what the fuck is with this?

http://www.totse.com/community/showthread.php?t=2012656

Come on man, if you want to troll/spam, do it in your own forum.

Please have a little respect.

Weird.

Sorry. :(

That was just something I've always wanted to do.

Also, is there like a rule book for modding? I don't want to step on anyone's toes here and it seems I've gone and done just that. *sigh*

So modball is not cool.

What about unlocking a thread you think was unjustly locked? Consult the lock-er before hand? Leave a note in the thread? Whats the protocol for that?

Well the other stuff should be addressed in its own thread. But basically posting an off topic thread that doesn't belong anywhere in particular, is basically spam. Spamming as a moderator is uh.... probably a pretty bad idea. Just a tip.

Oh boy...

Resist the temptation, Joe... sure, as a mod you can do all sorts of fun things but some things are just plain unnecessary!

http://www.totse.com/community/showthread.php?t=1997035

Here are some general thoughts on guidelines.

I would never play modball.

We called it "topicball" back in the day.

when was this? I've never heard of this.

Also, is there like a rule book for modding? I don't want to step on anyone's toes here and it seems I've gone and done just that. *sigh*


I was actually writing something last night called "Zok's guide to being a good moderator" funny that someone should mention it. Unfortunately, my computer's water pump got clogged with some nasty corroded metal flakes from some second rate hardware (liquid cooling). So now my computer can't turn on without overheating. After I get a new pump and radiator, I'll be sure to finish writing the guide and post it here.

Also, is there like a rule book for modding? I don't want to step on anyone's toes here and it seems I've gone and done just that. *sigh*



Wintermute sent out an email about the "guidelines of moderating" back in 2005. I think I still have it....if I find it, I'll post it.

You have to pick your forums carefully for modball. I've passed a modball topic on once or twice and never really saw the harm in it; it's good for a laugh and doesn't have any negative impact on the forums. But lots of mods don't like to play :p

Has there ever been an actual problem with it, Zok?

I think it's one of those things that's harmless but can easily be done too often.

-deus-

For piratejoe (thanks euda)

WINTERMUTE'S FAQ

:A brief synopsis of what we expect from all of you.

(1) Be an active user in your own forum(s). This means you should at
least post often enough that the regular users in your forum recognise
your name. I know that some forums get very very tedious, especially
answering questions repeatedly, but answering questions and
stimulating intelligent discussion is part of your job. Only
exceptions where we will allow some leeway are Spurious, HB, B&M, and
IFIOTW, since they're not exactly intelligent discussion forums and
the mods of those forums are more there for damage control. It'd be
nice if you posted, but it's not as important there as in the other
forums. If we check up on you and don't find posts by you in your
forum we're liable to remove you because we have no idea if you've
gone awol or not.

(2) Move posts to the correct forum, delete or close spam posts.
Inform admins of repeat offenders, and/or people breaking the rules.
If you're NOT aware of what totse's rules are (though you should be by
now) refresh yourself. http://www.totse.com/en/_faq/totse_faq.html#bbs

(3) Try whenever possible to be strict with yourself - if someone
isn't breaking the rules, even if they're a dumbass, their topic
doesn't necessarily deserve to be deleted. Move it to halfbaked
instead, if you're not sure if they're breaking rules or not. I'll
deal with it from there.
Often what happens when mods are overzealous (and admins too, we make
this mistake too) is that the user gets pissed and the problem gets
worse. Bans are largely ineffective whenever registration is closed,
and completely ineffective when it is open, so try and avoid needing
to ask for users to be banned whenever possible.

(4) If you do need a user to be banned, send an email to this list,
with their username, IP, if possible (doesn't work in all forums for
some reason, yet another bug) and an example post of why they need to
be banned, or failing that a description (brief) of what they've done.

(5) Sign ALL emails to the admin list with your totse username. Saves
us crap loads of time in trying to figure out who is who. Try and keep
your emails to the list ON topic. (that means you and your penis size
too AM ). Much easier to sort through old emails and find important
information that way.

(6) What's said here, stays here. If you have a problem with keeping
this confidential, tell me now. We need to be able to trust our
moderators, which means, if you know something is going on, let us
KNOW about it. Recent events should make this clear enough to all of
you. We (the admins) do our best to keep this place going, to make it
better, even, but we have to know that you're behind us, at the very
least keeping control of your forum.

(7) Various mods in the past have criticised one or more of us on the
boards. Let me state very clearly now, that if you have a problem with
us, if you have a problem with another moderator, it does NOT belong
on the boards. Preferably, take care of the issue via email to the
person concerned, let it go, or as a last resort email the
administration, if it is a personal issue. If you believe another mod
is doing their job badly, either AWOL, or abusing their power, then
the administration is your FIRST email. Respect the fact that we are
all doing what is a difficult and thankless job for free. Even if you
disagree or dislike someone else on the staff, do your best to act
like an adult.

(8) If for some reason you are unable to perform your duties for a
specific period of time (vacation, illness, other) let us KNOW. We
won't remove you if we know you're going to be back, and if necessary
we can appoint someone in addition to take over while you're absent.

