I had a thread closed yesterday in the 3D section.. it had gone slightly off topic, but only until the next day after an event, the loss was that it had pics from an event previous and info about our club and how to get there. the irony is that after today the thread really no longer served a purpose and was destined to drift into the archives.
I don't want to compare the old and new, and i've not yet found out why it was closed but the old way was to nuke astray posts or lock the thread, this left what was there for others to see at least. the new way seems to be the thread just disappears off the face of the planet with no warning.

so, as far as i know the mods have their own forum, and part of that is !QUOT!watched threads!QUOT! or something close. they also get all your reports when you click that little report link. so.... there is a process.. a chance to set things right before it thread goes AWOL

so what i'm asking, is as the thread starters we do get the choice to delete the thread if we edit the first post ( we can still do that right? ) should members also be given the ability to wipe posts from their own thread to keep it on topic, or to clear clutter thats no longer needed.
Should the thread starter also be notified when his thread has been reported, and/or the mods send that person a mail describing the problem and corrections required, or !QUOT!they will do it for you!!QUOT!
and do we deserve a mail at least when our thread is wiped as to why and how to appeal if we feel the decision is unfair.


Should members have a degree of self moderation control??
Should the mods give warnings and reasons?

No. I’ve monitored many different message boards over the past few years and have concluded that threads going astray from the original topic is as certain as death and taxes. It can be very frustrating if it’s your thread gong astray. If topic originators were given the authority to delete post then opinion topics could become very one sided. For example if I started a thread that proclaimed a certain plane to be totally awful then zapped any opposing opinion post… You know where I’m going right? A lot of people would abuse that authority if given the opportunity. The best you can do is, in a tactfully and cleaver way, attempt to bring the topic back around to get the information your seeking.

If your thread totally disappears I believe you are entitled an explanation why, either through a PM or e-mail.

I also believe if a thread has been reported, a moderator should immediately jump into the thread and state the fact with a warning that the thread is in jepordy of being deleted or locked. Give the participating members an opportunity to straighten things out (if it's not too late).

I agree, no moderating your own posts

We'd have the lunatics running the assylum. A warning and explanation should be posted for all to read.

We have been over this before. Many warnings of how post will be removed if they go way off topic. The way you can help keep a thread on topic is to report to moderator if you see a thread going off topic and lets the mods remove the offending post. Thats easy enough, and somewhat self moderating for the thread starter and members. .

Although I mostly read the clubhouse, as I dont have any 3d planes, and the kit section rarely has posts about my planes.
I must say MikeL does a great job over there. He will post a friendly little reminder that this thread is going off topic and is in danger of being axed. I dont agree that threads should be axed without reason. If I wanted communism, I'd move to China. Good or bad thread it should stay up with an explaination why it got chopped.

My $.02

this is good, i hadn't thought of the abbuse part of it and i would agree totaly with that.
that thread about the "stupid" trooper wouldn't have been much fun if he could have wipped it.

i've asked Marc where my thread went and asked if he can bring it back, all be it locked if ness just so the pics are there, so my thread isn't an issue here. we all know mods who do give fair warning and reasons before closing a thread ( not wiping ) Mike would come to mind. but recently a few threads have just disapeared into the unknown.

to save mods having to waste time explaining themselves in PM's ect, what about an automatic system that sent a mail to the starter when the thread was reported, all it would say is which thread, which post. no info on who reported. this would be your first chance to visit your thread and correct.
on the other hand, are there people always moaning so you'd get loads of reports?

second when the mods have your thread under watch you should receive another mail. this is assuming reporting and under watch are seperate systems

last resort, if the thread is removed an automatic mail is sent to all members that have posted in the thread, all posts are removed and replaced with a standard "removed" page this page would have links of contacts to appeal to.

i was going to susgest a icon for "reported" threads, but this would be open to abuse then.


