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Thread: Posting Guidelines

  1. #16
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    We can see where this is going, time to put the slap down!




    JUST KIDDING!!!!

    If anyone is having problems with a mod, feel free to PM them about it (they might not realize what they are doing) and be polite about it, getting on a mods bad side is a quick ticket to the [BAN] button

    I agree that the Guidelines are hard to find and should be on the front page (Brian, get that?) and locked threads should have a quick explanation of why they were locked (unless it's obvious like everyone screwing around when the subject was complete)

    The mods are volunteers, we do this with our free time because we want to help people and keep the site clean and usable.
    Again, if there is a problem with a mod, let someone know...we can't help if we don't know there is a problem.

    Can't we all just get along?
    /me remembers the days when Mike would delete all the newbies posts because they had bad topics...

  2. #17
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    Nice photo.

    This issue has been around for a log time.

    I posted this 2 years ago:
    http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showt...hlight=posting

    And we keep coming back anyway.
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    Folding is Fun

    I thought I made a mistake once, but, of course, I was mistaken.

  3. #18
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    Well, I guess we don't differ that much on this topic here. I think we all agree on the goals, we're discussing here about how they should be met.

    I became a moderator a month ago, and once I got access to the mod forum the first thing I saw was mdwatts' sticky thread on modding guidelines. In other words, it's his heritage to all mods on this board. Now we don't just follow his guidelines because we liked this man, it's because they have proven good in a years long experience and so we have some sort of unity in our modding style - although there will never be a perfect one, of course.

    Yes, most threads get locked because of bad titles. As I explained over at /dev/random, I still remember the time when I was a newbie and mods used to edit the titles so they better match the content. Then there was a point reached when it became too much work for them, so they started locking the threads to make people read the posting guidelines. If there is always a mod cleaning up thread titles, a certain small percentage will never take the effort to write a good title at all.

    As a new mod I am trying to follow mdwatts' guidelines as closely as possible and I am always trying to be polite. Furthermore, I don't have a "copy/paste" text for closing threads, I like writing a personal answer better. However, for that matter those answers are rather short, so I guess they can still be perceived as rather cold.

    I like the idea with the link to the posting guidelines in one's signature, I'll do that once I'm done writing this. I think your feedback on scaring off newbies is really important, too, since this is not our attention at all.
    I will try to be more tolerant with newbies, although I'm note quite sure what sort of "new guidelines" I should apply for them. First, I would have to edit their thread titles again and I would have to form an idea on when "enough is enough". I would have to keep count on newbies' threads ("it's his fifth bad thread title, he's doomed!") and my modding style would still have to be in union with the rest of my fellow mods. If you have an idea for me on howto solve these questions, you're welcome to post them or send me a PM.

    You see, there's a reason why there are those guidelines by mdwatts and why they are so good. I hope you can also understand why they are especially important for a new mod like me because they help me modding like the senior mods do. However, I guess we all know that life isn't necessarily about following rules letter by letter and cases can be handled individually to some extend. I consider myself the last one to apply rules just because they are rules. I think if we keep giving each other feedback on matters and issues we're dealing with we will always have a good forum for as many people as possible.

    Live long and prosper

    Parcival

    "What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence."

    Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

  4. #19
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    Doesn't the problem with the postings derive from the lack of common sense anyway?
    It starts off with the titles; it might be just me, but if I'm going to post something, I'd rather give people who are gonna read the title information that is as concise as possible, so they'll have the chance to skip my post (because they would either way if they weren't given such information, wouldn't them?)

    I must have read the posting guide lines at sometime, but I sure as hell don't remember them. Also, if I were a mod I wouldn't spend my time matching every post against every guideline to make sure it's ok, but only if something struck me as suspicious or just wrong.

    It's just all common sense

    Good luck

  5. #20
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    I think the idea of having an abridged version of the posting guidelines on the front page is a good one. I'm not kidding about abridged, though. Let me puzzle something together.

    In the meantime, this notion of the mods having a god complex is a bit worrisome. Everyone, including myself, gets frustrated at times, and you have to remember that being a mod is a volunteer position and these guys are doing this on their own time and their own nickel.

    That said, if someone does get out of line and you can't work it out, PM me. Usually a discussion with a third party does wonders.

    Peace,
    Brian
    Managing Editor
    JustLinux

  6. #21
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    Originally posted by bproffitt
    In the meantime, this notion of the mods having a god complex is a bit worrisome. Everyone, including myself, gets frustrated at times, and you have to remember that being a mod is a volunteer position and these guys are doing this on their own time and their own nickel.
    Amen.

