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Registered Member #30
Joined: Fri Feb 03 2006, 10:52AM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 6706
Well, seriously, I think aonomus should be made a moderator. Go forth ye and smackdown some nubs.
I doubt it'll make much difference, the underlying problem is that the whole Internet demographic has changed since 4hv began. The Internet used to be a kind of exclusive gentlemen's club for geeks, because only college students, academics, people in the IT industry, and hardcore computer enthusiasts had usable internet connections. Now intertubes is just another utility like electricity or water.
Registered Member #575
Joined: Sun Mar 11 2007, 04:00AM
Location: Norway
Posts: 263
Well, I feel like one of those who impede the progress of this forum, I just don't have anything relative or constructive to contribute with, just stupid questions that maybe already have been answered.
This is what I think would help: During registration we should just keep it simple as it is a simple, not any questions or electronics puzzles. Just the simple *I AGREE* box.
After you've registered and entered the forum you'll see the ordinary forum site but instead of "General Science and Electronics" in the top it says "To the IRC Chat" "If you have any simple questions regarding anything of the forums subjects ask kindly in the IRC for fast answer".
I think with this we can prevent many newb threads. Of course then we'll have to keep the IRC active.
One more is that we need to referee to the 4hvWiki more and if we posts all our projects in the project forum maybe people will see how it's done. So everyone start posting your projects :)
But atlast we need to have more moderators and less tolerance for ban by not following rules, for instance two chances, one with warning then the user is flagged then if the warning is broken this will result in a ban, maybe permanent depending on the broken rule.
PS-OT: Steve, when does the Part two of 1337 kid adventures comes out?
Registered Member #1225
Joined: Sat Jan 12 2008, 01:24AM
Location: Beaumont, Texas, USA
Posts: 2253
Yes, i also agree with all of this. I have however made posts like this, so people should be given a second chance. This should be made a sticky thread. I am quite tired of seeing the stuff like "how to make a tesla coil" and other pointless posts. If you have something like this to ask, DO YOUR RESEARCH!. If you honestly still cannot find it out, then ask.
Chances are that you will find something that will answer your question.
Registered Member #99
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:10PM
Location: florida, usa
Posts: 637
Heres an idea: Choose moderators that have been here awhile, or are otherwise known for being knowledgeable about the forum's content. Then, when they see a new thread pop up that is already a past subject, close the thread down and send a message to the user.
Examples: "How do I wind a GDT?"- Obviously this has come up in NUMEROUS sstc threads. Almost ALL possible problems and their solutions have come up some time in the past threads relating the tesla coil issues.
Seems it could be as simple as that. If the user whines about it, let them. They will likely leave and so be it.
If we see a thread pop up about how cool it is to feel a uwave xfmr tingle one's finger, delete it and explain to the user thats plain stupid and not allowed here.
I tend to just scan right over a stupid post, but I know others here are bothered. It DOES seem headed down the road to the plans and kits unlimited's old forum years ago.
So, the mod. team could become the forum's immune system. Just eradicate anything that you know isnt useful to the body of this forum. Matt
... not Russel! Registered Member #1
Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052
mattrg2 wrote ...
Heres an idea: Choose moderators that have been here awhile, or are otherwise known for being knowledgeable about the forum's content. Then, when they see a new thread pop up that is already a past subject, close the thread down and send a message to the user.
Examples: "How do I wind a GDT?"- Obviously this has come up in NUMEROUS sstc threads. Almost ALL possible problems and their solutions have come up some time in the past threads relating the tesla coil issues.
Seems it could be as simple as that. If the user whines about it, let them. They will likely leave and so be it.
If we see a thread pop up about how cool it is to feel a uwave xfmr tingle one's finger, delete it and explain to the user thats plain stupid and not allowed here.
I tend to just scan right over a stupid post, but I know others here are bothered. It DOES seem headed down the road to the plans and kits unlimited's old forum years ago.
So, the mod. team could become the forum's immune system. Just eradicate anything that you know isnt useful to the body of this forum. Matt
The only problem there is that I can't just draft people into the moderating team. People have to volunteer their time and effort, and frankly, it can be a pretty thankless job at times. As Bjorn pointed out, we only have a few people left that actually do any moderating, and with very serious time constraints. So, one very critical thing we'll have to do is ensure that the moderators aren't bogged down with tasks that could be handled by software, like removing oversized avatars, or deleting double posts.
Registered Member #99
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 06:10PM
Location: florida, usa
Posts: 637
Chris Russell wrote ...
mattrg2 wrote ...
Heres an idea: Choose moderators that have been here awhile, or are otherwise known for being knowledgeable about the forum's content. Then, when they see a new thread pop up that is already a past subject, close the thread down and send a message to the user.
