Forum Decorum

Webmaster · Guru

Forum Decorum

hotrodbus · Senior Member

Hi to you as well Webmaster,
This is such a nice forum to belong to and we both enjoy reading everyone's comments(Mostly) As you said lets keep it happy and informative
Happy safe travels to all fellow nomads,
Chris and Robbie

dave06 · Guru

I'd agree with that and own up to being the main instigator in many "undesirable results" however I refuse to sit back and let some moron participate in an open attack against me or a member of this forum

destructive forces should be removed as soon as they apear!

if these fools are allowed to continuously just come in and interrupt a well flowing forum then not brought to heel then I see only misfortune for this forum!

ibbo · Guru

Ain't that the truth Daveo.Cheers.Ibbo.

Vic41 · Senior Member

Hi Cindy,

May I suggest that you make your post fixed or sticky near the top as it might head off future trouble before it starts.

Hope we can all start afresh now for 2010 !

brickies · Guru

I also love this forum but i think there need to be a way of blocking trouble makers, also may be the web master PM member that may start inappropriate posts if persist they be blocked ,we must all remember we all have a way of life we follow and other people should be allowed to follow their way of life . IF law are broken we must leave to law makers to deal with it if we don't like what they are doing use the ballot box or join a political forum . If member want to vilifier any section of our community may be set up a sub forum so member who don't want to be part of that sort of post don't enter the forum

dave06 · Guru

the problem ones are still here, THEY need to be sorted before any sort of "new start" can be made! and the forum can go back to being stable!

Ole Grizzly · Senior Member

" Not Guilty" your Honour.

brickies · Guru

You are spot on Dave needs to be address post hast

Vic41 · Senior Member

I assume that you have all PM'd Cindy and put your comments and suggestions forward to her if you feel further action needs to be implemented to put the forum back on track, I think she said that she would rather be contacted by pm rather than putting them on an open forum. Perhaps if everyone did that then these things could be sorted out.

I am not saying that anyone has not done that already, but for anyone that hasn't perhaps a good way to help the site get back on an even keel.

Disco Duck · Guru

I think that was tried Vic......and ignored.

Vic41 · Senior Member

To be fair Disco, I think she was on holidays and doesn't always have time to answer everyone although I am sure she takes it onboard. Try another one now she is back.
I didn't get an answer to my last one either (yet), but did to an earlier one.

Disco Duck · Guru

I agree Vic......we all need holidays and nobody begrudges the Webmistress hers. A suggestion would be to appoint a moderator or two in the abscence of the webmistress. A 2 IC so to speak??

Mick themungrel · Senior Member

This would be 1 of the few forums that I have or do belong to have at least 1 other mod , it is by far to big a job for 1 person to keep a eye on all posts . One MSN site that I owned had 2 managers and 2 asst managers and all new members were approved by a manager and posts were moderated for at least 10 posts to see what they were like .

Vic41 · Senior Member

There was a suggestion once before that we have another moderator and many poo poo'd the idea and said we could moderate ourselves.......clearly that has not been the case !

Wombat 280 · Guru

dave06 wrote:

I'd agree with that and own up to being the main instigator in many "undesirable results" however I refuse to sit back and let some moron participate in an open attack against me or a member of this forum

destructive forces should be removed as soon as they apear!

if these fools are allowed to continuously just come in and interrupt a well flowing forum then not brought to heel then I see only misfortune for this forum!

I agree

Palebushman · Senior Member

Hi Vic,

Our Web-Mistress Cindy already has the following on the front page of the Forum:-
http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=51933&p=3&topicID=30118861

The problem with 'Stickies' is that 'Trolls' and trouble makers don't ever read them.

As for having 'Moderators' in the GN's Forum, maybe that's not really necessary, as
there are already several members who know how to deal with any posters that become vexatious to others in here.

The very essence and spirit of The Grey Nomads Forum, is captured so well by Cindy in the link above, and it would be a great shame to have 'Enforcers' spoil any of that.

Vic41 · Senior Member

Dave, I am aware of that link however as you said yourself it will not stop Trolls etc, but at least her thread here spells it out so nobody can claim they didnt understand the preamble etc.

I assume you weren't here when things got out of hand on a couple of threads during the Webmaster's absence where things got a bit more than heated due to a couple of Trolls visiting the forum causing havoc and with the threats of legal action among other things and the situation became quite serious. The offending threads and posts have now been removed by the Webmaster and I am not going to go into detail here.

