# Forum Mods



## Dragoneer (Dec 28, 2005)

I am looking for two forum mods looking to help out, contribute to the site and compile lists of user concerns, complaints and issues.

Apply here. State your experience, any reputation within the community and why you want to join. Note: reputation does not mean popularity.


----------



## Xax (Dec 28, 2005)

Okay so let's see.

*Experience*: My first several hundred forum posts on Sheezy were mostly me being the only helpful person ever in the "Help" forum. I know what the more common problems with FA are. I have a lot of free time. I can be really really polite when I have to (skills gained from internet fandom) and I actually enjoy helping clueless people. _I can type proper English._

*Reputation*: I THINK WE ALL KNOW HOW THIS WILL END. I'm part of the evil troll clique! This means half the users hate me and the other half distain me! And then there are the random people who think I'm a mod, I don't know what's up with that either. I don't really know what the actual mods think of me, but I bet it's not terribly flattering.

*Motives*: I am bored and this seems like it would be an entertaining timesink! and/or I would enjoy the drama and/or I think it would be hilarious for me to be an important community figure in Sheezy, Artplz, _and_ FurAffinity (well, I am already, but you know). ...do I get points at least for not whitewashing my intents? I'm a big fan of pointing out, by the way, that one does not need faultless intentions to do good. Also I really will try to turn down the confrontive behavior.

p.s. what does "contribute to the site" mean? As in, specifics.


----------



## Suule (Dec 28, 2005)

*Experience:* Currently moderating a polish fantasy community (forum) and LJ community drama awesome. IRCOping for over a year. Yeah yeah, you prolly all know that.

*Reputation:* Positive except for few people that have a bone to pick with me.

*Motives:* Money, power and women. But seriously - there's a lot to be done in the community and I'm willing to spend my time on it.


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

Xax said:
			
		

> _I can type proper English._
> ...This means half the users hate me and the other half *distain* me!


*g*. Good try! 

Nah; I'd say you're a good guy. We can't all be fluffy and likeable all the time. _*jk*_

Good point on the SA forums: even if you weren't the _only_ helpful person on there, there weren't exactly that many who were - nor on here, either. _*sigh*_). Mind you, the general atmosphere wasn't exactly conducive on SA...

I wouldn't worry, btw: the 'yena has a big pointy stick, if required.


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

Suule said:
			
		

> *Reputation:* Positive except for few people that have a bone to pick with me.


Hey, why should that be? You seem easy-going enough, Suule.



			
				Suule said:
			
		

> *Motives:* Money, power and women. But seriously - there's a lot to be done in the community and I'm willing to spend my time on it.


(And you haven't given up trying to help, yet. That's usually a good sign ^^)

_*picks through a few old, positive posts, bug reports, etc.*_
Thought you had a pretty good angle on things tech side, too?


----------



## Suule (Dec 28, 2005)

uncia2000 said:
			
		

> Hey, why should that be? You seem easy-going enough, Suule.



I'm not as easy-going as I may look like, trust me. 



			
				uncia2000 said:
			
		

> (And you haven't given up trying to help, yet. That's usually a good sign ^^)
> 
> _*picks through a few old, positive posts, bug reports, etc.*_
> Thought you had a pretty good angle on things tech side, too?



Websites aren't my line of work but I tend to pick up technical stuff easily. I have some experiences with beta testing private projects.


----------



## dave hyena (Dec 28, 2005)

*redacted then*


----------



## Suule (Dec 28, 2005)

You don't need to pull that out Dave. I've admitted that myself.



> I'm not as easy-going as I may look like, trust me.


----------



## CBee (Dec 28, 2005)

*Experience:* Can tell people to shut up in eight languages.

*Reputation:* Disliked by Grave, no idea why though.  

*Motives:* Shits n' giggles, really.


----------



## Taristin (Dec 28, 2005)

*is a moderator of 3 forums on a busy gaming forum site....*

www.hard-light.net/forums/

*is called "raa" there*

I'm the moderator of the General FS, FS Modding, and TVWP Forums >..>l

But that don't mean a lot, do eet?


----------



## Xax (Dec 28, 2005)

uncia2000 said:
			
		

> Xax said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I actually _checked the dictionary_ to see if that was correct syntax. It seemed kind of borderline.

...what no me I am totally not a dork, rly.


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

Xax said:
			
		

> ...what no me I am totally not a dork, rly.


'ware! Sense of humor, too... (Was that in the "job description"? )
Cheers, Xax!


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

CBee said:
			
		

> *Experience:* Can tell people to shut up in eight languages.


With or without http://babelfish.altavista.com/ ? 



			
				CBee said:
			
		

> *Reputation:* Disliked by Grave, no idea why though.
> 
> *Motives:* Shits n' giggles, really.


Will the 40 hour weeks for zero reward do anything to sober up that motive?

No probs with Grave, myself. A fair number of hair-trigger people around to whom it is very easy to give offense without intending to do so...


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

Taristin said:
			
		

> *is a moderator of 3 forums on a busy gaming forum site....*
> But that don't mean a lot, do eet?


