Reporting Posts

lil_lisa

So, I report posts whenever I can, to try keep civilisation at peace here (usually for posts in the wrong place) but I just noticed today on the report post page that it should only be used for "reporting spam, advertising messages, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts, or signatures which breach the guidelines". Is it ok to keep reporting misplaced posts/threads this way? I wonder if other people are put off from reporting posts because it states this!

Just a thought..

Spear

lil_lisa wrote: »

So, I report posts whenever I can, to try keep civilisation at peace here (usually for posts in the wrong place) but I just noticed today on the report post page that it should only be used for "reporting spam, advertising messages, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts, or signatures which breach the guidelines". Is it ok to keep reporting misplaced posts/threads this way? I wonder if other people are put off from reporting posts because it states this!

Just a thought..

That's the default message though, reporting is fine for anything that may warrant mod attention, including moving etc.

Darragh

Yes please. As long as you're not reporting posts just for the craic, we really really appreciate it.

lil_lisa

Of course not! I'm just wondering if it turns anyone else off reporting misplaced posts? I would hope not.

Wolfe Tone

What sometimes puts me off reporting posts is a lack of feedback, I wish there was some sort of acknowledgement that a mod has taken a look at a post...

Steve

There was a discussion on the mod forum a while back about re-phrasing this message to "Please enter the reason that you need to bring this post to the attention of the mods" or something similar and less daunting than the current one. I think Gordy started it. The issue was how to make it more user friendly because the current message - as you pointed out - kinda puts people off reporting stuff.

It never got followed up on obviously but I think it's still a valid issue.

Steve

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

What sometimes puts me off reporting posts is a lack of feedback, I wish there was some sort of acknowledgement that a mod has taken a look at a post...

+1

It's unworkable for mods to - say - pm every reporter with the reasons that no action was required but I agree that if there was a mechanism whereby you got confirmation that a mod read your report then it would be good.

OPENROAD

I have never reported a post before, but times I would like to report a thread, is it possible to report a thread rather than a poster, is it a case of reporting the first post in a thread, when you report something, are you allowed to write a narrative as to why you are reporting.

Steve

When you hit the report post button, you are prompted to enter a message as to why you are reporting. You can write anything you like there.

If you wish to report a thread in general then just pick a post and write in the message that you're not reporting this post in particular but you have a concern with the whole thread. Similar if you want to report a user in general.

As long as you're clear in the message then the mods will figure it out, if they're not clear then they'll pm you.

Edit: you can try it out on any post just to see what it looks like, just don't hit 'submit'

looksee

lil_lisa wrote: »

So, I report posts whenever I can, to try keep civilisation at peace here (usually for posts in the wrong place) but I just noticed today on the report post page that it should only be used for "reporting spam, advertising messages, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts, or signatures which breach the guidelines". Is it ok to keep reporting misplaced posts/threads this way? I wonder if other people are put off from reporting posts because it states this!

Just a thought..

I had this exact same question some time ago, http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056096255
It was a bit surprising how many people said 'use the report button' which is obvious but I hadn't used it because of the message you quoted.
I am not sure but I think the final conclusion was that the message is ok and you should ignore the specific instructions

Steve

Looksee, there was a discussion in the mod forum when you first pointed it out but the thread sorta got lost somehow. I've just bumped it so maybe something will come of it.

Edit: It's here. (mods only)

Beruthiel

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

What sometimes puts me off reporting posts is a lack of feedback, I wish there was some sort of acknowledgement that a mod has taken a look at a post...

Normally, I tend to hit 'thanks' when a user goes to the trouble. I think a lot of Mods do.

Mr Magnolia

Beruthiel wrote: »

Normally, I tend to hit 'thanks' when a user goes to the trouble. I think a lot of Mods do.

I do too. As well as thanking the poster it lets my co-mods know that the report has been looked into and whatever action required (if any) has been taken.

looksee

Beruthiel wrote: »

Normally, I tend to hit 'thanks' when a user goes to the trouble. I think a lot of Mods do.

I think many people would not realise that a thanks that does not appear to belong to anything is actually a thanks from a mod! Baffled me till I enquired

If you report a message and not enter anything in the textbox provided, does it still go through? Can a mod let me know if it does?

Nope, just checked. You have to enter in a message.

Midnight_EG

Why not make the reported posts forum like the SIGPO forum?


Only you and the mods/admins see it, so you get a reply to it/thanks to it?

Insect Overlord

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Why not make the reported posts forum like the SIGPO forum?


Only you and the mods/admins see it, so you get a reply to it/thanks to it?

Setting up access permissions for 550 mods across 900 forums would probably be a coding nightmare. Apart from that, it's a pretty good idea you've got there.

Midnight_EG

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Setting up access permissions for 550 mods across 900 forums would probably be a coding nightmare. Apart from that, it's a pretty good idea you've got there.

They could be sub-forums of the Private mods forums for each category/forum such as Motors/AH/C&H etc.


It would probably be a hard thing to do, but it would most certainly pay off in the long-term, with the userbase being a lot happier knowing their reported posts are getting seen to! And gives a better one-on-one 'chat' with mods about the post in question.

pickarooney

Beruthiel wrote: »

Normally, I tend to hit 'thanks' when a user goes to the trouble. I think a lot of Mods do.

