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This is how nazi germany started 
R
RedHerring2
I shudder to think what books you've been reading.This is how nazi germany started
It's palavaman from sfix you're talking to, he's probably still trying to work his way through "the gruffalo".
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I
imamartian
are there more mods on at this time of night?
Maybe.
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Moderating a forum is not that easy you know, in general it is a voluntary untrained thing, done in ones own time (do you work in the evenings for free?) and done with very few guidelines.
Who sets up a forum and writes a manual for what the moderators should/must/must not do etc? So they have to make their own mind up what is offensive, what should and should not be said on a public forum based on their own lifestyle etc.
The general idea is to keep threads from going off topic and being offensive to others and by others you have to consider everyone else that can read the forum at anytime of the day or at a later date.
The moderator has to make a decision on the spot (as there may not be a lot of time before someone else posts to it) so what decision can they make? Delete the post, delete the thread, lock the thread.
Deleting a single post can affect the entire thread, deleting the thread can be done, especially if it is against the aims of the site, locking a thread can simply be used to prevent any further posts in the same ilk but leave the original post & answers.
If you continue to question the moderators in the open where everyone can read it this belittles them, reduces their authority, makes the forum look bad and that reflects badly on the site so expect threads like this to be locked or deleted without any written reasoning given.
A really good moderator will make decisions that keep threads running that do not breach forum rules and general good etc, allowing little banter but not outright offence then if any posts are deleted do the follow up PM explaining why and asking the poster not to do it etc.
However, remember what I said above, doing all this on a busy forum takes a lot of time and in the evenings they have better things to do, during the day they have their day job to keep up with so a compromise is usually taken and the quickest thing to do may to be simply delete or lock without notifications - especially when it may be obvious why.
And if the person thats being had a go at reports the post and says they are offended then they have to make a decision of delete the posts/thread or not. Its not always such a clear cut decision to make.
Then there are the mistakes, everyone make them and it' easy when in a hurry because something else needs doing soon, a meal's on its way or they need to go for a dump - the quickest option may be all that's available. Once something is done, its done and its hard for someone with only moderating privileges to put right. Threads can be moved to a temporary mod/admin only forum for later sorting out then returned but that too takes a lot of work, something they may not have time for.
And then they are constantly being called out, told they are making bad decisions etc and do you expect them to stay & put up with it for nowt?
If a decision appears to have been made that is completely wrong then you are able to ask why the decision went such a way but asking via the admin contact info however the admin are under no obligation to answer you as they too may have a lot to do, many other admin things that take higher priority than answer your questions on a free and public forum that they do not benefit from.
Perhaps some of the posters on here should try and consider what the moderators have to do, put up with and what training they have been given etc.
Who sets up a forum and writes a manual for what the moderators should/must/must not do etc? So they have to make their own mind up what is offensive, what should and should not be said on a public forum based on their own lifestyle etc.
The general idea is to keep threads from going off topic and being offensive to others and by others you have to consider everyone else that can read the forum at anytime of the day or at a later date.
The moderator has to make a decision on the spot (as there may not be a lot of time before someone else posts to it) so what decision can they make? Delete the post, delete the thread, lock the thread.
Deleting a single post can affect the entire thread, deleting the thread can be done, especially if it is against the aims of the site, locking a thread can simply be used to prevent any further posts in the same ilk but leave the original post & answers.
If you continue to question the moderators in the open where everyone can read it this belittles them, reduces their authority, makes the forum look bad and that reflects badly on the site so expect threads like this to be locked or deleted without any written reasoning given.
A really good moderator will make decisions that keep threads running that do not breach forum rules and general good etc, allowing little banter but not outright offence then if any posts are deleted do the follow up PM explaining why and asking the poster not to do it etc.
However, remember what I said above, doing all this on a busy forum takes a lot of time and in the evenings they have better things to do, during the day they have their day job to keep up with so a compromise is usually taken and the quickest thing to do may to be simply delete or lock without notifications - especially when it may be obvious why.
And if the person thats being had a go at reports the post and says they are offended then they have to make a decision of delete the posts/thread or not. Its not always such a clear cut decision to make.
Then there are the mistakes, everyone make them and it' easy when in a hurry because something else needs doing soon, a meal's on its way or they need to go for a dump - the quickest option may be all that's available. Once something is done, its done and its hard for someone with only moderating privileges to put right. Threads can be moved to a temporary mod/admin only forum for later sorting out then returned but that too takes a lot of work, something they may not have time for.
And then they are constantly being called out, told they are making bad decisions etc and do you expect them to stay & put up with it for nowt?
If a decision appears to have been made that is completely wrong then you are able to ask why the decision went such a way but asking via the admin contact info however the admin are under no obligation to answer you as they too may have a lot to do, many other admin things that take higher priority than answer your questions on a free and public forum that they do not benefit from.
Perhaps some of the posters on here should try and consider what the moderators have to do, put up with and what training they have been given etc.
C
cantaloup63
In which case maybe having some more moderators might help. Seems to me that there is rarely more than one around at any one time, and indeed quite often the board is unmoderated for some time which creates unmanagable backlogs.
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All singing from different hymn sheets (re few guidelines) and what about when 2 try to moderate the same thread.
More mods would help, but getting volunteers who can give up a lot of time on a regular basis is very hard to do.
More mods would help, but getting volunteers who can give up a lot of time on a regular basis is very hard to do.
C
cantaloup63
How many active (non dormant!) mods are there and how often is anyone actually asked? As for the question of having 2 mods at a thread simultaneously, this would be preferable to three or more argumentative posters hurling repetitive abuse for days on end, hijacking most threads, such as we've have for a few weeks now.
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php forums do not allow for 2 mods to work on a thread at the same time.
The only thing that can be done if 2 mods are about is to lock the thread, move it elsewhere - fettle it then return it - even then there is little way of knowing if the other mod is also trying to do that.
It can be very time consuming sitting there watching a thread as it evolves, trying to keep it on topic and within the guidelines.
As for how many there are and how many are asked - no idea.
I am sure a lot of the regular posters here are on the "do not ask to be a mod" list
The only thing that can be done if 2 mods are about is to lock the thread, move it elsewhere - fettle it then return it - even then there is little way of knowing if the other mod is also trying to do that.
It can be very time consuming sitting there watching a thread as it evolves, trying to keep it on topic and within the guidelines.
As for how many there are and how many are asked - no idea.
I am sure a lot of the regular posters here are on the "do not ask to be a mod" list
L
LooPrEvil
I doubt two mods could edit simultaneously. It is more likely that only the 1st mod attempting to amend will get the 'edit rights', any subsequent mod should only get 'read rights', until the 1st mod has completed their changes.
A
Alarm
Admin and mods have diff rights and some mods higher rights.
You have obviously not been one on a PHP site.
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