Tales from the moderating garage

[Richard]

Its been interesting few days as a mod. I've realised that much of it remains unseen.

I've tried to notify people when I've made corrections or intervened, apologies if your post has been edited by me and I've not dropped you a note to say why.

I was expecting to drowned in wrath, but I've had a load of replies saying thank you, so there is hope after all. [-o<

In case you haven't had a note from me, or perhaps you're wondering what the cryptic messages appearing in forums mean, here are my standard PMs .....

I've edited some of your recent posts to remove quoted images where the image appears a couple of posts higher on the page.

We like to avoid having repeats of the same images to avoid endless scrolling to read a thread.

Thanks for your contributions, and for keeping on topic!

I've deleted the off topic posts from the "xxx" thread. Please don't argue with posters, focus on the topic at hand. If the conversation has run out steam, then simply say that.

Perhaps a comment as noted below might be more tactful?

"Sorry, I can't really see this going any further. We'll have agree to disagree"

"I see what you mean, it's not a problem"

I've deleted that double post for you. In future, if you click on the "report this post" button then it logs a call with the mods to delete.

Thanks for being on-topic!

[bhall]

Ok, I think that some of the moderation is a definitely a bit on the excessive side. I choose my words very carefully to get my point across without being inflammatory. And sometimes I come from different, and perhaps even unusual, angles to try to find a bit of common ground, but it's all for naught if they keep getting removed.

[Pierce89]

as long as people don't insult each other too bad, i kinda enjoy our little battles over our pet theories

[donskar]

The mods -- all the mods -- do a generally great job -- at a thankless task. Keep up the good work.

[Ganxxta]

Ok, I think that some of the moderation is a definitely a bit on the excessive side....

+1

Especially in the W03 thread, I think deleting pics and double posts with the testing thread is ok, but deleting everything that has a general comment in it isn't right. I think it was something like: "Nico has x laps done on y tire, I'm wondering why he is z seconds faster than Michael yesterday..."

I was a bit when I left on page 45 (don't nail me on that number) and an hour later there are only 43 pages and a lot posts missing...

I hope that this is somehow constructive for you^^

[Richard]

Yes, feedback is very useful thank you.

Re W03 -

I cleared out a lot of exhaust blowing posts this morning. There have also been several double posts today.

... oh, and 7 posts ended up here viewtopic.php?p=313022#p313022

[horse]

I am concerned about the number of testing time type posts that are in the car threads, particularly the W03 thread. It really detracts from any discussion relating to the features of the car.

Would this stuff not be better in the testing thread?

[Richard]

I've been wondering about that too. It was well established before I became a mod so I've been wary of retrospective action. How we handle testing will set a precedent for the races too.

Would you say car threads should only contain comments on the car itself - team and race/test comments would be strictly barred? I like the idea of a stricter threshold for the car threads.

Would that extend to saying comments on tests and race weekends must go in the relevant test or race thread?

That'll have a big impact so not to be taken lightly.

Anyway, this very much IMHO - this is Tomba's site, he'll be back from his holiday next week.

Anyone else got thoughts on this?

[Ganxxta]

I think if its car related it fits also to the car thread, eg. if I say in the F2012 thread: "the car is doing great in testing this week... [posting some times, pics] look they have a new update on the car..."

General comments like "my order after the tests is..." are for the testing thread.

If you would move every testing related post, then you would have a lot of work

[horse]

Its a tough balance, and I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of spawning a cross-topic discussion in the car thread, they are hard to avoid if the idea is born in the thread itself - you need a mod to move them to their own home.

But I think the lists of timings for a car in testing is frankly irrelevant to the car, unless it comes with an interesting conclusion, like tyre drop off or whatever. Otherwise, it just looks like data spamming to me.

It's just sometimes the comments seem to drop below the "technical bar" and it dilutes the good stuff that people say.

[Richard]

From the Barcelona thread ....

Posts involving swinging handbags have been deleted.

Seriously guys, the minute you type comments about another poster's personality that post is heading for the delete bin. I'd prefer it you did the deleting prior to pressing "submit" to save me the hassle of doing it for you.

Can we have a thread just for "swinging handbags"? Brings back fond memories of Monty Python skits!
But, on topic: I expect the Ferrari to be much faster once they replace their clear engine cover and install the missing link in their front suspension.

Fortunately I managed to stop myself submitting my reply in that thread. Otherwise Mx-tifosi or Giblet would have moved it to the "Completely out of thread" thread, how fooolish would that look?

Anyway, here's some more about moderating handbags....

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hand ... paces.html

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXsK0C76Pmg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6EEBUExws8[/youtube]


ps I'd appreciate any other thoughts on moderating car threads.

[hollus]

I disagree that moderation is excessive over here. More often that not, the moved/culled/deleted posts contained nothing of interest anyways. Volume of words is lost, maybe some pride by some members, but rarely actual information.

There is also a nice side effect to the constant house-cleaning (it is nothing else, really, they are quite gentle), and that is to keep the forum content oriented. What sets this forum apart from the hundreds others is that somehow it still manages to compile good collections of pictures, features and what is what in where and why. As I see it, the general level of knowledge in this forum is higher than in most other sites, that is what keeps me coming back, mostly to listen. But in the periods when for weeks no moderation would occur, the typical post would drift to content-less chatter, and answers to that chatter, and thorough discussions about the shades of the paint of the cars, and before we knew it, fanboi vs fanboi. There are already too many lines of text to read here to waste them in void chatter.

To keep this site unique in what it is unique at, constant, gentle moderation and housekeeping is needed (IMHO).

To close, a remark from a good friend of mine:
"Everything in moderation, including moderation" (I suspect he meant it in a different context...)

[N12ck]

Your doing a brilliant job, keeping a close eye on threads, and approachable even if I disagree with something, also keeping the car threads nice and clean which is brilliant,

great work Richard

[Caito]

I think a moderators work is like a referee. You know you're doing great if it goes unnoticed.


Car threads are complicated, they move too fast, and parallel conversations could be going on. As in talking about the front wing new endplate and the new floor at the same time.

As cars evolve so fast I believe anything nontechnical related to the car should be in the race/test thread, so as to keep the thread focused.

I agree with horse, if someone is posting times just for the sake of it, remove them. If they're trying to make a point saying "with XX tires bla bla, versus ...(etc).. look at the times" then it's relevant to the car.


I think that lately there have been lot's of pointless threads(some of them which I have reported) and some users that just seem to like to get their post count high, as in music, silence says as much as the notes you play(writing in this case).

[Steven]

I think that lately there have been lot's of pointless threads(some of them which I have reported) and some users that just seem to like to get their post count high, as in music, silence says as much as the notes you play(writing in this case).

As known, post counts will be a lot less prominent soon. Let's hope that helps.

Apart from that, post deletion happens sometimes, but it is always done for the sake of thread clarity. Never in any case will relevant or useful information be removed.