Name mods of private/restricted forums

Shield

No. There's deliberately no list of private forums. It would lead to far too many "What's that forum for" kind of questions. These are private invite-only forums, and access is usually by invitation only OR unless you know what the subject matter being discussed is like Nein 11, Sl****e (masking intentional), and so on.

Sometimes, private forums will advertise in Feedback when they're allowing applications for access. If the subject matter genuinely interests you, then you can apply for access.

Corsendonk

Sounds very elitist to be honest with all this secrecy. A society within a society hmmmm Like apart from going to a beers and someone letting slip what private forum they are in or becoming very friendly on boards with a member of a golden circle your chances of becoming a member of most is zero.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZI_aEalijE

Zaph

Tbh, most private forums would be of no interest to the vast majority of posters. A number are deliberately private but are public about it, Soccer and Nein 11 being the most obvious ones I can think of, and you can easily apply for access. Most others were requested so a particular group of individuals can congregate and if you're not a friend of any of that group or a member of that profession/organisation then why would you want access anyway?

Shield

Corsendonk wrote: »

Sounds very elitist to be honest with all this secrecy. A society within a society hmmmm Like apart from going to a beers and someone letting slip what private forum they are in or becoming very friendly on boards with a member of a golden circle your chances of becoming a member of most is zero.

I don't think I'd go that far. For example, you can at least 2 private forums under my name which are "Police & Policing", and "Garda Reserve". These are either special interest forums, or forums where privacy is enjoyed. Unless you have a demonstrable interest in Policing or you are a Police Officer, you wouldn't need access to P&P. Unless you're an attested Garda Reserve, you don't need access to that forum.

Those are just two examples of why private forums are just that. Neither are golden circles. They're just special interest forums which are private so people can enjoy meaningful discussion without having to endure trolls, muppets, and so on.

Corsendonk

Shield wrote: »

I don't think I'd go that far. For example, you can at least 2 private forums under my name which are "Police & Policing", and "Garda Reserve". These are either special interest forums, or forums where privacy is enjoyed. Unless you have a demonstrable interest in Policing or you are a Police Officer, you wouldn't need access to P&P. Unless you're an attested Garda Reserve, you don't need access to that forum.

Those are just two examples of why private forums are just that. Neither are golden circles. They're just special interest forums which are private so people can enjoy meaningful discussion without having to endure trolls, muppets, and so on.

True but you did pick two self explanatory forum titles. Just off the top of my head some of the private forums that I came across that arn't too self explanatory,

1. Lock Inn- I asked about this in the Helpdesk and OutlawPete kindly explained it.
2. RaN???????
3. Peartree House?http://wiki.boards.ie/wiki/Board:PearTree_House
4. Champs?????
5. Nein 10? Conspiracey theory private forum for people bad with dates?
6. Nein 11? Conspiracey theory private forum for people good with dates?
7. Diagon Alley? Harry Potter addicts?
8. BAPS?????? I know what your thinking not an acronym.
9. Knights of the Round Table??????
10. PFJ??????

Shield

Yep. Look under my name and you'll also see another one called The Briefing Room. That might as well be added to your list for all you know about it.

The RaN forum stands for Republicans and Nationalists. You can understand why that would be private right? Not everyone is of that political opinion and if it was public, there would be chaos every night from those who have opposing political views.

I don't understand what your point is? Should people not be allowed to have a private space to discuss a special interest/hobby/opinion with the assurance that they won't have to suffer outside interference from people with opposing views?

Corsendonk

Shield wrote: »

Yep. Look under my name and you'll also see another one called The Briefing Room. That might as well be added to your list for all you know about it.

The RaN forum stands for Republicans and Nationalists. You can understand why that would be private right? Not everyone is of that political opinion and if it was public, there would be chaos every night from those who have opposing political views.

I don't understand what your point is? Should people not be allowed to have a private space to discuss a special interest/hobby/opinion with the assurance that they won't have to suffer outside interference from people with opposing views?

My point is others have already asked if you have a list of private forums, I would like to see that and a small explanation of what the room is about so people then know what private forum they may want to appy for membership of, the mod of that forum can say yey or nay to keep out the trolls or the known difficult people from the public forums. I ain't asking for an explanation for each case of refusal of entry, just yes/no. Is it wrong to ask for the system to be more user friendly?

Your under the assumption that if you chat in a particular forum someone is going to slide up to a poster and whisper in their ear asking them if they want to join such and such private forum that is connected to that forum. I am a Harry Potter fan but I don't post in the forum because its dead most of the time but I do read the posts there, how would anyone know to invite me to the Diagon Alley private forum or me to know about it unless I spot it under the mods Avatar. For all I know the debate may be more frequent in the private forum than the public Harry Potter forum.

Shield

I think we've gone full circle on this one. Suggesting the system isn't user-friendly is very much a strawman argument that I'm not going to be drawn into.

