Welcome to all our readers!!!

Oryx

Well we got what we wanted, I guess its up to us now to make it interesting.
Heres hoping we have many happy years of enlightened posting

Stabshauptmann

Where to go from here?
Do we wait for Gandalf to write a charter? Does he know he has a new forum to mod?

MeatProduct

We could wait until there is a need for a charter.

Nick

Nevyn

Gandalf it the Catagory mod for Soc, there has not been mod/s assigned to here yet.

A charter is a good diea as it sets the tone and what is reasonible behaviour
for posters wanting to poster here and what is on topic and what is clearly
not allowed.

What would be wanted/needed in the Charter ?

Stabshauptmann

Thaed wrote:

Gandalf it the Catagory mod for Soc, there has not been mod/s assigned to here yet.

A charter is a good diea as it sets the tone and what is reasonible behaviour
for posters wanting to poster here and what is on topic and what is clearly
not allowed.

What would be wanted/needed in the Charter ?

We should outline what this board is for, on the Forums forum I originally suggested

So I am proposing a forum where:
*Peoples of all faiths discuss "faith" in general, what they get from it and how they see it as applicable in their lives.

*People share their own unique faiths - ones outside existing organised religions.

*People seeking to develop their own spirituality, to find a path that suits them as an individual can see and learn what they can from those who currently walk the path.

*People can share resources - texts on certain religions/philosophies they've read and found helpful, of at the very least links and references.

though I think Talliesin put it nicely as:

Personal spiritual exploration
Interest in comparative religion
Interfaith understanding

Then of course the normal rules but, how strict do we want to be?
Since this is kind of a sensitive/personal issue to we want to take a preventitive (pre-emptive) strike against posters or lax and informal atmosphere where disscussion is encouraged.

We need to strike a good balance where ppl feel free to disagree with others but at the same time know that no ridicule or belittling will be tolerated.

Talliesin

Charters are compulsory, it's one of the rules about running a public board (really it's the only rule, moderators are pretty autonomous within common-sense don't-be-a-total-prick-or-the-Admins-will-smack-you limits). All boards have them, though one or two of the very oldest boards call them something else.

Perhaps rules 4 - 8 of the [thread=74127]Paganism board's charter[/thread] (…oops, that bit's out of date, right editted, right where was I…) might be adaptable to serve as part of a charter here, since they were written with facilitating discussion between members of differing faiths and religious viewpoints in mind, though they'd need to be altered since they do have a Pagan-centric focus.

The announcement rules will be trickier. They are intended to allow announcements to get to people who would be interested in them while not making the board a free advertising resource to any Spammer that happens past. Given that these announcements would be coming from one small community of which both moderators are reasonably active members it isn't hard for us to check something out and if we don't hear good things about it or already know about it (or if its pretty much a money-making operation, in which case they can talk to DeVore about buying advertisements) it doesn't get announced. Doing that here where there is a wider scope may be too difficult. Still, not allowing anything that could be deemed an advertisement unless it goes through a moderator is a good rule for cutting down Spam.

As a moderator I always apply an extra rule - "Not reading the rules is against the rules" anyone trying to wiggle out of something by saying they didn't read the rules I just ban and forget about them (it hasn't come up on Paganism, but it has on Programming).

I moved the sticky we had on the New Age Movement to here, now that there's somewhere more suitable than a Paganism board, but a moderator of this board (can someone poke Gandalf in the meantime) will have to sticky it again, it's fallen into the "old thread" pool.

Stabshauptmann

Thaed wrote:

Gandalf it the Catagory mod for Soc, there has not been mod/s assigned to here yet.

Talliesin wrote:

I moved the sticky we had on the New Age Movement to here, now that there's somewhere more suitable than a Paganism board, but a moderator of this board (can someone poke Gandalf in the meantime) will have to sticky it again, it's fallen into the "old thread" pool.

Is there a discussion going on somewhere where candidates for mod are being discussed?

Talliesin

Well, you should always have at least two, to cover for each other and so one can be a calming influence if the other is in a bad mood and has an itchy banning finger.

Given the nature of the forum it'd perhaps be a good idea to have a bit of religious diversity amongst the mods, though I wouldn't suggest we go out of our way to ensure that, and if possible that at least one of them is already moderated another forum.

