Forum Moderators
 

Who else thinks Reggie needs to make a couple people forum moderator so they can keep the forums on topic and make the search/forums more usable?

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I think it's ultimately up to Reggie to decide what/who/when... but keep in mind, it's not just a matter of changing the access level of a couple of folks, and hoping they "do the right thing": Moderation is a skillset, like anything else... and sometimes "moderators" do more harm than good. Just randomly tossing out moderator hats to a few folks is not going to help the problem. ;)

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I'm not saying Reggie should just toss hats to people but forums moderation is not rocket science heck even my mom moderates a forum. I just know that this forum is getting crasy about spinning one topic off into about half a dozen and then people want new people to search for help if the old timers can't keep the forums straight then someone needs to.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I'm not in disagreement with you, andrew. :)

As a classically trained "rocket scientist", I will agree with your analogy.

I would also point out that (as I was saying, above) not everybody (and certainly not the "popular people who always post a lot") is cut out to be a moderator. There is a specific set of attributes that make good (or great) moderators (and age, maternity, and internet acumen aren't even factors, despite your mother's position. ;) ), and these are rarely thought about or looked for when moderators are selected...

Re: Forum Moderators
 

The more moderators you add, the more there will be potential for conflicts and repression. So, my answer is no.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Reggie has more than enough people to tap if he wishes. When he wants to offload the task of moderation he will ask people.

So unless there is a problem with the status quo, a say no.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I agree with the fact that alot of out top posters would not make great mods since they are making alot of the problems. Also I'm not hating on Rocket Scientist.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...ad.php?t=22578

is a great example of a problem, this thread started off as a discussion about new Tablet Scene Site and for that last few pages it has been about the itT Wiki and the Maemo Wiki. What does that have to do with Tablet Scene. I'm not talking about about Reggie he have talked alot I even did the new Theme for him there are hundreds of examples like that one.

Edit: Also to the people who say we don't need moderators, are you saying you don't think we need to have the forums fixed or we just don't need anyone besides Reggie to do it? Because if we are not going to keep post on topic I'm just going to start naming all my Post "Hey Whats up." J/K

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Yes the topic has veered, but only because they are all talking about where common knowledge resides and how best to get and keep new people in the community.

EDIT: and that's kinda the point. Forums are horrible places to catalog information. Wiki's do a better job of handling long term information, but only when you have a critical mass of editors.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I don't think moderators are required to direct a thread, if people go off topic then hopefully a simple reminder will push them back on topic/make them start a new thread.

Mods are more useful for deleting spam, moving posts in the wrong part of the forum, etc. At least that was my experience of oesf.org

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Generally, if a forum starts to get more moderated, then something is wrong with it. Then again some silent cleaners can be helpful since the spam gets only more naughty.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Right on!

Forums are best topical @ real time... after days, weeks, and months they become repetetive.

If it ain't broke, should we fix it until it is?

Unless we are under constant SPAM attacks, are deluged with foul mouthed bigots, or threads become hi-jacked for personal gain, we all seem to do an OK job of keeping this forum useful.
I don't see any need for additional moderation. :)

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I think that the best place to clean things up is after the threads have been created. Let them veer where they might, though common sense should cause a few volunteers to chime in "hey, let's create a new thread!"

Rather than create moderators, I would prefer that some people be annointed purifiers and post their distilled products in a wiki. To me, there is a difference between a cop and a helper. A cop tells you what not to do, and a helper makes things easier.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I'm with Lardman in that I don't think additional moderating is necessary and gentle reminders.. or even just taking the initiative and taking the topic back to its main point again to get it back on track is the most appropriate thing to do. Also, what did you think of that latest Batman movie?

Please don't hurt me.. not the face.. NOT THE FACE. :)

In all seriousness, though.. I find that ignoring the veering and getting the discussion back on track with a reminder about the off-topic chat is usually enough and sometimes people don't even realize that they're going off-topic.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I voted yes. Having the forums on-topic, polite, and spam-free is all something a good group of moderaters can achieve.

I've been a member here for only a short tiime, but have been a member, and significant contributer to 1src, another Reggie/Joel forum, for a while. And although I think they do a damn good job, it isn't enough.

Take a look at the Brighthand forums (link), this site has many mods, you can see all admins/mods by clicking "View Forum Leaders" on the main forum page of most vB forums, and is extremely clean, polite, and spam-free. A lot of the activity that happens here would never be tolerated there, and that is mostly a good thing.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Last thing we need are a bunch of little tinpot dictators running around handing out demerits for not sugar-coating every response.

I'm in favor of a couple people to help out with the spam culling, thread sorting, merging and general administrative stuff, but we don't need a bunch of little nazis enforcing they're own concepts of "proper" behavior.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

No, we definetely don't need that^. Reprimands for not "'sugar coating" things is stupid; not tolerating blatantly rude, overly aggressive, flame war provoking, or intentionally mocking and un-helpful commentary is fine, IMO. But seriously, most moderatative tasks are more administrative in nature, like you outlined above.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Yes... the problem comes in when person A thinks it's "not sugarcoating" and person B thinks it's Flaming and being a jerk....