Concerned and long term members did try to contact the Webmaster but she away on holiday and nothing could be done until her return which made matters worse and they escalated. This could not be controlled by any members of this site as you have suggested.

Even a temporary caretaker moderator while the Webmaster was absent may have resolved things on the site before they had gone too far, including removing the offending Trolls.

-- Edited by Vic41 on Thursday 7th of January 2010 02:53:04 AM

jimricho · Guru

It can be quite difficult to "hold one's fire" when being subjected to a character assassination but my view is, and I know others may beg to differ, that any response should be measured, logical and avoid any "name calling" or "tit for tat". Such a response has more force than indulging in the same rhetoric as the character assassin who, without realising it, has already "done a job" on him/her self by virtue of the original post.

As I've mentioned before, sometimes the best strategy is to completely ignore the attack as quite often engaging the "character assassin" can provide him/her with some sort of perverse satisfaction, hardly a desirable outcome.

It is not my intention that these remarks be directed to any individual whatsoever, but to hopefully provide some additional "food for thought"

The many responses that show concern to keep this forum "on the rails" is a positive sign.

PS: edited only to correct a couple of typos

-- Edited by jimricho on Thursday 7th of January 2010 10:43:27 AM

Palebushman · Senior Member

"I assume you weren't here when things got out of hand on a couple of threads during the Webmaster's absence......."

My apologies Vic, yes you are correct, I was not aware of those Posts/Threads.
Usually if a thread Title does not contain the key words that I might be interested in,
then I seldom continue to read it, but should I come across an offensive type of Post from hereon, my first course of action would be, to PM Cindy and if there was no response, then I would PM the well seasoned 'Guardians' of this GN's Forum who know how to deal with these miserable miscreants.

Vic41 · Senior Member

Well said Jim, I think that echo's the thoughts of most of us.

Dave (Palebushman),

Thanks, I am sending you a pm, was a bit tired at 1AM (shown as 2am EST) I think.

Vic

dave06 · Guru

the trouble is that I for one am not trained or well versed in forum ettiquette, this is one of only two that I visit and contribute to, the second one is a recent addition, I revert back to my sitting around the campfire and having a yak face to face which these people obviously do not

to say some of the things that have been said on here by "breeze in" posters would in the real world earn them a smack in the mouth very quickly

in here they hide behind the keyboard, I would dare anyone on this forum to undergo a sustained attack such as was leveled at me and is still ongoing by a couple of posters and still keep their cool

these are highly jealous, self opinionated people who do not travel and have no intention of travelling

they lock themselves in a room and do nothing but surf forums, they exist in a surreal world and not the real one

it must be remembered this is a travel forum first, last and formost if you are not travelling and have no intention of travelling then I think you should not be in here

to be in here to simply to "bignote" yourself is not the aim of the forum, it is to help each other out, mentally and physically

I was one who poo pooed the idea of a moderator but I am naive in the way of seasoned forum surfers, I am no longer

I think it is time we had a moderator who could sense the trouble makers and turf them out before it got to the stage that was witnessed recently

if this moderator turfs me out then so be it, but I will always stand my ground when attacked, in here or out there!!

Vic41 · Senior Member

G'day Dave,

I wasn't aware that anyone is still having a go at you, I must have missed that, agree with you about having another moderator, although I would prefer if they only stepped in if Cindy was away somewhere if things got out of hand and to nip things in the bud, just my opinion. It would need to be someone who was not heavy handed and was respected by the majority of the members if indeed it was a member of the forum.

There is another forum where the moderators warn participants in a bun fight publicly (so the others can see not to carry it on too) and also send a pm to them to warn them. If they persist, depending on the severity of the behaviour, they are given a "holiday" blocked from posting on the site for a certain period, after which they are allowed back on. Any further transgressions are treated the same way, and if they still persist they are banned altoghether. Trolls of course are blocked altogether.