Boards doesn't release a list of private forums, let alone a description of what is discussed in each private forum.

I'll give you a final few examples, and then I'll leave it at that:

Let's say you posted in Politics often, and your views were Nationalist in nature. Over the course of time, you may be approached by the "RaN" members with details of their private forum and offered membership. (RaN mods, this is just an example. I don't know if that's how you operate.)

If you post often in the Humour forum, and it is noticed that you have a rather dark sense of humour, and you are not easily offended, you may be approached and made aware of the "Nein 11" forum.

The whole idea is that you don't go looking for private forums. They'll find you if you're suitable. If you've never displayed an interest in knitting, then I wouldn't expect you'd be approached by a private knitting forum inviting you to join.

The other thing to consider is, moderators of private forums like to know that the people who are potential members aren't going to be disruptive and problematic. You might very well have a keen interest in knitting, but if you have multiple warnings, infractions and bans to your name across several forums on the site, that is usually a good indicator as to whether you are likely to 'gel' with the others - and that is always taken into consideration when a moderator decides whether access will be granted.

So in your example, if you're not posting in the public Harry Potter forum, and a private forum exists for enthusiasts, then it's a safe bet that you wouldn't be granted access to it even if you knew its name. You are free to start threads in the public forum, and it is expected that you would display a level of interest somewhere if you are a fan, and that would include replying to current threads, or starting a few yourself. Your behaviour in the main forum is the gauge used for what kind of member you would be in a private forum. Nobody wants a private forum with passive members.

So to conclude:
1. In the main, private forums find you, not the other way around.
2. You have to display an active interest in the subject matter discussed in a private forum somewhere on the site if you stand any chance of being accepted as a member if/when applications for membership are open.
3. Warnings, infractions and bans are considered when a moderator decides whether to grant access to a private forum.

I think that's all I have, so I hope it's been helpful/useful in some way!

Wolfe Tone

In the case of RaN, as you can see in my sig, all you need to do is drop dlofnep a PM and ask.

Same with The Lock Inn.

Vast majority of people would be granted access to either of them if they asked.

With the republican forum we have been trying to raise awareness and get people to ask, hence the sig. Same with the lock inn, people have that in their sig too.

Tar.Aldarion

Shield wrote: »

No. There's deliberately no list of private forums. It would lead to far too many "What's that forum for" kind of questions. These are private invite-only forums, and access is usually by invitation only OR unless you know what the subject matter being discussed is like Nein 11, Sl****e (masking intentional), and so on.

Sometimes, private forums will advertise in Feedback when they're allowing applications for access. If the subject matter genuinely interests you, then you can apply for access.

Some are not invite only, and there should be a place where they are listed and any application process. The current threads on feedback are not great and certainly not scalable.

Shield

It would need a massive concerted effort to get all HMods together to start the ball rolling. Idea: Great. Execution: Very difficult.

Tar.Aldarion

Be handy enough to send each mod a request of what to do, and they can reply if they wish. What one would want them to do would take some thought
Even if just a paragraph about the forum and what one has to do to join.

Shield

Pretty soon, Newbies & FAQ will be just a one-page forum, so I don't mind hosting a thread in there with a list of all private forums that one can apply to for access.

Might be an easy and quick way to get the ball rolling?

OutlawPete

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Some are not invite only, and there should be a place where they are listed and any application process.

I agree and it was suggested by many on that last Feedback thread also.

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Be handy enough to send each mod a request of what to do, and they can reply if they wish.

Don't even think that much would be needed if a system similar to the one that exists for current 'social groups' (they can add an Icon and a certain amount of blurb) was also implemented for hosted/private forums, as I think that would more than suffice:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/group.php?cat=10

Ability to place a link to it somewhere in the following message, along with current Hmods, would also be favourable:

LoLth

*if* any system of listing private fora was implemented, I think it would only be fair to ensure that it is an opt-in system where mods of private fora have to actively look to have their forum listed or searchable. By default the private nature of a private forum should be just that, private.

Tar.Aldarion

I agree that they should indeed look to have it done, but that they should also have the information foisted on all of them so that they know they can do it.

OutlawPete

LoLth wrote: »

*if* any system of listing private fora was implemented, I think it would only be fair to ensure that it is an opt-in system where mods of private fora have to actively look to have their forum listed or searchable. By default the private nature of a private forum should be just that, private.

Meant to add that also ..

I think if a system something similar to the current social group directory listing were to come into effect for hosted/private forums, then 'unlisted' should most definitely be the default setting. Same goes for the suggestion that current HMods be listed on the landing message when users click on forum names, I think it should be an opt-in rather than an opt-out feature.

Not sure if this is true or not, but I did read somewhere that there were/are in fact some hosted forums that are not even listed on the profiles of their moderators (as the HMods of them, had requested it to be that way). Was a good time ago that I read that, so not even sure if there was any basis to it.

