[SOLVED] WebForumz Absurdities

And I really doubt people understand the concept of a ban but that is by the by I guess.

One thing is clear, the staff will publicly take all of what has been discussed into account and then do nothing whatsoever. I'll remember not to waste my time in future.

Pete.

A ban - When a member is blocked access to the forum for a period of time. This can be a day or permanent. A ban is usually earned through breakage of "serious" rules and only after having been warned.

For anyone who, as pa007 says, don't understand the concept of a ban

No, I meant what a ban is, not what a WF ban is. What it means, the associations it has. It's not just a slap on the wrist. Even if it is used as such it never feels that way. Ever had a driving ban, been banned from a venue etc. It is a removal of privileges, it places restrictions on freedom. Someone did bad so lets give them a ban. Yeah, that'll work, surely.

Pete.

Well if they break the rules then surely they deserve a ban...

All comments in this thread have been taken on board by the management team but when people spam the forum or promote illegal downloads etc and generally break our more serious rules then they deserve a ban.

They agreed to the rules and regulations when they registered and therefore should adhere to them or face the consquences. That goes for all members. Even staff.

This is my first day on the boards and already ive experienced the over zelous moderation.

I combined several peoples ideas to point out a potential security risk to a site, in a positive manner. In no way was I encouraging anything illegal. The thread itself illustrated everything I said just in seperate messages. This message was then hastily removed and pm warning sent.

It seems like a good forum, I was enjoying my time here up to then. Now not so keen

Phil

I wasn't referring to you when I said illegal downloads.

Well said, Daniel.

Thank you Sara

I completely disagree with a lot of the rules and with the giving of bans unless they are to be permanent. So on two counts, I disagree.

Pete.

Disagree all you want. Fact is rules are there for a reason. And every forum I knows does a temp ban before a permanent.

Webforumz is a Web Design and development forum; we strive to provide the best user experience possible to all users. Sometimes, things get out of hand, and need to be addressed publicly. I feel this is one of those times. I will try to answer all points brought up in this post.

First, why is Webforumz Staff so strict? I believe we are here to provide support for our members. We have a great community. Members come and ask their questions, and we strive to answer those questions. But Webforumz cannot allow illegal activity to go on within the forum. We have been warned in the past by “The Business Software Alliance” (BSA) about the software piracy spam on Webforumz. Since then, we have been on the look out for such material and will not allow postings that are out of compliance.

We cannot allow our members to post this type of material, nor can we allow you to discuss this on Webforumz. You can’t post an offer to a website, then tell members how to hack around the system…this is illegal. And what you are not considering is how unprofessional and idiotic we look when a Webforumz rep contacts this same company to try to solicit advertising or a partnership. Remember also, that unapproved advertising & plagiarizing both violate our terms and conditions and we will not put up with such behavior.

To be perfectly honest, I have not been very happy with recent conversation in the Café. You must remember that we’re a World Wide Forum. We have members from all over. You are all professionals. You should be able to be polite and tactful in your comments. We ask all our members to be respectful to each other. Consider that some of us are advanced in our fields, and some may be new to web design. While this isn't in the actual rules of the forum, we would think that each member would be able to communicate in an uplifting and courteous manner.

Now, onto the two most recent bans. I can assure you they were both justified, and that the members had been warned several times. Webforumz has a system for this now. (Pete, you are not aware of this new system that was recently activated.) It works off infractions and warnings. Say you are a new member, and you create a thread advertising your company. This is SPAM! Previously, we would have automatically deleted the thread, and banned the member. But, we feel everyone deserves a second chance. For example, perhaps I signed up for a forum, and didn’t read the rules carefully or it had been a while since I read them and I forgot the details. It would be easy for me to advertise my company and not know I was breaking the rules. So we came up with a warning /infraction system. If you post an advertisement, you will now get a warning via PM. This is your “First Spammed Advertisement Infraction”. Warnings are simply that, a warning.

There are no points or penalties associated with a first infraction. Should you get an infraction for advertising again, you would be banned. There would be a 3 week penalty, as it is a repeat offense for the same thing. Alex and Simon were both warned countless times in the past, and if you are really curious of what they did you can ask them, or you can take a wild guess. (Hint: I said it above…somewhere.)

Are your posts getting deleted? Most likely it is because you are in violation of a rule or policy. When a post is deleted or edited, you receive a Private Message from the staff member that edited/deleted your post. There should always be a reason why your post was deleted/edited. The PM tells you that you should not reply. The matter is not really up for discussion as a staff member has already made a decision. But if you do have a question or comment-- go ahead and reply!

I want everyone to remember that Webforumz is not a chat room! We are a Web design and development forum. Posting useless one word posts just to gain post count is ridiculous and juvenile. If you are doing that, then yes, your post will be deleted! This is part of the reason that posts are no longer counted if they are made within the Café or the New Member section. I do understand that everyone needs a break. You may just want to chat a while and have some fun. That’s why we have the Café. Although, I do feel if a thread had a set topic to start with, we should try to remain on that topic, even if that thread is within the Café.

We try to close all threads when they get to about 4 pages long. So if you had a thread that was closed, and it was still on topic, then that is probably the reason. Again, if you disagree and think the thread should be reopened, PM the member of staff that closed it and talk with them about it. They won’t bite, I promise! But, if things get out of hand in a thread, or if the staff feels it might, I feel it’s best to close the thread.

