Do You Think The Moderators Are Doing A Good Job?

[trials_pimp]

1st off:

I really dont intend on offending anyon here, this is just to see what you lot think.

Before you answer, take into consideration all the mods do.

Keeping the board free of anoying loosers who just want to start fights, and ask stupid, irrelevent questions.

Make sure Trials-forum is a safe friendly environment for all trials riders to use.

keep the forum well maintained and up to date.

But what do you disagree on, personly I think the whole validation, newbie section limitations are a bit too far.

I know a few very good riders who would love to come on here and post, but cant as they cant get validated to use the main forum, and cant be assed to wait around in the newbie section, so they dont boterh coming on here at all.

Barry Huskinson is a perfect example of this (if you dont know who he is, where the hell have you been?)

Sometimes posts can get deleted, or closed because one of the mods doenst agree with it, or doesnt like the subject.

I know the next post to this one will be "if you dont like it go elsewhere" from one of the mods, but this isnt what this is about.

Obvioulsy I do enjoy this site, or I would have gone elsewhere years ago.

So please, leave you opinions here, and dont go slaging people off for no reason.

This isnt an excuse for chumps to complain and abuse the mods...

[PythonRider]

Well obviously nobody, except one or two people (no names :)) is going to slate/say the mods are doing a bad job because they will be scared of being warned ect...

They seem to be doing a good job from where I am, Forums staying together, Going strong, Well Organised and well controled, but not too dicaplined...

Tom

[Brisa]

I kicked off a last week sometime about closing of pic threads but i suppose they do it from experiance, i think they do a good job, without them the forum would be a pile of pish. :)

[PythonRider]

But what do you disagree on, personly I think the whole validation, newbie section limitations are a bit too far.

I know a few very good riders who would love to come on here and post, but cant as they cant get validated to use the main forum, and cant be assed to wait around in the newbie section, so they dont boterh coming on here at all.

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Well if NMC wasnt here, then the forum would be full of nobheads (no offence any one in nmc) and people posting shit all of the time, Its there to make sure they dont use text talk and will help people/ make validated or usefull posts.....

Tom

[JT!]

Well, I think the mods do a good job, but its anoying when they close a topic that you want to reply in :) but i don't think the mods will just close a topic for any other reason than they are stupid. But some get closed for a good reason, but some more content could still be added, they should just be left to dissapear off the 1st page.

I think theres something wrong with the validation. People who write topics better than some people who are a member, are a pre-member for months... It seems like ages befor you can get to use the member features.

Mods have nothing to do with validation do they? Its the admin who do that isn't it?

Edited January 28, 2005 by JT!

[Burton]

i think the mods, if they do..., should validate a few more members.

otherwise they do a good job

[Joe Papasnap Maher]

Well, im gonna disagree with what your saying about people waiting in the newbie section...BECUASE

(IMO)

Loads of people sign up every day...all the young newbs to trials or whatever, and out of all the all the newbs maybe 1 good , experienced rider signs on also....

Now danny and tom dont have to do it, they could say f**k it, and lett all the newbs just come straight on forum...because that would be great wouldnt it :S :P

So yer, if anyone is outstanding, and is obviosly making good posts then, he/she should be upgraded, but this still means, tom and danny have gotta root around going through all the topics seeing whos good and whos bad...which of course they dont have to...

I say...cut them some slack...they do a mighty fine job if u ask me :)

[Endohopper]

The moderating team do quite a lot of work voluntarily , and I doubt I'd have the patience required to trawl through pages of advice and opinion which ranges from concise to idiotic.I'm sure they would welcome constructive criticism and any recommendations offered.I have no complaints , having been validated rapidly and being continually informed / amused by this , the first site I always visit.Nice one , Team. :S .

(P.S : I like the new T.F 3 Beta skin ,too.)

Edited January 28, 2005 by Endohopper

[biketrialler]

I reckon there should be a group of people given the ability to upgrade new members to full members... special set of moderators that can work in that forum alone.

Aside from that its kinda ok, lots of stuff gets locked for no reason I feel but fair play to them, they've gotta draw a line somewhere. What I do hate is the Senior Member system, it just makes them seem far superior and all knowing when thats plain not the case. I can't understand why a few of them are seniors at all as they really don't do anything to help the forum.

I also think there's an issue with the new tartybikes store... you just can't have a moderator being a shop on the same board.

