A minor annoyance...

[MarkS]

I understand that the administration on this board wants to come across as friendly. I like that cool "Welcome" animation.

What I do not like is when a moderator replies to a thread started by a newcomer and does not post anything but that animation. I mean absolutly nothing of value, just "Welcome to ReefCentral".

This really gets on my nerves. If I was a newcomer and a moderator only replied with a welcome, I would be a little offended and maybe a little ticked off.

I just think that if you have time to reply, then you have time to add something usefull. If you do not have anything usefull to add or do not have time, then wait until you do.

This is even more annoying when the first reply is from a moderator and it's only that animation. In a case like this, it would be better not to reply at all than to reply and not offer any advice.

Anyway, off of my soapbox...

JMO,
Mark

[JohnL]

At least it bumbs the thread to the top of the list :lol2:

Your point is well taken, Mark. However, let's not be too hard on the moderators. It is a thankless, payless job and, in spite of that, our moderators are the most helpful moderators out there! :thumbsup:

[JohnL]

Originally posted by MarkS
I understand that the administration on this board wants to come across as friendly.

Dude!!! We ARE friendly :hammer: :fun2: :strooper:

[MarkS]

Originally posted by JohnL
At least it bumbs the thread to the top of the list :lol2:


True.

Originally posted by JohnL
Your point is well taken, Mark. However, let's not be too hard on the moderators. It is a thankless, payless job and, in spite of that, our moderators are the most helpful moderators out there! :thumbsup:

I agree with this and take offence at the same time. I am a moderator at Aqualink, so I know it's a thankless job...

Mark

[JohnL]

Originally posted by MarkS
I am a moderator at Aqualink

Ah.... that explains it :strange:

[MarkS]

What's that supposed to mean? If I didn't like this board, then I would avoid it. :D

MArk

[dc]

Yah! What DOES that mean? Mark, I think you set yourself up there!:lol:

[Doug]

Hi Mark,

I can understand what you are saying and I will admit that I often reply with the welcome banner but do not answer the question asked.

The main reason that I don't answer the question is because I may not know the answer or have any useful advice to offer.

I do want our new members to feel as welcome as possible and like John mentioned I also want to bump the thread up to the top so that others may offer advice that I cannot.

I hope that clears things up.;)

Doug

[Snailman]

Mark


<img src="http://www.reefcentral.com/images/welcome.gif"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

(((((((:))))))))
I welcome ever new member I run into and I also answer their question if I can I don't make up answers so that means I leave some questions to be answered by somone else. I still welcome them. :)

[CaptainMac]

Originally posted by JohnL


Ah.... that explains it :strange:

:bum: Hey, wait a minute mister, what is that supposed to mean. Have you forgotten our generosity in giving you Short:D.

Cap'n

[Hawkphysh]

Seems to me that Mark is trying to suggest an improvement and you admin/moderators are too thin-skinned and arrogant to accept it.

JMO

[JohnL]

Originally posted by Hawkphysh
you admin/moderators are too thin-skinned and arrogant to accept it.

Hmm.... thin-skinned and arrogant for welcoming new members?
OK, if you say so.

Hawkphysh, thanks for the feedback and...
[welcome]

[JohnL]

Originally posted by JohnL
Ah.... that explains it :strange:

For the record... that was a joke :hmm1:

[Hawkphysh]

Originally posted by JohnL


Hmm.... thin-skinned and arrogant for welcoming new members?
OK, if you say so.
No, for reacting defensively to someone who was simply trying to suggest that there might be a better, more responsive way.

For example, one might take a couple of seconds to say "Hi newbie, and welcome. I don't have an answer for you myself, but I'll move your thread up and we'll see if someone else might." rather than just clicking up a logo.

But, then, it's JMO, if I get one... ;)

Hawkphysh, thanks for the feedback and...
Your welcome :)
[/B]

[JohnL]

I'm sorry but I don't see how I acted defensively. I told Mark that his point was well taken but also wanted to remind him and everyone else that the moderators work very hard, get little thanks and no pay but still they take the time to welcome new members. Nothing defensive about that.

