Moderators Needed; General Guidelines For Moderators

One source of friction that kept coming up on the old forum was off-topic postings. One thread that came up at least twice was gas-powered bikes. I had an email conversation with Chas about this who was moderating at the time. His opinion was a lot of regular participants were interested so let it be. To me the threads skirted the line between off-topic and trolling. Is there a consensus for the new forum on how off-topic is too off-topic?

--
Full time ebiker
BionX and Wilderness Energy

"we must be the change we wish to see in the world"

I'm on board with that. I think there should be lots of overlap between moderators so if any one or two go AWOL it doesn't leave a gap. I think very little moderating should be necessary based on the past.

To a certain extent, it's probably worth waiting and eeing how things evolve. Spam has tripled over the last few months, and most forums are drowning under the weight. This would account for probably 99% of moderator work.

Off the top of my head, apart from a few Craig vs the rest set-to's, there wasn't too much in the way of controversial posts, at least in the 18 months I've been looking in. It wouldn't be too difficult for the new moderators to have a quick discussion if anything happens - and to evolve a policy based on events.

Unless the word gets out there, it may not be a problem - the world needs to know that visforv is back up and running.
Paul

EVT 168 - 5000 kms
Range 35 kms
Distance to work and back 35kms
Thinking about a Vectrix!

EVT 168 - 5000 kms
Range 35 kms
Distance to work and back 35kms
Thinking about a Vectrix!

Hello Xyster, fellow

Hello Xyster, fellow blister.
Yes, David annointed me a moderator too.
But I am keeping it a secret (grin).
I won't have a moderator badge by my name
(cos I personally don't want to be looking like the Keystone Cop I am)
Say, see my philosopical post at Admin.
I hope David will install many moderators.
Dom and so many other regulars from the lost board.
Charlie too, I sure hope so!
OK, back to flaming bikes and never.... pipples.
Cheers,
Reid

The Reid has been annointed, most excellent. Look, I'm not claiming to know how best to do this moderator thing, I am claiming to have a pretty good sense of what isn't going to work over time. Fine by me if you don't want to be ID'd as a mod, I'm definitely into the egalitarian were-all-equal mindset too. Problem is, when you do have to occasionally invoke your magical mod powers, without ID'ing yourself, the recipient of your minor wrath (ok sounded too harsh... will be like the gekko in the insurance commercial, "and just who the $#@%@#$% might you be to be telling me?"
Do what you wish, but it's good, open governance policy to ID your job duty. And that's all it is, a job duty. Another problem we had at the V that I noticed right away was all the moderators were assigned to all the sections, leaving as usual no single person to go to should there be a problem. Collectivism allows everyone to claim responsibility, yet no one to be responsible.
The pipple need to know someone to go to who has oversight over the particular section in question -- again, it's good, open governance. I totally agree we won't be doing much, at least at first, but spammers will have to be banned, and occasionally, topics going way off topic gently nudged back on topic (I'm as guilty as anybody at going off topic too -- so don't hesitate to admonish me too As for what you said about Craig in your other post, I disagree totally about "special treatment". This is not egalitarian! (which means "we're all equals"). Such a policy will lead to resentment as it did at the V. Many folks at the V, including me, notthebaba, and at least half-a-dozen others regularly voiced their frustration over Craig's off-topic, unsolicited advertising. About 75%-90% of Craig's posts were fine, IMHO, some of those were very helpful to me. And he did start off in the correct section here! But the other, really obvious off-topic and unsolicited ads should be moved after a reminder to post the ad in the correct section. The policy should apply equally to all members, new or old, beloved or socially awkward. Doing so is also protective of members who may not be so grandiose and outgoing. As for number of moderators, if we go with too many, any organizing amongst ourselves will become impossible, we will step on each other's toes by simultaneously reacting to the same posts, etc. Self-organizing anarchy is A-OK, disorganized anarchy amongst mods, with all the spamming these days will lead the new V to the same fate as the old. And we'd have failed as moderators. For a forum like this, we need at most 5 or 6 -- one for each section plus a back-up. As the old saying goes, too many cooks in the kitchen ruins the dinner. The V ran for awhile with only one mod and no admins, but that didn't last long once the going got tough. We should organize amongst ourselves now, while everything is cool on the spam/hack front so we are ready for that eventuality.

You're not a keystone cop, Reid-o though I think you like to avoid confrontation -- which is cool, so do I. But sometimes there's just no avoiding it. After all, this is the internet and at least said minor confrontations don't generally turn physical, or lead to long-term hurt feelings. The EV people are really, really good at moderating themselves, including steering the threads back on topic. But they will need help with banning the spammers and moving the overt/inappropriate EV ads since members lack those magical powers
If you don't wish to do anything about anything ever, Reid are you really being a moderator? Are you really helping the forum remain healthy and happy?

--xyster
moderator

My rides

"Is there a consensus for the new forum on how off-topic is too off-topic?"