  7. #22
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    No one is demeaning the mods work. We only complain about some apparent abuse from some mods, and notice I said apparent not existant. I understand it's a lot of work, but frankly; anyone not willing to take some critique on their work (free or paid) isn't worth having work for you. (my communication skills suck...)

    I'll try to not blow up and get mad, if the mods try to listen and actually take users advise.

    My advise is simple. Be a little leniant, this is partially a noob forum, and partially a place that people have enjoyed hanging out for years.

    Titles like "Help!" are obsvious abuse. But things like asking multiple questions in a post... Come on, that's how people often talk; this isn't bugzilla this is a forum where people talk to people.

    And on the mods side: There's a lot of stuff to mod. Take the bad with the good, sometimes you get in a hurry and just make a mistake with some posts. Live with it.

    Does this seem fair? Or am I being too extreme?

  8. #23
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    the mods are doin fine....i am all for a bit of tough love.....search first.....etc....anybody does not like it....too bad...
    3 Slackware12.1 and 1 Debian Squeeze (3 puters), purring

  9. #24
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    Originally posted by madcompnerd
    Titles like "Help!" are obsvious abuse. But things like asking multiple questions in a post... Come on, that's how people often talk; this isn't bugzilla this is a forum where people talk to people.
    Multiple questions are the hardest to answer and confuses the post. I know when I see too many questions at once, I tend to walk away.
    Expecially when none of the questions are really related (I have a quick display/sound/keybourd/mouse question)

    As I and Brian said, if there is a problem with something a mod is doing, let someone know
    I think people are just too sensitive and need to calm down a bit

  10. #25
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    Originally posted by Icarus
    Expecially when none of the questions are really related (I have a quick display/sound/keybourd/mouse question)
    Hey, that's a good question combo because they just need to install X first.

    "What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence."

    Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

  11. #26
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    Yeah I dont like multiple question posts but its gotten a bit silly at times.

    One of our mods closed a multiple question post that was in /dev/random.... There should be few reasons to close anything in /dev/random.
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  12. #27
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    No, we aren't too sensitive. The mods are rediculously picky. Get off your high horse and remember, the forum wouldn't blow up if you left; it just wouldn't work as well.

    Sometimes people have multiple related questions, it's valid and would be a waste to make multiple threads. But run your forum as you wish, people will just get sick of it and you'll be left with a group of regulars that just chases newbs off. Linuxnewbie is dead, this will end up just linux (and no one to use it ).

  13. #28
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    Originally posted by timothykaine
    One of our mods closed a multiple question post that was in /dev/random.... There should be few reasons to close anything in /dev/random.
    In case you are talking about me closing epod69's thread in /dev/random, I think I have a good reason to have done so.

    He/she was adressing several issues while each clearly would have belonged into a forum of it's own. Newbies are smart and they soon realize that /dev/random is the most frequented forum because it's the place where one can talk (more or less) off topic. Now, on the one hand that's a very good thing, but on the other hand it has also a "danger", namely that people start generally posting their technical questions in /dev/random just to make sure the big crowd reads them. If that became a habit, we wouldn't need to run the other forums anymore.

    "What can be said at all can be said clearly, and what we cannot talk about we must pass over in silence."

    Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)

  14. #29
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    Originally posted by Parcival
    In case you are talking about me closing epod69's thread in /dev/random, I think I have a good reason to have done so.

    He/she was adressing several issues while each clearly would have belonged into a forum of it's own. Newbies are smart and they soon realize that /dev/random is the most frequented forum because it's the place where one can talk (more or less) off topic. Now, on the one hand that's a very good thing, but on the other hand it has also a "danger", namely that people start generally posting their technical questions in /dev/random just to make sure the big crowd reads them. If that became a habit, we wouldn't need to run the other forums anymore.
    Lame!

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  15. #30
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    Originally posted by madcompnerd
    No, we aren't too sensitive. The mods are rediculously picky. Get off your high horse and remember, the forum wouldn't blow up if you left; it just wouldn't work as well.
    My horse isn't very high, in fact it's a mini...about 4' high

    The problem is that the mods aren't ridiculously picky and let a lot of things slide, just some people tend to feel 'picked on' when a thread closing or deleting just happens to have something to do with them (even if not directly)
    Others look and say "he's a mod, it's abuse!" when nothing the mod did has anything to do with modding. I'll probably get that now, but these are things I'd say even if I wasn't a mod (and have in the past)...I'm no better then anyone here because I'm a mod, I'm no better then anyone...I'm just a man, like everyone else.

    There are no vendetta's or personal feelings when mods do their thing. There are plenty of people on this forum I personally do not care for, but that never interferes with my judgement with moderation.

    I hope we are done here, this thread is getting boring...until the next one in 3-5 months

    *dawns fireproof suit...feels like he's going to need it!*

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