Webforumz try’s its best to make all of its members happy. This is why we have a hidden “Dispute Resolution Center.” This is for when an issue arises that is a touchy topic and we don’t want to discuss it publicly, nor do we want the member to get their feelings hurt. Pete, I know you are still upset about the experience you had on staff, and on the newsletter team, but I can assure you things have changed behind the scenes!

I try my best to make Webforumz the best it can be. During my time as Administrator I have managed to…

• Organize a chain of command
• Form job descriptions for every position
• Develop an infraction/warning system that works for Webforumz
• Form a Lead Team
• Create the Webforumz Newsletter, and create a team to support it
• Add hundreds of features
• Create the SuperMember! Group
• Form partnerships for Webforumz
• Help a countless number of members
• And many other things

I want the best for Webforumz, just like you! We have a new design coming out this week, along with several other exciting things in the near future. I want Webforumz to be the best Web Design and Development Forum on the net. We are open for suggestions…in fact we encourage them. Should you feel that I or any other member of Webforumz Staff has handled anything unfairly, just send me a message and we can talk about it. You guys have to understand everything is discussed in great detail before any action with a member is taken.

wow you wrote all that

I have only been a member of Webforumz for coming up to a year and in that time I have noticed vast improvements that have been for the good of the site. The progression WebForumz has made in the last Year is amazing and I take my invisible hat off to everyone for making this happen.

I always say if you don’t like something, lump it and try it yourself (then you will see the time and effort that goes into a forum like this). It’s not easy trying to keep thousands of people happy all at once, you have to tread on some fingers to make the majority happy and keeps the forum running smoothly and professionally.

You are correct of course, it was ridiculous of me to mention it.

Pete.

Well people are quick enough to criticize the rules of the forum and how the place is run, but I haven’t seen any posts in the suggestions and feedback forum (http://www.webforumz.com/webforumz-s...-and-feedback/) or has anyone used the Contact page (http://www.webforumz.com/mail/) if they didn’t want to make a public suggestion. Suggestions can only be considered if suggestions are made.

We aren't finger pointing. Just addressing the points you brought up. You have been an excellent member and we value your opinion and always have found you to be tactful and courteous. I'm glad you brought up this stuff and hopefully we'll have more informed members because of it.

Discussions on how the forum is run is a healthy thing to do. It's not particularly enjoyable I must say, but I realize the need for it.

Great thought and decision goes into every decision made. The banning and deleting or editing of posts is not the fun part of Webforumz. The fun part is helping out other members and receiving help in return. Whether you want to believe it or not, recently many warnings have been given regarding all issues. They were ignored! That's the truth.

All forums have rules, all businesses have policies, all countries have laws. We are following the rules that are in place. Nothing has changed. We never ban without fair warning unless it's a blatant robot- submitted spam or something not related to web design or development.

I look forward to the day when Simon and Alex come back and I hope they do. We hope we can move forward from here and hope to continue to have a good relationship with them. We appreciate who they are and what they bring to the forum.

This forum takes an army to run. We have either full time jobs or are full time students, families, lives. So the more staff the merrier in my opinion. Why that would be a source of contention is beyond me? The Newsletter alone takes an enormous amount of time.

To those that have posted in support thanks.. we try our best. That is all we can do. To those that still have an issue as I'm sure there are many eyes rolling at this time, all I can say is, "we do our best".

Has anyone noticed we are going on. Webforumz is growing up into an important location for web design information. We have all levels and all talents of designers and Developers (see didn't forget you) here. We all come from different experiences and different backgrounds... And that is the challenge of making this place work. Think of the myriad of languages spoke n by our members. Think about the number of countries represented. All different.....no, we are all hear to learn or to teach web design and develop ment. We have made this work so far by keeping our lines of communication open. And as far as I am concern that is one thing that will not change for me.
So here is my stake:
1. You got a problem or concern about what is going on, you better voice it or if you're shy PM one of us.
2. Life ain't perfect and neither is webforumz.
3. Ya want it perfect, help us make it that way.
4. And finally, Sara is a sweet little old lady who will kidnap your keyboard and hold it for ransom since Rob and Jacob are to cheap to pay. Actually, none of us get paid....(note to staff -see about raising dues so I can buy something more than penny candy)

If you don't like the way Webforumz is run, why did you bother coming back after your first post. Is it maybe possible that the "strict rules" and the "excess of Staff members" have a large influence on the the fact that Webforumz has become such an enjoyable community?

When I joined Webforumz, it was just another web design forum for me. But very quickly I realized that Webforumz is much more than that. I stuck around and recently was ->offered<- the position of "Mentor." This was no more than a pat on the back and an encouragement to "keep doing what I'm doing;" A Mentor doesn't have and mod rights or anything like that.

It may be true that there are more staff members than on other forums, but usually no more then five or six of them are online at one point in time because we're spread out all over the globe and can't all be online 24 / 7.

So, face it, Webforumz is good because of the rules, regulations and staff. I don't think that removing or reducing any of these will have a positive influence on the community - Anarchy never has worked, doesn't work and never will (only if you care about other people)....

Nicely said c010depunkk!!!

Think about it - people must have been bad for the rules to have been put into place!