Questions about forum conduct

[frob2900]

There are a few questions on forum conduct I'm not fully sure about, and it would be nice to know the precise acceptability of:

• Is it OK to post a reply telling another poster that what they are doing might be perceived as spam/trolling/flamebaiting/PDMA, or are such posters to be reported and not answered at all? What about situations where the majority of a post is ok, but a small part is unacceptable?
  
• Is it OK to to tell people to get back on topic or that they are drifting off-topic, as long as the statement is part of a post that contains other information (e.g. replying to a legitimate on-topic issue and also at the same time telling other poster(s) that they are off-topic, if they are obviously so).
  
• Is it OK to make a comment to a thread OP who's thread is obviously redundant or in the wrong forum that you think their thread should be moved or slightly altered, or should the report button be used?

Again, the problem only shows up with borderline situations that are "semi-wrong", I understand that the report button should be used in clear cut cases.

I suppose the questions could all be rephrased as: Where should one draw the line with "meta-comments" that aren't about the thread topic but about posts in the thread.

I apologize if this has been answered before. I checked the Forum FAQ in detail and also did some searching in old posts, but I couldn't find any "set-in-stone" guidelines. I even feel slightly uncomfortable having posted this, since public forum meta-discussions seem to be somewhat frowned upon.

 

[azzaman333]

What I do personally;

Is it OK to post a reply telling another poster that what they are doing might be perceived as spam/trolling/flamebaiting/PDMA, or are such posters to be reported and not answered at all? What about situations where the majority of a post is ok, but a small part is unacceptable?

I will generally just report in those situations, since there is often a fine line between pointing out flaming and actual flaming.

Is it OK to to tell people to get back on topic or that they are drifting off-topic, as long as the statement is part of a post that contains other information (e.g. replying to a legitimate on-topic issue and also at the same time telling other poster(s) that they are off-topic, if they are obviously so).

Depends how relevant the side-discussion is.

Is it OK to make a comment to a thread OP who's thread is obviously redundant or in the wrong forum that you think their thread should be moved or slightly altered, or should the report button be used?

Tell them where they can find the information, and report IMO.

 

[sirdanilot]

If they are drifting off topic, just post something like 'uhm... to bring the thread on-topic again...' and then follow up with something on-topic. You shouldn't reply directly to the person that made the thread off topic, and if other posters continued the off-topicness, then saying something on-topic again is even a better option.

As for the first question, you should either ignore their post or that part of their post, or report them if you wish so.

As the OP of a thread can't move their thread into another forum, there's no need to tell them, report or ignore I guess.

Anyway, I'm not a moderator and I'm not an expert about these things, these answers are just my own opinion. I'm relatively new to this forum, but I've visited other forums since like two years.

I guess you should wait 'til a mod posts here or PM them.

edit: Crossposted and nevermind about my third answer, I didn't seem to have understood the question completely.

 

[Rik Meleet]

• Is it OK to post a reply telling another poster that what they are doing might be perceived as spam/trolling/flamebaiting/PDMA, or are such posters to be reported and not answered at all? What about situations where the majority of a post is ok, but a small part is unacceptable?

  Don't respond in the thread, use the "report a post" function. If it is only part of a post that you want to report you can specify that in the "reason for reporting" part that you fill in.

• Is it OK to to tell people to get back on topic or that they are drifting off-topic, as long as the statement is part of a post that contains other information (e.g. replying to a legitimate on-topic issue and also at the same time telling other poster(s) that they are off-topic, if they are obviously so).

  If that remark is part of your post than that is a correct way. Used like in sirdanilot's example is a good way. A 1 line post "GET BACK ON TOPIC !!!" is not the way to deal with it - then you would have been better to use the report a post function.
  

• Is it OK to make a comment to a thread OP who's thread is obviously redundant or in the wrong forum that you think their thread should be moved or slightly altered, or should the report button be used?

  Since the OP cannot -in general- move or alter his thread, posting that remark has no value. The report a post function would be the option for it. When there is speed required (spoiler information, advertising-bots, porn, spam-attacks etc.) report the post + send PM's (with the link to the thread) to moderators that are online.

All moderators. The ones with a green light are online (but might not be actively present).

 

[frob2900]

Thanks, that clears the issue up for me.

 

[ainwood]

There are a few questions on forum conduct I'm not fully sure about, and it would be nice to know the precise acceptability of:


[*]Is it OK to post a reply telling another poster that what they are doing might be perceived as spam/trolling/flamebaiting/PDMA, or are such posters to be reported and not answered at all? What about situations where the majority of a post is ok, but a small part is unacceptable?