Examples: "How do I wind a GDT?"- Obviously this has come up in NUMEROUS sstc threads. Almost ALL possible problems and their solutions have come up some time in the past threads relating the tesla coil issues.
Seems it could be as simple as that. If the user whines about it, let them. They will likely leave and so be it.
If we see a thread pop up about how cool it is to feel a uwave xfmr tingle one's finger, delete it and explain to the user thats plain stupid and not allowed here.
I tend to just scan right over a stupid post, but I know others here are bothered. It DOES seem headed down the road to the plans and kits unlimited's old forum years ago.
So, the mod. team could become the forum's immune system. Just eradicate anything that you know isnt useful to the body of this forum. Matt
The only problem there is that I can't just draft people into the moderating team. People have to volunteer their time and effort, and frankly, it can be a pretty thankless job at times. As Bjorn pointed out, we only have a few people left that actually do any moderating, and with very serious time constraints. So, one very critical thing we'll have to do is ensure that the moderators aren't bogged down with tasks that could be handled by software, like removing oversized avatars, or deleting double posts.
Perhaps we could start a thread asking for moderating help? I may be interested depending on what it takes to be a moderator. I am not very savvy with computers and programming, but really have no idea what it takes to do what the mods. do. Maybe some mods. can chime in and talk about the time and effort needed? I know a few members have been here for awhile. We could step up depending on the level of skill required.
Registered Member #1107
Joined: Thu Nov 08 2007, 10:09PM
Location:
Posts: 792
Possibly you can implement something into the new forum that if a person makes a double post then the software automatically detects that and converts it into one post and sends a automatic PM to that user not to double post. There should be some exceptions however such as in the project thread a person can double post if they have new information and there has been no posts within 24 hours or something.
Edit: I also think there should be something in the software that doesn't allow pointless one line threads or replies because not only are they more easily ignored but they usually don't provide us adequate information to answer the question properly. For example recently in another thread i pointed a person in the right direction about something by telling him to use the search function and the reply was a link and 4 pointless words.
Registered Member #1403
Joined: Tue Mar 18 2008, 06:05PM
Location: Denmark, Odense C
Posts: 1968
High quality comes with a price, so if we want to be without the noise, a system like diyaudio.com uses is needed, it have been discussed in another thread and some people stated they would never join a forum with that kind of control over new users.
A few of the drawbacks would be new users not willing to wait for their thread to appear as they have the problem RIGHT NOW, but the young zapper generation will have to learn to wait.
A forum with less activity, there will be fewer new threads as the requirements are raised, people will be afraid to post one line replies because its considered being a noob.
So its not a balanced walk, its the one or the other.
When logged into 4hv, the "logged in" frontpage could be a helpful page with links to the wiki, a collection of member sites, guides where to find simple answers, this could just be a standard option that old users can option out in settings.
But the fact is that if the first few posts are to be reviewed by a moderator before it appears on the forum, there is no more noise. This requires enough moderators that are dedicated to help the new users, not just deleting their threads, but point them in the direction to research further or write a better thread.
On diyaudio.com you also have to check a box that says something like "I have used the search function and did not find a answer for my question" before you can actually make a new thread.
Picking moderators can also be hard, people from all over the world would be needed to cover the time zones so moderation ain't dead for 8 hours, people with knowledge of the sub forums are needed, I would never be able to moderate the chemistry forum since I don't know what they are talking about, so I could easily accept a thread that all the chemists would baaw about.
edit from irc: maybe a sub forum with rejected threads and the moderators answers could be a way for the community to watch the work of the moderator, but could also lead to wild discussions about the moderators work.
Registered Member #102
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:15PM
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 169
Hi all... Kolas here I don't really have anything new to add to this thread because I believe the main issues have been presented and discussed. However I do believe in the IRC channel; it should be the First and Foremost place to ask questions especially by the newer members. Is there any way that the new members could be forced to use the IRC channel for a few weeks until a time that they have been deemed WORTHY of making threads on the forum?
Also, what are the duties of a moderator. If this forum could reach the level it once had I would read it quite often like I used to. Perhaps I could be of some help. You mentioned time, are there any other requirements like programming, or specific knowledge of how the site is constructed?
Thanks for making this thread Aonomus, I hope it can get us somewhere.
Registered Member #1819
Joined: Thu Nov 20 2008, 04:05PM
Location:
Posts: 137
Since the use of software has been considered, can an automatic spellcheck / mechanics be used to help make the threads more readable? I'm tired of going to the threads and finding THAT SOM OF tHE wRDs ar iether mispeled Or poorlY punctuatd (exaggerated ).
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