Help the Moderators

[Brad]

There is a growing problem at Chameleon Forums and the moderators need your help dealing with it. On a daily basis the amount of time spent moving threads to their appropriate category is becoming significant and a burden for moderators to deal with. This announcement marks the beginning of a new effort to hopefully improve the situation. To some degree this will always be a problem, it's the nature of public forums, but there is room for improvement through better organization and community awareness.

Starting immediately all members will see an automated reminder when posting a new thread in the general discussion section. That section is where most of the related problems occur. Once we begin to recognize an improvement the reminders will be dialed back and shown only to new members. We don't want to discourage new members from interacting with the community so it's best to let a moderator deal with the issue and not try to call someone out in public. The source of the problem is a lack of direction for new members and not the members themselves. If anyone has a suggestion on how to deal with this issue please let us know. The more time moderators spend moving threads the less time they are able to enjoy the forums and help others.

Thanks

 

[DanSB]

I notice most are moved from General Discussion to the appropriate forum. I would either change the name to something more specific, or move it to the bottom forcing people to look over other forum choices first.

Maybe a better, and more appropriate name would be general care and not general discussion.

 

[Brad]

I notice most are moved from General Discussion to the appropriate forum. I would either change the name to something more specific, or move it to the bottom forcing people to look over other forum choices first.

Maybe a better, and more appropriate name would be general care and not general discussion.

Thanks for the suggestions. You're right, most of this takes place in the General Discussion section. Changing names of the forum categories and their organization is an option and something we have been considering.

 

[Solid Snake]

Im of the general opinion that the current category names are fairly appropriate.

General Care I dont think quite suits that forum.

Maybe, General Chameleon Discussion, so that it doesnt get confused with what the LL is for by unfamiliars?

Im sure most of the issue is newer members that are just unaware to what is appropriate where, thus they opt for General Discussion, as it comes off as an all around area for everything.

I guess I could see changing Health Clinic to Health Topics may help somewhat.

I think this is an all around good idea though, Im sure it will help with the issue.

 

[DanSB]

I just made a post in the general forum and I think the message is a brilliant idea. Simple and elegant solutions always impress me.

I'm curious how well it will work. Do you happen to have statistics for posts that had to be moved in the past so you could quantify improvements?

 

[Decadancin]

I was wondering if something could be done just the other day. I logged on, looked at the general discussion page and almost every single post was moved. It wasn't just new member threads either. I usually scroll over the thread title and see what is being discussed and you cant do this after it is moved. So, for me at least, this type of organization would be much appreciated!!! Hope it has a great impact!

 

[camimom]

What about making a notice that new members have to read and agree to, before they can complete their registration to the site?

Not just they can click the I agree box and move on, but that wont let them click I agree or click next page, until they have scrolled through the info box?

I had that happen to me on another site.. the terms and conditions box had a scroll bar, and I couldn't click I agreed until I had moved the bar all the way to the bottom.

Just a thought.

 

[Brad]

Im of the general opinion that the current category names are fairly appropriate.

General Care I dont think quite suits that forum.

Maybe, General Chameleon Discussion, so that it doesnt get confused with what the LL is for by unfamiliars?

Im sure most of the issue is newer members that are just unaware to what is appropriate where, thus they opt for General Discussion, as it comes off as an all around area for everything.

I guess I could see changing Health Clinic to Health Topics may help somewhat.

I think this is an all around good idea though, Im sure it will help with the issue.

Thanks for the feedback

The general forum is tricky and we've played with several name ideas. We've also considered a change to the name of the health forum and may still do that.

I just made a post in the general forum and I think the message is a brilliant idea. Simple and elegant solutions always impress me.

I'm curious how well it will work. Do you happen to have statistics for posts that had to be moved in the past so you could quantify improvements?

Thanks Dan
The numbers are retrievable but it might take a little time. I'll put something together in a couple weeks to see how things are going. One big problem with that automated message is that it's not seen by tapatalk users.

 

[Brad]

I was wondering if something could be done just the other day. I logged on, looked at the general discussion page and almost every single post was moved. It wasn't just new member threads either. I usually scroll over the thread title and see what is being discussed and you cant do this after it is moved. So, for me at least, this type of organization would be much appreciated!!! Hope it has a great impact!

Thanks for the feedback
I'm beginning to dislike those moved message notices. We might reduce the amount of time they are visible or stop using them completely.

What about making a notice that new members have to read and agree to, before they can complete their registration to the site?

Not just they can click the I agree box and move on, but that wont let them click I agree or click next page, until they have scrolled through the info box?

I had that happen to me on another site.. the terms and conditions box had a scroll bar, and I couldn't click I agreed until I had moved the bar all the way to the bottom.

Just a thought.

Thanks camimom
That's something we should do but I'm not sure how many people read that stuff during registration. I know I'm guilty of frequently getting to the agree button as fast as possible.

 

[djfishygillz]

Good idea!!!

 

[camimom]

What about creating a pop up message when someone starts a new thread? such as do you really want to post this in the health section? and they have to click yes or no.

might make them think twice about posting in a section and make them wonder if it really belongs in that section.