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Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 1202
Location: Austin, TX, USA
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Here’s an overview of this forum’s moderator powers and how to use them!
Delete
Click the little "X" button next to a specific post to delete that post; or, the similar button at the bottom left to delete an entire thread.
Generally, only offensive or excessively spammy posts are deleted. There are no hard rules here, and no automatic filters in place, so just use your judgment based on the context. For example, "Another Hunters delay? That sucks" would not be considered offensive; but "Your deck sucks" would.
If you delete a member’s post because it is spammy or offensive, send a polite PM to that person informing him of your action and the reason for it.
Posts may also be deleted if they are truly worthless -- for example, a one-word "test post," or a private discussion that is now over. But before you delete something, make sure that is really the best option!
Move
The "arrow" button at the bottom left allows you to move an entire thread from one forum to another. For example, if someone posts a decklist with no strategy notes to the Strategy Article Contest forum, it should be moved to the Deck Clinic forum.
Anything not directly related to The Lord of the Rings or Magic: the Gathering should be moved to the Member’s Lounge.
Lock
This option is only used for announcements that shouldn’t be replied to, for example the forum rules. In all other situations I’ve encountered, there is a better option than locking the thread. For example, if a thread strays off-topic, splitting the off-topic posts is better. If an argument becomes offensive, deleting those posts and sending a warning to the user(s) in question is better.
Split
This is the button at bottom left showing one page being split into two. This option is used when the topic of discussion shifts within a thread -- for example, if a discussion about Magic: the Gathering somehow becomes a discussion about poker.
"Split" is much like "move" for specific posts. You’ll be asked to select which posts you want to move and which forum to move them to, and you’ll also give a title to the new thread that is created.
Edit
Moderators have the ability to edit any post just as if it was your own. You can change the post’s title, text, poll options, and so on. You can also select the "Sticky" option if you’d like to draw attention to a really useful resource.
Common reasons for editing posts include...
1) Meaningless titles.
We want people to know what they’re clicking on, so all titles should be somewhat descriptive of what’s inside. If you see a non-descript title, change it to something more useful.
2) Abuse of the "quote" function.
This function should only be used if someone needs to clarify what they’re replying to. For example, if they’re responding to an older post in the thread, or if they are answering several questions one at a time. Otherwise, the quotes simply clutter things up and create lots of duplicated content. If you see unnecessary quotes, remove them.
3) Post should be partially deleted.
If part of a post is fine but part of it is offensive, simply edit out the offensive part. (You may also want to PM the user in question, or leave an note within the post, as explanation/warning.)
4) Missing or inadequate article descriptions.
All articles posted to the Strategy Article Contest forums should have a brief description or "teaser" for the article. To see how this is done, go to either contest forum and click "New Topic" -- within the main text window, you’ll see a sort of template that explains how to type in a description.
This template is given to all users who start a new thread within the contest forums, but it is occasionally ignored or misunderstood. If you see an article with no description, or an inadequate description, feel free to type one in yourself.
5) Auto-link issues.
Every time a new post is made, a nifty little program of my own making scans the text for words and phrases that match card titles within our database. When it finds a match, it turns the text into a link to the card.
If you see a card title that is not linked but should be, it is most likely due to a misspelling and is easily corrected. See also this thread.
If you see a word or phrase that is linked but should not be (common examples are words like Never, Nasty, and Worry, and phrases Good Work), you can prevent the link from showing up by typing
NO LINK
but as one word, without the space, into the middle of the word or phrase.
6) Long URLs.
URLs should generally be posted like this (Auto-link Notes), NOT like this http://lotrtcgdb.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=457. In addition to the idea that people should know what they’re clicking on, long URLs can actually force the window to widen so much that people have to scroll sideways to read posts.
7) Misspelling.
Correct spelling helps all our users (especially non-native English speakers) understand each other, and also contributes to better search engine placement. This is not as important as the other editing issues though -- don’t feel obligated to proofread every post, just feel free to correct any mistakes that pop out at you. |
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