Major Changes To Forum Policy

mooomin

MSE_Martin wrote: »

2. Rudeness to newbies.

Sadly new posters seem to get abuse more often than they used to. Often its because they ask questions that've already been asked, or post in the wrong place.

Theres also sometimes a "this is our board" attitude that seems to not want new posters coming in and ruining a pre-established clique - and that goes against the philosophy of the site.

A. We're going to see if we can instute a 'newbie bubble' so newbies first three posts will have a brightly designed reminder than they're a newbie and to cut them some slack (it will disappear once they post more). Hopefully for most of our posters this wee reminder will help - I want a "be especially nice to newbies rule"

I love this idea. I think it's worse on some boards than others (I got horribly flamed the 1st time I posted on here and ended up creating this username when I rejoined and avoiding that particular board like the plague!) I have been [strike]living in[/strike] a regular on the DFW board for ages now and find it really supportive to newbies, especially as 1st time posters are often at their wits end when they post in there for the first time.

Yellow card system - ace idea! I lurk a lot on the Boots Grabbit thread and that often goes way off kilter with personal comments being flung about. It's a shame as it's one of the most useful threads for me!

Hope these comments help.

f_f

withabix

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

How about moderators on the forums?

Unfortunately, MSE is now far too big for that.

Every user is a pair of eyes for the Abuse Team - that's the best way to do it IMO.

I will have to resolve not to post when I'm in a bad mood....:rolleyes:

MARTINS_DOLL

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

How about moderators on the forums?

We have BGs who do a brilliant job...

ThinkingOfLinking

MARTINS_DOLL wrote: »

We have BGs who do a brilliant job...

Yes, but they're not moderators and do not have such powers. I know Martin will say that's why he has his abuse team but how about making it easier for us to report spam POSTS (not just threads) and abuse? Many of us have webmail, eg Hotmail, Yahoo, rather than Outlook, so have to specifically email abuse which can be tedious (or not possible if accessing from a Blackberry or in a rush). I know BGs are volunteers whereas Abuse are paid but I'm sure some wouldn't mind being given some sort of compromise, eg semi mod powers, so they can jump in at times where abuse may not be around etc etc. I think this line is becoming a necessary evil.

magyar

To be honest I can't see why any decent, honest poster would have a problem with any of these.

Good effort.

Quasar

I've always said that posts in the arms should not be added to the count. Ditto for thanks. Dunno in DT though, because some posts in there can be very useful and informative. But no problem if that goes too.

As for cliques, Martin, unfortunately many people trundle out this word when they post something that many others disagree with, and of course the "disagreers" are accused of being in a clique. This is a rather sensitive and subjective topic, I'm afraid.

Good idea that of the "card" system to warn users when they overstep the mark though. Sometimes in the heat of the argument even the coolest heads can forget themselves.

ThinkingOfLinking

withabix wrote: »

Unfortunately, MSE is now far too big for that.

Every user is a pair of eyes for the Abuse Team - that's the best way to do it IMO.

I will have to resolve not to post when I'm in a bad mood....:rolleyes:

Not in the same vein, but I've moderated forums for big rock stars (I know I'm a geek!) and at times where tours (read that as ticket sales) are announced, hell breaks loose, with thousands and thousands of people online and spamming/causing mayhem at all hours, but our teams managed.;)

Wookey

In response to the newbies asking Q's, this is a universal problem on virtually every forum i've ever looked at. Generally people who use forums regularly will have no problems as they are accustomed to the etiquette that is used, this is where new users can go wrong, the profile and interest that is generated will draw folk in who aren't as accustomed to forums.
One helpful thing that i have seen work reasonably well on some forums is a FAQ that would be relevant to each board, within it a list of terms/definitions, a link to previous threads which are well thought out and informative (obviously with no flame fests goin on in em) and general Q's+A's. Pop this in along with there new posting notes with the relevant link to that boards FAQ.

Lokolo

Well I can say that as a regular in the Savings and Investments I can comment!

By all means, they're just doing their job, but when a news article appears about a new savings account a week after it came out with an already 10 page thread it gets pretty pointless releasing the article!

I think if someone spots something like the Newcastle 5% bond, they should get the credit, and they should work with the team to get the news out there rather than create numerous threads about old news (I don't particularly like to see a whole page of different threads about the same thing)

It gets even better when MSE post the wrong information (I know I know its not your fault but come on, google is your friend)....

Its like they don't trust us :rotfl:

The other thing that annoys me, is when noobies post on a thread which is 2 years old. Can there not be an option to stop this from happening? I am sure the forum would somehow allow it.

gazza975526570

some brilliant ideas.

I particularly like the no thanks on the arms etc - ive never got why this happens as all it takes is someone from here to give some advice on a serious subject and a newbie may take it as gospel. (im not saying for a moment that others may not talk nonesense all the time anyhow!!)