First of all, Tonks, I just have to tell you... CF is dieing. Someone had to say it.
what's the old twain canard? The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated...at least that is my view.
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Now, on to more important things:
There's such a thing as "Canada Cake"? I've honestly never heard of that before! And I was born and raised here! lol. I know we've got great banana bread, and Nanaimo bars... but Canada Cake? Hmm.. Will have to investigate.
I heard such from one of our resident Canadians...lo.
OK, back to the topic at hand. (Ya, I know y'all have been waiting with baited breath for my all-important opinion, right?
)
I like hearing opinions...particularly ones that disagree with mine...helps the thought process.
It's interesting to see big changes happening all of a sudden. I wasn't expecting that. And I use the word interesting, because I can't say whether I'll like it or not. I am optimistic, though.
I'm glad that you clarified about the safe haven issue. I think that will have to be maintained if you want to keep the bulk of the Christian member base right now. Like it or not, Christians do come here to talk with other Christians, not to be ridiculed, attacked, belittled, etc, However, I also hope that changes that are coming down the line will open up more of CF as a whole so that more of us feel safer in venturing out to other areas. Personally, I've not been comfortable doing so for quite some time now. And it's a shame too, as I do like to talk with people of different beliefs.
These are separate, but related issues, I think. Regarding the Congregational areas...like I mentioned earlier we're going to edit the rule slightly to make the "protected / safe-haven" idea more explicit. The exact language is TBD...though the change really isn't a secret so my expectation is that this shouldn't be problem going forward even if I haven't had time to edit the FAQ yet.
Regarding the opening up...I suppose that there are a few different approaches (and probably several mid-course corrections as we figure out what works and what doesn't). My expectation is that staff will be out posting in the forums much more. Not just modding threads and keeping things to a dull roar...but actually out posting as members (as we're regular members too)...too much time is spent in the staff forums...myself included. Likewise, when I see a user with 30 staff contacts on their account in less than a year I wonder, frankly, why they are here. Yes, modding is more art than science but at a certain point the human decision element takes a back seat to observed behavior. By the time that such people cross my radar. My view, then, is one less of looking at staff contact but one more of whether someone is being massively disruptive in a forum and driving members off. If that is the case...they're likely to receive a PM from me...
I think it's excellent that you're consolidating the quieter forums. Someone called it "pruning" earlier. I like that idea. It's good to clear out some cobwebs now and then on forums. Makes it easier for new members to navigate as well.
Beyond the navigation issue...back after 777 (and even before when forums were made willy nilly) the unintended consequence was that we have a bunch of members on the site but many of them stay in one forum...along with one or two other people. I'm not really sure that serves the site. I still think that we have too many (and I'm sure further prunes will be coming) but back before Friday CF had over 700 discrete forums. That is far too many. Talk about brand dilution.
I am a little concerned about cutting down on staff so much. Of course if you have staff who are no longer really participating, that is necessary. But I've so often been reminded of how overworked the existing staff is. And I've seen how long it can be for action to be taken because of that. I hope this current change will not add more work to already too-heavy work loads for existing staff. Will more be taken on to help them in the future?
The actual numbers changed less than I thought they would (for a variety of reasons). The number of non-moderating staff (such as myself, the accounts people etc) stayed about the same. In terms of mod staff...we had more admins and supervisors than we did more dedicated mod staff. We chopped both of their numbers pretty significantly (for a variety of reasons)...by half at least...to ensure that we had enough staff to deal with the actual day to day moderating. Likewise, internally we used to have a bunch of random staffers that would fill in when teams were short of people (vacation or whatever)...while it still exists in some form I think it was problematic that we had a bunch of staff that were not necessarily fully spun up on issues specific to certain forums. Now we have dedicated backup teams (ie: the Theology staff and the Congregational staff are backups for each other). I think in the long run this will allow for a bit more consistency across the board.
Currently, whenever we see anything we believe to be an infraction, we're told to report it. But at the same time, I think most of us feel guilty for reporting anything because we know how hard you guys are already working to keep things running.
We could be more clear on this, I suppose. At the same time there is an element of discretion involved. Infractions are hard-coded to trigger bans of varying length...so a list of "this is always an infraction and this is never an infraction" is difficult. Probably not the best answer but it is what it is at the moment, I guess.
I was also wondering if there will be a place that lists who current staff members are. I know that's up to you guys to decide how much to reveal to the general membership. I've personally just always found it helpful to know who is staff.
Christian Forums - Show Groups
Shows all staffers on the board, their teams and assigned forums
I've noticed that whenever these threads come up, and members express concerns, etc. we're often told to go to the complaints/suggestions area. Thing is, (and I assume many others feel this way too), I think there's a kind of vibe that we get from that whole thing. It comes across like "we don't want to deal with you here, so go over there where we can shut you down or ignore you.". I'm sure that's not anyone's intention. But none the less, that's how it feels from a lowly member's point of view these days. Just to let you guys know. I think that's why you do see so many opinions being expressed in these kinds of threads, even beyond the scope of the current topic.
We've done it both ways, I suppose. In the past many of the threads sort of turned into a giant pile-on and it was hard to get to the root of the matter. The old discuss rules forum was a nightmare and, frankly, when it was open it actually comprised a significant amount of board traffic as people spent more time discussing, complaining etc about various things under the sun. I'm talking like 30-40% of traffic and posts...such really is not the intent of CF. I'm not entirely sure what the solution is other than to indicate I'm generally pleased with how the S/C box operates. But I do know that the view depends on where you sit, as it were.
And finally, I want to say how glad I am that CF is no longer going to try to be everything for everyone. I always considered that to be an effort in futility and frustration more than anything. So, this is a good new direction, IMHO.
you and me both.
If there are ways that we the members can be of assistance in these changes, please let us know. (Prayer being the most obvious one, of course).
Prayers are always desired.