Comment: Forum Terms of Use

Stuart,

The poster of the 6 threads in relation to orchids was asked to consolidate the threads into the one original post. The forum rules ask posters not to create continuous threads on the same subjects, rather, they add to the main thread. This member posted 6 threads on the same subject in a short period of time.

As a member of EO, the option is always there to create a blog on the topic. That way you can continuously add to your subject and the blogs are very easy to find and navigate. For example, members John & Val, have been co-ordinating a wild flower blog for quite a while now which links all the posts and blogs relating to plants and flowers.

It is simply not appropriate to clog the poster to clog the forum with repetitive posts on the same topics when the original post will consolidate all the information the poster wishes to put forward. It also makes it a lot easier to find at a later date.

A moderated post is usually left for a period of time so that forum users know the reason that the post was moderated. The postee is also notified of the reason automatically and as in this case, a follow-up email is sometimes sent direct from the Moderation Team.

The forum rules apply equally across the board to all forum users. There is no discrimination between non-members or members. You must remember that the forum has been set up to be “self moderating” in that it is the forum users who generally alert the moderators to posts that may need consideration or action. Here is the information from the website on moderation.


“Our Moderation Team is comprised of a few volunteer site users that have a good understanding of the site aims, goals and features. They have been instrumental in working with the site management to develop the Forum Rules to ensure it maintains a friendly tone and remains a functional, useful venue for relevant discussion. This means, that this Forum is managed by the Members.

Moderation is simply a mechanism to ensure at least someone is available to respond to Forum issues on a daily basis. This may occasionally mean a significant time delay from when a problematic post appears to when it is actioned by a moderator - at other times action may seem to occur almost instantly - it just depends who is available at the time. This may sometimes give the indication that moderation is inconsistent, but this is meant to be a place that is friendly, informative and useful so don't get too bothered by the logistics of moderation.

Our Moderation Policy is designed around the idea that the people using the Forum will alert the Moderators when they feel something needs attention - when a rule has been breached and a post, reply or followup needs removal. Moderation should be seen more as a support role than a "policing" role. This is backed up periodic checks by the Moderators, but only when time permits.

Forum Moderators are not required to provide fulltime monitoring or public support. They are however, the sole decision makers in regards to the execution of moderation and they are the sole recipients of Alert Moderator feedback. “