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Staying on topic
The forums have a strict policy of staying on topic that is actively moderated (except in the personal blogs and other forums that are clearly marked as “unmoderated”).
This means that what a thread talks about is determined only by the person who starts the thread.
This has consequences…
1) If you start a thread you have the responsibility to state clearly what the topic is you want to discuss.
Before posting a new topic PLEASE read it through a few times and ask yourself “Could anyone else understand what it is I want to discuss?”. Finishing your new topic post with “Sorry if I’ve rambled on a bit… ” or the like means that the thread will most likely go feral within a few posts… and have to be closed down.
So if you think you have just rambled on without clarifying your thoughts.. then delete it and start again please.2) If you post on a thread something that has no obvious relevance to the first posting, then you are guilty of hijacking the thread.
Hi-jacking is a selfish behaviour that says that you think what you want to talk about is so important that the original discussion should be terminated.
It is also a lazy attitude that you can’t be bothered to find the right forum for what you want to post and start a new thread.An all too common off-topic post is to hi-jack a thread which is discussing a general issue with a post just about you telling everyone the latest news in your life.
Posts that are just about you go in your blog – which is there for you to write just whatever you feel like and in whatever threads you want.Please note that the moderators will sometimes move an off-topic post if it has clear value and its posting was a mistake.
But if time is short they can also delete a post that is obviously off-topic.
Particularly if… you write “I know this is off-topic…but…” . Those words just say to the moderator… DELETE!3) This isn’t the only forum on the internet.
If you don’t like the fact that the thread topics are moderated, and you are too lazy or busy to start your own well-thought out threads…then don’t complain as there are plenty of other forums you can join and freely express yourself at the expense of others.
Better still join Facebook which positively thrives on a lack of structured content. -
2 Replies
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Wandering off-topic seems to be on the rise again, and as it’s time for New Year’s resolutions, can we all try a bit harder please????
The most frequent problem now seems to be off-topic question asking.
Most of the posts we have to split (or mark as “poor” if time is short) ask a question.
What is wrong with this?
Well, the problem is that the question asked is NOT the one being discussed in the thread.
I’m sure most regular forum readers will have seen this type of post.For example (hypothetically):
In a thread providing information on places to go… someone posts
“I’ll be in Sydney this weekend. Anyone want to party with me?”
or
In a thread started with the question “Should I tell my doctor?” …. someone posts
“My doctor prescribed Wonderdrug for me yesterday. Does anyone else take this?”OK – it sounds funny – but it seriously devalues the coherence and long term value of our moderated forums (and creates work for moderators).
So… please review your replies before pressing Submit.
And make sure if there are any questions in your post – they are NOT invitations to others to answer YOUR question.Of course if you have a different question you want to ask – there is nothing to stop you asking it in a new topic thread. Just hit the New Topic button and not Reply.
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I have received an improvement suggestion from a member who felt that though many people were aware we had rules for posting on topic, perhaps they were not aware of the exact detail when they came to post a reply. The member suggested that a more dynamic check-list might help the overall compliance.
I don’t want anyone to be inhibited from using the forums, but I also want to cut the considerable moderator overhead of editing posts that wander off topic. So I’ve implemented such an enhancement to replies made in the moderated forum..
When you reply by pressing the submit button in a moderated forum you will now find an extra screen pops up. It offers a review of the message you have typed and asks three questions to help you stay on topic.
If your answers to the questions indicate that you are on topic a second submit button appears which actually posts your message to the forum.
The edit to the site was a little bit “creative” so if you find anything doesn’t work as expected please let me know.