[Mark W]

Wouldn't it be better for the people who think it's been "turned into a dictatorship" to say why?

And no, people won't be warned for it...

I think the only problem Danny said there might be with making a seperate group of people able to upgrade/downgrade accounts from "full" to "new" members is that it'd be a bitch to set up? 'though I don't know. Either way, there is a "validation thread" about the place where people put people's names in, and there's a pretty consistent flow of people through.

I wasn't too sure about the NMC forum at first, but having seen the amount of properly shit threads in there it's a good thing. Plus, if people have been suspended/banned, they can't get straight back into the forum. For example, after a bit of an issue between tomturd and Pete Wright, Pete was suspended until he replied to Tom's e-mails or summat, and now Pete's back on the forum as "Random". However, he doesn't have full access to the board. In Pete's case he's not really that much of an issue, but you *do* get complete tools coming on here. Someone like "Yate trials" or "Briggs" or something was creating loads of shit in NMC (I think you even replied in one of those threads Ben, so I guess you know who I mean? The "Trials Rap" thread?) and it's better that it's contained across there than 4 or 5 other sub-forums. I know it seems a bit elitist that we have NMC, but it seems to be working pretty well, really...

Mark.

P.S. As someone said up there, threads are generally closed for a reason. It's not just "Meh, close that" or whatever. If you wanted to put a reply in to a locked thread, you can PM your reply to a moderator and they can put it in for you if it *should* be in there?

[Alexx]

Wouldn't it be better for the people who think it's been "turned into a dictatorship" to say why?

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Technically all forums are a dictatorship :S

Mods do a good job :)

[Mark W]

Technically all forums are a dictatorship :)

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Bitch :S You know what I meant anyway...

[biketrialler]

Yeah, im behind the NMC area as it does filter people out, but it does need a bit more attention than it gets, to make sure that certain people are upgraded really quick! That just doesnt happen and we're going to be stuck with exactly the same users in the main forum if that continues... others will just leave and give up.

I dont think it would be that hard to PHP code something so members can be upgraded, theres enough PHP gurus on here that it could be made pretty easy I reckons....

Oh, wheres this validation thread you mentioned because I havent noticed it, i'll add a few names this evening then :S Link me up purleese!

[JT!]

Oh, wheres this validation thread you mentioned because I havent noticed it, i'll add a few names this evening then :S Link me up purleese!

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I think its only avalable for the SM/mods etc.

[Alexx]

I think its only avalable for the SM/mods etc.

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Yeah it's in the senior forums, putting it into member chat could lead to easy abuse.

[JonMack]

They do a good enough job, sometimes seem to have power trips but hey thats life. I'm not sure on the senior members thing either, its been said that they can be used to test out new forum features and stuff, but surely thats what moderators are for, I'm not saying SMs should be scrapped, but I'm thinking maybe there should be a few more moderators. There are people who are on the message board every day and are good members, I think they should maybe be upgraded to moderators, and maybe have forum moderators too, I know it says the annoying Forum Moderated By: thing underneath but its not *that* annoying, and it would ease the workload off the few moderators there are. People like Joel, Lewis, and Dave are doing a good job on the forums, but theyre not usually online every day, so its usually Mark and Adam that get called upon to do moderation duties, along with Tom and Danny. I think maybe people like Tomm, George Seamons, Tic, and Janson should be moderators, as they have been on the forum a long time, and usually contribute to the forums very well, and they know when to lock threads and when stuff is going out of hand, and they all come online very regularly. I think it would just make the mod's jobs a lot easier, I know this board is very well moderated, but there are still the odd shit posts which get posted in the Members forum, and it gets annoying with repeat topics in chit chat and stuff like that, I mean thats personal opinion, but so is the whole of this post.

I think what I'm trying to say is upgrade a few more SMs into Mods and then that will lighten the workload, not that the mods seem to be struggling but I dont see how a few more would cause problems.

[tank_rider]

I think its only avalable for the SM/mods etc.

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nail on the head, its in sm chat.

personally i think the mods and admin do a good job. Yes they may not spend massive amounts of time validating new members, but they have lives also and prefer to spend the time on here making sure the rest of the forum is running smoothly.

I agree with the whole seperate group of people to validate new members, i thought Danny said this was one of the main new features in the new board, might have to bring that one up again.