for my thread it was about a club event. lots of how to get there chat, what to do etc and all this seemed to be ok. after the event i put up pics and still the thread stayed. there was another event localy and the same guys would be attending, so i continued the same thread asking for directions etc. while removed in topic from the first thread, i saw no need to start a new thread and waste space on the main forum page. after the following week there was some slight talk of direction events and such, and i can only guess at this point a member took offence to it being up the top in the UK evenings, or percived it as a chat room and reported it, the result is off it went with no warnings

while we can all see the need to nuke threads with porn links, bad laungauge etc etc right away no questions asked, but off topic/turning bad threads should be allowed a chance to get back on track after a warning?


ps, the reason this isnt in sussgestions is i want a bit more feedback from members than it would get there.

ok, i'll try again, some window killed my last reply...[:@]

in referance to my thread only...
the thread was about fly for fun we held, and other members wanted to visit, after our event i posted pics up, everything was good, then one of the vistors invited us to his event, so i used the same thread to ask for directions and such, and i was going to use it to post the pics of this day. to me this saved having to start a new thread and waste space in the main forum ( and annoy users that don't want to know of our little things, they already ignored one thread about our event, why start another ). i didn't see it as off topic, just an evolution of the orginial topic.
i had no warnings, it just disapeared

i can't automatical blame a mod in the 3D section as it happened to another thread there, and one of the mods found the archive and brought it back as he didn't see the problem.

however, as it did go, for what ever reason, that dosnt really matter.
but it does bring up the questions of an automatic mailing system to warn users to change the thread, and an automatic standard page when/if the thread is removed.

GW, Just because a thread goes off its original topic should not be an automatic reason to remove any post. If a discussion regarding aerobatics some how gets lost into carburetors, information is still being exchanged even if it is at the dismay of the originator. I’ve acquired a lot of good information in threads that started out as totally unrelated subjects. So deleting unrelated post (that are still R/C) does a major disservice to ALL the members, it could be one time information gone forever.


To Whom It May Concern: I don’t agree with moving this thread to an obscure corner of RCU. I’ve also noticed other threads that serve a better purpose to a wider audience than those looking for answers and questions to RCU related problems, that were moved as well.

I’m starting to understand the complaints about over moderation.

This is only a couple ideas, so don't flame-out on me anyone, because I have experience and I'm trying to help.

The subject being this: You have a thread, which is just gone off-topic but obviously has some valid content that can not be replaced and you want to keep the "viable" content of that thread.

First, Self-Moderation won't work. It's jst a sloppy way to do it, you'll wind up having bickering and in-fighting, not to mention all the pains that go along with moderating it.

Secondly you already have in place a location to MOVE bad threads. [Like a Recycle bin]

So, one way is to make another one. Call it something you can familiarize with such as -VIABLE Threads. Make it hidden to users, and give certain mods access who would be willing to do this.

When you have a thread such as is the topic, and it gets to that point, move it in there. Until such time as someone who is dedicated to this task removes the content that isn't viable. It shouldn't be too difficult, moderate the thread, choose the bad posts, and move them off the thread to the recycle bin, whatever. Then, move the thread back into circulation.

This works best with like three "tiers" of work people. One person to move the thread in to the location (This could be any moderator), One to go through the content and move some of the bad content out and a final one to choose where to put the modified thread [maybe the subject can be changed in the first post here, to better identify the thread, since you're keeping the content, might as well make it usable for the long term. You can add a step here and that is someone approving that the content of the final revision is approved for re-circulation.

Theres always more than one way to skin a cat. In addition, if there are similar threads with viable content and both or more are on topic, they could be merged in this fashion, but that's a larger task.

Hope that helps.

its an idea to work on for sure... but it would still require some sort of auto mail sent out, or face the wrath of members with their noses out of joint

Thanks to Marc and Mike for getting my thread back up, the last page was a bit more messy than memory served, but it's locked so alls good.

keep the ideas flowing guys

phil, I'm sure theres a solution. For example all paid members could be put into a "group" (it's a software option). And they could be notified if something was moved whatever and non-paid members only get notified as a courtesy and not in all cases. Thats how I see it. If they cry they cry, its free what more can they ask for.

oooh upper classes privileges lol

i would consider my suggestion to be no different from mail alert when you get a reply, apart from the fact you don't select it on or off. its always on as standard.