As an essential part of the forum Dave, I don't think we would allow you to leave, you have helped so many so you can forget about that one.

brickies · Guru

I totally agree with all that Vic has said but i would go one further and asked not to get involved in cultural or racial slur, I a3rd. generation Australian think it is un Australian and we are on the world wide web , and we kept saying we are a friendly forum lest start being open and friendly forum

dave06 · Guru

thanks Vic, I have been sorely tempted to just pack it in but Pm's hold me in here, I have not been happy with my tone of late but things have happened due to the unrest of the forum that are not apparent to everyday posters, this is why I get so angry at drongo posters, it upsets everyone and goes far deeper than mere words

yes brickies we are on the w.w.w. and have been for a long time, the trouble with a statement like we should keep racism and cultures out is that we are Australians, what we think is what the man on the street thinks, what we must learn is a way of not allowing it to come to the fore and somehow find a way to rise above

we are in the limelight yes I agree wholeheartedly but we are only expressing popular views that some folks don't like, I placed a one line throw away jibe which most folks would just laugh off but one didn't, it went from there, my fault?? who knows but I am ashamed at some of the posts that went on from that one

I have contacted the elders of the pitjinjara land council and have written an apology from myself ( I cannot act on behalf of the whole forum) this has been accepted and will be passed on to the relevant elders involved with the sacred healing tree

I am not happy with a lot of comments that are made on here but i am one amongst many, the views of some are not those shared by the majority, I feel some should not have been aired and I am ashamed that they were allowed to be, but it was out of my control, not my forum

I personally apoligise to the elders publicly but I cannot do this or want to for the forum! it is not my place to do such things, I act only on my own behalf

brickies · Guru

Dave i was not aware of any particular person or persons that may have partaken in any one post so it was not directed at you I hold you i high regard in this forum has your main objective I believe is to help fellow grey nomads when ever you can and have personally help me if info . I have taken to not getting involved in post that I feel are offensive and don't read them but it does make me worry about our image

Smokeydk · Guru

What is Forum Etiquette?

Forum etiquette means maintaining a standard of posting behavior that is acceptable and appropriate. Forum etiquette can be flexible, according to the subject of the forum, but there are certain standards most people expect others to maintain. Some lines must be drawn for the safety of all posting on the forum.

One of the staunchest rules of forum etiquette is not posting personal information about another poster. Even if that poster has all but drawn a map to his house, posting a real name or address is considered grounds for a permanent ISP ban on most forums. This could compromise someone's safety. This is probably the most serious breach of forum etiquette and most moderators take it very seriously.

You can disagree with someone's opinions, but calling that person an idiot or a profane name is a violation of forum etiquette. Some forums are more liberal about this than others, but keeping it civil is never the wrong thing to do. Posting the same thing over and over again is called scrolling, and is also a banning offense. It is annoying in the extreme and uses up bandwidth, which someone is paying for. It is entirely unnecessary and makes the poster look immature and childish.

Trolls are always in flagrant violation of forum etiquette and enjoy disturbing the peace at any forum where they post. Trolls tend to scroll, call names, gossip about other posters, post things that are deliberately provocative and usually that violate the forum's rules about posting. Most moderators hasten to get them banned as soon as possible, but they can sometimes do a lot of damage before this happens.

Another violation of forum etiquette is posting in ALL CAPS. This is considered shouting and is very rude, in addition to being hard on the eyes. Something may be in caps for emphasis (e.g. I did NOT want to go!), but no post should be entirely in all caps.

Flaming, or deliberate insults or personal rants, is also against forum etiquette. Flaming is often employed by people who are losing arguments on a forum. Their response is to personally insult the poster disagreeing with them, usually in a long, nasty post.

This kind of behavior is why so many forums have a list of posting rules and consequences for breaking them. Some may say this behavior is more prominent among immature teens, but that is in no way the case. Many of the worst offenders are adults who should know better. The veil of anonymity seems to bring out the worst in these people, and any bullying tendencies they have tend to become magnified in the semi-protection of an anonymous forum.

Most of the rest of forum etiquette involves using the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. Behaving as a reasonable adult, even in the face of being flamed, is always the best course of action. If a poster becomes harassing, obscene or personal, do not retaliate. Instead, cut and paste the offensive post(s) into an e-mail and quickly report it to the moderator or forum administrator..

Everyone should know all that anyway

dave06 · Guru

oh well!!! leaves me out on all accounts, better start packing up my swag I guess!

JRH · Guru

dave06 wrote:

oh well!!! leaves me out on all accounts, better start packing up my swag I guess!

You damned well stay where you are, we need friends like you.

No smiley I'm serious.

dave06 · Guru

oh I dunno John, they are pretty strict regulations, I havent lived up to one yet, I reckon little Cindy has me in her sights! as it is!