There has been discussion about this in the moderators forum for some time - some moderators, including myself, would prefer a more relaxed approach to the enforcement of rules (especially for new posters) but the concensus most recently was for a more robust enforcement regime - I'm not sure if that might change in the light of the "retirement" of some moderators, I hope it will.
I'm also a moderator at MrExcel (with a different username) - if any of you also post there you will perhaps notice a more "light-touch" approach - we prefer to try to assist new posters there, rather than scare them off!
Audere est facere
The first one's to be canned should be the 'technical' team, because of not complying to any rule of a decent functioning forum (conciseness, politeness, clearness of communication, not double posting 'issues', etc.)
I've never really understood why a forum needs rigid enforcement (fair enough keeping posts polite) but why it matters whether code tags have been used or a (highly subjective) thread title is satisfactory or not seems a make-work situation to me. Worse, in many cases I suspect the mods simply enjoy flexing their 'muscles' as it were.
No, I can see the reasons for the rules - I certainly agree with the code tags one; although I wouldn't enforce it for a single line of code (which I have seen done).
With thread titles I think the given reason is that it helps people searching for answers, although the number of threads we have with titles that are variations on, "Need help with VLOOKUP" must make that argument redundant. In truth I think it just makes life easier for regular forum contributors as (a) it helps them decide which threads match their skills and (b) it's easier to remember which thread is which if they're not all called "Macro help needed".
Unfortunately, this forum is far too heavy handed in its moderation, and has been for as long as I can recall. I do not think it actually improves matters, and can have an adverse effect if it drives new posters away. And the practice of infracting people who respond when a moderator has 'opined' is absolute nonsense in my view (and yes, I have been, twice).Originally Posted by Andrew-R
As for Mr Excel DLL, yes it is generally more relaxed, but there are instances there where the moderating team can over-react and get carried away with their own self-importance (which as a moderator you undoubtedly know of such occasions).
Heavy handed? Surely not.
This thread was obviously well deserving of the infraction that has been dished out. Great work.
I don't think I've ever seen one of the proper moderators behave in this way, so why the hell is somebody who was made a mod to magically improve technical support doing so?
Andrew-R,
I am new to moderating and am totally open to suggestions for improvement. If you feel i have committed a mistake, i am open to reversing the action.
The reason for the warning is because the user already has 38 posts in their name, and by now should know the forum rules. Am i wrong in thinking so?
Cheers,
Arlette
If I helped, Don't forget to add to my reputation (click on the star below the post)
Don't forget to mark threads as "Solved" (Thread Tools->Mark thread as Solved)
Use code tags when posting your VBA code: [code] Your code here [/code]
I can certainly think of one.
Arlette,
I've got a message on my home page from you, from the month you joined the forum, asking, "How do i post an infraction if i see that someone has violated the rules?"
It's good to see you've found the answer to your question.
I guess it's a tricky one to manage but (in my opinion) those forums that do best (and, personally, keep me coming back time and again) are those where moderation is conducted with a light touch.
Why has arlu's name turned green? Can I turn my name red?
If someone helped give them rep using the star button.
If you have received a satisfactory solution please mark the thread solved. If not Fotis will come for you at night :P
She's a moderator - their names are green; admins in black; plebs in blue.
Ah the topic of Moderation. It is an argument that will continue for the ages. They are just like police. If everyone knew/obeyed the rules we wouldn't need them. I doubt any of us can say we are perfect. I know I can't.
We can all think of Moderators who have abused their power, maybe on occasion, maybe all the time. Sometimes they are just having a bad day, sometimes they just needed spanked as a child. Just like the police if they see an infraction they have the option of doing something about it. That doesn't mean they "have to", or have to issue the "max penalty". There is a big difference between willful disobedience and disobedience.
Example of my idea of "Good Moderation":
In one of my posts (not puting code tags on purpose in this post), I had the following: "Me.FieldName or Me!FieldName" was explaining dot vs bang. Instead of jumping my balls about it. SHG just edited my post. I didn't feel that it needed code tages, it wasn't a big code it was text as an example. That is good moderation in my opinion. Had I received an infraction for that, I wouldn't have been thrilled with sharing information that could help others.
I would be lying if I said I haven't seen some overzealous enforcement here. However, I would not be telling the whole truth if I stopped there, based on the number of posts on this site, the admins/mods do a good job of enforcing the rules in place. If you have an issue with the rules, talk to an Admin, as likely the mod had no say in the rule. (I do realize that is not a catch all)
"I am not a rocket scientist, I am a nuclear engineer." - Split_atom18
If my advice has been helpful to you, then please help me by clicking on the "Star" and adding to my reputation, Thanks!
@Andrew-R - LOL! When you said about a post that deserved an infraction, I thought you had dug up one of my old ones. I visited it with trepidation.
@split-atom18 - but moderators are not police. Police are there to ensure that society continues to function, but IMO if they pull up every lad cycling on the pavement (as an example), especially when serious crimes are ignored as too difficult, then they are not creating a better society, all they are doing is alienating the people whose support they need. In a similar manner, forums need people who ask questions and people who answer them. If they pile in on new posters as they did in Andrew-R's example, they are likely to drive them away, and these are the people that generate their revenue. If they also jump on responders they will either drive them away as they have with a dozen or so lately, or eventually they will infract the ornery ones like me off, and they need responders to draw in the OPs. Don't forget, we don't do this because ExcelForum pays us anything or for any love of ExcelForum, we do it to help people improve their Excel. The last thing we need is to be treated like naughty schoolkids by people who likely are far less skilled than we.
As you say a light touch is far better, and I don't see other forums that deploy such suffering. I moderate on another site, over there I have never warned anyone over titles or code tags, and whilst I have seen others mention it in passing, I haven't seen them issue warnings either. The only infractions I have seen are for spam. When I see missing code tags, I add them, it takes me 5 seconds, as long as it would to mention it.
I agree with everything Bob said.
The old newsgroups were a good place too because they had very little in the way of moderation (other than removing abusive stuff).
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