What do we want from our forum?

Hi all,

I think that agreeing to "terms and conditions" before you begin using site is an interesting idea.

Viv - pm benedict with yours and grh1904 idea.......it cant hurt to see what he says!!!!

Josie

There are already Terms and CondItions which have to be agreed when you initially join the site. These are also repeated in the forum Éthos and Policy which is at the head of each section.

Nobody seems to take much notice of them though .....

Do some members not remember this?
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5019

cugila said:

There are already Terms and CondItions which have to be agreed when you initially join the site. These are also repeated in the forum Éthos and Policy which is at the head of each section.

Nobody seems to take much notice of them though .....

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Very true cugila, but sadly I am as guilty here as everyone else really, but its like who reads manuals? Certainly not any men that I know.

Life is too short for manuals, small print or forum rules. Just treat others as you would like to be treated yourself and accept that there is more than one way to control diabetes just as there is more than one way to skin a cat, apparently, not that I've tried to skin a cat you understand.

I agree Sid (do as you would be done by ) But maybe some people like being verbally abused so that they can think of something even nastier to post :evil: There is nowt so queer as folk :lol: Any way I am glad you have never tried to skin a cat as I believe most cats dont like it.
CAROL

carty said:

I agree Sid. Any way I am glad you have never tried to skin a cat as I believe most cats dont like it.

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Well there was this one cat once





It hasn't really been skinned, its a Devon Rex

Wow, I would love one of them!!!

cugila said:

There are already Terms and CondItions which have to be agreed when you initially join the site. These are also repeated in the forum Éthos and Policy which is at the head of each section.

Nobody seems to take much notice of them though .....

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Gotta agree with you there mate.

I'm going to expand on my idea a bit and ask you, as an ex-cop, what you think of it, and invite everyone else to do likewise.

Again, as I said before, if you like it say so. If you don't say so.

If youdon't/think it bonkers/it offends you, yup, you got it,say so.......................

As usual just don't call me names in the process....................

Why not introduce a warning status, a bit like a yellow card in football or the sin-bin as in other sports. Perhaps along lines of penalty points on your driving licence.

Let's say a debate on here starts to degenerate a bit, those with views on a subject are involved and a bit of name calling starts. Let's say it's over my idea, some people like the general gist of it while some others are mortified. Someone calls my idea idiotic & stupid and it degenerates to the point where they call me a idiot for suggesting it & that I must be stupid if this is all I can come up with etc.

I contact someone in "authority" on the site, saying that while I welcome the debate and don't mind someone saying the idea is daft/stupid/idiotic etc; I am upset at myself being labelled idiot/stupid on a public forum & ask them to look into it.

The mods/admins peeps agree that the person who called me names was in the wrong and they contact the name caller & invite him/her to apologise. If it is resolved where the complainant is happy then end of. If it's not resolved and at least 3 mods/admin types are in agreement then they could issue a yellow card or put 1 point on the name callers "forum licence". The yellow card or point is (like on a driving licence) valid for a given length of time say 6 months or a year.

If someone gets 3 yellow cards or 3 points in a year then, like in a sports game, they get sent off, or as in a driving licence situation they have a period of disqualification. The abusive member is then given a time period where they cannot post.

I don't know if this has been suggested before or even tried before. I am a member of another forum which is specifically for Police related issues, and from looking at the topics by & large those on there are either cops, or cops support staff or wanna-be cops who are aplying to join etc. On this forum each member has a warn status & the bit below is copied from the site: -
Only mods/admin and the account holder can see the warn status if the small brackets are empty between the 0 and the 3 then no warning is in place.
If for whatever reason there is a warning we apply it on a panel and always give a reason viewable to the member with option of also sending a PM.
The sanctions can be a straight ban, temporary ban, moderated posts permanent or temporary.Then some negotiation usually follows and whoever either leaves or tones it down etc.
Don't worry over 98% of bans are for spammers.However I am getting a bit sick of people coming on with an anti police agenda. Personally I dislike chavs and I don't go on their sites bateing them I simply choose to stay away and not ransack my dignity.

While I don't want to instigate some form of Big Brother is watching/Police state here on our diabetes site, I do feel strongly that people have a right to express themselves and/or their views free from personal insults. I'm merely offering up these suggestions in the hope that it will provoke debate (positive debate!!!) that will take the site forward and encouarge those need help or can offer it to speak up while discouraging those that just want act like children.

