In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I was somewhat surprised about TMF's comments on having an area with the least amount of moderation. As was the case with Wishful Thinker, he caused a huge fuss and they all got onto the bandwagon - only to find it was his own fault and not even admitting to it until challenged by Ronald. I would like to avoid cases like that but it seems some are happy to slag others off. You can still be insulting to people without being directly racist or so.
I don't mind a small area for nonsense but not for any nasty stuff. Some might regard that as humour but I'm sure others don't! I originally thought CdC was an area to place anecdotes & Italian jokes but it turned out to be a boxing ring.
I would still leave the playpen be but under the same rules as the rest of the forum. Any variation would give advantage to a small number of members slagging off others. They could still exchange emails or PMs if they have to.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hello everyone,
My feeling is that there shouldn't be a place in the forum where people can just say whatever they want. Even if it did not raise any legal issues for Italy Magazine (which it does) it is just plain not nice.
We can keep the circolo as a space were joking is allowed as well as off-topic issues but I simply can't see why anything else should be supported on the site.
If people are not happy with this then honestly they can simply leave the forum. While banning may not be the most effective way to do this there are other means.
All the best,
Ronald
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Hmm true. Looking at the last few CdC threads, they could've just as well taken place on MSN or Yahoo messenger programmes... which I use for chats with friends too.
I agree that it should be on topic, in a chatty fun way. Although those members involved give valuable information elsewhere, this stuff should be curbed.
Wasn't happy about sdoj looking for another argument today with the issue of watching others while 'hiding'... and he's now worried if that happens in the chatroom too. Well, that makes me wonder what they use the chatroom for... thought this was supposed to be a discussion about Italy too.
He seems too desperate to get his way and just doesn't want to let go!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Iona]
He seems too desperate to get his way and just doesn't want to let go![/QUOTE]
There are a few with this particular problem. Everything was fine until the Mods started to challenge them - then all hell broke loose.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Well, just managed to get back onto the site, massive thunderstorm yesterday, took out the phone, sdoj probably wants to have another go at my cloak of invisibility, but, cripes, if he will insist on sending me "I can see you" messages within minutes of my cancelling it...
I am happy the forum is to be for most of the membership rather than the half dozen shouters, BUT, how are we to modify their behaviour ??, anything will have to be done slowly, but consistently and, I would suggest, applied by all of us.
Incidentally, following this weekend, Is this area safe anymore, or, can it still be hacked?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]It would appear that the problem stems from a very small section of Forum members. We cannot always, for obvious reasons, check every single thread or post, but it would be a very great shame to permit these pages to deteriorate into a playground for the infantile minority. Many people have told me that Forum is a wonderful resource that provides relevant and practical information about Italy. The rubbish we are seeing on here at the moment may prevent people from joining in future and also put off the more conscientious members from contributing.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]Sano, you say that the [COLOR=black]Circolo, if used correctly, is a great resource, but this is only a recent addition. The rest of Forum still satisfies this purpose even if we were to remove Circolo, although I agree that removing it would only fuel further revolt from the few. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[COLOR=black][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]However, I would prefer to see decisive action rather than continue allowing good threads to become hijacked.[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Quote GeorgeS: "Incidentally, following this weekend, Is this area safe anymore, or, can it still be hacked?"
Didn't know this happened, George! How? Who?
Charles, I agree with you on hijacked threads. Just had an 'order' from sdoj to 'spring clean' a thread that hasn't been replied to in 4 days! And there was a nice discussion going on by usually more quiet members until the usual guys got in & spoilt it!
I'm losing my patience fast with some members... a new surprise every day it seems! Can't remember reading much about Italy though... :(
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Iona]Quote GeorgeS: "Incidentally, following this weekend, Is this area safe anymore, or, can it still be hacked?"
Didn't know this happened, George! How? Who?
I received the following, as a PM from Aliena timed at 11.59pm on Sunday, presumed you'd all had the message...
Ooooooooer!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
your mods corner is open.. no one except me and one other who is also trustworthy has seen it.. I will keep an eye on it for you.
everyone is having trouble with their server tonight and most cant get online. I am unsure if PMs are getting thru or can be recieved
my email is (removed by GS)
If you need to contact me.. or if there is anything I can do.
Ronald dealt with the problem at the time, but....
G.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Ahhh I didn't get this!! Very interesting... and quite worrying too...
As long as they can't hack into our PMs!!
Thanks George!! :)
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[LEFT]
Steph
Which thread is this?
George...looks like I just missed the storm yesterday. [/LEFT]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Charles Joseph][LEFT]
Steph
Which thread is this?
George...looks like I just missed the storm yesterday. [/LEFT][/QUOTE]
Charles, God has been crying since you left Francavilla :) heck of a storm yesterday, no phone for about 5 hours, LOL, had to wring out the puppies when I brought them in to sleep (thinks, If only I'd started with their necks...)
the message was not on a thread it came to me as PM from Aliena on Sunday night...