[Pork Pie]

I think most of the moderators do a good job :ermm: This is genuine. If you don’t like what a moderator does, say so. You’re entitled to your own opinion. There's been a few topics that I don't think should have been locked though.

It's other stuff that I don't like about Trials-Forum:

New member chat. It stops the main forums getting littered and stuff. That's really good. But with only two people being able to 'upgrade' it's a bit elitist in my opinion. New members are people who have joined the forum after NMC was put in place. They’re no worse than any member, any senior member, any moderator, or any administrator. I’ve noticed people look down on them, as though they’re better than them. It’s not the case! I can think of plenty of people who contribute to the forums more positively that are NM’s than some members, or even some of the far superior boys with the little blue signs by their names. I think there should be a group of people who have the ability to validate people. I’m pretty Internet illiterate though, so don’t know how feasible this is. It would be nice though.

Senior members. There’s a couple that really piss me off. Thinking they’re so superior to ‘lower’ members. It just lowers you to a stupidly low level in my books. And maybe because of the little blue sign, people will respect you more, but I know I won’t, and I know a lot of other people won’t. We’re all equal. So yeah, most SM’s are deserving, but a couple aren’t.

Some replies, from allsorts of members, be it bigger blue boys, or ‘lower’ boys and girls, are shit. Like ‘Meh’. It’s these kind of things that give off a signal of being a wanker. Like ‘Meh’ for example, it’s as though you don’t care what’s been said, and basically, you’re just ignorant.

I do think Trials-Forum is becoming a bit of a dictatorship though, through no fault of it’s own. Some members want to fit in (Again, this applies to the bigger boys) so they’ll go along with something they don’t know anything about. Just because one of the more ‘respected’ or bummed members believe in something. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with it too. Infact, how about you say nothing, unless you know what you’re talking about?

Trials-Forum is a good place overall. Infact, I’ve noticed it getting better. New Member Chat is a really good filter if used in an appropriate way. Most members are top! Senior membership is a good thing. To test new features and the like out. It doesn’t however make you any more special than us lowly members! Please, some, and by far a minority, take this into account. You’re not a special boy because of a pretty blue badge.

Anyway, sorry about that, I went off topic from the start :P

By the way, I’d like to thank Danny and Tom for the forum. We should all remember that it doesn’t have to be here. It’s not us who are paying for it.

Trials-Forum has helped me out so much over the past. Thanks, it’s a great resource.

Dave

[MrMonkey]

Make Monkey A Mod. A.K.A MMAM like a sheep saying Mam. Anyway I think all the mods do a great job so don't winge about it or I'll shit in ye mouth.

[george_seamons]

I must admit, I thought this was going to turn into a bitch fest, but it's actually a suprisingly good thread. I agree with pretty much everything that has been said :P

I agree with Jon about the moderators. What with Joel being away on duty a lot, and Lewis being really busy with other stuff, all the workload is shifted onto 4 or 5 people.

As the forum is growing bigger and bigger (which nobody can deny it isn't), I think maybe more moderators could become useful, but by no means essential.

I wouldn't mind becoming a moderator, I spend a large amount of time on here anyway, so why not put it to more effective use?! :P

NMC has sifted the majority of crap out of the main forum, this is easy to see by the sheer amount's of rubbish in there. However, once people realise that all they have to do is post sensibly, they are soon upgraded.

Members deserving validation are always being noted in SM chat, it's just up to Tom and Danny to validate them...which they do (eventually :ermm: ) do.

EDIT: ...but then again, you get people like Mr Monkey that appear to have slipped through the net :P" :P

[Alexx]

I do think Trials-Forum is becoming a bit of a dictatorship though, through no fault of it’s own.

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haha :P people really need to sort out the meaning of dictatorship.

Since there are no elections or vote, and the forums are soley controlled by danny and tom they are 100% a dictatorship.

Ignore me, i'm just being pedantic :ermm:

[Joe Papasnap Maher]

I must admit, I thought this was going to turn into a bitch fest, but it's actually a suprisingly good thread. I agree with pretty much everything that has been said  :P

I agree with Jon about the moderators. What with Joel being away on duty a lot, and Lewis being really busy with other stuff, all the workload is shifted onto 4 or 5 people.

As the forum is growing bigger and bigger (which nobody can deny it isn't), I think maybe more moderators could become useful, but by no means essential.