BTW: Don't care about mods... either way.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

The result of this poll is potentially misleading. The pros/cons and different types of implementation are much more interesting than a mere yes/no/dont_care. A poll should be held after such discussion has been held.

Voting is also anonymous, don't have to say what you voted for ;) and you cannot see the results until the poll is closed because this influences the voter.

Users can rate and tag threads already. Users can thank for posts. This is all great for a DIY community. The users make the forum, basically. Users can also report posts. IMO a great feature, but sometimes action is a bit late.

It is difficult to get the forum data in a wiki (and move one wiki to an other) because it requires a lot of dedication (and incentive).

I think its best if some users are moderators without behaving like moderators. Without anyone to know. And all they do is move threads to the correct forum and perhaps fix a typo in a subject, or make a subject more accurate. This kind of behaviour. If a user really misbehaves they could be send a warning by PM or e-mail by the moderator team. If you keep the moderators anonymous you also keep the relations between people on a similar ground, and the bad guys won't be able to know when or who to flame/troll.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Anonymous, subtle moderators sound like a great idea. Perfect way to eliminate spam and other small problems.

I vote yes.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I'm not going to vote on this, but as brighthand was mentioned in a couple of posts above I want to just add that the moderators on brighthand are doing an excellent jobs. There's absolutely no dictatorship tendencies there whatsoever.

What the brighthand moderators do (in addition to killing spam) is mostly to merge threads where appropriate, and move postings to the correct forum (e.g. when people post about a Nokia phone in the Palm forum - there's a Nokia forum there too), and occasionally split threads when they veer off. In the years when I've frequented there (on and off) I've yet to see a problem with their moderation system. Doesn't mean that it's needed here though, it's all up to Reggie of course.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Sometimes the "something wrong" is just sheer size. ;)

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Some threads like N95 versus N800 get contineously started while they can be discussed in competitors thread too, and the arguments get rehashed and rehashed. Instead, some centralisation might be preferable.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

Heck, it wouldn't take too complicated a script to automate most of the N8x0 vs. threads.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

What makes you think that hasn't been done?

Re: Forum Moderators
 

What's a moderator?
What would a mod do here?

One of the greatest complaints here seemed to be that people did not adequately search before they asked questions
With the feature that pops up similar threads and the Google search button that has declined.

Have I missed a spate of flame wars?
Has the forum been hit by a deluge of peeps selling apples?
Did someone try and sell an 810 in the Apps thread?

I'm presently laid up with a back injury and I spend an inordinate amount of time on this and three other forums. This forum is one of the calmest going. One fix that I could see to improve the forums would be to move the thread rating button to the bottom. Virtually nobody rates threads.

Due to the nature of the beast there seems to be little difference in where a LOT of N8?0 info is pertinent and even N770. Only occasionally do I see a post which is flagrantly in the wrong place.

If Reggie thinks he needs moderators he should ask and appoint.

Right now we should continue to tell peeps to search, reflash, and the problem will be fixed with the next build.

Re: Forum Moderators
 

I don't rate tags because I find ratings 1) lame 2) useless. Tags are much better, and I use them. Ratings don't say much, if anything, about the quality of a thread because such is very subjective and there are tends to be only positive ratings therefore threads are either good, or unrated/good/bad. Individually thanked posts bear more meaning IMO. In the end, there is choice for preference :)

On about any active forum I know there are active forum moderators. Mind you, I'm not saying they're all good moderators. A solution is that you can have moderators assign simple tasks without them becoming authoritive or power mongers by having anonymous ones. Admins can still see in logs who did what just in case its required.

Now, you can have moderators:
1) Merging same threads, or closing new threads while topic already existant.
2) Closing a thread because TS didn't prove he adequately searched enough, or because question is already asked elsewhere (similar problem as #1).
3) Update FP to reflect current status of project.
4) Yes, there are a few obvious trolls/flamebaits, but that is the least problem. I like it when people learn to cope with such behaviour. You have to learn to ignore a person, or an argument.

Frankly, I don't even believe Reggie has to ask and appoint. He can do that silently withouting having anyone to know this. Basically nothing will change as it appears for the user except the forum is more clean, while a (potential) moderator cannot get some kind of ego boost by becoming a celebrity (some dramatic people just love being the center of attention) because he/she works behind the screen. Instead, the good feeling is gotten from seeing a clean forum, and that is worth a lot as well.

You can have public moderators too, but then they also have responsibilities to the public, and be able to take criticism.

EDIT: regarding search, is it possible for the search engine to search into the wiki as well?

Re: Forum Moderators
 

That was meant as Reggie would have to ask someone to be a mod and give them the controls and capability.

Maybe he is powerful enough to just order people to be mods.;)

But I'm pretty sure he would have to communicate with them.