Great question. I doubt there will ever be consensus on this -- the topics and situations where this comes up are usually unique so it'd be futile I think to try and adhere to a specific policy. But thankfully, we don't need to.

1)EV-minded people seem to be very good at steering themselves back on topic. IMO, on this one, moderators should generally hold off jumping in too quickly, let the thread work itself back on topic. But if that doesn't appear to be happening, posts going farther off-course, with the level of the discussion generally deteriorating, then a mod should gently nudge the topic back on course.

2)With one mod having primary responsibility for their section, if this does become a problem, folks will get a feel for when their mod will jump in, and when he or she will not.

--xyster
moderator

My rides

---------------------------------------------------------
Unless overruled by Admin David, moderators on board so far: Fechter, Xyster, Reid, Davew, Patrick Mahoney, Dom
He'll have to *poof* grant you the magical admin powers which allow you to edit/delete any post any time. I'm not sure yet on how to move posts.

I believe this is an optimal number -- one per section plus one back-up. Not that we aren't going to jump in to other sections when there's a problem....we also really need to avoid the ol' "I though you were going to do that...no, I thought he was going to do that" four-way stop-sign shuffle.

Administration and Advocacy: ?
Electric Rides: Xyster has first dibs
Electric Technology: Fechter has first dibs; Patrick Mahoney has second dibs
Electric Racing: ?
Buy-Sell-Trade: Patrick Mahoney has first dibs

among Davew, Reid, and Dom, who wants what?

--xyster
moderator--xyster
moderator

My rides

I did send David an email back channel stating I was interested in moderating on this board. I'm also with those that feel that moderators should have full autonomy over the entire board. We started out with different moderators for different boards, but Ken then decided it was just more convenient for every moderator to have moderator status on every forum. I believe his reasoning was for full coverage on any given day.

Charlie

e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e

e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e

I guess I have my answer. Thanks!

Charlie

e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e

e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e

I also agree that all mods can have peaceful and productive access across the panels.
This ensures full coverage all of the time.

OK -- that seems the majority opinion, and I agree if and until things get really busy here -- which may be a moot point at this point. I was just tossing ideas out there. It's up to David how many mods he wants -- seems to me six is plenty. Then again, a single Chasb (also a mod at PA I see) apparently has the strength and endurance of six normal, mortal moderators

--xyster
moderator

My rides

Charlie, I had made you a moderator a few days ago but I didn't tell you.

For those of you who are moderators .. the difference is that several extra choices appear in the navigation menu on the right hand side, and an "Edit" button will appear at the top of every post.

I haven't yet looked into a way to make any kind of special glowing badge or anything to mark moderators ...

- David Herron, http://www.7gen.com/

- David Herron, http://www.7gen.com/

Fechter, Xyster, Reid, Davew, Dom -- *poof*

Patrick Mahoney - What's his user name? Patrick?

- David Herron, http://www.7gen.com/

- David Herron, http://www.7gen.com/

Pour in some vinegar, there Reid:
A moderator's job is to moderate, not censor.
The first amendment means a lot to me, and I would think it would you, too. Nothing I wrote held the potential to harm anyone, and everything I wrote was on-topic and not spam. If some people didn't like reading a contrary opinion, they had every right to skip to my posts. What the heck are you two afraid of? I don't get it. You'll note: I didn't agree with your last post, but I would never "remove" it. How would you like it if I had?

--xyster
moderator

My rides

this makes you say things that you probably wish you'd have kept to yourself later on. This is one of many lessons you'll undoubtedly learn along the way as a moderator. I will ignore any references to our original dispute as I agreed to bury the hatchet, and that is what I've done.

I'm glad we'll have the opportunity to work together. (Thank you David!)

Charlie
moderation team

e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e

e-EZ Sport CX
Currie e-ride mtb
Lepton-e

The team is a unit of personalities in fair balance.

I agree totally, Reid-o. Diversity is usually a strength, not a weakness. We're bound to have polar opposites on certain topics like this. So what?
We aren't robots and we needn't think or act in unison in order to get things done. We are creatures of learning. Over time, I may do things more like Charlie, and he like me, or not. Yes, I have a temper, but I am never violent -- I'm Hungarian; it's genetic; I can't help it. It's just part of my personality. I also work and play well with others. The two are not mutually exclusive in my life as they seem to be for some people (which wasn't a reference to anyone here).

--xyster
moderator

My rides

Per your request.
I have deleted my post with the subject "I agreed to bury the hatchet, and that is what I've done."
By default all replies to it are now lost, only David can locate them or the person that made the reply.

Peace Out,
Gman

Peace Out,
Gman

Per your request, I have also deleted my post " I haven't yet looked into a way to make any kind of special glow"
Any replies to this comment will be lost. This action cannot be undone.

I will remove these two in 48 hours.

Peace Out,
Gman

Peace Out,
Gman