The final decision rests with the admins, but if we come up with suggestions here and there's a reasonable consensus then they'd probably go with it.

Traditionally anyone suggesting the creation of a forum can't be a moderator, though it's really just a way of ensuring people don't suggest boards purely so that they can get the moderator status, so if they were a popular choice the admins would probably go along with it (after all, the admins can bend any rules they want).

stevenmu

I'd thought about this before and came up with the following

• Everyone is free to believe whatever they like
• Everyone is free to post those beliefs as long as they respect the beliefs of others
• If a thread starter requests that people don't question their beliefs, please respect that request
• If you feel the need to question a belief system (as opposed to enquiring about a belief) please start a new thread to do it in instead of hijacking a thread where a belief is already being discussed. There's plenty of threads to go around.
• If a thread starts to stray off-topic please consider creating a new thread and proidinga link to it or asking a moderator to branch it
• This forum belongs to all of us, it is as much everyone's responsibility to look after it by reporting bad posts as it is the moderators to remove them
• Standard Boards rules apply regarding spam, trolling, illegalities etc
• Some kind of catch all that the rules are just guidelines and violating the spirit of them will result in ...

I'd thought about things like listings of mediums, psychics, healers etc but it's very hard to judge who's "safe" to list, especially now that there's going to practically be a witch hunt after the incident in galway. The best way I can think of is to not allow anyone to offer services but to allow others to recommend someone if a request is made.

Nevyn

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Is there a discussion going on somewhere where candidates for mod are being discussed?

They usually come form with in those intrested in the forum, that way they will
check it and have an intrested in how it grows.
If the nominations from here are ok with the Admins they will bestow modship.
yes two people and some one who has some experince to start with, and who will have decent acess to keep an eye.

The advertising spam may become a real pain.

Stabshauptmann

Thaed wrote:

They usually come form with in those intrested in the forum, that way they will
check it and have an intrested in how it grows.
If the nominations from here are ok with the Admins they will bestow modship.
yes two people and some one who has some experince to start with, and who will have decent acess to keep an eye.

The advertising spam may become a real pain.

Well as far as access is concerned Im online far more often than I should be
I think its a pity that the person who suggests the forum cant be one of the mods, Spirituality is a big part of my life, if it weren't then I wouldnt have suggested the forum.

MeatProduct

I'd like to be a mod but I'll be attending a few too many retreats in the coming months to have any serious commitment to the forum. There are a few users I would happily recommend, is there a place to do that? Would one just pm an admin with such recommendations?

Nick

Talliesin

MeatProduct - I say we just bung suggestions for moderator into this thread.

Kaptain Redeye - It's a good rule to stop people pricking about just so they can become a moderator, but really there's no hard and fast rules on boards apart from "don't piss off the admins too much" Put your name forward, if the people with initial interest in this board are happy with you being a moderator we can ask the admins to make an exception.

NeilJ

stevenmu wrote:

now that there's going to practically be a witch hunt after the incident in galway

Incident???

Neil

stevenmu

There was a guy in Mayo (not Galway as I said before) who died of throat cancer. He'd been attending a homeopathic healer who repeatedly told him not to go to a regular doctor or he'd die. He eventually suffocated because the tumour got so big it blocked his airway. It's been in the indo the last few days. There's a government working group going on at the moment looking at alternative practitioners, and they'll almost definitly introduce some kind regulation.

I think there could be a big potential problem with allowing the various types of spiritual healers advertise or even have lists of them on the board, for pretty much the same reasons that there can't be medical advice given. If/when legislation is introduced governing this area there would also then be an obligation on the moderator(s) to make sure anybody listed/advertised had the relevant qualifications and licensing.

Some details here:
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1370773&issue_id=12295

and

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1371167&issue_id=12297

edit: actually the second article mentions an association of homeopathic healers which registers members. Maybe in a sticky or in response to questions such groups could be linked, it would then be the association recommending a particular practitioner, not sure if that insualtes boards.ie enough though ?

