Published on 12, July, 2020
This is mainly for the moderators to consider.
Could we have a 'Moderator alert'. Perhaps as a 'Sticky', perhaps as an easy to find 'button' or something else.
This should be a means of alerting moderators to threats, safety, spamming, or other 'serious' issues. It would need some thought as to how it would work, but it should also include a facility to private message the moderator with words of explanation as to what the problem is.
The present 'Report as abusive' is not really fit for purpose as it does not really seem to do anything or if it does it takes days to work at times. I envisage the 'Alert' facility to get a moderator to deal with the situation within two hours if possible, and also to provide information.
There should also be a sticky to explain what is acceptable and what is not. Yes we have some rules, but these appear to be subject to interpretation and are flouted. It should perhaps explain unacceptable behaviour such as trolling, spamming, and threats and the consequences. This might also help prevent public spats on the forums.
With regard to the rules I think an Asimov style '3 laws' as a summary of the current '10 commandments' (which look like they're primarily concerned with legal issues of harassment, privacy and liability) might be an idea.
Something like:
1. Think before you post
2. Respect others' opinions and experiences
3. If you are unhappy with/worried by something, alert a moderator via the 'report' button
Also, the 'Report as abusive link' shouldn't be 'hidden' behind the 'More' link - not least because it's the only thing there (when it's not your own post)!
In fact, on the basis that the most I've ever seen under that link is:
I don't see why all those options can't be 'exposed' all the time...
But you know, it's not like I'm a Business Analyst that does this kind of thing for a living...!
Like i said this forum is like no other I have participated in before because it's custom and probably coded by someone that never used one. The beauty of using off the shelf software is that they all work well, have the bugs and silly things ironed out and all work broadly the same from the users perspective making them easy to use for anyone as once they learn to use a forum they can use any of the few standards that there are.
The lack of lines aroud people posts is disconcerting along with the silly branching of topics it makes it hard to follow everything.