Revamping the Forum Categories

[Sunsettommy]

Really the forum mods banned someone 31 times, how come he get reinstated over and over.......?

He was never reinstated. NONE of our chronic sock issues get officially reinstated. The old codger learned about proxies and VPNs. Spent most of his retirement buying about 6 of those. So he doesn't get caught by the "robo-mod" that alerts us on registrations issues.

However, no one should think that hiding behind ANY proxy hinders our ability to investigate and sleuth them down once they break and enter again. Average time to figure this out is about 3 days. Not gonna get any deeper into that.

Ok.

Then he wasn't banned 31 times because he never got reinstated..... or reapproved to post again?

It is the POLICY at Watts Up With That? to never allow any proxy based registrations be approved, thus they never get their foot in the door in the first place. Also all FIRST posts requires moderator approval, which allows for checking their registration details, if there is a Proxy, bad e-mail or spam history, they get deleted or placed on Spam list.

Since I joined as a Moderator nearly 4 years ago, the bogus registration success rate has nearly vanished in part because I strongly advocate checking their registration details when their first post shows up in Moderation.

I have caught David Appell a few times (he registered before I became a mod and was banned years ago) because he was approved to comment, but not anymore when I complained that he gets approved over and over using a new name or with a stolen members name along with a PROXY (his favorite method) to get around the ban.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Here is what I think would help improve the forum. Yes, do combine and trim by at least a third, if not more.

After doing that, rearrange the basement in such a way that there is one dedicated to hyperpartisan threads that amount to nothing more than monkeys flinging poop. If all a thread is designed to do is taunt and troll, put it there. If it is the case that an otherwise decent thread becomes hopelessly fubar, put that in a different category. Maybe you already do something akin to that, I don't know because I don't pay close attention.

Once you have the monkeys flinging poop forum, create a three strikes policy where the third time a childish poster does this, they are limited to the basement for a certain amount of time with increasing lengths if they continue to do nothing but fling poop.

This policy would involve no censorship per se as it would only determine where people are saying things and not censoring what was said. By separating out the habitual poop throwers, the upstairs forums would be improved.

 

[flacaltenn]

Here is what I think would help improve the forum. Yes, do combine and trim by at least a third, if not more.

After doing that, rearrange the basement in such a way that there is one dedicated to hyperpartisan threads that amount to nothing more than monkeys flinging poop. If all a thread is designed to do is taunt and troll, put it there. If it is the case that an otherwise decent thread becomes hopelessly fubar, put that in a different category. Maybe you already do something akin to that, I don't know because I don't pay close attention.

Once you have the monkeys flinging poop forum, create a three strikes policy where the third time a childish poster does this, they are limited to the basement for a certain amount of time with increasing lengths if they continue to do nothing but fling poop.

This policy would involve no censorship per se as it would only determine where people are saying things and not censoring what was said. By separating out the habitual poop throwers, the upstairs forums would be improved.

It's easy to Forum ban people. Almost impossible to confine them to a single or group of forums. Because if that confinement is not permanent, it has to be constantly reviewed and managed for each member so confined. And that requires Admin level cooperation on every single request.

Mod Staff has free discretion on the rules and daily operations (apparently, subject to change), but doing the equivalent of managing every forum access privileges is a monstrous job. IF we forum ban right now -- it's expected to be a permanent change and only from a single forum.

Badlands is for threads that can't be moderated any longer because they've degraded to poo slinging. RRoom is the annex for that with titles and topics that have NO chance of anything other than poo slinging from Post 1.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Here is what I think would help improve the forum. Yes, do combine and trim by at least a third, if not more.

After doing that, rearrange the basement in such a way that there is one dedicated to hyperpartisan threads that amount to nothing more than monkeys flinging poop. If all a thread is designed to do is taunt and troll, put it there. If it is the case that an otherwise decent thread becomes hopelessly fubar, put that in a different category. Maybe you already do something akin to that, I don't know because I don't pay close attention.