I was a member of a political forum that also had this "3 strikes and you are out" policy but with the exception that everyone could see the number of warnings a member had.

There was also a "quarantine" section for offending posts. Any posts that included personal attacks, were offensive etc were moved to that section and the offender was then given a chance to edit his/her post and it would only then be published back in the thread. If the offender refused or did not edit his/her post in a certain time then that person got a warning and the post was deleted.

All in all this worked good for the majority but there were still some who did not heed any warnings and after 3 warnings got suspended for a week or 2. When they returned their warnings were reset to zero and if they offended again 3 times were banned for ever.

I find that the biggest problem with this sort of system is that it needs quite a few Mods to keep up with whats going on, especially if, as in the past, some people try to take over the forum and chase those away who dare not to do as they say.

Members could help Mods/Admin by reporting any offending/spam posts but as I understand it there are a lot of members who do not know what the yellow "exclamation" mark at the top right hand corner of each post is for. This is especially true for new members. I would suggest that if possible a message in the lines of "To report post as abusive/spam please click on the yellow exclamation mark" or something similar is added under each post. This would then ensure that each member knows how to report posts should they want to.

But as I said in my last post, it is not possible to stop those who want to cause trouble, they will find a "loophole" and still carry on with it. Trouble makers can be abusive without resorting to personal attacks or name calling. Those who want to and have the necessary expertise, know how to get back in under a different name if they get banned. As Sid said "There's more than one way to skin a cat".

grh1904

A lot of things that you mention are in fact already used here. The Forum have a warning system which can be seen by the mods but not by ordinary members.

From the “Ethos and Forum Rules “

The following rules are being instituted to make sure that the forum is a safe, friendly and useful place to be. These are guidelines, and freedom of speech is very important here, but the following must be adhered to when using this forum, and those that break these rules will be warned once and then be banned from participation.

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However, the rules on the Forum were revamped a while ago to reflect a more unstable time on the Forum. Now that we are under new management I am sure that the Administrator will be reviewing the rules.

There is in place a system whereby a Mod can suspend a member from anything from half an hour up to full and permanent banning. Mods use their discretion and some members have been suspended several times and have not yet been banned. Each ‘case’ is individually assessed.

Ka-mon

There is the facility on the Forum to remove offending posts out of sight so that they can be reviewed by the Administrator. However the OP could not edit his/her post in this area.

I like this suggestion:

To report post as abusive/spam please click on the yellow exclamation mark" or something similar is added under each post. This would then ensure that each member knows how to report posts should they want to.

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I would also like to see the Forum rules clearly indicated in a section of their own at the top of the Forum Index page. Although they are at the top of each individual section of the Forum members still do not seem to know what or where they are.

The Forum is however more than a place of rules. It is a place for ALL Diabetics, a safe and supportive place with helpful members and good information. Long may it remain like that.

You will never stop the them and us attitude which seems to be going on with a certain blog and this site.

All anyone can do is to work, as Sid says, on a do as you would be done by rule.

Sniping soon stops if it's ignored. I find that if someone is very rude to me - and they have been at times - to answer with a kind word and a smile takes the wind out of their sails. It's their problem not yours. You know yourself, but you don't know why they act the way they do.

Cheers
Ailz

Grh1904
You asked me what I thought about your suggestion. Basically what Sue posted is the same as my own thoughts. Doesn't matter what rules you have there will always be a few who see it as a challenge, see how far they can go before getting a reaction.

As for ignoring things and giving people a nice smile - yeah right ! Try doing that for over 2 years on a daily basis and you too would lose patience ! Some people are just beneath contempt and will never give up even when they are ignored. Character assasination and lies gain credence in the eyes of some because they think the person posting is a cheeky fellow with some good ideas.

Personally as for what we want from this forum - I think we already had what was needed - what we get in the future remains to be seen. It is early days but so far the direction it has taken doesn't look promising .......

[quote="sugarless sue
The Forum is however more than a place of rules. It is a place for ALL Diabetics, a safe and supportive place with helpful members and good information. Long may it remain like that.[/quote]

+1, in total agreement with you there Sue.