Stabshauptmann

Theres a remark on the Instructing Children thread that isnt anything in itself but I am unconfortable talking about such personal issues as spirituality when there is no close eye being kept on the forum.
I do realise that gandalf is modding the forum but he also mods many other
forums and must be fairly busy (no doubt he has responsibilities in Real Life as well)

So I guess what Im saying is that IMhO the board could use another mod (at least). I'd be happy to lend said hand, Im not sure if I have what it takes but I do have a lot of spare time, a huge personal interest in this forum and if its of any relavance Ive worked as a referee (only U14 basketball, but still :rolleyes:)

MeatProduct

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Theres a remark on the Instructing Children thread that isnt anything in itself but I am unconfortable talking about such personal issues as spirituality when there is no close eye being kept on the forum.
I do realise that gandalf is modding the forum but he also mods many other
forums and must be fairly busy (no doubt he has responsibilities in Real Life as well)

So I guess what Im saying is that IMhO the board could use another mod (at least). I'd be happy to lend said hand, Im not sure if I have what it takes but I do have a lot of spare time, a huge personal interest in this forum and if its of any relavance Ive worked as a referee (only U14 basketball, but still :rolleyes:)

Captain Redeye,
I read that and it was certainly not a helpful comment that that user made. I would agree now (didn't take long...) that a mod is needed, Gandalf has a huge amount to look after already.

How can this be moved along do you think?

Nick

Stabshauptmann

Perhaps thaed or talliesin could give us some guidence *cough* *cough*
How did ye go about things? I would have thought gandalf would have paid the forum a visit by now (not sure why, perhaps write a charter)...

stevenmu

I'm sure the Admins are aware of the situation and are trying to arrange for a moderator. I'd guess the delay is that they're having trouble finding someone suitable, at this stage they're probably trying to find the least unsuitable person (by suitable I really mean people who already moderate other forums, no offense meant to whoever does become a moderator). I'm just speculating here and guessing that they've possibly already asked some existing moderators who've not wanted to take this forum on aswell for whatever reasons.

Nevyn

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Perhaps thaed or talliesin could give us some guidence *cough* *cough*

honestly it depends on the type of forum and who and what they attract.

I have never had to ban anyone from those that I do mod
(honest you 'd think I had said i'd hex people ).
Some forums get people looking for advice on topics that are easy to find hard facts on.
Some forums are debate and discussion and the mod does have to watch people’s behavior and tone.
And some will because of the at time subjective topics will need personal input,which will have to be respected.

Once a charter is in place stating the type of forum,
what type of behavior is not allowed, what type content as well as boards.ie rules it is the Mods job to see that it is followed.
From deleting what is not fitting, to warning people and if needed banning people. Yes sometimes I do get pms from people that don’t want to publicly ask a question and I do my best to answer (as subjective as that may be) and suggest reading materials.

Mods are also usually people who have and interest and some experience with some of the topics, i.e. tech knowledge or sports knowledge on those boards.

stevenmu wrote:

I'm just speculating here and guessing that they've possibly already asked some existing moderators who've not wanted to take this forum on as well for whatever reasons.

Right for the sake of clarity and cos I believe in calling things as I see them
(what blunt who me?), I have not been asked to take this new forum on.

I have also not put myself forward simply because it may be seen as a maybe
connecting this forum too closely with the paganism forum.
Personally I would not see it as a conflict but those of you who have requested the boards might have that opinion.
I do intend to post here and have an input/opinion just like the rest of you,
and will support who ever ends up as the mods however I can.

Talliesin

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

Perhaps thaed or talliesin could give us some guidence *cough* *cough*
How did ye go about things?

Played it by ear

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

I would have thought gandalf would have paid the forum a visit by now

Gandalf is a moderator for the section rather than the forum, think of the difference between federal and local authorities in the US - local authorities deal with their own problems, federal authorities deal with problems that are happening across different local areas, problems with the federal jurisdiction itself, and are often also the ones that deal with local authorities that are themselves being a problem.

Kaptain Redeye wrote:

(not sure why, perhaps write a charter)...

That'd definitely be for moderators specific to this board to write. If they're good they'll listen to what everyone here has to say when they do so, but they won't feel they have to keep everyone 100% happy either.

You definitely need more than one moderator, if only so that if one of you disappears for a few months there'd still be a moderator (of course, if both of you disappear for a few months that overlap that's a different matter, eh sorry folks!).

