Rules and Moderator information

The Off-Topic forum for anything non-LDS related, such as sports or politics. Rated PG through PG-13.
User avatar
Jersey Girl
God
Posts: 6827
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:51 am
Location: In my head

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Jersey Girl »

Can some nice mod find out if there's a way to tweak the system so that users can block entire forums from their sight?
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

Slava Ukraini!
User avatar
Res Ipsa
God
Posts: 9568
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:44 pm
Location: Playing Rabbits

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Res Ipsa »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:13 am
Can some nice mod find out if there's a way to tweak the system so that users can block entire forums from their sight?
I don’t think any tweaking is necessary. From the Board Index page, click on the Kingdom’s title of a forum you want to review. If you don’t want to see posts in one or more kingdoms, don’t click on their title.

At one time, Gadianton set one of the shortcuts to include only the four upper kingdoms. It doesn’t look to me like that’s still in effect. If you’d like, I’d be happy to run that to ground and see if his original tweak can be re-implemented.
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.

Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
User avatar
Jersey Girl
God
Posts: 6827
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:51 am
Location: In my head

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Jersey Girl »

Res Ipsa wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:27 am
Jersey Girl wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:13 am
Can some nice mod find out if there's a way to tweak the system so that users can block entire forums from their sight?
I don’t think any tweaking is necessary. From the Board Index page, click on the Kingdom’s title of a forum you want to review. If you don’t want to see posts in one or more kingdoms, don’t click on their title.
What are you saying? Are you simply saying don't open the forum in question?
At one time, Gadianton set one of the shortcuts to include only the four upper kingdoms. It doesn’t look to me like that’s still in effect. If you’d like, I’d be happy to run that to ground and see if his original tweak can be re-implemented.
Thank you. I want an entire forum out of my sight so when I look at the board it doesn't appear to exist at all.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

Slava Ukraini!
User avatar
Res Ipsa
God
Posts: 9568
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:44 pm
Location: Playing Rabbits

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Res Ipsa »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:35 am
Res Ipsa wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:27 am


I don’t think any tweaking is necessary. From the Board Index page, click on the Kingdom’s title of a forum you want to review. If you don’t want to see posts in one or more kingdoms, don’t click on their title.
What are you saying? Are you simply saying don't open the forum in question?
At one time, Gadianton set one of the shortcuts to include only the four upper kingdoms. It doesn’t look to me like that’s still in effect. If you’d like, I’d be happy to run that to ground and see if his original tweak can be re-implemented.
Thank you. I want an entire forum out of my sight so when I look at the board it doesn't appear to exist at all.
I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking for. Are you asking for something that will prevent you from seeing even the name of the Kingdom, as well as the contents of that Kingdom?
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.

Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
User avatar
Jersey Girl
God
Posts: 6827
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:51 am
Location: In my head

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Jersey Girl »

Res Ipsa wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:50 am
Jersey Girl wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:35 am


What are you saying? Are you simply saying don't open the forum in question?



Thank you. I want an entire forum out of my sight so when I look at the board it doesn't appear to exist at all.
I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking for. Are you asking for something that will prevent you from seeing even the name of the Kingdom, as well as the contents of that Kingdom?
Yes I am.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

Slava Ukraini!
User avatar
Res Ipsa
God
Posts: 9568
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:44 pm
Location: Playing Rabbits

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Res Ipsa »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:05 am
Res Ipsa wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 4:50 am


I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking for. Are you asking for something that will prevent you from seeing even the name of the Kingdom, as well as the contents of that Kingdom?
Yes I am.
Thanks. I will check.
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.

Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
User avatar
Jersey Girl
God
Posts: 6827
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:51 am
Location: In my head

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Jersey Girl »

You know what the board looks like when we're logged out? I want to know if something can be done so that's what it looks like when I'm logged in.
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

Slava Ukraini!
User avatar
Res Ipsa
God
Posts: 9568
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:44 pm
Location: Playing Rabbits

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Res Ipsa »

Jersey Girl wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:09 am
You know what the board looks like when we're logged out? I want to know if something can be done so that's what it looks like when I'm logged in.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. The two lowest kingdoms are not visible when logged out. Also, the mod forum is invisible to the “registered users group.” So, it may be possible to create an “upper kingdoms only” user group for which the two lower kingdoms are invisible.

I’ll check with the admin side.
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.

Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
User avatar
Jersey Girl
God
Posts: 6827
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 3:51 am
Location: In my head

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Jersey Girl »

Res Ipsa wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:19 am
Jersey Girl wrote:
Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:09 am
You know what the board looks like when we're logged out? I want to know if something can be done so that's what it looks like when I'm logged in.
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. The two lowest kingdoms are not visible when logged out. Also, the mod forum is invisible to the “registered users group.” So, it may be possible to create an “upper kingdoms only” user group for which the two lower kingdoms are invisible.

I’ll check with the admin side.
Thanks!
We only get stronger when we are lifting something that is heavier than what we are used to. ~ KF

Slava Ukraini!
User avatar
Res Ipsa
God
Posts: 9568
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2020 6:44 pm
Location: Playing Rabbits

Re: Rules and Moderator information

Post by Res Ipsa »

The current moderator team was appointed after a large majority agreed that moderation was needed to allow the board to function properly. Before Shades appointed moderators he asked the question he typically asks before making a change: are the people requesting the change willing to live with the change?

It’s human nature to want to control or limit others behavior while rejecting others attempts to control their own. I get that. As a moderator, I don’t expect the author of a post I moderate to like the action I take, to agree with the action I take, or even respond in a civil manner. People who strongly disagree with a moderator action understandably can get angry and anger leads people to act without thinking through the consequences of their actions.

As a moderator, I do have one ask of the folks who use this forum: let me do the job I was appointed to do. From time to time, a forum member who disagrees with a moderator action decides to overrule the action by undoing it. The classic example is when a member disagrees with a moderator that moves a post from Paradise to Prison and responds by reposting the same content in Paradise. That’s not letting the moderators do the job that nearly everyone agreed needed to be done at the time moderation was reinstated.

Letting me do my job is especially important when I’m applying one of the rules that require deletion of some or all of a post. That’s because the harm that the rule is designed to prevent is caused by the content of the post. When a user decides to personally overrule a moderator and repost deleted content, they are deliberately reposting content that, under the rules, is harmful.

The most harm caused when a user decides to personally overrule moderation involves posts that threatens a forum members anonymity. The main rule that protects anonymity is UR 7, which says:
Do not reveal personal or "in real life" information about any poster on this site that he or she has not explicitly revealed here. This includes avoiding mention of his/her actual first or last name, even if he or she has made it available on some other website. This also includes information harvested from Facebook.
Please note that the rule is not limited to linking a specific username with in real life information. “Daniel Peterson is Res Ipsa” Would break the rule. So would “Daniel Peterson is a moderator”, “Daniel Person is a member of this forum with a Latin username,” and even “Daniel Peterson is an active member of this forum and has been for years.” All reveal in real life information about a forum member that the forum member has revealed here.

We have a relatively small user base, and many folks here talk about details of their lives. There are many members here who would lose their anonymity if someone simply identified their in real life name as a person who posts here.

If a forum member is “outed,” their anonymity is destroyed. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it is nearly impossible to put it back in. Because the damage cannot be undone, moderators don’t have the luxury of investigating a post or arguing about whether a post violates the rule while the post’s content is publicly visible. Because of the importance of anonymity here and the fact that the harm cannot be undone, our priority when we see a potential UR 7 violation will be to prevent disclosure of in real life information to the extent we can. In general, when a moderator deletes a post, it will be a “soft delete.” A soft deleted post is not visible to forum members but stills exists in the system. The mods and Shades can review them and, if appropriate, restore the post.

We take the members anonymity very seriously. If a user reposts content a moderator has deleted under UR 7 or posts about the deleted content, they are intentionally threatening another members anonymity. We take that seriously, too.

When a member disagrees with a moderator action, they have several remedies. They can ask the moderator to reverse the action, either publicly or privately. They can ask the other two mod team members to review and reverse the action. And they can ask Shades to review the action and reverse the call.

But in the case of moderator actions under UR 7, it may not be possible to publicly discuss the action without risking destroying a forum member’s anonymity. In those cases, any discussion will have to be through PMs.

So, when any of us deletes content under UR 7, please let us do the job we were appointed to do. Do not ever repost or publicly discuss the deleted content. To protect our members anonymity, we cannot be tolerant of public rules lawyering, limits testing, or “clever” attempts to technically comply with the rule while still threatening another users anonymity.

Being a moderator doesn’t mean that I am the best forum member at moderating or that I have taken the right action in any given case. It means I am the masochist who is charged with the responsibility to make calls under the rules. If forum members unilaterally undo moderator actions they disagree with, there is no point in having moderation at all.

Thanks for reading.
he/him
When I go to sea, don’t fear for me. Fear for the storm.

Jessica Best, Fear for the Storm. From The Strange Case of the Starship Iris.
Post Reply