To register a complaint

[Lizzy]

I was wondering if there is such a thing as a 'general' pm or emailaddress where you can register a complaint.

What I mean is, when you send your complaint, it will go to all the Admins and all the Moderators at once, this way you won't have to pm all of them, which would be very tiresome.

Is there already something like this and have I overlooked it? If so, I would love to know. I browsed the board, but couldn't find anything.

[Kernos]

No. The board software does not have this function. That is the purpose of this forum. We welcome suggestions and constructive criticisms. If you have something you do not want to be made public, I suggest you send it to an admin and it can be discussed in the moderators forum.

Kernos

[Lizzy]

I see. Well, thank you kindly for the explanation.

[Ailim]

I suppose another way would be to request a private chat on IRC with Admin/Mods that you need to discuss something with.  Though of course, with the different timezones it might be difficult to get all of us in one room at the same time.

[Lizzy]

Thank you for the suggestion Ailim, I had been thinking about something like that myself!

[Lizzy]

Perhaps it would also be nice and a sign of good manners if members would get a heads-up before their post is deleted.  :???:

[Ailim]

I suppose it depends why the post had to be deleted?  As far as I'm aware, a post that needs deletion immediately is usually because it has seriously broken the Registration Agreement or has some nasty stuff in it.  And then I assumed a PM would be sent to the poster explaining why.

Have you just had a post deleted without reason?

[Lizzy]

Well, actually yes, but I don't want to make a big thing of it.

I was just dissapointed about a certain situation involving some OBOD members, so I posted it in the OBOD: General discussion as I didn't want to vent my dissapointment just 'out in the open'. Perhaps the moderator or administrator in question thought that this was just another remark about an issue that is going on forever and decided to delete it. I don't know, I'm just speculating here and really, I shouldn't, I really don't know the reason.

But I didn't realize it was offensive in any way, I never posted something offensive on the board in my life, at least, not to my knowledge, so I was actually more surprised to find it deleted rather than angry.

And, like I mentioned, it doesn't exactly show 'good manners', which I find very sad in this day and age, so I guess I would like an explaination concerning the 'why' if it isn't too much trouble, then again, it is of little consequence, so I guess I'll just wait and see.

Thank you for replying though Ailim.

Lizzy

[Ailim]

Alas, I didn't see your post Lizzy, but I have raised your question in the Mods forum for you.

[Lizzy]

Thank you Ailim, that is very considerate of you.  :shake:

[Claer]

Perhaps it would also be nice and a sign of good manners if members would get a heads-up before their post is deleted.  :???:

I was just about to write a new thread suggesting this myself. I have recently thought it very poor manners to have seen a thread, including a post of mine, just deleted with no prior warning or explanation before hand. Please can this request of mine and Lizzy's be given more consideration. That way members will not feel (rightly or wrongly) that there is a wiff of censorship. Thanks

[Ailim]

Hi Claer,

There are clear guidelines set out in the Registration Rules regarding content of posts and anything that breaches those guidelines can be edited, deleted or moved. However, we are also under Moderator Guidelines in how we do this. We can't just barge in and delete at our whim - and generally speaking, unless as I've mentioned above, the post/thread had to be urgently moderated, there is usually a discussion between the Mods on best action.

Where possible, if a thread has to be archived/moved, then the originator of that thread (the person who wrote the first post) will be informed by PM. Unfortunately, it would be extremely time consuming if we had to PM every contributor in a thread that ran into multiple pages.

If you feel that your post was deleted without reason, then I would suggest that you PM the Mod of the forum where the post was and ask why. If, as you say, it was in a thread that has disappeared, ask if that thread was moved (without leaving a shadow), or ask why your post has gone.

If the Mods of the forum in question can't help because they don't know about your post, then next step is PM one of the Admins.

[Beith]

Hi Ailim,

I think it would be a good idea if the moderator guidelines were published so that the reasons for moving a post/deleting a post or thread or locking one, are set out clearly to all. I think that would make things a bit clearer as to why certain actions are taken and it would help deliver a bit more consistency in how such guidelines are applied, because indeed it seems moderator guidelines are sometimes subject to personal interpretation rather than according to a uniform manner of operation. Transparency and clarity are always good things, especially when deleting/locking/removing someone's words.

best wishes all,
Beith

[Selene]

Beith,

Actually, the mods' guidelines on this are already public. In the Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution Guidelines, viewtopic.php?f=125&t=21019, is a section entitled Moderating a Thread, that spells out the various actions moderators may take in various situations.

In the case Claer mentions, which took place in a private seed group/grove forum, it was a judgment call on the part of the group facilitator (who is not one of the board mods) based upon the language used in the first post. I assume that since there were only two responses, one of which was the facilitator's, the facilitator didn't think it was necessary to post an explanation. However, as Ailim says, it's always appropriate to contact a moderator/facilitator/admin directly and ask what his/her reasons were for any actions taken, and it would certainly be reasonable for anyone interested to do so in this case.

[Beith]

That's great Selene. In what forum is that "peacekeeping and conflict guidelines thread"? never saw it before on the board yet it seems to be from last year.

My question was not based on Claer's experience so I'm wasn't asking for details on that! I agree that anything that violates the user-registration agreement should be locked or deleted as appropriate and posting privileges reduced where necessary, but I think sometimes there is a trend to "pre-empt" trouble that isn't actually happening; and lock threads which is unnecessary, hence my question on consistent operation of the guidelines. Not making a complaint, just a suggestion.

Thanks for pointing it out. I never saw it before.

Beith

[Beith]

just found it under "how to use this msg board"
doh!

Thanks for drawing my attn to it!