🆕 Forum Update Log (Dec. 2018)

@SS-GEN said in The new forum has been a lot of work and it's not done yet:

I know it’s getting better but I posted a reply for my game report in house rules and with the changes the stuff just gets buried. Somebody post another tread reply and such now you have to go threw every topic to find it. Just sayin.

If I’m understanding correctly, there’s no difference between the old forum and the new forum for this situation. If you post a topic, and a bunch of folks post different topics, your topic will eventually end up on another page unless somebody replies. On forums, “stuff gets buried” all the time.

Also, you absolutely do not have to go through every topic to find your topic. This has come up multiple times, there are tips and tricks that cover this, I added helpers in the navigation bar. Not to be harsh but I’m just not sure what else we’re supposed to do.

Here’s a recap of your options:

Notifications: there is a bell near your avatar on the toolbar. When somebody replies, there will be a red number. Click that and you’ll get all of your notifications.

Replies to your Posts: I literally added this to the toolbar because people were complaining about finding their stuff. It’s the double-left arrow in the nav bar. It’s literally the same as clicking Notifications followed by “See all Notifications”

Recent Topics: Click the clock in the nav bar. Where it says “All Topics” select “Watched Topics” instead. You can even select a category to further narrow it down.

Recent Watched Topics: Click the eye in the nav bar. That will give you “recent” watched topics, including any topic you made or any topic you replied to. (I think I’ll change this to the next one)

All of Your Watched Topics: Go to your profile. Click the 3 dots. Click Watched.

Your Topics: Go to your profile. Click the 3 dots. Click Topics.

Bookmarks: If a particular topic is super important, then click the three dots on a topic, the one next to Reply, Quite, <heart>, < 3 dots> and click Bookmark. To find your bookmarks: Go to your profile. Click the 3 dots. Click Bookmarks.

That 6 ways to find your stuff. The old forums had a stupid icon that was hard to see and made no sense, I think it was a face or something. The replies to your posts was nice but we have that and more.

Note: there’s a bug with your watched topics if you have infinite scrolling turned on. I’ll file it later.

Thank-you :-)

@djensen:

@Gargantua:

David - I will come down for a game if you are going to play at Karls!

We can make it the first live feed at aa.org?!?’

Let’s pick a weekend to do this. Maybe we can evolve this, over time, into an A&A.org convention. :wink:

We could play Anniversary edition on my friend’s giant map using A&A minis pieces.

Yes, let’s!

Several thoughts:

1. The purpose of having moderators is to ensure that the rules are enforced predictably, 100% of the time. (Or as close to 100% as is practical.)

2. This means that above all, anyone chosen to be a moderator should be someone djensen can rely on to enforce the rules in a rigorous, impartial manner.

3. This means that the moderators should be level-headed, moderate people. The kind of people you’d trust, implicitly, to be fair to you, even when they strongly disagree with your position. Most people do not have the level of maturity, self-discipline, and impartiality necessary to be a good moderator.

4. I think djensen’s proposed tiered moderation system has merit. I’d suggest the following.

–--------------

Level 1: discussion facilitator.
Moderation power: can move posts to a new thread if an existing thread goes off topic.

Discussion facilitators are also expected to report violations of the list rules. If it becomes clear that a discussion facilitator isn’t reporting or otherwise acting on rules violations of those he likes or agrees with, it may be necessary to remove him from his position.

Level 2: Moderator
Moderation power: Level 1, plus can issue warnings, and can temporarily remove people from the list.

To issue a warning, a moderator will do the following:

1. Quote the offending post.
2. Highlight the offending portion of the post in red.
3. Copy and paste the rule which has been violated.
4. Include a link to the rules in their entirety
5. State that further violations of the list rules may result in a temporary or permanent suspension.

A moderator who repeatedly refused to follow the above procedures would be removed from his or her position. It is important moderators understand their job is to enforce the rules as written, not to make up new rules as they go along.

Level 3: List Manager
Moderation power: can overrule any decision made by a moderator.

Every decision made by a moderator will be reviewed by a list manager. In addition, if a moderator has become active in a thread, but without enforcing one or more list rules, that moderator can be reported to a list manager. There should be a “report moderation problem to list manager” button for people to use to report moderation problems.

If a moderator is not enforcing the provision against (for example) personal attacks, or is enforcing it unevenly, it’s the list manager’s job to become aware of the problem. The final decision about whether to remove the moderator will be David’s. But the list manager will alert David to the problem, and will provide him with the relevant raw data for him to examine.

Level 4: Administrator
Moderation power: everything

–-----------------

One item I specifically did not include in levels 1 - 3 is the ability to edit other people’s posts. Dealing with civility violations in this way is like trying to trim a weed. It’s too much work for too little reward. The correct solution is to pull the weed out by its roots! The first time someone violates the standards of civility, that person should be given a warning. The second time, it should be a temporary ban. The third time, it should be a longer ban. The fourth time, it should be a permanent ban.

But this must be done across the board. If X and Y don’t like each other, and constantly attack each other, and if the moderators prevent X’s attacks on Y, but not Y’s on X, the culture won’t change. Both X and Y must be dealt with with equal vigor, regardless of whether the moderators like or agree with one, or dislike or disagree with the other. Once this is done, the need for moderators to edit other people’s posts will largely disappear.

If the main list rule is “be civil to other posters”–as I think it should be–the right people to choose as moderators are those who are themselves civil. If a moderator does not expect civility from himself, he is unlikely to expect it from others.

Posting non-minis stuff for trade is fine. I’ll eventually create a new board for it but in the meantime use the minis section.

You mean the one that’s already there - sure, it would work too I guess, once TripleA is able to receive input on the # of hits