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I agree that they should indeed look to have it done, but that they should also have the information foisted on all of them so that they know they can do it.

Yeah, maybe if the options could somehow be incorporated into the 'Forum Tools' menu. Overall though, it would just be nice that, when a user clicks on a private forum that they do not have access to, the message they get reflects the forum in a way in which it's current moderators would wish it to.

Tar.Aldarion

If it is hard to make personalised messages for denied access messages then it could be as simple as adding a link to a place where there is a list of the private forums that have opted in with their blurbs. So yeah, good ideas by all! :pac:

star-pants

OutlawPete wrote: »

Yeah, maybe if the options could somehow be incorporated into the 'Forum Tools' menu. Overall though, it would just be nice that, when a user clicks on a private forum that they do not have access to, the message they get reflects the forum in a way in which it's current moderators would wish it to.

Just as a point of information, I recall this question being asked before, and the message of denied access is the same across the board, it's automatic and not based on the forum itself but more what your access is/isn't.
In short, denied access messages cannot be personalised.

As to whether it could be altered, is another thing, it does say to go to HelpDesk if it's a private forum you've clicked on, if someone was to create such a thread describing 'some' private forums I guess the link could be redirected there if the question was asked nicely.

On a personal note I genuinely don't understand the 'need' for listing and explaining of private fora. If I see a forum that's private and I'm really really that curious, I'll PM the mod and ask. Those forums that want to recruit in a public sort of way, generally put it in their sig, seems fairly straightforward to me.

Tar.Aldarion

star-pants wrote: »

Just as a point of information, I recall this question being asked before, and the message of denied access is the same across the board, it's automatic and not based on the forum itself but more what your access is/isn't.
In short, denied access messages cannot be personalised.

As to whether it could be altered, is another thing, it does say to go to HelpDesk if it's a private forum you've clicked on, if someone was to create such a thread describing 'some' private forums I guess the link could be redirected there if the question was asked nicely.

On a personal note I genuinely don't understand the 'need' for listing and explaining of private fora. If I see a forum that's private and I'm really really that curious, I'll PM the mod and ask. Those forums that want to recruit in a public sort of way, generally put it in their sig, seems fairly straightforward to me.

Not that straight forward.

95.5% of members have sigs turned off.
99.35% of members who signed up in the last 2 years have sigs turned off.

star-pants

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Not that straight forward.

95.5% of members have sigs turned off.
99.35% of members who signed up in the last 2 years have sigs turned off.

Then I guess whatever list is made, isn't made as a sticky because I dare say 99% don't read stickies :pac:
And I wonder how many would click the link in the denied access message.

Either way it's never going to satisfy people because there'll always be forums that aren't listed/described/access offered.

Orion

What did I start here? :eek:

Shield

You started what could be a good idea.

@LoLth - Would you be happy if I started a thread in the HMod's forum inviting them to give their private forum exposure in N&F should they wish to do so? It'll give us a rough idea how many HMods out there want more members, and how many want their forum to remain completely private.

Plus, it will be the first post in the HMod forum for over a year!

What say you?

cyberwolf77

Shield wrote: »

You started what could be a good idea.

@LoLth - Would you be happy if I started a thread in the HMod's forum inviting them to give their private forum exposure in N&F should they wish to do so? It'll give us a rough idea how many HMods out there want more members, and how many want their forum to remain completely private.

Plus, it will be the first post in the HMod forum for over a year!

What say you?

Speaking as an HMod, I say yes

Morag

Some Private Hosted forums have a rule that you have to be invited or nominated to join and asking won't get you anywhere, some even have a rule that if you ask you will never be given access.

LoLth

Shield wrote: »

You started what could be a good idea.

@LoLth - Would you be happy if I started a thread in the HMod's forum inviting them to give their private forum exposure in N&F should they wish to do so? It'll give us a rough idea how many HMods out there want more members, and how many want their forum to remain completely private.

Plus, it will be the first post in the HMod forum for over a year!

What say you?

go for it. if a hmod wants their forum more noticable to attract members then there's really no harm. Just make sure that all hmods of a particular forum are in agreement before taking any action. we dont want to start any unpleasantness.

Latchy

Wolfe Tone wrote: »

I'm only a member of 2 private forums, I feel left out

I was a member of 3 , I say was because one suddenly dissapeared or maybe it's just hidden under a new pin number .

Shield

LoLth wrote: »

go for it. if a hmod wants their forum more noticable to attract members then there's really no harm.

Done.

For HMods only: HERE

pickarooney

Corsendonk wrote: »

Some of the private forums I gather are private forums within public forum, could you say have a private forum inside one of the busier private forum? A kind of Russian Doll.

Like a 'delicious but underrated Belgian beers' forum? I'd join.

Quazzie

Shield wrote: »

Done.

For HMods only: HERE

Considering thats the first post in 15 months in the forum, I can't see it being too successful. Good idea though.