I wouldn't mind becoming a moderator, I spend a large amount of time on here anyway, so why not put it to more effective use?! :P

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LOL, you mong georgina, everyone knows im gonna be the next moderator mwhahaha :ermm:

Yer ill agree with geroge those, lol i thought this was just gonna get silly :P, but everything seems to holding up fine so far..

Keep the contributions coming poeple :P

[trials_pimp]

I must admit, I thought this was going to turn into a bitch fest, but it's actually a suprisingly good thread

That was a worry to me when I made it.

I do genuinly think this is a good place to be, and its alot better than a few years back, If I had posted this then, I can garuntee 90% of the posts would be "ye dey r all priks innit" and all that crap that comes with nobs who dont realise there are 26 letters in the alphabet.

The whole Seinor member issue that has been raised does have a point.

I know they have their duties, and they help keep the crap to a minimum, but as we all seem to be talking about lighteing the load on people, could there not be 2 or 3 people set aside for testing, and 2 or 3 people to sort out the new members validations?

This would no way make Tom and Danny loose their authority, as they will ultimatly have the last say, but as you mention, they have lives, they cant monitor on here 24/7.

So if tehre was a team for these things, decent New members would be validated quickly, and if for some reason Tom or Danny disagrees with one of these desicions they should still have the power to trun it around, and restrict certain members back until they see fit.

On another Forum I visit (Naruto-kun.com) they have the Main owner/ moderators, then each sub-forum has 2 or 3 Moderators that look after it.

Any crap that comes up on there is delt with swiflty, and no-one looses their life, as there are more people to share the work.

Maybe this is something trials-forum needs to experiment with......

[hititfaster]

When I looked at the title of this before opening it I thought, "here we go again", but I was wrong.

I think Tom and Danny do a great job of keeping this place open for all you guys to use. At the end of the day, if it wasn't for them, it wouldn't be here at all, so for what my opinion is worth, they can run it just the way they want... the fact that they choose for this forum to remain a democratic and VERY free environment is great (I doubt it would have survived as long as it has if they didn't, but hey).

This is a FORUM, right? You don't get warned for voicing your opinions unless they are offensive to others or unless there is good reason for it. I'm not gonna give examples, but there are plenty. If I was a mod and I chose to warn somebody, (with which they had a problem or thought it unfair) I'd have no problem speaking to them about it. That's just how I am, but can you imagine having hundreds of people nagging you, sending you PM's and e-mails and constantly asking questions or complaining when a topic about brake pads has been closed because it was repeating what another guy said yesterday (for example)? That's how Tom and Danny must feel!

On another Forum I visit (Naruto-kun.com) they have the Main owner/ moderators, then each sub-forum has 2 or 3 Moderators that look after it.

Any crap that comes up on there is delt with swiflty, and no-one looses their life, as there are more people to share the work.

Maybe this is something trials-forum needs to experiment with......

I think maybe there is some distance in this idea, but as someone said earlier, how difficult is it to organise?

As far as I can see, the NMC works ok - yes there are going to be people that end up hanging around, but one person having to wait for a couple of weeks has to be better than having a mass of people all over the main forum causing havoc. Doesn't it? :P If people are really interested in getting the best from the forum then surely they won't mind a bit of a wait, and paying the real newbies some attention (answering q's and things that will get them noticed and get them validated faster).

I've been staring at this computer screen all day now, I'm tired and hungry yet I'm still sat here :P You know what I think it means, being a SM or a MOD? You spend far too much time on here and not enough time on your bike :ermm:

I say this generally... By all means bitch at each other and everyone on here, it's just a modern word for 'discussion' but don't be a muppet about it. If you can work with that and not be too offensive or wrong (in the context, "oh my God, that's soooooo wrong'), you don't even need to know who the MOD's and admin are :-

Anyway, that's what I think. *shrugs, gets off soap box and walks off*

[phil_anderer]

People like Joel, Lewis, and Dave are doing a good job on the forums, but theyre not usually online every day, so its usually Mark and Adam that get called upon to do moderation duties, along with Tom and Danny

What with joel being away

Sorry people, when I got made up I used to be on here all the time, but I just don't get much internet access while I'm gallavanting nowadays. I would like to be able to do my job a little better, but other things have got in the way.

Joel