[Hawkphysh]

I thinks it's defensive to say "point well taken" and then justify why it isn't well taken.

You guys will run your board the way you want. But, I think that when a newbie takes the time and effort to type up a question, it's rude to not even take the few seconds to type a response of some kind. IMO, slapping up a graphic doesn't cut it.

If new people are not made to feel welcome, it takes away from the dialog and exchange of information. And isn't that what a board like this is supposed to be about.

You all have an excellant resource here, and clearly it's run well generally. But perhaps there may be a thing or two that could be improved.

Again, it's JMO :)

[JohnL]

Originally posted by Hawkphysh
But perhaps there may be a thing or two that could be improved.

I agree 100% and sincerely appreciate the feedback provided in this thread and most other threads in this forum. The moderators and administrators try very hard to provide a friendly and informative resource for all.

Thanks again for the feedback. I'm sorry if I sounded defensive or arrogant. That was not my intent.

[Coach]

On this I must agree with Hawkphysh. While the banner is nice I think it's not as good as a hi and welcome.


:wave:

[hcs3]

coach

[welcome]

sorry, couldn't resist ;)

[Laura D]

I always thought that the welcome banner was a really nice touch. Some questions take along time to get answered, and it's nice for a first time poster to get their post bumped up, kinda gives them a second chance at good answeres, especially since many newbies ask vague and unclear questions, the kind that many people don't like to tackle.

[MarkS]

Cool it people. If I had wanted this to get into a shouting match, I would have told John to get his stupid and lazy moderators in line. Clearly that is not how I feel and obviously not what I said.

I mearly find it annoying.

Even as a long time member, and this applies to any board, I get very annoyed when someone bumps up my threads or replies with: "Gee, I would like to know this to...". :rolleyes: Needless to say, I never bump a thread up unless it has already been replied to and I do not post unless I have something to add.

This is not a flame against this board's administration and was never meant to be. I just figured that if I find it annoying, others probably do to but are just too intimidated/shy/whatever because they are new to say anything.

Mark

P.S. I knew that was a joke John. ;)

[JohnL]

Originally posted by MarkS
P.S. I knew that was a joke John. ;)

Good man :thumbsup:

[Laura D]

Even as a long time member, and this applies to any board, I get very annoyed when someone bumps up my threads or replies with: "Gee, I would like to know this to...". Needless to say, I never bump a thread up unless it has already been replied to and I do not post unless I have something to add

Oh wow, I had no idea that was considered rude, or annoying or whatever. I sometimes bump someone's post back up if they haven't gotten a single response and are now several pages back(usually only if they are new here though). This board gets so much traffic that in no time at all, a post can end up several pages back, and it always seemed the courteous thing to do.

[Northern Reef]

Geez, how fast we got over 9-11, eh? This is all we have to ***** about now????

[JazzMan]

Well I am new and I liked the animated Welcome!!!

What are the moderators supposed to reply with??? How do you know that someone new to the board isn't a marine biologist that just stumbled upon the board? What would they tell him?

How do the moderators know what the person is interested in? There are a lot of variations when it comes to reefs.....there's Nano's....there clam only....theres fish only......theres all kinds of thing that the person could be into.

I say a big thank you to our moderators!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BrianD]

Seems to me that Mark is trying to suggest an improvement and you admin/moderators are too thin-skinned and arrogant to accept it.

Flattery will get you nowhere.

Brian

[Agu]

Mark, Hawkphysh, Coach, and Capt Mac,

[welcome]

I try to post something with the "welcome", even if it's that I don't have a clue about the answer to that particular question. Often it's the first reply, and it brings the fact that this is a new person to the attention of the regulars. This makes it more likely that the new persons question gets answered.


Truth is, I'm just trying to get my post count up;) , with 10 to 20 new members a day I get a lot of easy posts :D .

Agu

[CaptainMac]

LMAO Brian. C'mon, you know a compliment when you see one.

Thanks for the welcome Agu although post padding at 4100 posts seems a bit redundant doesn't it:D.