I think a bit of diversity amongst the moderators may be a good thing also. Now Thaed and I don't set a good example here, we're not very far apart as far as Witchcraft goes never mind Paganism as a whole. However we do both know people throughout the Pagan community as a whole (including my wife, who is a Pagan but not called to any form of Witchcraft), we've both attended events aimed at the wider Pagan community and so on, and as such we have a good enough sense of that community to moderate a board concerned with them, though I wouldn't claim to have any expertise in when it comes to those paths. Likewise it's possible for the moderators of the Christianity and Buddhism board to behave similarly with regards to the differences that exist within those two religions.

With a board with a much wider scope, such as this has, this may prove more difficult. In particular not only are some paths going to be foreign to some moderators but most people get freaked out by some aspects of some paths. Saying something about a path freaks you out is a reasonable thing to explore here in itself, but keeping that from interferring with moderation is another.

Since most of the people here seem to be of non-organised religious viewpoints perhaps having someone from the organised faiths could add some balance in this regard (maybe one of the Christianity board's moderators would be willing to help out?).

solas

I didn't realise that mods were to be nominated, if such is the case, I would nominate stevenmu because he seems to be a level headed fella and might help to keep the peace. (and especially so as he doesn't seem to have any particular inclinations)

I think a second mod is needed though, not sure who yet.
<edit> for what its worth I do appreciate thaed and talesians input, be it in this forum or the paganism or paranormal forum, whether they are just contributors or moderators their example is always appreciated, maybe moreso as just regular posters.

Goodshape

stevenmu sounds like a good choice alright. if he's willing obviously.

no objections to giving Kaptain Redeye a shot either. although it might be an idea to have at least one mod with a bit more experience.

Talliesin

solas wrote:

I didn't realise that mods were to be nominated

Well they're not really, the admins appoint them like the uncontrolled, law-unto-themselves dictators that they are However they don't really have much interest in going against the wishes of a board's users just because they can, and they are very busy, so they'd prefer to have us do the work for them.
stevenmu, solas and Kaptain Redeye all seem like suitable people IMHO if they are each happy with doing the job. I would still like to see someone from a more organised so-called "mainstream" viewpoint in the mix, but I don't doubt those people would be able to accommodate such views as it is.

stevenmu

Goodshape wrote:

stevenmu sounds like a good choice alright. if he's willing obviously.

I'd be willing to give it a go. The big downside is that at the moment I would really only have access during work hours, I suppose I could connect evenings and weekends to check for PMs or reported bad posts and stuff but I'd generally only be actively participating during weekdays.

Talliesin wrote:

I think a bit of diversity amongst the moderators may be a good thing also. Now Thaed and I don't set a good example here, we're not very far apart as far as Witchcraft goes never mind Paganism as a whole. However we do both know people throughout the Pagan community as a whole (including my wife, who is a Pagan but not called to any form of Witchcraft), we've both attended events aimed at the wider Pagan community and so on, and as such we have a good enough sense of that community to moderate a board concerned with them, though I wouldn't claim to have any expertise in when it comes to those paths. Likewise it's possible for the moderators of the Christianity and Buddhism board to behave similarly with regards to the differences that exist within those two religions.

I think that no matter how many mods there are it'll be impossible for them to have even limited expertise with everything that comes up. It's definitely prefferable to have mods who can actively participate but I think that the best we can hope for are mods who'll treat everyone fairly and ensure that everyone has a fair chance to express themselves.

Thaed wrote:

I have also not put myself forward simply because it may be seen as a maybe
connecting this forum too closely with the paganism forum.
Personally I would not see it as a conflict but those of you who have requested the boards might have that opinion.
I do intend to post here and have an input/opinion just like the rest of you,
and will support who ever ends up as the mods however I can.

From what I've seen, you seem to have enough respect for other peoples beliefs that I don't think you'd let your beliefs unduly influence how you'd run the board. The same would apply to Tallisin, if either of you are willing, and have the time, I'd be happy to see either or both of moderating this forum.