Dunno. Best ask the 'yena 
Do you have a few dozen of them willing to stand up to say you're a trusted, level-headed individual?

Notice you hadn't been around the boards here much until recently, although you had donated to the community fund (_thx ^^_)
Was that primarily a focus on other commitments until things were getting back on their feet here? (And do you have plenty of slack on those to be able to spend the time over here instead/as well?)


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

Suule said:
			
		

> uncia2000 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the honesty! Appreciated 
Must admit it can be a delicate balance between more touchy-feely PR/dealing with user "issues" and the need to keep people in line if things get a bit rough. 



			
				Suule said:
			
		

> uncia2000 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Am sure being able to relate user issues to possible underlying technical issues has to be a "good thing" in the context, here.


----------



## Pico (Dec 28, 2005)

Pick me because you love me :*)


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

Pico said:
			
		

> Pick me because you love me :*)


Could it be all those wonderful threads?
http://www.furpawz.net/fa/forums/viewtopic.php?t=259 

_(Chalk up one for community spirit *g*)_


----------



## Pico (Dec 28, 2005)

uncia2000 said:
			
		

> Could it be all those wonderful threads?
> http://www.furpawz.net/fa/forums/viewtopic.php?t=259
> 
> _(Chalk up one for community spirit *g*)_



It's the best thread here, after all!!


----------



## Dragoneer (Dec 28, 2005)

Pico said:
			
		

> It's the best thread here, after all!!


Fo' sho!


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 28, 2005)

Dragoneer said:
			
		

> Pico said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Maybe what FA really needs is an official Jester? 
_(Sounds like a dangerous job role to me!)_

*g*. Like I said before, many of us ended up over on the AP fora to talk content/ideas since there wasn't much of that ilk going on over here... Or is that not what you meant? _*jk*_


----------



## Myr (Dec 29, 2005)

*Experience:* I've been an admin on the Alt.Fan.Dragons ezboard for a good two years. My original job was to stop the board from going into a tailspin by introducing new ideas and streamlining the user's experience with the forum. Then assist in its management with another member after the founder left. I've also worked in professional big ticket electronics sales and support for 4 years mainly selling, fixing other peoples' problems, and answering technical questions. I was formerly a soccer referee of 2 years for ages 8 to 18. I've also written 2 paid laptop reviews and provided accurate information for www.notebookreview.com (I am just a regular member there).

*Reputation:* I'm not aware of anyone on this forum that really knows "me". Thus, my reputation surely appears as a big ? to most of the people here. I am an artist trying to constantly improve how I draw and am slowly but surely gaining more attention around the dragon/scalies and fatfur communities as I improve those skills. I'm generally a perfectionist but do little to go put myself out in the spotlight. I do not to my knowledge have any types of conflicts with anyone here or on the site. Most people here would think of me as someone who just drops in when I have a point to make and then gets back out once it's clear.

*Motives:* I am a normal FA user. I view the site from the eyes of someone who uses it and frequents it. My interests primarily lay in streamlining things and polishing up things that are incomplete. I read a lot of things on FA and some on the forum despite not posting replies in it all. I have a couple of my own ideas and have seen some good ones from other people too along with minor issues. I'm not active-helpful to others, but that doesn't mean I won't answer questions from time to time. I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose.


----------



## Litre (Dec 29, 2005)

dragon man because he speeeek eeengleesh well.


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 29, 2005)

AuroranDragon said:
			
		

> *Experience:* I've been an admin on the Alt.Fan.Dragons ezboard for a good two years. My original job was to stop the board from going into a tailspin by introducing new ideas and streamlining the user's experience with the forum. Then assist in its management with another member after the founder left.


Have visited a few times. Didn't seem hugely busy, not that that's necessarily the sign of a good "community".

Agreed strongly with your comment here, "Your first reaction shouldn't be to kick or ban people. After some more chatting I was able to calm things down", even if that means you take flak and it doesn't _always_ work.
What would you have done with the Kimberleigh situation, for example?

Hey, be prepared to be wrong and apologise if so, too; http://www.furpawz.net/fa/forums/viewtopic.php?p=897&highlight=#897 *g*



			
				AuroranDragon said:
			
		

> *Motives:* I am a normal FA user. I view the site from the eyes of someone who uses it and frequents it. My interests primarily lay in streamlining things and polishing up things that are incomplete. I read a lot of things on FA and some on the forum despite not posting replies in it all. I have a couple of my own ideas and have seen some good ones from other people too along with minor issues.


I like the idea of "normal user" admins. Is it possible to keep that way whilst having a big stick (admin privs) in the other hand?

Oh, and "ideas"...? _*listens*_


----------



## Myr (Dec 29, 2005)

uncia2000 said:
			
		

> AuroranDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yep, it's not very busy like it used to be. When Sonarrat left things really died off. Those who are left are tight and most of our activity is targetted in the chat. When you and most of the other members have accounts with 3000+ (highest I saw was 10,000+ from WT) post counts, you've pretty much chatted, RP'ed, and discussed stuff so many times it's hard to come up with new ideas. All of that stuff is logged back in the older saved/closed forums.



