Okay, I have been working on the website for over 30 hours now, with 4 hours sleep in there. 
Dramas galore, with database corruption, code incompatibility, strange blank pages - crazy stuff.
Once I managed to sort out all the server issues, I needed to implement the code changes for all the other things.
Well, here it is, finally - I'll address each step at a time. Remember, we are still in a transition phase.
a. Changing the site rules - simpler, less legalistic, and more open
b. Changing the way rules are developed or changed - wikify it! The rules process should be a member-initiated community-propelled, and consensus driven, not something that a minority can decide on.
Okay, I have set up Wiki forums - one under CF Support for the Core CF Rules and other general CF FAQ/ How-To/ Staff policies etc. And then one Wiki forum under each main category (some categories have to share). Subforum rules development go into these subforums.
This way, CF rules become a true community endeavour. Everyone gets to have say.
The rules - For the moment, only members with 100 posts or more can start or edit a Wiki article, to prevent vandalism. Otherwise, all members can start, edit or revert changes. Staff can LOCK a Wiki if it is subject to repeated vandalism or to cool things down a bit, or if an article cannot be improved.
c. Changing the way moderators are appointed - the members decide! There will be forum moderators, category moderators, and then super moderators. Members nominated, members vote, members appointed. Appointments are for a 12 months - at the end, can be renominated, or not. The power is with the people. And yes, if you are not a Christian, you can be on staff, if people vote for you to do so. The whole process will be open, transparent, and clear. What about current staff? They will all have to be renominated and voted in at some stage.
Okay, this is pretty much set up.
How this works.
Current staff are going to remain on staff until end of 2007 to assist in the transition. At the end of the year, all staff who choose to stay will automatically get renominated.
Staff will be divided up into:
Moderators - can only moderate individual forums
Senior Moderators - can moderate within a whole category
Supervisors (supermoderators) - can moderate any forum
The above 3 categories will be voted on by members.
An applicant MUST have a nomination by at least one current staff to be eligible to apply - this makes sense from my point of view.
Only members with more than 100 posts can vote or comment on a moderator application. This is to prevent vote spamming by new accounts. This policy may change depending in how things work.
Administrators are staff who are NOT moderators but will directly assist me in technical management, and other administrative support-type duties. I will appoint these based on technical knowledge and skill, and they will not be voted upon. However, they will have no say on how things are directly moderated upon and will not moderate forum or users.
d. No more warnings. If God can forgive, so can we. Of course, consistent rule-breakers and trolls will still be banned, but hey, that's not going to be avoidable for any site. But not legitimate users.
Staff will no longer issue warnings. They will obviously issue PMs to warn members but there will be no formal logging of points etc.
e. No more restriction of forums for non-Christians - if a non-Christian can walk into a church, a non-Christian can walk and post in any forum here. Some forums may still have gender or age restrictions, but the whole side, as should be any Christian site, will now be totally [OPEN].
Done.
f. No more restriction of faith icons - who are we to tell you who you are or what you believe in? In fact, no other restrictions - if you want to call yourself married, go ahead. It is between you and God, not you and CF.
Faith icons are now changeable by members directly. they no longer restrict forums.
g. Related to the above, if you believe you are a Christian, you are. No more reliance on our own definition of what we think is a Christian. In the end, who are we to judge.
This is basically related to the return to some basic Forum rules. I think most people understand this principle. This doesn't mean that subforums can't decide to define their own congregation e.g. Reformed, or Baptists, for example. That is a different issue.
h. Transparent appeals of moderator actions in a much more simpler format - with member input allowed - in fact, the community has a say in all appeals. The way it should be. As the community has written the rules up in the end.
Members can now post in the appeals started by other members other than their own - if they have things to add, or suggest. However, members can still choose to have their appeal private (for privacy reasons obviously).
i. No more hidden moderator forums - in fact, no hidden forums at all (except trash forums). If we can read it, you can read it. What is there to hide? If it has to be private, it can be in a PM. This will mean more transparency from all people.
This is done.
All private staff forums under the hidden Staff Forum category have been closed and will be archived.
New staff forums have been created - a main All Staff Teams one, and the DR Staff Team forums have been moved to each forum category. The All Staff Teams forum can only be posted in by staff, but can be read by all members.
The other Staff Team forums can be posted by both staff and members but should be used mainly by staff.
The individual Staff Team Report subforums are also now in the open and located under each Forum Category.
The Staff Team Moderator Application subforums are also now located under each relevant Forum Category.
As already mentioned, there is also a Staff Team forums Wiki for each category, for the discussion and development of rules, policies and other things to do with CF.
For the moment, the Staff Team REPORT and MOD APPLICATION forums are visible to members but their CONTENTS ARE VISIBLE only to staff UNTIL STAFF REMOVE ALL CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION to do with members and staff.
NOTE:
There will be remaining possibly 2 private staff forums still - they will be visible but not their contents:
1. Admin Support Requests subforum - this is where staff post IP check requests for Administrators - filled with a lot of private information that needs to remain private.
2. Recovery Staff Team Reports - a lot of personal information gets posted in these forums due to the nature of the posts, so this may need to remain private.
That is it for now, I need a rest.
PLEASE REPORT BUGS IN THIS THREAD OR PM ME DIRECTLY.
