What has happened to this place?

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kamikat

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Akathist you missinterpret my saying "concrete evidence" I was not talking about disclosing confidential information.... I was talking about the "WAY" you close threads... i.e.

Am I allowed to talk about my cat? or my dog? in the threads if I want to? or do I have to be "rigid" and "controlled" and try not to go off topic ... since it will be zapped? There was a recent thread about (just an example) about how God had blessed someone with more children.... Is that thread "offensive" what are the standards then? and further why these threads instead of being zapped moved to the debate area?


Philothei

In a sense, you are correct. Usually, threads get moved or deleted after there's been a report. The thread about blessings had a problem with an obvious troll. However, it could have been cleaned up and reopened. I didn't even know it was deleted. Are you sure it was and not back on page 3 or 4?
 
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Breaking Babylon

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Let me ask a question... what are you guys really so steamed about? I mean seriously. This whole taking potshots at staff is getting out of hand and I'm pretty aggravated about it. If you don't like the way things are run, go to the front of the line and do something about it. Don't take your frustration out on me or the rest of the TAW staff who signed on to help. If it were up to me, everyone on staff would take a nice big long vacation and leave all these forums up to whatever garbage people wanna spew.

What would you want to change for crying out loud? That's how you get things done, talking about it.

We're TAWers, just like the rest of you. We're not "up there" in a different place, we're all here for the same thing. Only thing we want to do is help. If we haven't helped, tell us how, and what you would do to change it, but if it's just going to be potshots and groaning... how can anything change. Help us help you. Tell us exactly what's wrong. I make my living as a customer service representative for Dish Network, I'm an easy guy to get along with, and I have a desire to help people. To put me up on some unreachable level isn't something I've done or any of the rest of the staff have done. PM me, or Akathist, any of us, and express your concerns.

But I really am getting tired of everyone speaking behind everyone elses back about things and getting nothing done.
 
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Tishri1

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We have to be open to a degree ....my thinking goes that the poster or op had problems with personal issues.... ok then I am sure that in cases like these confidentiality is important but still a communication with the forum members would be appreciated... I know we should not be filled with details but ....is it better to deal with suspicion??

You could announce that action was taken since there was a serious personal matter... that is taking place to one of the members... that simple not need to create more intrigue in this forum.

Also explain the extend of the "limits" that posters have in this forum... Zapping threads without explanation would always create questions and reactions.


Philothei
Philothei you have made an excellent point and one I think I have a solution too.....

If we were to have a sticky in every forum that was closed to discussion, but was viewable to the members and used primarily for giving information on posts that needed to be moved would that be satisfactory to you all?

I think I can make it happen and will bring it up for discussion with all the admins today....I totally understand your frustration and I think an information thread is desperately needed in every forum in CF:thumbsup::hug:
 
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nutroll

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I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about. I haven't noticed a huge amount of missing threads. However, just for full disclosure, I asked for one of my threads to be zapped because it started to make me uncomfortable having it in an open forum. I apologize if I have in any way contributed to people thinking that there is an Invasion of the Thread Snatchers. I for one have never had any problems with the staff here, and I really appreciate all that they do on our behalf. I am glad to see that we have even more mods lately because I know that it was difficult to keep up with things before they all signed on. May God bless and guide the work of TAW staff for the benefit of us all.
 
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Khaleas

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I did inquire about becoming a mod back in the day, the request was turned down because according to whomever was in charge then (this was before most current mods were even around)... you needed to be active in more than one forum (which I prefer not to be). After that I heard that people were invited to be mods and apparently volunteering was not the way to go. So needless to say, that was it for me, forever (I do mod two other boards and removing posts require a lot more transparency than it does here).

Having mods say to people to stay out of threads if they don't like the way they are going is just pretty rich. Guess we aren't all on the same level here and cannot all talk/debate in whatever threads we choose.

Thing is that modding should not be personal and that's exactly how it looks now. It looks like a wild chase on some while others get away with whatever they please no matter how off topic they are.
 
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Philothei

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Yes, the communication part is what is lacking plus the disermnent has to be not only pastoral but also theological ... WE EO have other standards like....lets say in the "recovery" forum... I would respect to make a dinstiction according to different fora....

