A question or four for the Mods

[tjwash]

Are there any improvements or upgrades coming to the board soon?

I love our board, but, being the unchangeable IT nerd that I am, I personally would like to see some additions / improvements to it. Some of the things that would be nice are:

1) A way for members above a certain post count to "mod" a post up or down. Not change them, or modify them, but to have maybe a "+1 informative" or a "-1 troll" tag on posts or threads. Maybe if a thread gets up to a certain negative mod threshold, it would automatically alert the board moderators.

2) A greatest page, or a dedicated page that members can vote informative, or just plain thoughtful and substantive threads to. Maybe after a certain number of members mod a post up (maybe if it hits a "+10 informative" or a "+10 good tag), it can kick a link to the thread on to it.

3) IP or email address banning. Like every other message board, we have a never ending supply of trolls, troublemakers, and sock-puppets here that get banned and are back 5 minutes later under a new handle. IP or email addy banning would be a decent way to keep that in check.

4) Kill Files, or an ignore list. See #3.

Anyhow...I am sure some of our regulars can come up with some suggestions to improve our little community here.

[Colsrob]

I am not a mod, but I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night. :)

Really though, the added features are all possible and up to Joel if he wanted to or has the time to add them. Problem is your 3rd. Its too easy for people to 'change' their IP and they can have many email addresses. I personally have about 7 email accounts.

As for #4, you can ignore selected posters already.

Oh, and btw, you can rate the threads as well. Im not sure what it means if you do, but the option is already there.

[RandyMossNE]

Are there any improvements or upgrades coming to the board soon?

I love our board, but, being the unchangeable IT nerd that I am, I personally would like to see some additions / improvements to it. Some of the things that would be nice are:

1) A way for members above a certain post count to "mod" a post up or down. Not change them, or modify them, but to have maybe a "+1 informative" or a "-1 troll" tag on posts or threads. Maybe if a thread gets up to a certain negative mod threshold, it would automatically alert the board moderators.

2) A greatest page, or a dedicated page that members can vote informative, or just plain thoughtful and substantive threads to. Maybe after a certain number of members mod a post up (maybe if it hits a "+10 informative" or a "+10 good tag), it can kick a link to the thread on to it.

3) IP or email address banning. Like every other message board, we have a never ending supply of trolls, troublemakers, and sock-puppets here that get banned and are back 5 minutes later under a new handle. IP or email addy banning would be a decent way to keep that in check.

4) Kill Files, or an ignore list. See #3.

Anyhow...I am sure some of our regulars can come up with some suggestions to improve our little community here.

You do realise that most peoples ips change don't you?

Rendering IP banning useless.

[Onyournrvs]

You do realise that most peoples ips change don't you?

Rendering IP banning useless.
Bingo. 2 words: Proxy Server.

[RandyC]

Are there any improvements or upgrades coming to the board soon?

I love our board, but, being the unchangeable IT nerd that I am, I personally would like to see some additions / improvements to it. Some of the things that would be nice are:

1) A way for members above a certain post count to "mod" a post up or down. Not change them, or modify them, but to have maybe a "+1 informative" or a "-1 troll" tag on posts or threads. Maybe if a thread gets up to a certain negative mod threshold, it would automatically alert the board moderators.

Vbulletin allows thread ratings where members can vote. You can also require a min post count to vote. This is a feature that could be implemented. I tend to not implement on my forums because it seems silly to me. Using the report function, you can now alert the mods to threads going south or to spam.


2) A greatest page, or a dedicated page that members can vote informative, or just plain thoughtful and substantive threads to. Maybe after a certain number of members mod a post up (maybe if it hits a "+10 informative" or a "+10 good tag), it can kick a link to the thread on to it.

Interesting idea. One could start a sticky thread, such as the Internet Essentials one, and have it have links to important other threads. With the new Vbulletin coming out (VB 3.7), there will be the ability to add TAGS and more.


3) IP or email address banning. Like every other message board, we have a never ending supply of trolls, troublemakers, and sock-puppets here that get banned and are back 5 minutes later under a new handle. IP or email addy banning would be a decent way to keep that in check.

You can do this now, and I use this often. You can ban specific IPs or global ones also using variables. You can ban specific emails or email domains. For dealing with spambots, the simplest and most effective way beyond a captcha is to use a hack for asking a specific question in registration. The NoSPAM hack is very effective.

As others have pointed out, someone that is human and has a clue, can spoof IPs. But a surprisingly large number of users will not go this far so the IP ban can be a good way to start.


4) Kill Files, or an ignore list. See #3.

Anyhow...I am sure some of our regulars can come up with some suggestions to improve our little community here.

There are ways for the admins to add a user to a globa ignore list, close to a kill file. And of course, any user can ignore another user. This is a feature that most people think sounds good, but they rarely use. Kinda like a car accident. You may think that poster is a troll or full of crap, but you still read it or click on the thread.

Anyway... one cool thing coming is the new VB upgrade which has many cool features that the admins here MAY choose to implement.

[Der_BlitzSchlag]

JoelBolt has lost a step :LightsOut:

[SillyBoltsFan]

1) You can already rate a thread....

2) I'll let Joel adress this... we have been discussing some things.

3) This happens much less than you imply - and as has been noted, proxy servers and certain ISPs preclude total elimination. It is what it is... but users can help by using the "Report Post" http://forums.chargers.com/images/buttons/report.gif feature.

4) Each user has an ignore list - I suggest you use it. It saves a lot of wasted time and aggravation :)

BTW - I moved this to the Feedback forum, where all such items belong. We do appreciate the feedback.

Oh, and a thought for you - don't post in threads or respond to trolls and you find that things don't get near as bad. Often people post garbage trying to incite others and garner attention. Don't give them that attention, or waste your breath replying, and they usually fizzle out ;)

[Colsrob]

1) You can already rate a thread....

2) I'll let Joel adress this... we have been discussing some things.

3) This happens much less than you imply - and as has been noted, proxy servers and certain ISPs preclude total elimination. It is what it is... but users can help by using the "Report Post" http://forums.chargers.com/images/buttons/report.gif feature.

4) Each user has an ignore list - I suggest you use it. It saves a lot of wasted time and aggravation :)

BTW - I moved this to the Feedback forum, where all such items belong. We do appreciate the feedback.

Oh, and a thought for you - don't post in threads or respond to trolls and you find that things don't get near as bad. Often people post garbage trying to incite others and garner attention. Don't give them that attention, or waste your breath replying, and they usually fizzle out ;)

Or just be better at debating than they are. :) Beat them at their own game, thats how I try to do it.

[Dan40]

Bingo. 2 words: Proxy Server.

Well, when 99% of the users of this board don't use a proxy server, those that do stick out like a sore thumb.