# Ways To Improve Going Forward: Your thoughts on the matter. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 3, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049 "2018-08-03T16:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 24
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/461 "2018-09-12T10:00:34Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Like I mentioned before, when I was working at a school district it cost us literally nothing to set up a WordPress multi-user server. We already had a domain, a connection and public IPs. I was on salary and set it up in slack time, so no extra labor costs. It took less than 30 minutes to download and install. vBulletin isn’t free, but the latest version is only $249. Without existing network infrastructure vBulletin Cloud is under $800 a year for the highest tier of service. At $20 a year it would only take 40 paid members to cover that. The set-up is the simple - and cheap - bit. There’s all the other stuff to do: legal, administration, sales, backups, meetings, etc. Let’s say that it takes an hour a day (on average) to run the Dope. Let’s further say that (for simplicity) that Jenny & Jerry each cost their employer $100K per year - that’s not salary but the total cost of employment - and work an 8 hour day five days a week. So the cost of running the Dope is $12500 per year. That’s not trivial. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/462 "2018-09-12T17:27:00Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The set-up is the simple - and cheap - bit. There’s all the other stuff to do: legal, administration, sales, backups, meetings, etc. Let’s say that it takes an hour a day (on average) to run the Dope. Let’s further say that (for simplicity) that Jenny & Jerry each cost their employer $100K per year - that’s not salary but the total cost of employment - and work an 8 hour day five days a week. So the cost of running the Dope is $12500 per year. That’s not trivial. I am pretty sure I remember Jerry was not a FT staff, that he was called upon when needed, which is why little things, like fixing emoticons were not done. And it’s not that Tuba isn’t worth it, but I doubt is she is being paid a fraction of that. However, there is something then wrong with your figure of $12, 500. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/463 "2018-09-12T18:50:48Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The set-up is the simple - and cheap - bit. There’s all the other stuff to do: legal, administration, sales, backups, meetings, etc. Let’s say that it takes an hour a day (on average) to run the Dope. Let’s further say that (for simplicity) that Jenny & Jerry each cost their employer $100K per year - that’s not salary but the total cost of employment - and work an 8 hour day five days a week. So the cost of running the Dope is $12500 per year. That’s not trivial. But having been there, done that, I know that it doesn’t take anywhere near that much time to administer something like this. The setup was not the simple bit. It was the most complex bit. Once the infrastructure was in place it was maybe - **maybe** an hour a month. Backups can be done automatically. It really does become pretty much set it and forget it. The time consuming stuff is done by members and volunteer moderators. If it cost 12,500 a year to administer vBulletin wouldn’t be able to host it for you for only $800/year. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/464 "2018-09-12T19:25:16Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I don’t flatter myself that my absence is a great loss to the board I think it’s a real loss, FWIV. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/465 "2018-09-12T21:48:32Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > One thing about the Mods is that they are volunteers. Moderation will be inconsistent. Different mods will have different priorities. Different mods will have different amounts of time to spend on the board. I worry that all this griping about mods is just going to serve to make them quit. Who wants to put up with all these headaches for a coffee cup? Who would want to spend their free time on a task when it’s just means endless griping about what you did and didn’t do? Especially when the nature of this board means having spirited, contentious debates is the norm. It makes the pool of potential volunteers that much smaller. > > I think we’d all be better served by realizing that they are volunteers giving up their free time to do this. It’s not going to be perfect. They won’t be able to make everyone happy. I think there’s too much focus on “mods aren’t perfect” that we’re going to end up with no mods at all. I don’t see any reason for volunteer mods to be any more inconsistent than paid mods. They are still enforcing the rules on behalf of the board in question. They still can get together and can discuss exactly how they are going to mod, and work out any differences. They still have a set of rules–and rules restrict those in power as much as those who are not. I also don’t like this line of thinking at all. We should not refrain on fixing the problems on this board because some mod might not like it and want to quit. A mod is still one user. They are not more equal than others. Plus, if we fix problems, more people would likely be wiling to mod. And I agree with **Lamia** that we have a bigotry problem. Rather than being a welcome place for diversity of ideas, we drive people away. It’s the paradox of tolerance. If you don’t allow bigotry, you actually get more diversity. That’s not to say that concepts related to bigotry can’t be discussed. Just that we should establish a clear line based on what we all pretty much agree is bigotry, and don’t allow it. That said, I could see certain perennial arguments being just told to go read a closed thread, and to only come back if they can bring a new argument that hasn’t been discussed. Just for bigotry–not for anything else. It would basically be “Racist thread. Poster posts where that question has been answered and reports the post.” Mod does a quick check, and then closes the thread. But that last part isn’t essential. The one where we just chop off the bigotry that isn’t in a GD thread arguing about what bigotry is is the important one, I think. Keep it out of the whole board, and it would be a more welcoming place. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/466 "2018-09-12T22:03:18Z")
