Do we need moderators?

[mrlw00r]

Would there be any point in introducing automated moderation?
The obvious one is to disallow any swearing etc, but that's always hard and there'll always be some cnut who just swaps letters around...
A potential solution for multiple postings is to do a search against the forums using the new post. Seems like all the infrastructure is there to be able to do that, and then you could show a page of potentially similar/useful threads with an option at the bottom to continue with the option of submitting the new thread or not.
You could even pass this search off to google and include those results too - I often do a search on a few forums and google before I post anywhere.

 

[David R]

Don't know if you're still reading this, Jon..

Moderation has its benefits, particularly for overworked site owners. It can control spam, porn, and abusive posters. It can, if you have really enthusiastic moderators, help clean up the site by moving threads, renaming threads, correcting posting blunders, etc.

But, and this is a big but, it's a lot of work. For you, because now you're responsible for some volunteer employees working odd hours under your guidelines and representing your site. Moderators generally don't get to post as much about on-topic threads, because a) moderators tend to be busy moderating, hence the request that they not be Access gurus, and b) some people get intimidated when a moderator posts and won't contradict them. However, this site doesn't seem to suffer from that problem, which is a blessing.

Overall, I'd agree that the site doesn't need (or didn't last time I spent any time here) any additional moderators unless you are getting overwhelmed. If so, then you may have to at least find yourself one or two you can trust to handle the day-to-day stuff. But I wouldn't expand it beyond what you do/wish you could do currently, unless the need/demeanor of the site changes.

Warm regards,
David (not really a poster anymore, but doesn't really have the time to be a moderator *here* too).

 

[danielgraham]

Jon,
I think we do need moderators as people could attach viruses and people will be none the wisser. what if your not around jon. all your members pc dead. good thinking there should be moderators

 

[crook]

This is a great site - best one I've seen.

But if there were a reasonable way to curtail the number of posts/replies by some of the more ego-challenged folks: people who just can't seem to believe how stupid everyone else is, or how many times the same question has been asked (by different folks)... Sticks and stones, I know, but still, it's annoying to keep getting emails telling you someone's replied to your post, only to find that it's just some hot-headed or otherwise inappropriate remark.

I like the idea someone had about some (qualified) person taking the best posts and putting them into a FAQ list - that sounds efficient.

Is there a way to let users kill their own posts after the question has been answered (i.e., put a stop to further responses)?

Well even if you do nothing, this is still a great site. Best of luck.

 

[Rich]

This is a great site - best one I've seen.

(A)
But if there were a reasonable way to curtail the number of posts/replies by some of the more ego-challenged folks:


(B)
Is there a way to let users kill their own posts after the question has been answered (i.e., put a stop to further responses)?

(A)
Which posts are those,

and (B)
why try and close a thread that might have a better answer in the wings?

 

[ColinEssex]

This is a great site - best one I've seen........people who just can't seem to believe how stupid everyone else is, or how many times the same question has been asked (by different folks

Its not that people think how stupid other people are, the question or problem people raise is obviously a big problem for them, it doesn't matter if others think its "easy" or "tough".

The point being is that the correct way to use the forum is to search first to see if the question has been addressed before...there are always "regular" questions raised, like, age calculation, dates calculations etc, those that answer regularly can get a bit tired of saying the same things over and over when the originator hasn't bothered to search and check things out first. If there's not an adequate reply then ask away......

Col

 

[crook]

Col - good reply, and I agree whole-heartedly. I liked the idea of the FAQ page. And as it was suggested earlier, the person who puts it together will probably use some post titles that are easier to search, which at least for me, will save time, and probably cut down on a few unnecessary posts.

Rich - the so-called hot-heads... I don't mean to imply there's a lot of them - truley there are very few (that's one of the reasons I like this site so much). And it's not a huge deal to have to read past them. I've seen on some similar sites a feature that allows a viewer to "block this user" if they think them too inappropriate. I guess that's what I was getting at. It seems like it can be a waste of time to ask a moderator to kick a user out. It's unlikely the user doesn't already know they're rude or inappropriate, and they can just re-register with different information if they get booted.

As for wanting to be able to kill my own posts...more accurately, I would like to be able to unsubscribe from them. I don't want to deny other users some better answer - as you say, there could be a better one in the wings. But at least as far as my job is concerned, once I have a workable answer to my question, the project progresses and I probably won't have time to go back and do anything with some better answer that comes later. Don't get me wrong - I'd love to have time to do that - it's just that it doesn't usually work out to where I have the time.

- dave

 

[David R]

Actually you can unsubscribe

As for wanting to be able to kill my own posts...more accurately, I would like to be able to unsubscribe from them.

Actually, there are two ways to unsubscribe yourself (no longer get update emails, and no longer see it in your User Control Panel).

1) Go to your User CP and select the Unsubscribe link under the appropriate thread; this will work easiest for newer threads that still show up under your actively subscribed threads.
2) When you post to a thread, there is a checkbox for 'Email notification' - as far as I know this does the same thing (it actually unsubscribes you I think). If you uncheck this when you reply to thank the person who gave you the answer that satisfies, you should receive no more messages. Alternatively if it's an 'old' thread that you don't want to see replies to anymore, but can't find it in your User CP, try going into an existing post by yourself in that thread, Edit it, and uncheck the Email Notification box. It does the same thing, although I think it does add a 'Last Modified' comment to your message, which can look a little weird.

Good luck,
David R

 

[crook]

David R - Thanks!

That's just what I needed.