Cap

[billsreef]

Originally posted by CaptainMac


Have you forgotten our generosity in giving you Short :D

Cap'n

Hey Cap'n,

With friends like you, who needs enemies :D :eek2: ;)

[CaptainMac]

LOL Bill, you got that right. But honestly, I did include a disclaimer with that particular transaction. JohnL was forwarned;) :smokin:

Cheers
Cap'n

[pirate6801]

hullo,
i am probably a bit late on this one, but i joined about 2 days ago and i do thank skipper gor welcoming me. he didn't answer my question, but i did not take any offense to it i thought it was pretty cool, actually, but i immediatly recieve responses from other members, and skippers web site answered a couple of questions that i did't think of asking yet, but i do have a rather silly question. what does a moderator do anyways? but this site has been really helpful, i have found alot of info, ofcourse i have probably been scanning everything on here for a total of 24 hours in 2 days, yes i do have a life, but i am in the military and right know have a lot of time on my hands do to circumstances. well just thought i would put in my imput. later

[Agu]

Pirate,

Since no one else has answered, I'll take a shot at this one. As I see it the primary job of the moderators is to help people find the info they're looking for. Sometimes it's by adding input, other times it's by providing a link to previous discussions. We also move threads to more appropriate forums, bump them up, or ask other individuals with the correct expertise to check out a particular thread. As you may have noticed most of the moderators have a long history at RC, this is helpful when doing a search for an older thread that has particularly useful information relevant to a current question. A more appropriate title would be "facilitator" when we're performing these duties.

The other job of a moderator could be described as being a "referee" :( , and it's not a pleasant aspect of the job. Although we've been accused of being heavy handed at times, that's not what we want to be doing. We'll monitor posts that appear to be getting out of line (defining "out of line" is the hardest part of the job btw), and step in if we feel it's necessary. A lot of times these are subjective judgement calls and not everybody agrees with the decisions made. Then we get to take the heat :rolleyes:.

Finally, most of us deal one on one via email or pm with questions, problems, or concerns individual members may have.

jmo & hth,

Agu

[thezookeeper1]

I would like to back Agu's statement up and say that I've received help and advice from him and other moderators via pm and email. That takes time for them to offer their help and it is thankless. I hope that people realize that we're all here to educate and be educated to preserve this hobby, which we all derive so much enjoyment from.

[chewie]

picky, picky, picky. I like the welcome graphic, what's the big deal!!

[Kenzy]

So let me get this straight... every time a new member posts for the first time, the moderators manually plug in the "Welcome" sign.

Man I thought that was like an automatic feature with the BB software.

Wether you like the "Welcome" sign or not Hats off to the Moderators!

[aLittletank]

Originally posted by Northern Reef
Geez, how fast we got over 9-11, eh? This is all we have to ***** about now????



ROTFLMAO!


yep I guess so.


Mark you created a MONSTER!



I have nothing useful to add, but to all you newbies... get the heck out of our sand box you are not Welcome here! :p :D


HTH
Allen

[cat23]

GEEZ.......

Different strokes for different folks!!!

I think it's a really nice "Warm Welcome"

:rolleyes:

[MarkS]

LOL! I can't believe that this is still being bumped back up.

To be quite honest, this was a troll. I really did* find that annoying, but did not want to point out any moderator(s). I just wanted to know why. It's a good idea to welcome a newbie, but I find it cruel to do so without something else.

Mark

* Since I originally posted this thread, I have seen many of the welcome replies. Every one had something more added. Maybe it was just an "I really don't know the answer, I'll leave that to someone else" to a complete solution to the problem. So, joke all you want, this thread changed something.

[Snailman]

Originally posted by MarkS

I agree with this and take offence at the same time. I am a moderator at Aqualink, so I know it's a thankless job...
Mark

As John put it ours is a payless, thankless job so at least yours is only thankless job over at AL so tell them to get you a copy of PR for your hard work. :D

[Bishop]

I wouldn't expect the hobbyist moderators to be paid, but I assumed the expert moderators were, either way.. thankless job..

never is everyone happy at the same time.

[JerseyReef]

sigh...