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Charles Joseph][LEFT]
Steph
Which thread is this? ......
[/LEFT][/QUOTE]
It's this one ...
[url]http://italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2677[/url]
He asked me to spring clean it though it hasn't been replied to lately... I also think he's only got himself to blame...
I'm not touching it, perhaps only to be challenged about doing something!!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=GeorgeS]Charles, God has been crying since you left Francavilla :) heck of a storm yesterday, no phone for about 5 hours, LOL, had to wring out the puppies when I brought them in to sleep (thinks, If only I'd started with their necks...)
the message was not on a thread it came to me as PM from Aliena on Sunday night...[/quote]
[LEFT]I heard about the phone problem. They cancelled a Lufthansa flight to Munich but Ryanair got in and out of Ancona without probs.
Steph mentioned a pm from Stan...and I was curious about which thread he was complaining about.
Wonder how Aliena get to peek into the Mods corner?
[/LEFT]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Fiona or possibly Stephanie..., you're starting to sound like the voices in my head ;) He was also starting to rant about aliens deleted posts with a suggestion that "something had happened" I beleive she got ronald to tidy up the ones which were causing the offence, but not before Ric posted copies to everyone she'd named......
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
It's like nursery kids fighting over attention ... :(
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I think someone's being naughty, aliena and wt were hinting about spanners in the works etc., and tinkering all night in the "New Adventure" post, but Ric seems to want to cause a bit of trouble, he posted a link to a way of seeing "invisibles" on line, Ronald has closed it though, so, maybe someone, somewhere is trying to do stuff inside the site to cause some trouble ??
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Well, if they're desperately trying to cause trouble then they should be banned... but unfortunately there's nothing stopping them coming back with a new name & email. Argh!!!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Iona]Well, if they're desperately trying to cause trouble then they should be banned... but unfortunately there's nothing stopping them coming back with a new name & email. Argh!!![/QUOTE]
Then you ban them again then talk to their ISP if they persist, or, they get fed up and stop coming back, but, realistically, is there another option ?? Doing nothing doesn't work, the forum folds in on itself you can see it happening now, and, nothing has been done to any of them yet, other than some rules being published, so far they have had everything they've asked for given to them, but, they have only gotten naughtier and asked for more.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Iona]It's this one ...
[URL="http://italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2677"]http://italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2677[/URL]
He asked me to spring clean it though it hasn't been replied to lately... I also think he's only got himself to blame...
I'm not touching it, perhaps only to be challenged about doing something!![/quote]
[LEFT]Best to leave it as it is I think it has run its course, but if Sodj persists I will gladly tell him exactly what I think.[/LEFT]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=GeorgeS]Then you ban them again then talk to their ISP if they persist, or, they get fed up and stop coming back, but, realistically, is there another option ?? Doing nothing doesn't work, the forum folds in on itself you can see it happening now, and, nothing has been done to any of them yet, other than some rules being published, so far they have had everything they've asked for given to them, but, they have only gotten naughtier and asked for more.[/quote]
[LEFT]
If there is no sensible or realistic alternative, then rather than ban them, I suppose we just continue to delete their postings like we do for trade advertisements etc. If they hijack a particular thread and post something is irrelevant or offensive, I'm quite happy to delete. [/LEFT]
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=GeorgeS]Then you ban them again then talk to their ISP if they persist, or, they get fed up and stop coming back, but, realistically, is there another option ?? Doing nothing doesn't work, the forum folds in on itself you can see it happening now, and, nothing has been done to any of them yet, other than some rules being published, so far they have had everything they've asked for given to them, but, they have only gotten naughtier and asked for more.[/QUOTE]
Hence favouring the blocked ISP. Most people are posting from work or home pc's, so blocking individual ISP's will eliminate some of them (unless they are hell bent on causing trouble). Those we deal with by repeated bannings. Tiresome but ultimately might be better than the situation we have now.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I agree with you both, but, there is no ruling covering posting c**p and if you look at their current postings, they are saying "ooopps, off subject" much of the time, we need to have a consistent approach backed by the management and use it to deal with the bad, silly posts as soon as they occur. I am quite happy to do this too, so long as I am assured that this is what the gaffer wants and the support will be there for the inevitable backlash. Also, WT's problem came about this weekend because he was changing his e mail addy because he expected some moderation, sdoj also altered his details I beleive as his name also disappeared from the members list for a while.
Ohh well, see you tomorrow
The question I am asking is whether this would absolve us from any legal obligation to protect the forum posters. As it stands if someone feels hard done by enough, the could attempt to take a case against the owners of this forum, would locking people away in a mud pit to sling/slag it out really change the legal aspect of things?
Other than that I think the idea might have some merit if it would isolate those few trouble makers that we cannot easily be rid of.
The only other concern I have about the current circolo and any future such area on the forum is that it kind of saps the energy and vitality away from other parts of the forum. People that could be posting elsewhere are spending all their time and energy in the one area of the site that does not contribute anything meaningful.