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A few little changes around the place...

 
  

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Tom Coates
12:37 / 01.05.03
Ok then. Just so as you don't think that you've been completely abandoned by Cal and I, I'd like to announce a few small changes that have been made around the board to help keep the place tidy and elegant...

Firstly you should notice that you can now PREVIEW any post you make on the board before you post it. This is a tremendous piece of functionality to finally have and I think you'll find it really useful. Could people PLEASE use these particularly when they're posting images to the site...

Secondly, ANY THREAD-STARTING PERSON can now suggest an edit to the title and summary of the topic in question... The link is "moderate thread" and it's at the bottom of the page.

Thirdly, threads can now be locked by moderators (this stops subsequent posting on the thread). They can also be unlocked, I believe... Again - this is a distributed thing. It takes two or three votes to make it happen (we'll refine that later)...

For moderators:
1) You can now see NOT ONLY WHO IS SUGGESTING THE MODERATION ACTION, but - where pertinent - the originator of the thread in question. That should speed up some kinds of decisions.
2) The 'reference' link should now take you to the correct post in a thread, even if it's not on the front page.
3) You can now lock threads.
4) Lots of other minor changes...

All thoughts and input gratefully received...
 
 
The Strobe
12:50 / 01.05.03
Tom: locking threads. Under what circumstances? I can understand someone starting, say, another Matrix Reloaded one and a mod going "we have one of theses. It's here. (URL)" and then locking it... but what else?

I mean, locking and off-topicness... do we lock threads when they've gone sufficiently offtopic? I'd hope not - in some ways, retitling that is easy. It's just we have the ability, but not guidelines for what to do. Deleting threads I can understand... but I can think of lots of reasons why a mod would lock a thread, and I'm not sure which are acceptable.
 
 
The Strobe
12:53 / 01.05.03
Also: as far as I can tell, previewing doesn't work in Mozilla. Or at least, Mozilla 1.3 on PC.
 
 
Tom Coates
13:03 / 01.05.03
Well as with all other bits of functionality on the board, because no one can decide to go along with their conscience and lock a thread when they think it should be locked without really having to think too much about it. BUT, I would say that threads should be locked when a new thread about the same subject has been started and which has taken over the main thrust of the debate (for example) or MAYBE when a thread has deteriorated in quality to such a ludicrous extent that it's unsavable and / or getting abusive. Maybe you could think of it as a 'break it up, guys' kind of thing?
 
 
Spatula Clarke
13:19 / 01.05.03
I notice that there's not currently any way of telling if a thread is locked other than attempting to reply to it and being told you can't. It might make life easier if the reply link was disabled on locked threads, or replaced by a 'Thread locked' message.
 
 
Tom Coates
13:21 / 01.05.03
Yup. That's in the works...
 
 
Spatula Clarke
13:43 / 01.05.03
You the Man.
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
23:04 / 01.05.03
FWIW, if a thread in the Head Shop or Gathering, or indeed Creation altohugh that is harder to judge, goes hopelessly off topic I move to have it moved to the Conversation, and leave it to the mods there to move it back if it goes ontopic if it seems necessary. Locking threads in the case of persistent spamming might be justified but I'd be uncomfortable doing it. The pre-existent threads argument is probably the best example...
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
01:01 / 02.05.03
As far as I could tell, locking threads is basically either a) because they're important, announcement-stylee threads and not open for debate or b) so they'll sink like a stone. Both of which I think are good.
 
 
Who's your Tzaddi?
03:16 / 02.05.03
I really love the preview.
Cheers!
Where is my HTML? All my posts are disheveled now!
Jeers!
 
 
Tom Coates
14:03 / 02.05.03
What do you mean "Where is your HTML"? What specifically is the problem? When I do a preview on something the HTMl seems to work perfectly...
 
 
Ganesh
15:25 / 02.05.03
Very nice - I particularly like the Preview Post option.

On a slight tangent, Tom, there's a lot of fairly heavy moderation going on at present - plus a rise in old-style spamming/trolling behaviour. I think it's appropriate to consider appointing more multi-forum Administrators, as previously mooted. Going by who's around most often and who's around in the wee sma' hours when moderators are generally thin on the ground, I nominate Haus, Lurid and Rothkoid...
 
 
grant
16:39 / 02.05.03
Rothkoid might be the most useful just because of his timezone.
 
 
Ganesh
21:55 / 02.05.03
Yep.
 
 
Tom Coates
00:37 / 03.05.03
What's the issue with the moderation?
 
 
Char Aina
01:18 / 03.05.03
cheers once again for being you, tom.

all good changes.
well, except that you confused me... does ANY THREAD STARTING PERSON mean anyone who has ever started a thread, anyone who has the ability to do so, or the person who started the relevant thread?

aye. no biggy.


also, am i supposed to be able to use HTML to alter sizes and colours in posts? cos i can't, and i would like to. (sizes more so, but both would be grand)
 
 
Spatula Clarke
10:43 / 03.05.03
On therad locking, it could also help to prevent some moderator decisions getting attacked. I know I've moved to delete a new thread before because it asks exactly the same questions as an old one, only for the moderation action to be agreed before the thread starter revisited the board. Now I can lock it instead, PM whoever and delete it at a later date.