Once you have the monkeys flinging poop forum, create a three strikes policy where the third time a childish poster does this, they are limited to the basement for a certain amount of time with increasing lengths if they continue to do nothing but fling poop.

This policy would involve no censorship per se as it would only determine where people are saying things and not censoring what was said. By separating out the habitual poop throwers, the upstairs forums would be improved.

It's easy to Forum ban people. Almost impossible to confine them to a single or group of forums. Because if that confinement is not permanent, it has to be constantly reviewed and managed for each member so confined. And that requires Admin level cooperation on every single request.

Mod Staff has free discretion on the rules and daily operations (apparently, subject to change), but doing the equivalent of managing every forum access privileges is a monstrous job. IF we forum ban right now -- it's expected to be a permanent change and only from a single forum.

Badlands is for threads that can't be moderated any longer because they've degraded to poo slinging. RRoom is the annex for that with titles and topics that have NO chance of anything other than poo slinging from Post 1.

O.k.


Could we at least have a poppiest monkey award, though? The competition would be FIERCE.

 

[Pogo]

We should have a republican party room and a Democrat party room. Put general discussion under politics and current events.

No, just No. Are we not divided enough? Moreover there are more "None of the Above" people than either of those parties, and we'd all be shut out. Besides which, in such an artificial dichotomy, inevitably any discussion of "Democrats" would necessarily invoke discussion of "Republicans" and vice versa. It would be meaningless.

In the past, don't know if it still goes on, there have been special interest PM groups along those lines. They were not very interesting in this writer's experience. At best, strategy sessions for how to approach the next gotcha topic, and a whole lotta gossip.

Yes just yes. Several other political forums I'm a member of have sections for each party. Repub, demoncrat, libertarian, etc. It's great. But your party affiliation on your profile must match in order for you to be able to post there.

Setting up something like that would by definition REQUIRE everybody to pigeonhole him/herself into one side or the other side of a false dichotomy. People are not political parties. Political parties are tools used by office-seekers. They do not, and can not, define a person --- that's what a board like this, and by extension the culture at large, already suffers from. Unless one is literally employed by, and managing some of the affairs of, a political party, and that's a tiny tiny set of persons, classifying them as "Demoplican" or "Republicrat" is meaningless and counterproductive.

Kierkegaard said, "when you label me, you negate me". Labeling is a convenient crutch, a version of Strawman, to allow an unskilled rhetorician to attack a concept (political party as defined by adversary) instead of the individual they're actually talking to. So it's basically dishonest.

 

[Gracie]

Bring back groups.

 

[Mortis]

How about a format that can see in "real time". Kinda like being on Twitter. In some cases, we can see the posts/comments without having to refresh the page. Just a suggestion.

 

[Sunsettommy]

Here is what I think would help improve the forum. Yes, do combine and trim by at least a third, if not more.

After doing that, rearrange the basement in such a way that there is one dedicated to hyperpartisan threads that amount to nothing more than monkeys flinging poop. If all a thread is designed to do is taunt and troll, put it there. If it is the case that an otherwise decent thread becomes hopelessly fubar, put that in a different category. Maybe you already do something akin to that, I don't know because I don't pay close attention.

Once you have the monkeys flinging poop forum, create a three strikes policy where the third time a childish poster does this, they are limited to the basement for a certain amount of time with increasing lengths if they continue to do nothing but fling poop.

This policy would involve no censorship per se as it would only determine where people are saying things and not censoring what was said. By separating out the habitual poop throwers, the upstairs forums would be improved.

It's easy to Forum ban people. Almost impossible to confine them to a single or group of forums. Because if that confinement is not permanent, it has to be constantly reviewed and managed for each member so confined. And that requires Admin level cooperation on every single request.

Mod Staff has free discretion on the rules and daily operations (apparently, subject to change), but doing the equivalent of managing every forum access privileges is a monstrous job. IF we forum ban right now -- it's expected to be a permanent change and only from a single forum.

