darkSpyro

I was thinking perhaps we can make Forum rules and Help Files a little more noticeable. Since they are in a corner with small text and sometimes people don't notice them. In fact when I was a little red sparx I didn't even notice it. So perhaps we can have rules and Help files have their own section, but no thread making and locked thread(s)? So people would notice it better.

I've seen places where the rules are shoved in your face with alerts and people STILL don't read them - though it's probably not the majority of people.I keep clicking Help Files instead of Forum Rules and vice versa though,so having a board for stickied rules/FAQs over this board and under the News board wouldn't be a bad idea at all for me.

I've mentioned a few times that it might be a good idea to send some sort of introductory PM to new users with links to those pages. I never got a response from anyone on it. *shrug*

Quote: Bifrost

I've seen places where the rules are shoved in your face with alerts and people STILL don't read them - though it's probably not the majority of people.I keep clicking Help Files instead of Forum Rules and vice versa though,so having a board for stickied rules/FAQs over this board and under the News board wouldn't be a bad idea at all for me.

Ye. The small percent that don't are pretty much the trolls/immature audience.

Quote: HIR

I've mentioned a few times that it might be a good idea to send some sort of introductory PM to new users with links to those pages. I never got a response from anyone on it. *shrug*

That works too. That one seems good. Though you can always delete the pm, and forget the rules.

Showing my age a bit... but in the 20+ years I've been using the internet, there's a very simple observation...

Those who *need* to read the rules won't.

Unless you have oddly specific rules that fall outside of common courtesy/common sense, most folks won't read the rules and, really, don't need to. And for the folks who don't understand/care about common courtesy/common sense, reading the rules wouldn't help them anyway.

The trick is to have active moderation that responds swiftly, fairly and consistantly to reported posts. This forum does something with moderators that I'm not a huge fan of - and that's putting certian people 'in charge' of certian forums. It *sounds* like a nice idea, but it also sets uneven standards where "X" is allowed on one subforum by one moderator but not allowed on another subforum by another. A quick example, say "donkus" was a mildly offensive curse word. ModeratorY might see someone say it and shrug their shoulders. ModeratorZ might see it and temp ban the user. If you have all moderators on all forums, then both Y & Z would see it and the posters would be held to the same standard. As is here, even if Z sees it on both forums, (s)he can only ban the person on his/her subforum - making it look like there's unfair treatment - which could be the case if the second user simply saw it posted on the other subforum and assumed that it was acceptable behavior here.

Just some random thoughts.

Quote: HIR

I've mentioned a few times that it might be a good idea to send some sort of introductory PM to new users with links to those pages. I never got a response from anyone on it. *shrug*

That would be pretty awesome, though chances are some people won't know how to go to PMs when they first start out - took me some time staring at that weird Spyro icon to notice it wasn't there the day before xD
It could always come with a small reward,too - a bunch of gems or unlocking all the alternate site themes(if we made them locked for new users unless they read the rules)?

Quote: UncleBob

Showing my age a bit... but in the 20+ years I've been using the internet, there's a very simple observation...

Those who *need* to read the rules won't.

Unless you have oddly specific rules that fall outside of common courtesy/common sense, most folks won't read the rules and, really, don't need to. And for the folks who don't understand/care about common courtesy/common sense, reading the rules wouldn't help them anyway.

The trick is to have active moderation that responds swiftly, fairly and consistantly to reported posts. This forum does something with moderators that I'm not a huge fan of - and that's putting certian people 'in charge' of certian forums. It *sounds* like a nice idea, but it also sets uneven standards where "X" is allowed on one subforum by one moderator but not allowed on another subforum by another. A quick example, say "donkus" was a mildly offensive curse word. ModeratorY might see someone say it and shrug their shoulders. ModeratorZ might see it and temp ban the user. If you have all moderators on all forums, then both Y & Z would see it and the posters would be held to the same standard. As is here, even if Z sees it on both forums, (s)he can only ban the person on his/her subforum - making it look like there's unfair treatment - which could be the case if the second user simply saw it posted on the other subforum and assumed that it was acceptable behavior here.

Just some random thoughts.

Um....I would say they are somewhat off topic and confusing thoughts, but I get the idea that mods need to be more expanded to the sections. But making the rules more obvious so that newer users of the internet can see is a good idea as well. Since new internet users occasionally don't know some common sense that is used on the internet. And forums can usually have a different set of rules, or some little twinks to them.

Plus mods are human, as in they can be overwhelmed if they all were to be branched out entirely. Plus not every one of them goes to the same sections and checks all the threads. And there's times where one mod will be active then everyone that has issues goes over and overwhelms them. Plus they can't be everywhere all the time. They have their own lives too. So I think it's the lack of active in certain situations. I mean they can't stay all day and babysit us all the time. But there are those mods that don't really show up every day that aren't good at their positions. As for mods being somewhat separate. They can always discuss an issue through PM, GB, or at their secret base.

Trix - I currently moderate on two different forums and have spent time on a handful of other in an official capacity. Believe me, I know the challenges that arise from both sides of the fence.

I'm just saying - making the rules more noticeable won't change much. Think of it this way - the Speed Limit is posted very clearly and multiple times down the highway, yet people still go 5-10 miles over down every major interstate in the nation - unless there's an area where it's consistently enforced (and even then, you get the folks that see the signs but don't know about the enforcement... and those are the ones who get caught.)

Oh I see now.