MeatProduct

I could see this as being a most difficult forum to moderate. One must accept that everyone is on a different path, and no path is "right" or "wrong". It has already become evident on this forum that it will be an issue in the future. There will be a fine line here between understanding/compassion and "punishing" truely ignorant behaviour. Does either warrant action though? That will entirely depend on the moderator and I suspect that no matter what decision is made there will be resistance from other users on the action taken (in the light that this is the spirituality forum)

Nick

stevenmu

I think what we're all saying really is that it's behaviour which should be moderated not beliefs or opinions ?

MeatProduct

stevenmu wrote:

I think what we're all saying really is that it's behaviour which should be moderated not beliefs or opinions ?

Yes, I'd agree with that.

Nick

solas

ditto to the above.

<edit> I'm not sure if I would be up for modding as I'm really glad to have an Irish "home" to participate in (at last) and I wouldn't like my participation to be hindered because I would hold a position of authority.
make sense?

Stabshauptmann

stevenmu wrote:

I'd be willing to give it a go. The big downside is that at the moment I would really only have access during work hours, I suppose I could connect evenings and weekends to check for PMs or reported bad posts and stuff but I'd generally only be actively participating during weekdays.

I thinks thats why Talliesin suggested at least 2 mods.

MeatProduct wrote:

Does either warrant action though? That will entirely depend on the moderator and I suspect that no matter what decision is made there will be resistance from other users on the action taken (in the light that this is the spirituality forum)

You can disagree with someone or probe into their beliefs without being agressive or belittling. Its smart ass comments that would need moderating. Then just simple things like stickies, and announcements. Probably the most common task for any moderator(s) would be to decide if something would be more relevant on another board and move it -- if this happens I think a policy of leaving a link on this board to the moved thread would be nice

Zillah

To those that know me from paranormal, I'll be on my best behaviour I promise

Talliesin

stevenmu wrote:

The same would apply to Tallisin, if either of you are willing, and have the time, I'd be happy to see either or both of moderating this forum.

I wouldn't object, though as it is I'm barely looking at Paganism right now and Programming I'm leaving entirely in Trojan's hands. Of course I'm not always this busy, but it does happen quite a bit.

Nevyn

Well I would have the time and if there are no objection then I will offer to mod here also. So who else will it be ?

Talliesin

Right, now we have lots of mods.

You can never have too much of a good thing

Goodshape

Wow, five mods. What an excellent number

Stabshauptmann

cool

stevenmu

For as long as I can resist banning myself, just to see what happens, I promise to execute my office in the fine "benevolant dictator" tradition of boards.ie mods, only turning malevolent when it seems absolutely neccessary (or really, really fun).

They say that power corrupts, considering how easily corruptible I am, I'm sure I can do a really good job.

Talliesin

Goodshape wrote:

Wow, five mods. What an excellent number

The rites of Eris are sacred, profound, and often something I like to be several miles away from when they happen

Fnord!

Oryx

I think most of the main posters are now mods, which should be interesting if they argue Congrats and thank you to all for taking on the mantle. (I feel very at home and very safe here now with so much security )

I think this forum is going to be a great success, I look forward to many more working hours spent here...

solas

stevenmu wrote:

For as long as I can resist banning myself, just to see what happens, I promise to execute my office in the fine "benevolant dictator" tradition of boards.ie mods, only turning malevolent when it seems absolutely neccessary (or really, really fun).

They say that power corrupts, considering how easily corruptible I am, I'm sure I can do a really good job.

I'll just do my best to keep the peace, ( my own first and foremost)...and say Amen where appropriate

so be it..

Stabshauptmann

And the Admin decreed: "LET THERE BE MODS"
and there were 5.
In the begining all was good...


Ill like the charter Thead, cant think of anything to add, its a fine mixture of this thread, the origional thread and the paganism charter. A really fine piece of work

solas

can you release me from this modship please
would much prefer to operate as a regular member.
thanks

btw..will still maintain that keeping the peace deal.

MeatProduct

Congratulations to the new mods, may your decisions be wise and balanced.

Nick

Nevyn

solas wrote:

can you release me from this modship please
would much prefer to operate as a regular member.
thanks

you will need to pm one of the admins for that to happen , I would ask Cloud as
he was the one who made you a mod.

As for the charter I do have pretty good copy and paste skills