(9) Similarly, if you're getting bored with your forum, if you're
burned out, if you're just tired of totse, let us know. We can
consider switching people around (as we're now planning to do with
Spurious), or if you're done, you can quit, with our thanks. Just
please, let us know, because an absent mod is worse than an empty
space. If we know you're not around, we can take care of things. If
you're just completely absent and we don't know, that's when we end up
with problem forums.

(10) Suggestions for improvements and features, while welcome, are
currently not possible for us. We utilise everything we can in keeping
control of the forums. At some point we hope we can update the
software, but that's something that we have to have at least a
relatively crisis free bbs for, in order for us to start working and
spending our time on improvements, rather than damage control. That's
where you guys come in, obviously.

Finally, thanks for your hard work in the past, present and future. We
do appreciate it.

Suzie (Wintermute)

^^^^ as this is rather dated, I wrote this pieces a few weeks ago:

With the new mods ( soon probably to be more with the new forums) I thought this might be a good and linky'able idea.

Not saying I'm right nor I am presuming to hand down tablets of stone, just the way I see things, most of which I've had to learn from the example of my co mods and the super mods(damn but I can't get used to not saying 'admins')

Quick glossary: 'co-mods'=the mods who mod a forum with you. 'fellow-mods'=all other mods.

Ok

1.If you think a thread needs to be closed or moved check whether a co-mod or super-mod has posted in it already. If they have then don't close it without first 'touching base' about it. Work on the principle that if they'd wanted closed then they would done so already.

2.NEVER NEVER criticise a co- or fellow-mod's modding decisions in public. No matter how wrong you think they are save it for here or perhaps even better email.

All mods make mistakes but if you call one out in public then you can be sure that someone will try and use any dissention to cause trouble or split a forum.

From experience I can tell you that the supermods will back their mods to the hilt but it is beholden on you to do the same for your fellow mods.

If you see another mod is being unfairly criticised then jump in and try and set the record straight.

Whatever else you do , do NOT get into a public slanging match with one of the Super mods.

I broke that rule a couple of years ago with acidmelt....guess which one of us ended up looking a twat?

3.Listen to your co-mods. Many have been doing this job a while and have good reasons for doing things the way they do.

Accept also that each of your co-mods will do things differently from you.

Mojo leaves threads open that i'd close in a heartbeat and vice versa. Its never been a problem.

Respect the decision a co-mod has made. If in doubt ask them in private. Often you'll find they have simply not seen what you saw.

4. You WILL make mistakes. When you do apologise to the board and try and make good. Believe it or not most of the regulars are a fairly forgiving bunch. Listen to them when they say something. Just because they haven't been modded doesn't mean that their opinion doesn't count for something Remember many of them care as much about the forum as you do, if not more.

5. Allow fellow-mods and the top regulars a bit more lee way in what they post. In the case of fellow-mods its just courtesy, because they'll allow you the same freedom on the forums they mod.

Of course you treat all posters equal but some are more equal than others. None expects you to be neutral, just fair...sorta ...kinda.

Thanks for that, Jack.

-deus-

I was actually writing something last night called "Zok's guide to being a good moderator" funny that someone should mention it.

Don't do as Donnie Don't Does.

Wintermutes walkthrough guide to being a Mod makes it all sound like a chore. Jesus!

I didnt mind PirateJoe lobbing that thread in at all, it's harmless.

Allthough I'm not sure who re-opened satans handicapped helpers thread in SG, that's just encouraging him to keep coming back.

Allthough I'm not sure who re-opened satans handicapped helpers thread in SG, that's just encouraging him to keep coming back.

That was me, I did post when I unopened it. The thread seemed completely fine to me (I seriously didn't see any problem with it), but I made sure I said it was just provisional and that whoever locked it could re-lock it again with no problems.

EDIT: No, wait, it can't have been me, you posted that at 16:13 and I re-opened it at 16:32. I've not re-opened any other threads in SG today. Was that the same thread you were talking about, the "worst way to die" one?

EDIT: No, wait, it can't have been me, you posted that at 16:13 and I re-opened it at 16:32. I've not re-opened any other threads in SG today. Was that the same thread you were talking about, the "worst way to die" one?

It was me. I think she's talking about SHH's radio thread. A lot of people in SG are pushing for less strict moderation, and that thread had the potential for discussion and lols. Its my fault though, for not discussing it with yoyo. Sorry about that.

And thanks to Jackketch for that guide.

Don't do as Donnie Don't Does.

Thank God for this trusty pocket knife!

Yeah MrHappy, pirateJoe, sorry about the errors.

I think I took it all a bit too far and got a bit too stressy.

I now have a new prescription for Mirtazapine, so things should piss me off less. :)

Ah, I've been on Remeron too for a few months now too.

Sorry about that confusion with the poster BNN. I find nazi/ect comments rather poor taste and tend to get grumpy. I didnt read it too well and just assumed it was yet another 'lets call the mods nazis!' thread. :(

No worries.

I actually find it rather amusing: I've been accused of locking like 3 or 4 different threads now that were locked when I wasn't even online.

That's odd. When I close threads I usually post in them with a vague reason of why they're closed. :S

Dont worry, I plan to steal your limelight.

Omg U Sg Modz R Naziz