I do something similar. But before I hit “post”, I try to scan the intervening posts. That way, if someone has already answered the question, or if there’s a mod note, or if the conversation has steered so far elsewhere that my reply is now moot, I know not to hit reply. I don’t find it terribly onerous to scan the intervening stuff on either my laptop or my phone. So that might work for you.
We could add a tag for “moderated”. I don’t know how helpful it would be. I feel like every long thread would eventually get that tag. Then, how would you know it had been moderated again?
I’m trying to be more consistent about putting a “staff notice” on moderated posts, as well as writing the mod note in the thread. But that doesn’t work when I’m really moderating a group of posts (as hijacks generally are.)
I think the one important thing the Moderators all need to do is stick to one opening word for anything official. If it is a note meant to be followed, type “Modnote”. If it is a warning, type “Warning”. This at least makes searching consistent. The Staff Color helps visually. But can’t be searched for by the software.
I know we give nudges and all but those wouldn’t result in warnings for being ignored.
In general posters need to at least read the notifications that Moderators replied directly to one of their posts. This should be a check that takes priority over replies. I’ve had posters complain they didn’t see the modnote to them before they replied. Of course two are now banned, so their complaints were probably just more BS.
And if a thread had been closed, that is a really good reason to see if a moderator moderated.
I always put either Moderator Note or Moderator Warning at the top of those types of posts.
Generally speaking, we’re pretty forgiving if someone doesn’t see an older note due to a large number of posts afterwards. I don’t really see this as a problem that needs to be fixed.
I feel that it’s harmless to keep it as it is. I still sometimes i use it to post something about vaccines or epidemics (not just covid). We certainly wouldn’t create it today if we didn’t have it, but i would prefer not to close it.
Me, too. Except i live in Unread and Recent. I hate that everything I’ve seen disappears from other lists, and frequently use “Recent” to find stuff that i want to look at again.
I don’t have a problem with switching to the word Moderating, but I don’t see that it actually solves anything. If someone is just replying to notifications and isn’t reading say the last 20 posts where a moderator left a mod note, then they aren’t taking the time to search for the word Moderating either.
“Read before posting” has been advice since the early days of the internet. We don’t enforce it as a rule, but ignore it at your own peril. Not only can you miss mod notes, but you can also miss important points to the discussion.
I tend to read through the posts but even if I am in a hurry I scroll through all the posts starting from the one I am replying to and, to me at least, it is easy to spot Mod-colored posts. Of course, if one is bound and determined not to look at anything between the original post and their reply, then special colors, special words or even flashing and spinning emojis aren’t going to solve the problem and one deserves the consequences, in my opinion.
The board software does not handle replies and notifications in a way that’s easy to understand.
I’ve seen modnotes that don’t mention any names and are unclear if they are a reply to a post or the thread. That may be intentional, if the moderator didn’t intend to call anyone out. But other times, it’s less clear.
I don’t have a solution, but I do think the current moderation and the board culture are working well.
Also, how did this thread about the forum categories get hijacked by moderation policy?
There’s a certain ironic humor that @Sam_Stone is the one who fired this hijack into this thread with his post #48. How did that happen? Because he evidently didn’t read enough of the thread to recognize the context he was replying into.
I don’t see that as evil, and I’m not trying to call him out. It’s just a funny bit of happenstance.
Actually, I did read it. I just thought it was a catch-all thread for opinions about the forums, as per the title and with several different conversations about it already having taken place.
In regards to keeping a Quarantine sub-forum, don’t anybody fret too much. We’ll probably have other pandemics soon enough so it can be our general pandemic forum, not just for COVID-19.
