How the forum is doing (non rant)

[TygerDarkstorm]

As for having a 'hierarchy' of mods, I'm on the fence simply because I am unsure how effective such a system would be, especially with one administrator.

I know comparing MMO-C to here may not be the best thing, but they're the only other WoW related forum I frequent. I believe they run with a mod system like what's being described here. What I mean is that Boubille is the main admin, and there's super moderators as well as moderators for each forum section.

Mania is essentially Boub, Veph, Kalli, and Golden are like the super moderators (control over everything), and then what Mania suggested; people capable of shutting threads that are getting out of hand and flagging them for Mania's viewing (perhaps leaving said threads unedited so Mania can determine the severity of the posts). I think it could work since Mania likes to be hands on.

[Siliverin]

i think it could work, or even just something to give a shot, never know it might work out great and it might not. though i think it would work out pretty good as long again as the person who locks the threads says why cause noone like being left in the dark

though i could see it being a little more.. err complicated if people dont know who is like.. super mod and hwo is a reg mod ( couldnt think of diff words to use atm ) unless they had diff color names or something...

[TygerDarkstorm]

Yeah, I think the mods we have should keep their purple color, and perhaps the mods who are just there to lock threads (leaving a reason) and escalating them to Mania could be green or pink or something.

[Siliverin]

^^ and maybe a diff title or something like mods then senior mods?

all in all im just glad the fourm isnt a war zone anymore lol

[Cialbi]

As for having a 'hierarchy' of mods, I'm on the fence simply because I am unsure how effective such a system would be, especially with one administrator.

When you put it that way, I'm not sure I really like a hierarchy either - but I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say you are unsure how effective it would be, especially with one administrator. Do you mean that everyone will end up waiting for me regardless?

What I was thinking is that you would be needing to set up a lot more guidelines for your moderators, involving what a lower moderator should or shouldn't handle, and what an upper moderator should or shouldn't handle, to avoid having everything deferred to you. That, and you have the problem of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing; the upper moderators are going to have more deciding power than the lower moderators, and the upper moderators won't always be in agreement. I just believe that when it comes to delegating authority into a hierarchy, you don't want to have more tiers than necessary to keep those near the top from being overworked.

EDIT: Removed a late addition to this post.

[Mania]

Ah, I see what you mean now, Cialbi. Those are good points.

[AdamSavage]

Also Vephriel did a good job when she locked the originally rant thread. It boiled over into a new thread and she had to lock that one as well. After that everyone I guess got the message to calm down and wait for Mania (you) to come back.

Not trying to go on too much of a tangent here, but I think that Kalliope ought to be commended for how she handled the GMG thread after it exploded. All we've been hearing, directly or indirectly, (myself included included) about Kalliope's actions is about how she screwed up, is at fault, etc. Just wanted to throw that out there.
_

As for having a 'hierarchy' of mods, I'm on the fence simply because I am unsure how effective such a system would be, especially with one administrator.

I meant to say for locking it up and such..I know I mean in my head but trying to put it into text that makes sense doesn't always work!

[Siliverin]

another suggestion.. sort of is addin a few more mods ( i typed mobs at first xD fail) and make sure everyone is on the same page, and maybe like lets say a mod locks a thread and explains why, they let otehr mods know so they know whats going on.

so example lets say.. you have mods a-e and mods a-d are offline, and e is online and mod e has to lock a thread and they explain in the thread why, that mod lets the other mods know through pm so when they get on they have an idea of whats going on

i dunno im just throwin random thought out there xD

[Azunara]

Lemme get this straight.

So there will be senior mods, (Veph, Kalli, Golden) who will still take care of most everything (Locks, bans, name changes, etc.) and there will be Apprentice Mods (For lack of a term) who just essentially clean up threads that get out of hand. Right?

So...essentially a forum assistant that has power over all the forum instead of a single section?

[AdamSavage]

I think that's how I understand it.

[Cialbi]

As for the issue of having one administrator, that was worded poorly.

You can only devote so much to administering the forum, Mania. You also have to do all the maintenance (as far as I'm aware), will always be having work to do on Petopia itself as long as Blizzard keeps making changes to WoW, and all that on top of the work that you and your husband actually get paid for. Eventually, you may need to find someone who will be dedicated either to administering or maintaining the forums. The challenge is of course, who?

[Mania]

Just to be clear, nothing has been decided. I was trying to think of other ways that might address the problems that have been brought up in this thread. Having more mods and the stressful nature of moderating a thread in progress suggested something like thread-locking mods. But it might just be that we need another mod or two like we have now, and all the mods (and me) will start locking threads while they do their moderation so that we have plenty of time to post about what we're doing.

And if you have other suggestions, post 'em! Or PM - several people have PM'd me some great suggestions also.

[Mania]

Eventually, you may need to find someone who will be dedicated either to administering or maintaining the forums. The challenge is of course, who?

Eric suggested I contact Sanya Weathers about it, but I suspect she may have better things to do.

[AdamSavage]

It's not the number of people here that makes there jobs hard. It's the sheer number of post that are made on a daily basis is what is taxing them.

Eric suggested I contact Sanya Weathers about it, but I suspect she may have better things to do.

Who is that ?

[Lisaara]

I guess the hierarchy could be this.

Admin - Basically the head honcho. What she says goes. Handles any problems with Global and Reg. Mods. Handles any and all Bans and gives permissions to warn members to Global Mods.
Global Mod - Meanders around the forums. Handles all warnings to members after having an OK from Admin/heated topics.
Reg. Mod - Moves forum posts as needed. Locks a heated topic and reports it to Global Mob for them to look at with a note to why the topic was locked. Does basically the little things to help the Global Mods keep peace.

Kinda reminds me of the Jedi Council. You got the Master of the Council, the Council itself, then the regular peace-keeping Jedi.

[AdamSavage]

Curios..Why do the Stables Masters chose to be "hidden" alot of the time ? I don't understand why they would chose this if they just posted something and there is only 1 hidden user online and the stable master is showing as "offline".

[SpiritBinder]

Curios..Why do the Stables Masters chose to be "hidden" alot of the time ? It's pointless if they just posted something and there is only 1 hidden user online and the stable master is showing as "offline".

I'm not sure Adam, but if you know whom they are you could always send them a PM and ask them directly, if you find it pointless?

[Anyia]

Wow... just wow. I didn't see the mess unfold, but I'm most surprised at how all this has turned out. We (the Petopia forum visitors) manage to have an entire thread on religion without turning it into a flame war, but a thread relating to bodily functions gets people up in arms and revolt?! [...] Wow... I really thought the collective "we" were better than that.
/disappointed

[AdamSavage]

Curios..Why do the Stables Masters chose to be "hidden" alot of the time ? It's pointless if they just posted something and there is only 1 hidden user online and the stable master is showing as "offline".

I'm not sure Adam, but if you know whom they are you could always send them a PM and ask them directly, if you find it pointless?

Errr..I didn't mean it like that. Bad choice of words.

[Mania]

Curios..Why do the Stables Masters chose to be "hidden" alot of the time ? It's pointless if they just posted something and there is only 1 hidden user online and the stable master is showing as "offline".

I'm not sure Adam, but if you know whom they are you could always send them a PM and ask them directly, if you find it pointless?

Errr..I didn't mean it like that. Bad choice of words.

And a little off-topic for this thread.