Also thanks to cugila for taking time to reply to my suggestion comment.

cugila said:

Grh1904
Doesn't matter what rules you have there will always be a few who see it as a challenge, see how far they can go before getting a reaction.

Some people are just beneath contempt and will never give up even when they are ignored.

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You're right there.

I s'pose maybe I'm either looking at this forum with blinkers on, or through rose coloured specs. I would expect the type of behaviour you've described above from other forums. I pop in now & again to a motorcycle forum and a football forum on a fanzine site & there is the usual slagging off (on a personal basis) from members there, I just didn't expect that type of stuff on here - a site forum where we are all living with a condition that could (and one day will) kill us and we're on here for the support we can give each other which we probably won't get in our reality lives.

Again thanks for taking the time to reply to my request for you to do so.

cugila said:

It is early days but so far the direction it has taken doesn't look promising .......

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What direction has the forum taken? Hopefully not to the old free for all days.

Unfortunately there are those whose passion for their particular way for controlling their Diabetes blinkers them to the fact that others can control their Diabetes in other ways. They have forgotten the basic premise of this Forum, help , support but above all respect for how others choose to control and live with this condition that we all have in common but which also seems to divide us as well.

Hello, Rules etc can become like politics and cause division, guidelines keep things neutral. Whichever way we look at us all - we are human beings with diabetes " whatever '' the type we are all individual, our journeys with diabetes are ours alone. The need for us to have the forum is that we arnt totally alone! Some people have great support with their families n HCP etc others dont have the same amount of support thus needing a caring network and forum to turn to. Acceptance that whatever type we may be type 1 or type 2 our journey is the same we are living with diabetes... For all of us we get our good times n not so good times with it. What works for one might not work for all. We are individual and unique n each to their own character and personality. We have a vast range of experience between us all with our own walk with diabetes. The forum so needs to overcome squabbles and difference of opinion etc... Its just not worth it to lose the " ethos "of being there for each other regardless... Why dont we have unity, acceptance , support for each other? the trouble makers??? best to ignore them remain silent as the very thing they want is response and reaction. They lose each and every time we remain silent and ignore them. Then all they can do is listen to the sound of their own voice! Anna.x

Ka-Mon said:

cugila said:

It is early days but so far the direction it has taken doesn't look promising .......

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What direction has the forum taken? Hopefully not to the old free for all days.

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Those of us that remember those not so old days certainly wouldn't want it to go in that direction again ! At the moment it is in a state of flux and it could go either way. It is up to the members how it progresses and how it is shaped in the future.

Grh ......
Rose tinted glasses......that is how many, particularl new members, see this place. A perfect world. Well, I have news for them......they only see a tiny proportion of what has taken place here over the last couple of years. As former Monitors Sue and I were often targetted by hateful and vindictive members who on occasion were swiftly banned or warned as to their conduct. That was unacceptable behaviour and certainly not in the ethos of this forum. These things were sometimes done via PM's not just in posts. As Monitors we couldn't sit back and ignore them, we would have been regarded as a 'soft touch', someone weak and indecisive. Something that seems to be the in thing nowadays in all walks of life. A very PC attitude.

Anyway, I digress ..... This forum also has a responsibility to protect its members, and moderators as well as offer help, information and support. As I said before a forum isn't all sweetness and light, it is a microcosm of the real world. Good and bad, helpful and indifferent......

As members we just need a safe place to express our views without having to constantly how hypothetically it might appear to somebody who might read the forum in some other place. I find that view distasteful but it has been stated here recently, part of some guideline or other.

Personally all I ever wanted or want to do is help people and stop them making the same mistakes I did before I joined here. Is that so wrong .......

cugila said:

Ka-Mon said:

cugila said:

Personally all I ever wanted or want to do is help people and stop them making the same mistakes I did before I joined here. Is that so wrong .......

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No, not at all, that is sooooo right, and in your last sentence which I have quoted above, that sums up everything that should be right about society in general today. I just wish more people were like that & adopted your philosophy, but sadly as you have highlighted in your other posts there are those on here, as in life who just take it too far.

I note the bottom of your posts mentions Glenfiddich, I have a bottle open at the minute, think I'll go & pour mesell a large one.............. .......