No. This tends to inflame the situation, rather than help it. Please use the report post button.

[*]Is it OK to to tell people to get back on topic or that they are drifting off-topic, as long as the statement is part of a post that contains other information (e.g. replying to a legitimate on-topic issue and also at the same time telling other poster(s) that they are off-topic, if they are obviously so).

Generally, no. For the same reasons as above. If you must, then don't target anyone - but instead you could (say) post your own response to the thread, with the not so subtle "Getting this thread back on topic, I think " <insert response here>. Sometimes though, threadjacks that develop into decent topics of their own with many people participating are left to run.

[*]Is it OK to make a comment to a thread OP who's thread is obviously redundant or in the wrong forum that you think their thread should be moved or slightly altered, or should the report button be used?
[/LIST]
Again, the problem only shows up with borderline situations that are "semi-wrong", I understand that the report button should be used in clear cut cases.

I suppose the questions could all be rephrased as: Where should one draw the line with "meta-comments" that aren't about the thread topic but about posts in the thread.

I apologize if this has been answered before. I checked the Forum FAQ in detail and also did some searching in old posts, but I couldn't find any "set-in-stone" guidelines. I even feel slightly uncomfortable having posted this, since public forum meta-discussions seem to be somewhat frowned upon.

Report post is best, in almost all cases. People resent other people telling them how to post, so its best to leave it up to the moderators. Secondly, some people are a bit over-zealous in how they interpret the rules. Leaving it to the moderators usually results in more consistent application of the rules.

All moderators. The ones with a green light are online (but might not be actively present).

Except those of us with red lights that prefer not to advertise that we're on-line. But we do get e-mails & notification for reported posts in our area.

 

[Fifty]

Just put a sticky note above your computer that says "WWDoMD" for "What Would Duke of Marlbrough Do".

Eliminates the need for such questions.

That's what I do at least, and I never ever EVER need to bug the moderators with questions/criticism about mod actions.

 

[The Yankee]

The Report Post button is your friend. That way, you'll get as close to an objective opinion on the post in question as possible.

As for threads going wildly off topic, I often nudge it back in the direction when I want to make a point on the actual topic along the lines of "So regarding the topic presented.....blah blah blah."

Sometimes that doesn't work. Sometimes it isn't really needed, as tangential topics can often have a pretty good life of its own. But if you don't know, get some help! Which is why it's good to remember:

The Report Post button is your friend. Then type in what's going wrong in the space provided. The button may have the additional advantage of looking awesomely cool, but it's also functional!

 

[IglooDame]

The only thing I'd add is, moderators don't actually reply or give direct feedback to the 'report post' message. Essentially, if whatever you were reporting gets taken care of by a mod, that's positive feedback, and if it doesn't, that's negative feedback. And keep in mind that in some cases we look for inter-staff feedback on potential actions, so there might be a delay even though eventually it does get addressed.

 

[C~G]

Interesting answers.

Essentially, if whatever you were reporting gets taken care of by a mod, that's positive feedback, and if it doesn't, that's negative feedback.

IMHO posters shouldn't expect feedback from their reports. They just report and mods do the decisions. Otherwise very soon even one contradiction between different choices of actions causes awkwardness what to report and what not.

I mean what's the policy: is it better to report plenty or only those you are sure about?

And please don't say the policy of board is same with all the mods and with all the situations, since it clearly isn't and maybe it even shouldn't.

In general I can only say that mods do very good job here, maybe some deletions or even warnings from spamming could be on place.

 

[Rik Meleet]

I mean what's the policy: is it better to report plenty or only those you are sure about?

If you state it this way it is better to over-report than under-report.
Report-a-post is for asking mod-attention to a post or a thread. In all reported cases mods look at the reported post and fortunately in many cases no action is required. If you under-report situations where action is required go unnoticed and not acted on.

 

[civverguy]

What does PDMA mean? Does it have something to do with multiple accounts?

 

[The Yankee]

Public Discussion of Moderator Actions.

In other words, you're not supposed to make remarks on actions taken by moderators in the forums. You're to handle such business/questions/grievances via PM between the moderators and Thunderfall.

 

[Mirc]

^ It's also the reason why I've seen very few mod tags in quotes.

 

[Plotinus]

Putting anything that looks like a mod tag in your post or sig is a very big no-no...

 

[Mirc]

I know that very well. It's an immediate 3-day ban, AFAIK.

What I was trying to say is that though you'll see them in posts (put there by the mods), you'll very rarely see mod tags quoted since it means automatically that you're commenting/discussing them. But now that I explained what I meant, it seems obvious.