What About Moderators in the New Forum?

Murray,

It's as John says...these are long-standing issues.

Neil

No it's broken. "Search" is pretty dodgy as well.

By the way, and DEEPLY offtopic, for which I apologize, is anyone else experiencing the issue where the 'Last' link in the navigation element just below the last post on the page doesn't take you to the Last page? It takes you to a list of topics. Is that what it should do?

Don,

Thanks for that advice. So, do the dissenters normally shut up after the moderator has made his/her point? Or do they carry on their own private wars? If the latter happens, it would seem to make the role of the moderator somewhat pointless.

> Nadia, David, Murray and Günter have gone into battle with great courage, and have fought the dragons bravely. Hats off, gentlemen

Is Nadia a gentleman?

To David

I respect your opinion, but suggest that the one thing you will want to learn as a host on this side (or dealing with the folks from this side, to be more precise) is that once you have made your point (and you have made it well) is to then shut up.

Trying to argue and debate with some of these people is pointless. They will never see reason, or even admit that your stance might have merit, even if they disagree. All must be black or white, and if your choice is not theirs, or (shudder) it is grey, then the debate will continue.

The more experienced moderators make their point once, and then leave it alone. Note how little John C. has said in all this. He has made his points once, and that is all. Repeating your arguments will not change minds, it will just prolong the debate.

It takes only a couple of unfriendly posts to put off a newcomer.

> I get the impression that the moderators concerned let it ride because of the good parts of the posts

This brings the issue back to the real subject of this thread: moderation or not. It's why I came here; not to get mired in a slanging match about titles.

The former Macromedia forums are not moderated, although Community Experts do report spam and abuse to get them removed ASAP. The Community Experts also try to provide advice to newcomers on such things as not posting the same question multiple times, using meaningful subject lines, and so on. The lack of formal moderation can make the forums seem chaotic at times, but there's generally a lively atmosphere that most newcomers adapt to pretty quickly, and they seem to like it. There are also a lot of people who come, ask one or two questions, and then disappear.

On the Adobe side, however, there are Forum Hosts, who have the power to edit and delete messages. They also have the power to turn a user's privileges to read-only. This is a very different culture, and I don't feel 100% comfortable with the idea of censoring other people's posts, even in the most benevolent way.

In the past couple of weeks, we had a newcomer in the Dreamweaver forum who was acting in an extremely disruptive way. I'm sure that his posting privileges would have been revoked if the Community Experts had the same powers accorded to Forum Hosts (and apparently we will in the new system). However, after a few days, he calmed down and started posting normally. Peer pressure appears to have worked - so far.

What I'm interested to hear is how Adobe forum regulars view the moderation (Forum Host) system. What's good about it? What's bad about it? Obviously, Community Experts will make up their own minds how to exercise their new-found powers in their relevant forums, but it would be useful to learn from the experience over here.

David, please be aware that the animosity is coming from a couple of users out of hundreds. Although these people post good advice regularly they are also pretty intolerant and it is these few who get the Adobe-style forums the reputation for unfriendliness.

I get the impression that the moderators concerned let it ride because of the good parts of the posts but, coming in as I did from the relatively placid Windows side, I found some of the supercilious arrogance unbelievable.

Flame wars are not unusual in online forums, nor is animosity towards newcomers who break a few rules dear to the hearts of regulars. But two things strike me. John Cornicello says forum participation is falling, and I've heard several people say in the past that the Adobe forums are unfriendly.

Is that perhaps the nub of the problem? The Adobe forums are certainly very different from any other I have come across. The navigation is confusing to a newcomer, and the quoting and formatting are different. Then there's the Windows/Mac divide. To people who have used this system for years, it's familiar and "works". It doesn't surprise me that you're protective of it. But if the level of animosity towards anyone with a different viewpoint is as high as I have witnessed here, you're in danger of destroying your forums. Avatars, titles, and everything else fade into insignificance if the community dwindles in size and support.

Thanks John and Kath !! appreciated :-)

As for the other, won't even both responding.

I give up.