What do you thank exactly? It's a nice idea but if you thank a random post by the user who reported it (s)he's probably not going to know why.

-Chris-

Sometimes posts are reported when they don't need to be, or they're reported as some form of maliciousness (petty revenge etc.), or they're reported by someone who's plainly being oversensitive etc. etc.

Sometimes you read a reported post and decide the best course of action is to ignore it. As nice and transparent as Midnight EG's idea is, I'd think it'd cause as many issues as it solves as essentially you'd be forced to directly answer every reported post, no matter how much merit it has.

It would also remove the ability to fix things behind the scenes - for example deciding to PM a user and say "I'm getting reported posts, can you tone it down a bit before things escalate" rather than pulling them up on it on-thread.
Sometimes that's the more effective way to deal with things, but it wouldn't really be available any more.

Midnight_EG

-Chris- wrote: »

Sometimes you read a reported post and decide the best course of action is to ignore it. As nice and transparent as Midnight EG's idea is, I'd think it'd cause as many issues as it solves as essentially you'd be forced to directly answer every reported post, no matter how much merit it has.

Not if you only thank the post, as is apparently done in the Reported Posts forum already?

If a certain mod likes to thank posts to acknowledge that the problem has been seen to, then the user will see that and be happy with it. So a reply isn't necessarily needed?

Wolfe Tone

-Chris- wrote: »

Sometimes posts are reported when they don't need to be, or they're reported as some form of maliciousness (petty revenge etc.), or they're reported by someone who's plainly being oversensitive etc. etc.

Sometimes you read a reported post and decide the best course of action is to ignore it. As nice and transparent as Midnight EG's idea is, I'd think it'd cause as many issues as it solves as essentially you'd be forced to directly answer every reported post, no matter how much merit it has.

It would also remove the ability to fix things behind the scenes - for example deciding to PM a user and say "I'm getting reported posts, can you tone it down a bit before things escalate" rather than pulling them up on it on-thread.
Sometimes that's the more effective way to deal with things, but it wouldn't really be available any more.

But if you do that the appearance is that nothing is done.

-Chris-

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Not if you only thank the post, as is apparently done in the Reported Posts forum already?

If a certain mod likes to thank posts to acknowledge that the problem has been seen to, then the user will see that and be happy with it. So a reply isn't necessarily needed?

The reported posts forum isn't viewable by general users, can you see if I thank your post in the Reported Posts forum?

I haven't been doing it because I presumed you wouldn't be able to see it.

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

But if you do that the appearance is that nothing is done.

I reported plenty of posts before I was a mod (and still do in the other forums).
Once I've flagged the issue I feel my work is done. If no change is made then I presume the mods are ok with the situation and don't agree with my reported post.

I don't need my hand held or a pat on the head for reporting a post. If it's acted on or ignored it's no skin off my nose, I was only trying to help.

Sometimes the reality is that nothing is done, and nothing needs to be done. Is that such a bad thing?

Midnight_EG

-Chris- wrote: »

The reported posts forum isn't viewable by general users, can you see if I thank your post in the Reported Posts forum?

I haven't been doing it because I presumed you wouldn't be able to see it.

Beruthiel mentioned that she thanks posts to show that it's been acted on, so I can only assume thus far.

Seeing as you've said you don't thank posts...what other way can users know that it's been acted on?

-Chris-

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Beruthiel mentioned that she thanks posts to show that it's been acted on, so I can only assume thus far.

Seeing as you've said you don't thank posts...what other way can users know that it's been acted on?

If I said "presume I've seen it, and if it's not acted on, presume I'm ok with it", would you have an issue with that philosophy/system?

Midnight_EG

-Chris- wrote: »

If I said "presume I've seen it, and if it's not acted on, presume I'm ok with it", would you have an issue with that philosophy/system?

It's not very nice to know that users are trying to help mods by reporting posts and then those posts, in essence, get ignored.


Eye for an eye 'n all that :rolleyes:

Steve

"Ignored" is an inappropriate term there, all reported posts get read.

"Not requiring any action" would be a better way of describing it.

Midnight_EG

Steve wrote: »

"Ignored" is an inappropriate term there, all reported posts get read.

"Not requiring any action" would be a better way of describing it.

Hence why I said 'in essence', I didn't mean ignored in it's complete sense, just in half a sense really.

-Chris-

Reporting it is helpful.

Mod discretion is essential to keeping the threads moving.

Sometimes you call a foul, sometimes you allow the game to continue.

I'd never ignore a report, but sometimes I'd decide not to act on as I don't think it's necessary.

Why isn't that ok?

-Chris-

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Not if you only thank the post, as is apparently done in the Reported Posts forum already?

I just thanked your most recent reported post (01-02-2011, 23:07). Can you let me know if you can see it in any way?

Midnight_EG

-Chris- wrote: »

I just thanked your most recent reported post (01-02-2011, 23:07). Can you let me know if you can see it in any way?

Says I have a thanked post, but I can't see anything between my last thanked posts between those dates...so in this way I'd only assume it was a post thanked from maybe a year ago or some other time that I can't see.


No indication for me that it was a reported post that was thanked, so I can't assume it was acted on