sorry but again I call bullshít. If they can find their way here and register to use the site then I seriously doubt the following will prove too difficult for them....

boards.ie welcome PM wrote:

Dear <username>,

Thanks for registering at boards.ie! We are glad you have chosen to be a part of our community and we hope you enjoy your stay.

Before you post in the forums, do read the forum stickies to familiarise yourself with each forum's etiquette. This can be confusing at first as forums have different rules, taking a few extra moments will make your time on boards more enjoyable.

There is a FAQ forum here which may help with some of your questions http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=98.

There is a full list of forums available here http://boards.ie/vbulletin/index.php and also available in the list on the top of your screen when you are logged in, just hover over the menu list at the top of the screen.

If people can't grasp that then they really shouldn't be anywhere near a computer tbh.

Overheal

BEcuase from that they wont at all go to this thread http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=285002 and find information both years out of date and irrelevant.

**** it. I'll post one up myself.

Xavi6

Thaedydal wrote: »

what makes you think this place wants to be for or catering for people who have never been on the web before and need hand holding ?

Ah here now that's just downright snobby.

Not everybody is computer literate. Worldwide access to the internet is still a relatively knew thing (I know, for example, that my parents wouldn't have a breeze what to do here and they are barely 50). Why should you look down on somebody for something that isn't their fault? I'm sure there are thousands of people with great life experiences who could offer something to the site but would be instantly turned off by a comment like yours above.

We all have to start off somewhere and all it takes is a bit of patience from those more experienced to set people on the right track.

It's a common courtesy to try help out newbies in any walk of life without making them feel this small.

Ludo

Ludo wrote: »

Not having a pop or anything here (as beruthiels post was called for) but just trying to demonstrate how people get the wrong end of the stick around here and then get told off by the experienced hands (sometimes in tones which shall we say are not the politest in the world).

Thaedydal wrote: »

what makes you think this place wants to be for or catering for people who have never been on the web before and need hand holding ?

And there we have the usual condescending tone which certain mods have made their trademark. Certain people really should not be dealing with the public if they insist on taking tones like this. It ain't in the interest of boards.ie which I assume is here to make money by increasing readership.

I know it is tough repeating the same old stuff all the time to newbies but that goes with the territory in a feedback/help desk type area.

Nevyn

Boards users are not 'the public'.

There was no one to teach me when I first wandered on to the precuser of the web over
15 years ago and I had to learn to find my own way around usenet.

Yes there is a learning curve, no I don't think people are stupid, I think they are well
capable of figuring it out themselves if they put a bit of time and effort in.
Sure they may bite off a bit more then they can chew at first but they will learn better
that way then if everything is premasticated for them.