Major Changes To Forum Policy

Bexster

What a brilliant idea and so good to know that you were aware of what it is like to be new to this. I have found a couple of threads that I am interested in where it is excecptionally difficult to become 'accepted' and you find you get curt responses or actually just ignored. On one thread I did actually say that I felt 'bullied' and could see others suffering from one particular persons behaviour but as a newbie felt I could not do anything. I did voice my concerns and received a very abrupt reply and said I hope the guide for that thread had seen what had gone on and didnt post on that any longer. Also the good that came out of that was several others from that particular post contacted me through PM's and we set up a little private FB group to discuss the hobby the thread had been based around. That was so nice that they were so friendly and helpful but felt a little like we had been driven underground by a cyber bully.

Anyway its great to know you are aware of that sort of attitude and behaviour and that you are taking such positive steps to deal with it. Just the thought of it makes me confident in asking potentially more questions as at the moment I would just not feel able to join in certain conversations.

Too massive an idea to take on but buddy systems are brilliant and work so well and nursery and school etc. Even if someone spots a newbie and just takes them under their wing if they see them struggling on a board. The girls that PM'd me really helped and without which I would have just given up and kept to reading the threads only and never posting.

grannybiker

The fact that 3 people stright away responded to "Can someone tell me what PPR means please?" without sarky responses clearly shows how the majority want to be helpful to everyone.
Sadly there are others who are just plain rude & ignorant of common courtesy. The Newbie protection bubble sounds great, but would need the number of posts extending IMHO. Even established & well-versed users get in wrong sometimes as well tho', so perhaps a little more tolerance wouldn't go amiss?
I like the idea of warnings, but fear if they're determined then they could just sign up with another user id- any way of tracking this through email? They're just bullies, basically, whose only power is "Showing off" on here. Sad really.

fire**fly

MSE_Martin wrote: »

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.

Martin

I'm not sure of all the other places on here as still learning myself, but was reading your post earlier & thought 'fermi' had a good idea idea

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1816431

#16

as to putting the link & comping guide in for new people , if i'd had them when first joined would have saved me a lot of embarrassment & posting in the wrong places

iwanttosave_2

This is a change to the T&C's that I signed up to, can I cancel without penalties?


:rotfl:

So_Sad_Angel

Hi Martin & Team,

Like the Newbie policy..most of us regulars take care anyway but I do see harsh reactions in certain quarters to newbies so understand the need for it....liking the yellow & red cards too. ( better be on best behaviour now then ;-) )

I think the `thanks` should remain across the boards though. There can be so much useful info from any source be it the DT .HP&R.DFW etc etc & the Arms. This site is as much a friends/network site as anything else. I `give` alot to the BR board as you probably know..... but I use the Arms as well & its great that people use this place to enjoy some `social` life.

Cheers Angiexx

fatou256

good ideas i see from time to time on the bankruptcy board people being flamed by others for asking help or other user passing judgement when soem person are at their most vulnerable.

layla1979

I myself have had some nasty messages aimed at me and tbh it has made me not post on alot of occasions. I think its a good idea the yellow and red cards. Sometimes people post in the wrong place, I did and got abuse for it, then the main culprit went back on what they said and voted for someone else. I think this will make the forum more friendly and thats a good thing

Blackpool_Saver

Bigger forum, more mods....simple, well not simple, but doable.....

andykn

Like the newbie idea, surely we all want the forum to grow so our oh so valuable opinions are heard by the most people?

If you drop the "Thanks" count from some boards (not a bad idea) could you still leave the facility, just have it not count to the total?

wingobins

Great ideas Martin. Can I also add that it should be important for newbies to read the guides to help work your way around the site. I'm still learning too but I felt I needed some time to read the forums to know how it works before I started posting. It's easy to make mistakes (as I have made dupe posts too) but newbies would benefit from learning to navigate before posting. I like the idea of speech bubble, & red/yellow cards too. Also I feel questions are best left to be answered in places like the Inn or Comps descussions....not in original post.
Hope your RSI gets better soon.