> Agreed strongly with your comment here, "Your first reaction shouldn't be to kick or ban people. After some more chatting I was able to calm things down", even if that means you take flak and it doesn't _always_ work.
> What would you have done with the Kimberleigh situation, for example?


I'm not familiar with the Kimberleigh situation unfortunately. :/ What is that about?



> Hey, be prepared to be wrong and apologise if so, too; http://www.furpawz.net/fa/forums/viewtopic.php?p=897&highlight=#897 *g*


Yep, I know I've made my fair share of mistakes when in positions of power. >_< *remembers the soccer game 6 years ago where I botched a huge call* ugh...That stuff is hard to forget, but you've gotta go on. Live, learn, and don't do it again. At the end of my message at that link there's a "My bad " because I was in error.



> AuroranDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think it's possible. I don't even start thinking about the admin priviledges until someone proves to be a repeat troublemaker. I'm not around 24/7 and don't have the free time I used to have, so my mind doesn't need to do things to keep itself entertained.

The biggest ideas I had was to refine the way image categories were selected. I noticed that FA loves to default to cell shading. I'd rather see a system with 3 drop down menus. The first one you select the type of artwork, then it's genre, and then it's more specific category/species. DA does this over a series of 3 or 4 pages. FA does this on one but I think the menus would work a lot better and be less confusing if they were arranged as a series of drop down menus that update depending on what you select in the previous menu. It's like how graphics card driver updates are chosen. Here's another example: http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex1/chainedmenu/index.htm A variation on this could also be applied to to the species list or merged like I said above. There's a lot of possibilities for this type of arrangement, and the system cannot assume a value for the user like it does now.

I would also like to see things in categories for when you select Dragon: Other/unspecified it shows up still as a dragon when you search the main FA site rather than being clumped into a huge "other/unspecified" category that loses the Dragon or other species group. First time I put something into other/unspecified I thought it would show up as Dragon: other/unspecified just like Dragon: Male appears. Unfortunately, it got bundled into the generic other category.

Another idea was getting rid of those pages that load just to tell you you watched or didn't watch someone. I'd rather see -Watch or -Fav appear in red or orange bold so that you know you watched or fav'ed and don't have to load that extra page just to tell you what you did. I think this would also help the site since I see so much favoriting. A system alert would also be satisfactory.

The handling of flash stuff is also an issue right now. Or I should say missing entirely since it doesn't seem to work. :/

I also had ideas on an updated interface, but never drew them out.

Those are the bulk of my ideas, but just using the website provides further ideas for how the interface could be improved. I also had ideas for subscription-based services like a paid signiture graphic service since so many of us like to go out and use various forums online. A lot of those out there right now have limitations.


----------



## uncia2000 (Dec 29, 2005)

Thanks for all that!
(Methinks this thread is a good way to get extra ideas from people for the benefit of the community )



			
				AuroranDragon said:
			
		

> uncia2000 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ah.. that was related to http://www.furpawz.net/fa/forums/viewtopic.php?t=426 , etc., where an individual with a lengthy record of disruption elsewhere arrived on the board. (Kimberleigh = <Akilah> on that thread)

Was just a question along the lines as to whether you'd've acted sooner/later, in public/in private, etc.



			
				AuroranDragon said:
			
		

> uncia2000 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Had noticed that. No offense taken, I'm sure.
(Hey, a day is kinda boring if ya ain't blundered/misunderstood at least one or two things that _could_ cause personal embarrassment. Helps to remind oneself that "perfection" simply doesn't exist and best to disengage that ego and get on with life constructively!).


----------



## Myr (Dec 29, 2005)

uncia2000 said:
			
		

> AuroranDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I skimmed over that thread about Kimberleigh. I would personally definitely had made my presence known as soon as possible following Pico's post where he links to another website about her ban and also says "Not banned, you say? :*)". From what was told about Kim's history in prior posts she appears to be a repeat trouble maker and thus an admin presence is quickly required following a potentially provocative post like that. I would have let it be known that I'll keep my eyes on that thread (not anyone in particular) and also offered Kim a link to DA justifying it by saying many of the artists on FA are also on DA, but cannot post yiffy artwork on DA. That's it.

Around the lower half of the second page is when I would have issued a public warning that mentions no names, but demands that the name calling and attempts to provoke forum members be stopped immediately. Discussion about what should and should not be allowed is just fine and so are protective measures even if many of us find them rather rediculous. I'm still up that early in the morning. It's a forum and this sort of stuff is what goes on even if no one agrees with the subjects discussed. Getting everyone pissed off is not a good thing though. I think locking happened at an appropriate time in that thread, although an interjection by an admin earlier on could (though we'll never know for sure) have calmed some of the things that were going on.



> AuroranDragon said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Lol, and a lot of those can be great sources of entertainment later on as long as they're not too embarrassing.


----------

