Nick, feel free to edit this, and/or include the link we had somewhere to the Moderators Instruction Page. Make sticky?
Moderators have a few basic tools, which you have to apply with your own level of tolerance and style. Usually, your gut instinct will be correct, but patience is a virtue for Mods.
Moderator's Lounge: Post your concerns or ideas here, and we'll toss them about for a bit.
PM: Any time you have a concern about a poster's attitude or content (say they put profanity in their signature), you can nicely ask them to fix this.
Edit: Moderators can edit the text of any post in their sub-forums. This is a good way to fix a post that has good content, but ends with "Nirvana Sucks!" Just edit the last bit.
Move: You can move a thread to another forum. This is a good idea when someone posts a guitar string question in the Other Side.
Move to Electric Ladyland: Users can't see this forum. It's a place to put a thread that started out nice, but got out of control. Then post your concerns in the Moderator's Lounge and we'll discuss how to handle the situation. Occassionally, we'll edit out the nasty bits and put it back into play.
Delete: You can delete a post or an entire thread, if it has little or no redeeming qualities.
Invoke Nick: If you have any questions, just PM Nick. He will determine what caliber weapon is best to solve the problem. Only Nick and Paul can delete or ban Users.
I hope this is useful.
-Laz
Thanks Laz, good post.
You can also use the split button at the bottom of long posts.
You split from the offending section, create a new topic and move it to Electric Ladyland.
Words of wisdom:
1. A hard learned lesson, don't try too hard to fix a bad user. It ain't worth it. 3 strikes you're out. You may need to remind me of this one. Just say Deadlock or Staind1.
2. Sometimes it's better to just remove the offending post and not mention it, rather than posting a fix to the offending post.
3. Free speech is all fine and dandy, but this is a private website. You can decide what is appropriate and what isn't. The answer is, (pick one):
A. "Yes we do sometimes act as a censor of posts."
B. "Go read the terms and conditions you agreed to when you signed up."
C. "That's what makes this such a friendly, family oriented website."
Just to give you an idea, in the opinions and polls section -Favorite Metallica lyrics, someone posted these lyrics:
I've got somethin' to say
I killed your baby today and it
Doesn't matter much to me
As long as it's dead
I've got somethin' to say
I raped your mother today
Doesn't matter much to me
As long as she's spread
Then the poster wrote something like, "LOL, killed your baby, raped your mother, that is so cool."
Yep, it's lyrics. Yes the poster is entitled to his or her opinion. Nope it doesn't belong here.
4. Praise in public, criticize in private. Delete and send a PM can sometimes stop the auto-defensive mechanism.
5. When in doubt, go with your instinct. You are probably right. Strike that, you are always right. I'll back you up.
6. If something is borderline, post it in here. Everyone can pitch in and help make a good decision.
7. Don't do anything different than you already have been. You've all been doing a great job as part of the guitarnoise community. Don't go changing to try and please me.
8. This is actually pretty easy. Don't sweat it.
9. ....and remember, I am the MOTHER OF ALL MODERATORS at all times.
:D
Just to clarify, we've only ever banned two users, and man did I try to turn them around.
ah-ha, rule 10:
If something or someone here is making you unhappy, (excluding me of course), then something is very wrong. Let me know and we will fix it.
and three more
11. The number one biggest thing you'll have to fix? People circumventing the censor. The latest was using an < instead of a C to write f*cking. Even if someone puts a warning in the header we don't allow it. I've got a little one can read and one who is learning. I don't need them reading that over my shoulder.
12. There is one word, that when it occurs in a header, is an absolute guarantee that you will need to go in and fix a mess...Nirvana.
13. Remember your audience, we have people from 8 to 80 and from all over the world. Which leads to two more
A. Don't try to argue logically with a 12 year old.
B. Try to let people know gently that we write words out so everyone can understand. Some of our members speak English as a third language.
Boy that's a lot of stuff. I hope I didn't overwhelm.
These are just guidelines. If you just use your same style and common sense, you'll be fine.
12. There is one word, that if it occurs in a header is an absolute guarantee that you will need to go in and fix a mess...Nirvana.
or Kurt Cobain.
A. Don't try to argue logically with a 12 year old.
They're usually the Nirvana (or Kurt Cobain) fans!
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
Did you know that the word "gullible" is not in any dictionary?
Greybeard's Pages
My Articles & Reviews on GN
Nick, would you make this sticky?