Only the person who sytarted the releveant thread, toksik. Otherwise you might just as well have an unmoderated board again.

HTML is limited to certain things to stop the board from looking like somebody's scrawled all over the walls.
 
 
Lurid Archive
13:05 / 03.05.03
FTR, I am now an admin, for a little while anyway.

Just so you know who to blame when you are bundled into the back of that black van...
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
17:37 / 03.05.03
Yeah, well don't get all bigheaded just because your mate Tom made you an admin. *pouts*
 
 
Tom Coates
17:58 / 03.05.03
Hahaha. Sorry about the sudden influx of admins everyone - I took advice from Ganesh about the current need to make a few more, and just took his suggestions on face-value. I'm actually trying to get the site to the next stage of self-management as we speak, so maybe there won't be such a need for administrators then...
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
07:04 / 04.05.03
Woohoo! Done and done.

Tom: has much more HTML been screwed down?
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
20:29 / 04.05.03
also, am i supposed to be able to use HTML to alter sizes and colours in posts?

Lord Jesus.

I think this goes in ahead of picture Ids and sigs on things to avoid like the plague on Barbelith HTML enablement...
 
 
w1rebaby
20:46 / 04.05.03
has blockquote been allowed yet?
 
 
w1rebaby
20:47 / 04.05.03
apparently not... we need blockquote

*stamps foot*
 
 
Tom Coates
23:01 / 04.05.03
It's hardly a priority! But I'll have a go at persuading Cal to put it in when we do the next round of changes...
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
09:13 / 05.05.03
Are everyone else's cookies working okay? I'm just checking this board a couple of times a day and getting stuff lit up as new that hasn't changed since the last time I looked. It's always been a bit dodgy on my version of IE6 but seems to have been worse this weekend.
 
 
grant
15:30 / 05.05.03
Mine's been like that since mid-February, I think, if not longer.

I'm not sure if it's because I'm logged in on a couple different computers at once.
 
 
Char Aina
20:51 / 06.05.03
I think this goes in ahead of picture Ids and sigs on things to avoid like the plague on Barbelith HTML enablement...

what are you scared of?
i understood the arguments against sigs and pictures, but why not text size for emphasis?
 
 
ONLY NICE THINGS
21:04 / 06.05.03
I would suggeest for the same reasons that we don't have different coloured text, they being:

a) Emphasis can be shown perfectly well with the HTML and ASCII notation available.

b) Changing text size makes text harder to read, and will just result in a new and exciting way for people to SHOUT WHEN THEY DON'T FEEL OTHERS ARE LISTENING!!!! (In their pomp, some Barbeloids could very easily hit 96pt just asking who likes tea).

c) This isn't a My Little Ponies site. As such, big text, teeny text (when you are feeling abashed), brightly coloured text and blinking text, generally consigned to the dustbin of web design and quite right too, seem unnecessary complications. I just don't see a case for. What would it add that isn't already done by bold or italic text, _undersoring_, *asterisk denotation*, and so on?


On another note - administrators appear to have the power to move that posters be warned and banned. Any guidelines on how those work, and under what circs they should be considered?
 
 
Char Aina
11:45 / 07.05.03
i would be mostly interested in using the smaller text, for whispering.

the more expressive the better, i feel.
besides, i never really understood what *these* meant, and i wasnt aware of anyone using _these_.


as to your (seeming) disdain, if i recall correctly you think we are all children anyway for pretending to be ninjas, so i am unsurprised.
 
 
cusm
12:39 / 07.05.03
True ninja prefer the simple beauty of softly spoken plain text.
 
 
Bear
13:48 / 07.05.03
How about spoiler tags? I've seen those on other sites and quite a bit of spoilage goes on here (X-men 2 for example!!), works the same as bold tags but it makes the text invisible - or is that too cheesy for Barbelith?
 
 
gingerbop
22:14 / 07.05.03
Euch- please, not the coloured fonts- as if computers dont make our eyes funny enough as it is.
 
 
Spatula Clarke
23:14 / 07.05.03
Posts with different sized fonts simply look ugly. You want to make an aside? Bracket it. Easy.

Those spoiler posts are pretty daft, too. As long as there's a visible warning in a post and a bit of space between it and the spoilers themselves there's not problem. The only people reading on will be those who want to. The idea of having to go through a thread dragging on every other post just because I want to read it doesn't appeal.
 
 
Char Aina
00:21 / 08.05.03
(now would have been a great time to explain the * and _ to me, which i was kinda fishing for... never mind)


having the option obviously leaves everyone else cold;
you do all realise though that natural selection would take place, and thee things would be used only as much as they were succesful?

if spolier text was annoying, it would soon die a death, as would the ability to post in colour.(which incidentally was never my primary want, small text was)
 
  

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