Night Moderator

[yukonmuffin]

The majority of spammers/trolls/attackers come at about the time I'm creating this thread, about 11:40pm (-8 PST). The reason for this is that there is no pst night moderator, I never see one in the online list.

Moderator's are volunteers right? Though I don't know if the problem is big enough for this site to recruit, if it is has anyone got any suggestions? A trusted users in the PST timezone? My vote would be Sonart, but I forget where he is.

Remember, not someone who shares your views, but someone who'd respect them and promote a healthy environment for the site.

[shrike]

I personally trust Sonart too. Also I think there could be various levels of mods.
For example one can only delete spam topics but not give infringements to other members.
And two mods are not enough for such site.

[Diogenes]

I said the last time they were looking for a moderator that they should be considering ' time zones '

it's inefficient to have moderators all grouped in the same time zones.

Ultimately, if possible, you should have one moderator every 4 time zones...ie, one on the east coast of the US, one on the west coast of the US, one in the UK, etc...

the problem here is there are huge gaps that the spammers take advantage of....as Jack is a tech guy he should know that this place is lucky it hasn't had a serious attack considering the nature of a debate forum.

One guy with a little bit of knowledge and an axe to grind could easily take this site down...I would say that on a site of this nature it is even more important than normal to consider time zones.

But, just like last time, I expect this to fall on deaf ears.

Spammers and trouble-makers don't like heavily moderated sites, they look for sites that lack proper moderation or have huge gaps in moderation.

[Diogenes]

While we're at it...is there anyone besides Jason who has admin privileges?

What happens if he dies, gets hit by a car, falls off a mountain while rock climbing, is there anyone here who can assume the admin duties?

I have four admins on my site...I don't even need to be there to know things are taken care of.

What happens to this site if Jason is no longer able to perform administrative functions?

Does anyone here have foresight? Ever anticipate potential issues ' before ' they happen?

Bad moderator decisions
bad administrative decisions

just my honest opinion.

The entire moderator panel should be re-evaluated and set to time zones
at least one admin, preferably two, should be added to assume admin duties when Jason is not available to do so

[Jack]

The last time we sought moderators we only had a few volunteers and most of those nominated by the members withdrew. Right now we have 3 active mods, one in England and 2 in the U.S., West and East. It would be nice to have eyes on the site from the other side of the planet, but we can't assign mods, we can only evaluate volunteers.

[Diogenes]

The last time we sought moderators we only had a few volunteers and most of those nominated by the members withdrew. Right now we have 3 active mods, one in England and 2 in the U.S., West and East. It would be nice to have eyes on the site from the other side of the planet, but we can't assign mods, we can only evaluate volunteers.

If you only have 3 ' active ' mods then you should de-mod the inactive ones. And Jason should upgrade at least two active members ( not necessarily active mods )( in my opinion ) to admin.

Sorry Jack but I wouldn't even wait for volunteers...I made people admins and mods and global mods and never asked one of them if they wanted it...and never got a single complaint either.

To a man ( or woman ) they considered it a recognition of their value to the forum.

Ell' I never even told them I did it

they'd come on
' hey, what happened? '
me: I have no idea
' I'm a mod? '
me: looks like it
' cool, now who do I have to kill? '
me: spammers
' alrighty now, now where'd me axe be? '

[yukonmuffin]

The last time we sought moderators we only had a few volunteers and most of those nominated by the members withdrew. Right now we have 3 active mods, one in England and 2 in the U.S., West and East. It would be nice to have eyes on the site from the other side of the planet, but we can't assign mods, we can only evaluate volunteers.

You are the active mod, cruella is here often and chris is here once in a while.

I'd also vote for grandpa, he seems calm. I guess you can always remove them if they abuse their privlages right? Anyways, I'd think another go at recruitment would be worth it. What's there to lose?

[Jack]

If you only have 3 ' active ' mods then you should de-mod the inactive ones.

There are no inactive ones. There is only Jason, us and Sean (a sort of honorary mod).

[Angry Citizen]

I'm very satisfied with the moderation on this site. The spamming isn't atrocious, and is cleaned up promptly. Trolling is dealt with, although I do detect a hint of bias, in that the rabid and vitriolic Christian Conservative crowd is nixed faster/more often than the rabid and vitriolic Atheist Liberal crowd (not naming names here). I see no reason to add another moderator -- especially another one with decidedly left-wing views.

[Nono]

I agree that the moderation is pretty good at the moment.
If there's a spam attack, send each mod a PM and one of them is bound to turn up presently and put out the fire.

[Jack]

Trolling is dealt with, although I do detect a hint of bias, in that the rabid and vitriolic Christian Conservative crowd is nixed faster/more often than the rabid and vitriolic Atheist Liberal crowd (not naming names here).

I contend a review of our moderation will show that any perception of bias is unwarranted. I don't consider my personal agreement or disagreement with the opinions of a member relevant when moderating. The sole criteria is their willingness to abide by the forum rules. Those who have shown themselves to be unable to do so do not share any particular political or religious viewpoint. All they share is an inability or unwillingness to follow the rules like everyone else does, most often an inability or unwillingness to refrain from insulting other members.

[Maryjane]

I've wondered myself if permission could be given to someone just to have the authority to ban obvious trolls and spammers when the other mod's aren't around. As a stay up "all night" owl on the US east coast, I sympathize with those that have to put up with the annoyances when they fill up the boards until the next mod on shift arrives.