Messageboard management

[woodiesenfrance]

In view of recent discussions about MMOC membership and the locking of posts, may I suggest that Admin and each and every moderator takes a few minutes to give a brief description of who they are, what minors they have and what role they play here and in the MMOC generally?
This isn't meant to be a criticism of anybody, merely a request that you tell everyone a bit about who you are.
Thanks in advance.

[simmitc]

Hi Mary, I'm very wary about putting loads of personal information on publicly accessible sites - I will NOT "do" Facebook and other such sites; but am happy to say that I'm a Moderator for the messageboard. I'm an ordinary member of the club, not on the committee. I have two Travellers that I use as every day transport, both 1098, both with disc brakes on the front and towbars on the back. We also have a 2-door saloon genuine ex-panda car. I'm a member of my local branch. I have contributed to Minor Matters. I assist people with their V765 applications. You'll often find me helping out a various club events. This year I've spent a lot of time looking at alternative hosting solutions with a view to improving the performance of this forum, but have to wait for responses from the current IT provider. I hope that we will get there one day. Is that OK for you?

[les]

I think that response is very agreeable, and I agree about personal stuff, we all need to be on our guard.

[woodiesenfrance]

That's nice, Simmitic., thank you.
I did not mean to ask you and the others to reveal personal info., but I do think it is important for the rest of us to see your Minor and MMOC connections.
Otherwise how can we have confidence in you?

[geoberni]

Personally, I see

what minors they have and what role they play here and in the MMOC generally?

as totally irrelevant to the role of Message Board (Forum) Administration and Moderation.

The role of an Admin/Moderator is to keep the Forums running smoothly, to ensure that the rules for the forums are followed, that spammers and others don't try to circumnavigate the rules and that generally people are polite to each other.
Or anything else that this Board's rules require.

Minor ownership and experience relevant to board moderation?

I'm a Moderator on a Health & Safety Board, I've been a member of it since 2009 when I was still studying for my qualifications, that's why I joined it, to learn from those more experienced members.
Only about a year later, I was asked to become a Moderator, not because of my vast knowledge and experience, but because of my general behaviour and how I 'fitted in' to the community.
There's been times there where Posts have been deleted or locked, even people banned if they can't follow the Boards rules.
I'm still a Moderator there but my professional knowledge and experience isn't relevant to the role.

People here get away with responses which would be jumped on over there; quite frankly there are some here who occasionally seem to fit the stereotype of being 'grumpy old men', which is fine if within the rules for this Board.

Would they make good Moderators just because they had a garage full of Minors?

No, because they are entrenched in their personal views.

[MorrisJohn]

I’m in agreement with Berni, all I’d like to add is a thank you to those that keep these forums going.

They are a wealth of information, accumulated over many years. Yes, the outages are annoying and need addressed but they’re a great thing to have and greatly assist newcomers in caring for their cars.

Not wishing to conflate two issues, but club membership works out at under 9p a day and it’s worth every penny in my view to support the website, forums, magazine and wider classic car movement. Anything else, like club runs and making new friends, is a bonus.

[ianmack]

Since the forum carries no adverts I assume it is paid for by members’ subs and thus we are providing a public service. I find that quite a few clubs have all or most of their site available to members only.

[ianmack]

As for Facebook the data collection aspect has to be borne in mind and I certainly wouldn’t put any personal details on it. I think it’s harmless enough if you just use it to natter about old motors.

[geoberni]

I wish this Board had the extra buttons I'm used to elsewhere.....

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The LIKE Button was introduced there a couple of years ago and has proven really useful.

Since the forum carries no adverts I assume it is paid for by members’ subs and thus we are providing a public service. I find that quite a few clubs have all or most of their site available to members only.

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[Bowie69]

Gotta look the other way as well, having a forum shows what the club is about, and will entice members (or put them off if it is rubbish ).

The forum likely helps the club funds quite a lot... though I doubt it covers the costs of running it in its entirety.

