Moderator Roles

[Jenny]

I would like to hear some basic rules that the moderators use to decide to close a thread, toss a user, edit posts etc...Can they read Private messages?

What is the role of a moderator?

What can and can't we say on this board?

Clarification would be useful.

[logicalvelocity]

Jenny,

Generally, I edited my own typos or if someone asks I will edit their own. In the past I have deleted multiple repeat posts to clean up the thread. This was a server problem which has been fixed.

I believe the members use appropriate language in here. At times I have noticed some of the posts opinionated, However, to me the idea of the forum is to receive multiple opinions on the same subject depending on one experiences and view points. It is meant for collaborative discussions. Ultimately it is up to the reader to take all of the advice given and come to their own conclusion to solve their problem or have their question answered.

To the best of my knowledge, a moderator cannot read others mail messages and only have the ability to close a thread, edit a post, or merge multiple threads.

I believe you can voice your opinion on these forums, one's experiences with family law matters are invaluable. To me each member has equal status.

I don't believe anyone can use this forum as a median to attack another individual, their character, lifestyle with vulgar language.

LV

[Jeff]

I would like to hear some basic rules that the moderators use to decide to close a thread, toss a user, edit posts etc

First of all, it's not easy being a moderator and I would like to thank all the moderators for their help. I really appreciate it!

To date, I haven't laid out any specific guidelines for moderators, but I'll do that in the near future.

...Can they read Private messages?

No one can read private messages, not even the adminstrator. They're truly private.

So are your passwords. If you forget your password, I can reset it to a new one, but I can't find out what your old one is.

The software used for the forum is quite sophisticated and uses all the latest security to ensure that it doesn't get hacked.

What is the role of a moderator?

Basically a moderator (or supermoderator) is like a regular member, but has the extra ability to do things to keep the forums clean - so, they can edit posts, move posts, move threads and lock threads.

Being a moderator is also a recognition of a person's contributions to the forums, knowledge and helpfulness.

I've set things so that moderators can't ban people or delete posts.

Basically the moderators keep the forums running smoothly. There need to be a few moderators as no one can be on the forums 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What can and can't we say on this board?

Pretty much anything and everything. I truly believe in free speech.

I'd echo logicalvelocity in that strong opinions are welcome and indeed part of what makes a forum interesting and helpful.

Pretty much the only thing that's not tolerated is personal attacks. People going through a divorce have enough sh*t going on in there lives that they don't need to get more here.

There are obviously a lot of political issues involved in divorce and family law that are very controversial. The political forum is there to discuss those issues and to keep them out of the other forums, which have other purposes.

Clarification would be useful.

I hope that answers your concerns. Let me know if you have any more.

[Jenny]

Thank you - this eases my mind.

Thank you for this clarification.

And thank you for re opening that thread.

[Jeff]

I'll centralize moderator guidelines once they're complete.

Guidelines for closing a thread are here:
http://www.ottawadivorce.com/forum/s...6&postcount=57

Guidelines for Editing Threads
Generally, posts should not be edited, even for spelling and grammar. The only things that should be immediately deleted are profanity and spam (e.g. "buy viagra now!"). If a thread goes off topic, that's fine, although you may want to move it to the appropriate forum (general chat, political issues, etc.). If a member writes something inappropriate, it's best to deal with the issue in the thread directly or discreetly via PM, rather than editing what the member said.

[Divorcemanagement]

Thanks for the clarification Jeff. For the record, I have never edited anyone's contribution and because I am a newby as a moderator, I probably should have started a new thread and redirected the one I closed to the new thread - bear with me - learning curve.