God bless you all and thank you for listening.
Dramas galore, with database corruption, code incompatibility, strange blank pages - crazy stuff.
Once I managed to sort out all the server issues, I needed to implement the code changes for all the other things.
Well, here it is, finally - I'll address each step at a time. Remember, we are still in a transition phase.
a. Changing the site rules - simpler, less legalistic, and more open
b. Changing the way rules are developed or changed - wikify it! The rules process should be a member-initiated community-propelled, and consensus driven, not something that a minority can decide on.
Okay, I have set up Wiki forums - one under CF Support for the Core CF Rules and other general CF FAQ/ How-To/ Staff policies etc. And then one Wiki forum under each main category (some categories have to share). Subforum rules development go into these subforums.
This way, CF rules become a true community endeavour. Everyone gets to have say.
The rules - For the moment, only members with 100 posts or more can start or edit a Wiki article, to prevent vandalism. Otherwise, all members can start, edit or revert changes. Staff can LOCK a Wiki if it is subject to repeated vandalism or to cool things down a bit, or if an article cannot be improved.
c. Changing the way moderators are appointed - the members decide! There will be forum moderators, category moderators, and then super moderators. Members nominated, members vote, members appointed. Appointments are for a 12 months - at the end, can be renominated, or not. The power is with the people. And yes, if you are not a Christian, you can be on staff, if people vote for you to do so. The whole process will be open, transparent, and clear. What about current staff? They will all have to be renominated and voted in at some stage.
Okay, this is pretty much set up.
How this works.
Current staff are going to remain on staff until end of 2007 to assist in the transition. At the end of the year, all staff who choose to stay will automatically get renominated.
Staff will be divided up into:
Moderators - can only moderate individual forums
Senior Moderators - can moderate within a whole category
Supervisors (supermoderators) - can moderate any forum
The above 3 categories will be voted on by members.
An applicant MUST have a nomination by at least one current staff to be eligible to apply - this makes sense from my point of view.
Only members with more than 100 posts can vote or comment on a moderator application. This is to prevent vote spamming by new accounts. This policy may change depending in how things work.
Administrators are staff who are NOT moderators but will directly assist me in technical management, and other administrative support-type duties. I will appoint these based on technical knowledge and skill, and they will not be voted upon. However, they will have no say on how things are directly moderated upon and will not moderate forum or users.
d. No more warnings. If God can forgive, so can we. Of course, consistent rule-breakers and trolls will still be banned, but hey, that's not going to be avoidable for any site. But not legitimate users.
Staff will no longer issue warnings. They will obviously issue PMs to warn members but there will be no formal logging of points etc.
e. No more restriction of forums for non-Christians - if a non-Christian can walk into a church, a non-Christian can walk and post in any forum here. Some forums may still have gender or age restrictions, but the whole side, as should be any Christian site, will now be totally [OPEN].
Done.
f. No more restriction of faith icons - who are we to tell you who you are or what you believe in? In fact, no other restrictions - if you want to call yourself married, go ahead. It is between you and God, not you and CF.
Faith icons are now changeable by members directly. they no longer restrict forums.
g. Related to the above, if you believe you are a Christian, you are. No more reliance on our own definition of what we think is a Christian. In the end, who are we to judge.
This is basically related to the return to some basic Forum rules. I think most people understand this principle. This doesn't mean that subforums can't decide to define their own congregation e.g. Reformed, or Baptists, for example. That is a different issue.
h. Transparent appeals of moderator actions in a much more simpler format - with member input allowed - in fact, the community has a say in all appeals. The way it should be. As the community has written the rules up in the end.
Members can now post in the appeals started by other members other than their own - if they have things to add, or suggest. However, members can still choose to have their appeal private (for privacy reasons obviously).
i. No more hidden moderator forums - in fact, no hidden forums at all (except trash forums). If we can read it, you can read it. What is there to hide? If it has to be private, it can be in a PM. This will mean more transparency from all people.
This is done.
All private staff forums under the hidden Staff Forum category have been closed and will be archived.
New staff forums have been created - a main All Staff Teams one, and the DR Staff Team forums have been moved to each forum category. The All Staff Teams forum can only be posted in by staff, but can be read by all members.
The other Staff Team forums can be posted by both staff and members but should be used mainly by staff.
The individual Staff Team Report subforums are also now in the open and located under each Forum Category.
The Staff Team Moderator Application subforums are also now located under each relevant Forum Category.
As already mentioned, there is also a Staff Team forums Wiki for each category, for the discussion and development of rules, policies and other things to do with CF.
For the moment, the Staff Team REPORT and MOD APPLICATION forums are visible to members but their CONTENTS ARE VISIBLE only to staff UNTIL STAFF REMOVE ALL CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION to do with members and staff.
NOTE:
There will be remaining possibly 2 private staff forums still - they will be visible but not their contents:
1. Admin Support Requests subforum - this is where staff post IP check requests for Administrators - filled with a lot of private information that needs to remain private.
2. Recovery Staff Team Reports - a lot of personal information gets posted in these forums due to the nature of the posts, so this may need to remain private.
That is it for now, I need a rest.
PLEASE REPORT BUGS IN THIS THREAD OR PM ME DIRECTLY.
God bless you all and thank you for listening.