[woodiesenfrance]

Some interesting comments here.
Simmitic has replied to my OP, Admin has not but then he is very well known anyway so probably you will all have heard of him.
Can anyone tell us about Cam, the third person listed as a moderator? According to the Board as it comes up on my screen he was last active in August 2020.

[Admin]

Personally, I see

what minors they have and what role they play here and in the MMOC generally?

as totally irrelevant to the role of Message Board (Forum) Administration and Moderation.

[....]

People here get away with responses which would be jumped on over there; quite frankly there are some here who occasionally seem to fit the stereotype of being 'grumpy old men', which is fine if within the rules for this Board.

Would they make good Moderators just because they had a garage full of Minors?

No, because they are entrenched in their personal views.

Once again I find myself in full agreement with berni, who is clearly well versed in the thankless task of moderation. Running both this board and the Facebook group, they have entirely different 'flavours' and cater to some extent for different audiences. The Facebook group is vibrant and incredibly active in comparison to the message board (and massively more reliable too). Both places have the task of overcoming the stereotypes of Minor owners being grumpy - if knowledgeable - old farts, which is exactly why the rules have the catch all of "anything else the moderators or admin feel necessary". It's a very subjective rather than objective thing - we might feel the need to squash something that isn't necessarily a specific breach but which is 'discouraging' or whatever, especially to a new or younger member, while at the same time letting something go elsewhere that looks more serious, because we feel it is being sent and received as 'banter'. The committee don't have the resources to have every decision 'cleared' via them, and instead rely on the mods to exercise good judgement and just get on with it. Because of that freedom of interpretation, it is always a judgement call on what gets locked, or removed, or even banned, and clearly that means that sometimes we'll get it wrong. When that happens, we'll apologise, try to put it right, dust ourselves off, and move on. Tomorrow's another day

[geoberni]

Some interesting comments here.
Simmitic has replied to my OP, Admin has not but then he is very well known anyway so probably you will all have heard of him.
Can anyone tell us about Cam, the third person listed as a moderator? According to the Board as it comes up on my screen he was last active in August 2020.

Cam?

The only Moderators listed are here: memberlist.php?mode=group&g=761

Kevin
rayofleamington
simmitc
leafie
LouiseM

Cam's name is not in the Moderator Group, hence why the name is not in Green; he is presumably a former Mod and for some reason the 'Ranking' hasn't been changed.

However, 'leafie' logged in a couple of weeks ago, do you want to quiz them too?
Must be a highly suspicious character by your requirements, they've only posted 424 times in 17 year......

[Admin]

Simmitic has replied to my OP, Admin has not but then he is very well known anyway so probably you will all have heard of him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6BJJe9JV_A

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[les]

5 moderators 2 are members, some disappeared without trace, last post from two, was 3— 4 years ago.

[woodiesenfrance]

Geoberni, I looked under 'The Team' which seemed logical to me

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Following your comment, for which I thank you, I have now looked under 'Rank' where I see more people listed as 'Moderators', some of whom, according to Les, have left the Messageboard planet.

Perhaps Simmitic or Admin would be kind enough to enlighten us all?

[geoberni]

Just another symptom of the state of this message board.
Too many people tweaking things in the past, making it very cluttered and dysfunctional.
That 'The Team' tab is linked to the Global Moderators list, but for some reason the 'Global Moderator' List and the 'Moderator' list are not the same.

But the basic fact remains, Message Board Moderating and Morris Minor experience are not relevant to each other.

[Admin]

I'm not sure what you're driving at Mary, perhaps you'd care to elucidate? Are you offering your services as a moderator, perchance?

[Shropshiremoggie]

Blimey - this is rumbling on a bit

[woodiesenfrance]

Blimey - this is rumbling on a bit

At the most basic level, I would simply like to know who all the moderators are on this board, and to be reassured that they are all paid-up MMOC members.