Badlands is for threads that can't be moderated any longer because they've degraded to poo slinging. RRoom is the annex for that with titles and topics that have NO chance of anything other than poo slinging from Post 1.

The software doesn't allow mod/admins to create a group to confine members into and keep them from the rest of the main board?

Would this help?

=====

Can do this easily in myBB software. In one forum I have moderated the owner sometimes place a problem member into the SANDBOX forum, which then prevents the member from posting elsewhere but can post in the SANDBOX, where only Moderators can see the comments posted as it is invisible from the public.

 

[Mortis]

Can do this easily in myBB software. In one forum I have moderated the owner sometimes place a problem member into the SANDBOX forum, which then prevents the member from posting elsewhere but can post in the SANDBOX, where only Moderators can see the comments posted as it is invisible from the public.

I saw the link, does it show new comments/posts in "real time"? I mean, the one I used to make, it shows comments/posts in real time...it scrolls automatically. So, when a member logs in, they can easily see the new posts or comments that was just made seconds ago. Kinda like Twitter. But Twitter doesn't automatically scroll.

 

[Sunsettommy]

Can do this easily in myBB software. In one forum I have moderated the owner sometimes place a problem member into the SANDBOX forum, which then prevents the member from posting elsewhere but can post in the SANDBOX, where only Moderators can see the comments posted as it is invisible from the public.

I saw the link, does it show new comments/posts in "real time"? I mean, the one I used to make, it shows comments/posts in real time...it scrolls automatically. So, when a member logs in, they can easily see the new posts or comments that was just made seconds ago. Kinda like Twitter. But Twitter doesn't automatically scroll.

Try this link,

LINK

 

[Mortis]

Try this link,

LINK

Yes, I have seen this feature. But here is an example of what I was saying. This site where I am a member of, shows people "tweeting" in real time. So, you can actually see the people posting comments and posts without refreshing the whole page. It scrolls for you automatically. Remind you, this is NOT Twitter. But similar.

 

[Stryder50]

Hopefully not too late to kick in this idea, but given how much History is a part of everything; "The Past shapes the Present which shapes the Future", I'd suggest sub-dividing the "History" (sub)forum into some division by time periods. This is admittedly a bit Western Civ. centrist, but perhaps;

> PreHistorical ~ Big Bang to @c. 6000-4000 BC. (Up to the start of earliest civilizations and written records.)
> Ancient to Classical ~ @c. 6000-4000 BC -500 AD (From state of the first/earliest civilizations (Egypt~Sumer~Indus~???) to the Fall of the Roman Empire.)
>Middle Ages ~ @c. 500AD -@c. 1450AD
> Exploration and Colonization ~ @c.1450 - 1775 AD
> Industrial Age ~ @c. 1775 - 1900(1890?) AD
> Modern Era ~ @c. 1900 to the present AD

Organizing "History" per time eras would make that area~subforum a bit more usable and user friendly I should think.

 

[rightwinger]

Hopefully not too late to kick in this idea, but given how much History is a part of everything; "The Past shapes the Present which shapes the Future", I'd suggest sub-dividing the "History" (sub)forum into some division by time periods. This is admittedly a bit Western Civ. centrist, but perhaps;

> PreHistorical ~ Big Bang to @c. 6000-4000 BC. (Up to the start of earliest civilizations and written records.)
> Ancient to Classical ~ @c. 6000-4000 BC -500 AD (From state of the first/earliest civilizations (Egypt~Sumer~Indus~???) to the Fall of the Roman Empire.)
>Middle Ages ~ @c. 500AD -@c. 1450AD
> Exploration and Colonization ~ @c.1450 - 1775 AD
> Industrial Age ~ @c. 1775 - 1900(1890?) AD
> Modern Era ~ @c. 1900 to the present AD

Organizing "History" per time eras would make that area~subforum a bit more usable and user friendly I should think.

