Stronger moderation in General forums?

[sac02]

Has this been brought up before? (sorry, I rarely read this sub-forum)

It occurred to me to post this after I saw the creation of a new subforum for vintage tools just now.

The "General" forums are regularly cluttered with threads that HAVE a sub-forum dedicated to them, but threads aren't placed correctly by the OP. (or moved by a mod)

For example, in the General Tools forum, there are almost always a handful of these posts on the first page:

• "Hey guyz, I found this Hot Deal and thought you'd like to know about it"
• "Hey guyz, I had a really good/bad experience with Vendor 'X' and thought you'd like to read this Review"
• "Hey guyz, Please watch this youtube video I made for a Product Review"
• "Hey guyz, I just bought a welder, can you give me some Fabrication & Technique tips?"

IMO, it would make the GJ experience better if the Mod team was a bit more proactive about moving threads into the sub-forum that already exists for that topic.

If you tell me to, I'll start flagging/reporting them, but I kinda feel like an ******* doing that to more than the occasional spam post...

Also, I think you should create one new subforum specifically for two types of posts:
"Snap-on is too expensive and isn't worth it!" and
"HF is cheap chinese junk and isn't worth it!"
That would cut the clutter out of the General Tool Discussion forum by about 40%...
(The above suggestion of a new forum to contain the whining is a joke, but I wouldn't mind seeing less of those posts...)

 

[McFarmer]

I pay no attention to sub-forums.

Just hit the "new posts" and go.

 

[e30bradley]

I think GJ is fine with all the 'clutter' you speak of.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I pay no attention to sub-forums.

Just hit the "new posts" and go.

Me too.

 

[4xdog]

I pay no attention to sub-forums.

Just hit the "new posts" and go.

Exactly what I do, too. I only use subforums when looking for a recent thread.

 

[mtwaterguy]

If the mods moved posts to their correct section and deleted those that broke listing rules there wouldn't be much content. Free parking and the classifieds both would only have two or three new posts per day. Might be a good thing.

 

[Zeke]

You can't make a message board perfect. This one is pretty good and very fast.

 

[sac02]

To those that would respond with variations of "There's not THAT many", "It's fine the way it is", "Just ignore it"

Tell me then, why were the subforums created in the first place?

I agree that a forum is no good when there are 1000 different highly specific subforums. But a forum is also no good when there is one general forum for too wide topic range.

IMO, GJ has a good balance on the number of subforums currently - 6 for Garages, 3 for Tools, and 5 for Other (classifieds, reviews, etc). I'm not suggesting a new subforum (except for the "whining about HF/SO" forum).

I just think it would be nice to see threads that obviously belong in an already-existing subforum, moved to the proper place. Kind of like my toolbox - a place for everything, and everything in its place.

 

[Ryan]

I do the best I can... Sometimes that's pretty damned good. Sometimes, not so much...

 

[Strouty]

The best thing would be if you wanted to start a new thread, you were required to search first. Another thought would be requiring posters to read the entire thread before filling it up with the same thoughts over and over. Another thought would be to add to more subjects to the list of naughty bits, harbor freight and snap on.

 

[sac02]

Ryan, based on your response - are you (as admin) the only one that can move posts? If so, I can definitely see how that would be hard for one person to keep up with. Or are mods authorized to move posts as well?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Ryan, based on your response - are you (as admin) the only one that can move posts? If so, I can definitely see how that would be hard for one person to keep up with. Or are mods authorized to move posts as well?

Ryan has already gone offline as like the rest of us, he has a life too and can't spend hours here everyday. He also has a few other forums that take his attention too, along with a wife, kids, a garage, hobbies and life in general.

To answer your question, the Mod staff can move posts and threads, merge them, close or delete them.

There are Mods across the US in various time zones, including Simon who is in Australia and we try to catch what we can but we can not catch it all.

 

[CJM8515]

I dont look at anything but hit new posts all the time.

 

[404]

Look at new posts. If the thread title is not something I want to read I don't click on it. Works for me.

GJ is a great font of information, and I do search for old posts on subjects I am interested in. I want to see GJ stay around, and that means giving mods less busy work to do not more.

Regards,
404

 

[PelicanPines]

I only use "new posts" and the search feature for direction of what to read. The outline organization doesn't matter to me.

 

[HOTFR8]

IMO, it would make the GJ experience better if the Mod team was a bit more proactive about moving threads into the sub-forum that already exists for that topic.

We are not all seeing so we may not see what you see. We all have other things to do besides helping run this place. Some time I wish posters would look before they posted so it was in the correct forum section.

If you tell me to, I'll start flagging/reporting them, but I kinda feel like an ******* doing that to more than the occasional spam post...

No. You are not an *******. In fact by reporting you help get the topic fixed or resolved faster. In you report just say why you are reporting it.

Ryan, based on your response - are you (as admin) the only one that can move posts? If so, I can definitely see how that would be hard for one person to keep up with. Or are mods authorized to move posts as well?

All Mods can move posts and as Eric said some of us are in very different time zones so the forum has a Mod on line most of the time.

 

[creativecars]

I think the mods do an admirable job. I usually look at "New" postings. But I do poke around here and there. Would it be better for some post be moved to other areas? sure. But there is a learning curve for new posters to figure out how we get along here. Some get banned or moved along pretty quickly and that too is learning who, what, when, where, why and how to post. And when NOT to.
Good job mods, I appreciate the job you do.

BTW, I am still learning how I like to use this forum.

 

[allinon72]

I've been apart of a lot of forums, and I'll tell you that extreme fragmention of a forum via subforums will lead to its ultimate demise. This condition is usually driven by busy bodies who create posts like this because they just cannot stand to see a post out of place.

 

[T-Mac]

I have had posts moved before and was thankful for the help.

 

[Chaznsc]

I am a member of several forums of varying topics. GJ is, by a long shot, the best moderated forum I've been involved in. The moderators are consistent with their moderation, which is rare and critically important.

I too, see messages that don't belong "wherever" but that's really not the fault of the moderators.

Cheers!