I was thinking it might be worth considering having the Mods all post with the name “Moderator”, of course the could still keep their regular screen name when they just want to post regular stuff. But when they want to moderate, they should have a second “Moderator” banner they all post under essentially making them anonymous. Might cut down on some of the bad feelings or drama between posters and moderators. Plus, it would make it less personal when Dopers do want to criticize a moderation. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/467 "2018-09-12T22:05:01Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > And I don’t even HAVE my coffee cup anymore. Damn kids. > > The griping and such really isn’t that big a deal. We do our best to deal with it and let a lot of it roll off our backs. > > I am always curious, though. How does anyone think something like this is sustainable without ad dollars? Ad blockers and such are real problems. I’m not privy to the financials of the SDMB but I was in publishing for about 20 years, man and boy, and membership drives and sales won’t bend the curve. Without ad dollars it’d be difficult to make it work. As far as I know, the world has changed on that. Ads online are worth a lot less than donations now. Every online content creator I know is supported primarily through Patreon, not through ads. And, yes, it should be possible to keep this board running on fairly little money. I know that the Straight Dope still needs to pay **TubaDiva** , but it should be doable. If it cost a lot, then there is likely a lot of restructuring that could be done to reduce costs. That said, some small unobtrustive ads from very reputable sites might be fine. I’m talking Google Adwords and such. And, yes, possibly getting sponsors directly. But none of this stuff with the bar on the bottom and popunders and stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/468 "2018-09-12T22:15:59Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Get a better handle on how more professional websites serve ads, and be a little more aggressive at detecting adblockers, is my suggestion. That last one, I do not recommend. I know that, if I feel forced on that issue, then I will find a way around it, and then I will not in any way contribute. You can serve a reminder or something, but I have never given into any site that tried to force the issue. On the other hand, as long as it’s my choice, I’ll support financially and find ways to make ads tolerable. (They generally involve tricks that make them less noticeable on my end, without blocking them entirely.) I just only contribute when I think it can actually help, or briefly for access to perks. So I have adblock on by default. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/469 "2018-09-13T15:42:08Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I was thinking it might be worth considering having the Mods all post with the name “Moderator”, of course the could still keep their regular screen name when they just want to post regular stuff. But when they want to moderate, they should have a second “Moderator” banner they all post under essentially making them anonymous. > Might cut down on some of the bad feelings or drama between posters and moderators. Plus, it would make it less personal when Dopers do want to criticize a moderation. Like back in the AOL days when I was always ArussFROG except “on duty” when I became Hostie6. In the Civil War room most of us kept our official identity “secret” and were just our screen-name to everyone else. Since we met a lot IRL (at various historic events and lectures) it did help quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/470 "2018-09-14T05:38:18Z")
> [@Heracles](#): > > I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Stack Exchange / Stack Overflow as a reference / competitor. In my view, it’s become one of the most credible Q&A sites on the Net for IT and programming, of course, but also sci-fi, maths, and several other broad subjects. It’s certainly more credible than Quota and Experts-exchange. There are important differences with the SDMB, of course, but it’s consuming the same demographic of people with questions. Then you’d likely be interested in [this ATMB thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=645142), started by a cofounder of Stack Exchange/Overflow from six years ago. Probably an interesting thread to review in full, but I’ll leave that to you or anybody else so inclined. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/471 "2018-09-16T03:59:04Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And I agree with **Lamia** that we have a bigotry problem. Rather than being a welcome place for diversity of ideas, we drive people away. It’s the paradox of tolerance. If you don’t allow bigotry, you actually get more diversity. > > That’s not to say that concepts related to bigotry can’t be discussed. Just that we should establish a clear line based on what we all pretty much agree is bigotry, and don’t allow it. It depends on precisely what you mean by “diversity”. It also depends on what is meant by “bigotry” and who establishes that “clear line”. As to a “clear line” that _all sides_ will agree on, I doubt that’s possible. I think we _might_ be able to agree on extremes, and between them there will be disputed territory. I was going to give some examples, but I didn’t want to start the debate in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/472 "2018-09-18T01:17:57Z")