Dont think you would get much interest in anything but Modern Era.....maybe some Civil War stuff

 

[Stryder50]

Hopefully not too late to kick in this idea, but given how much History is a part of everything; "The Past shapes the Present which shapes the Future", I'd suggest sub-dividing the "History" (sub)forum into some division by time periods. This is admittedly a bit Western Civ. centrist, but perhaps;

> PreHistorical ~ Big Bang to @c. 6000-4000 BC. (Up to the start of earliest civilizations and written records.)
> Ancient to Classical ~ @c. 6000-4000 BC -500 AD (From state of the first/earliest civilizations (Egypt~Sumer~Indus~???) to the Fall of the Roman Empire.)
>Middle Ages ~ @c. 500AD -@c. 1450AD
> Exploration and Colonization ~ @c.1450 - 1775 AD
> Industrial Age ~ @c. 1775 - 1900(1890?) AD
> Modern Era ~ @c. 1900 to the present AD

Organizing "History" per time eras would make that area~subforum a bit more usable and user friendly I should think.

Dont think you would get much interest in anything but Modern Era.....maybe some Civil War stuff

This board/forum has one of the largest and most diverse memberships I've come across so far, so it's possible it might get more traction than you expect.

Admittedly, there are some mostly history forums already out there, but I've noticed the "main" ones tend to have some political slant and bias among members and moderators, so a more open forum like this (USMB) could lend towards more open and objective considerations and input than seen elsewhere.

Just one example(of many) is examination of the whole Israel~Palestine situation which has historical roots and foundations that can go back as far as about 2000 BC when Abram makes a 'pact' with YHWH, becoming Abraham, and that set in motion an "ethnic" that has played a major role since then in the Middle East region.

Which then spun off the Christian and later the Islamic variations and complications.

 

[$ecular#eckler]

I started a conversation with the other moderators earlier today, but thought I would also solicit the board to see everyone's thoughts in general for suggestions of what some of you may want to see added or changed. I'm looking for constructive comments, please. Thanks

I would like to suggest a complex hierachy system that is in an effort to advance the forum to achieve the goal of properly deliberating issues. The following is a list of the most general categories. What we want to do is see if we can get agreement to this list, and then we can negotiate the further hierarchies.


Forum Administration
Rules & Announcements
Formal Debates

United States
Constitution
Congress
Administration
Courts
Economics
Social Issues

States
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Southwest
Northwest

International
Africa
Asia
Australia
Europe
Middle East
North America
South America
South Pacific

Forum Community
Member Introductions
General Interests
Nature
Technology
Health
History
Culture
Taunting Area

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

You could merge the History Forum with the Conspiracy Forum. There's hardly any difference between those two.

Yeah..well...not really..but here at USMB..you do have a point~

 

[miketx]

The hieroglyphics and the chariot racing forums are starting to get a bit stale.

 

[Sunsettommy]

I've been thinking for a few days now that maybe we should come up with a new format for the layout of the forum with some different thread categories. Maybe we eliminate some old ones (like the Election 2016 forum), perhaps merge a few, change the names of some so their purpose is more clear, and maybe add a category or two (like Second Amendment). We have a lot of different thread groups out there and some are hardly used, some are outdated, and some could be named better. I'm just looking for some better organization.

I started a conversation with the other moderators earlier today, but thought I would also solicit the board to see everyone's thoughts in general for suggestions of what some of you may want to see added or changed. I'm looking for constructive comments, please. Thanks

It has been over 6 months now and no indication this will happen.

Does this mean the idea of cleaning up this boated front page is dropped?

 

[Larsky]

Global discussion could be pared down to a single forum.

 

[rightwinger]

It has been over 6 months now and no indication this will happen.

Does this mean the idea of cleaning up this boated front page is dropped?

Looks like it won’t be happening

We are stuck with the same forum structure from 10 years ago
I wonder what the Tea Party is up to?