Michael,

Alex should probably answer for clarity's sake, but as I understand things, threads from public forums can be removed to the Eratosphericals area where they would appear where "There are no posts in this forum" now appears. Then only people with the appropriate security clearance will see it.

As for the Dear Mod and Admin threads -- I think that will cut down on PMs for mods and admins when there is an issue. It will also ensure that communications with mods will be accessibel to the whole staff, and make lodging complaints easier.

Alex, I cross-posted with you. Question: if warranted, appropriate, and agreed, would Admins be able to grant another member access to a given member's complaint thread.

David R.

David, that's potentially doable, but there are technical complexities with this forum software that will pose difficulties in pulling it off and I haven't researched them yet to give you a definite yes, answer.

...Alex

Dear Mr. Pepple, One of the best points in your revised guidelines is that most Eratosphere staff have jobs, in addition to running Eratosphere. I have frequently noticed, in life, that ALL clubs/societies/interest groups are composed of three categories:
1. The people who form committees and do all the donkey work.
2. People who use the facilities and appreciate the extra work put in by people in category 1.
3. People who spend their time nit-picking, complaining and taking constant pot-shots at people in category 1. I think you'll find that a fair proportion of these DON'T have jobs. That's why they have so much time for whinging.

Go on and prosper, sir, you and all your colleagues. You do a fine job, as far as I can see. A little more acknowledgement of that from the general membership wouldn't come amiss.
Peter Wyton.

For you all, a traditional British toast, from the disappearing world of the working shepherd:

If I had store,
By sheep and fold,
I'd give you gold.
But since I'm poor
By crook and bell,
I wish you well.

And I do.

I haven't read the entire thread yet, but I want to thank Alex, Maryann, and staff for the attention given to complaints and for the constructive solutions offered. And happy holidays to you all!

You know what I think could solve the concern over the transparency issue?

Having the Dear Moderators and Dear Administrators forums read-only to all but the original poster, mods and admin. That way people can read the suggestions, grievances etc. and the mod responses without cluttering up the thread itself. That would circumvent all the earlier concerns about "behind closed doors" (i.e.: PM) moderation.

Shaun, transparency remains in the usual Eratosphere conversation forums and for threads deemed suitable to be moved from those forums to Eratosphericals. See http://www.ablemuse.com/erato/showpo...1&postcount=20 . Yes, we're for transparency, but that's not an invitation to flame the Sphere to ashes and bury it's main focus of poetry and critique, because after all Eratosphere guidelines still apply in all cases. What we're done is simply strike a fair balance between all these sometime conflicting requirements. Dear Moderators and Dear Administrators provides everyone with something beyond PM -- a mechanism for having a personal discussion with all moderators or the administrators, without overwhelming them with a free-for-all. Furthermore, it's private nature between member and staff allows frank exchanges that are not always possible in a public setting. Finally, as much as some don't mind broadcasting such discussions to everyone, there are others members who prefer to keep them confidential.

As I've stated in earlier post, we cannot please everyone here due to differences in beliefs and temperament. The best we can do is find the best compromise and I believe that's what this new system is.

Cheers,
...Alex


...Alex

I deeply respect that, Alex -- truly. But one of the issues with this is that any correspondence with or about the moderators is still essentially private, which bothers some folks. Whether things are conducted via PM or in a forum that no-one but mods can see...it's still behind closed doors, really. This is just an educated guess, but I think you may be quite surprised how much less flaming and mod-griping there would be if there was a level of openness to how things were conducted -- whether that's meting out discipline, or just addressing questions etc. When business like that is conducted completely behind the scenes, and posts / threads / members disappear without a word of explanation, that's where suspicion about mod practices comes in.

I've modded at other boards of equivalent size before and have seen the sheer vitriol that has been leveled at mods (myself included) for not being completely open about the process. If the guidelines are absolutes, and there is a clear means of dealing with breaches, then there shouldn't be any need for secrecy or closed doors, should there?

Just my $.02.

Thanks for the thoughts and the $.02, Shaun. However, let me point out that one of the points of this new setup is to address the problem of threads disappearing.

...Alex

My final little salvo on this topic then:

If a thread doesn't disappear, but gets moved behind closed doors, out of the sight of forum members, isn't it rather the same as the "tree falling in the forest when no-one's around" musing? In other words, the thread will still be disappearing...just disappearing to a small room with only the moderators to view it.