I bet everyone here is going to hate this, but I’m going to throw it in anyways. 🙂 Instant money-making idea: \*\*Ban bounties. \*\* Any registered member can request that another member be added to the ban bounty board. Mods assign a very generous ban bounty based on that posters posts, join date, and mod-selected intangibles. So Poster X: $500, Poster Y: $2000, etc. Then anybody who feels strongly enough that the board would be better off without Poster X or Y can contribute whatever amount they feel like, and when the amount is reached, Poster X or Y is banned for a set amount of time, say 3 or 6 months. You could have some fun with this - put it all public on a patreon, so everyone can see how much their silence is worth and how close other folk are to being banned, and whether it’s worth contributing. Instant moneymaker! There may be some moral hazard in that some particularly determined and controversial posters just keep coming back more and more determined to agitate after their 3 months is up, but as long as they stay on the right side of not getting perma-banned, that’s just another money-maker for the board! ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/473 "2018-09-19T01:56:59Z")
Sounds good. Tuba can pay me to troll targeted well-off Dopers to keep the money rolling. And I’ll need socks. Lots of socks. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/474 "2018-09-19T21:16:31Z")
I’ve been rereading T_he Straight Dope Tells All_ (1998) and damned if it wasn’t relevant. > [@](#): > > Why should I, a sophisticated net user, want to avail myself of the AOL Straight Dope when I’ve got a.f.c-a?\* > > Lotta reasons. Easy acccess to Cecil’s current and past work. The active participation of Ed Zotti and, more usefully, his ore recently hired assistants JKFabian and TUBADIVA. It was like seeing TUBADIVA’s baby pictures. 🙂 I don’t know what a.f.c-a is/was, but apparently AOL was a revenue source. From the book: > [@](#): > > \*Why are you doing this [moving to AOL]? > \* > Because they are paying us to. Had anybody sent us a million-dollar donation like we are constantly hinting, maybe we wouldn’t. However, one must face the fiscal realities. Cecil says another feature would be > [@](#): > > CECIL"S HOUSE OF VALUES. Order books, T-shirts, and mugs online! Just like Disneyland! So my questions: Did AOL _pay_ the SD? How much revenue was generated by the SD AOL store? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2018, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/475 "2018-09-19T22:16:08Z")
OK, so who is **JKFabian**? I don’t think I’ve heard of that user before. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/476 "2018-09-20T00:49:45Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > OK, so who is **JKFabian**? I don’t think I’ve heard of that user before. The \*Straight Dope Tells All \*was published in 1998. I’d assume JKFabian is no longer around. There are dozens of usernames in there I don’t recognize: TamBlonde, Jaz Beau, Marrtenvdg, SueZ, BayBeary, WildBabe4J, Film Esq, Nootcheez, Bermuda999, and many more. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/477 "2018-09-20T02:03:37Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > I don’t know what a.f.c-a is/was, but apparently AOL was a revenue source. a.f.c-a stands for alt.fan.cecil-adams. It refers to the newsgroup, which came before the SDMB forum you see today. Newsgroups were a more primitive kind of bulletin board system. It was all text based. Newsgroups are still around, although they aren’t nearly as popular as they once were. You can see the newsgroup here: [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.fan.cecil-adams](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/alt.fan.cecil-adams) Newsgroups aren’t really managed by a central server, like the SDMB is. It’s a bunch of servers scattered around the internet by whoever wants to be part of it. If the SDMB ever went away, the alt.fan.cecil-adams is probably where you should look to see what happened. Someone would probably post info there eventually. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/478 "2018-09-20T08:37:34Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > OK, so who is **JKFabian**? I don’t think I’ve heard of that user before. JKFabian was Firstborn of The Mods. She didn’t make the move over to this place, [I gather](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2487210&postcount=18). ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049/479 "2018-09-20T09:40:24Z")
I remember reading the "were leaving aol "note basically it read like a divorce notice from two nineteen year olds …. But around that time aol was blowing up huge right after unlimited access started and people were paying attention to the content so they dumped all their “mature content” aka the hub …… and I think the dope not getting renewed was part of that mindset [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ways-to-improve-going-forward-your-thoughts-on-the-matter/819049.md?page=23)