Philothei
 
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Breaking Babylon

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So let's all communicate. None of us are on some 'elite ecumenical team', rather, that's some rocky pedestal people are placing us on and it's unfair. We're right here, and trust me, we all want this resolved as much as you guys do.
 
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Breaking Babylon

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Sure, let's all be open here. :)

One, when members are banned, their posts are removed. It's the standard. 16 or so of those threads were started by a member who got a small vacation from TAW, not to mention we had several reports on them and came to the unanimous decision they should be moved. We take the blame for that.

Other threads, I honestly don't even know what threads those are, but all staff actions are able to be appealed if you would like to do so. It won't be TAW staff who handles the appeal, it'll be a third party.

Xenia and I are more than ready to be open here, even at the sake of losing our positions. Look, we signed up to help, and that's what we're here for. It's not worth it to me, or Xenia, to keep trying to make things right when we're hurting feelings in the process... but since we're all being open and honest here, it's not right that no one else here is doing all the hard work behind the scenes that she is doing... a very, very thankless and time-consuming job... yet has a lot of spiteful things to say.

It's come to my attention through a PM that people are going to be avoiding the new DnA website and have avoided OP simply because Xenia is a staff member there. Whether that's true or not, that makes me sick, disgusted, and hurt. I'm a catechumen and I don't commune, but aren't you all one Body?

I don't even see what the fuss is all about. Banned members get their posts removed, and this one for good reason, because TAW members themselves requested they be removed. It's true that you can't please everybody, but that's why there are PMs and the appeals system... coming to TAW and getting bashed wasn't something I imagined I'd be dealing with over a year ago when I was here for inquiry into the faith.

And why? Because I'm trying to help? And how much worse is it, when the same is being done to Xenia who is Orthodox and has been here way longer than I have.

Xenia has a thread up now to address these issues. What she's posting could very well cause some stipulations, but she felt that's what's right. I hope it goes to show that she is not in some holier-than-thou elite position... she's a friend, and a sister, and a member on this same forum, who goes behind the scenes to try and help in very time-consuming and thankless ways.

Again, if you don't like the 'transparency' take it to CF as a whole, not to the individuals trying to help the community through the rules which it has set.
 
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Tonks

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Sure, let's all be open here. :)

One, when members are banned, their posts are removed. It's the standard. 16 or so of those threads were started by a member who got a small vacation from TAW, not to mention we had several reports on them and came to the unanimous decision they should be moved. We take the blame for that.

The bit above in red is only if someone is ebanned. If they are normal banned their posts remain in plain sight.

For those that don't know...ebanning deletes posts from public view, removes the username from the member list etc...it can be disruptive to the database so is generally only done with folks that have 100 posts or less...trolls, folks that post inappropriate content etc. This way it removes all their posts at once.

m
 
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Akathist

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In a sense, you are correct. Usually, threads get moved or deleted after there's been a report. The thread about blessings had a problem with an obvious troll. However, it could have been cleaned up and reopened. I didn't even know it was deleted. Are you sure it was and not back on page 3 or 4?

It was not deleted kami. We didn't even close it that I recall. But it was cleaned up.
 
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rusmeister

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To the staff, for what it's worth...

I think that the concerns of mature posters are not aimed at bashing staff at all. We know that you guys have dealings with people who believe the opposite of what we as Orthodox Christians do, that there are some aspects of our faith that don't sit well with the ownership, etc.

Our concerns are about how to prevent an Orwellian environment in the face of that. I'm sure that you are doing a lot to prevent that; we're just laying out the concerns.

Things like the thread where I got reported (first time ever!) were simply a result of not knowing that it was staff action. It was so bizarre I thought a bug was more likely.

Personally, I am not attacking you guys, I wouldn't take your volunteer job, and if this job pulls away from what you should really be spending your time on, then maybe nobody ought to be doing it and we all ought to go home. I love having this, but know that 'modding' would overload my spiritual plate.
 
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Philothei

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I would second you rus... And finally thanks you for the transparency Sacrum...

Explaining to us that once a member gets a ban ...their threads get closed would have been enough... How are we supposed to know that? We are not fortune tellers...

Sorry for putting you on the spot... but if you would have said that to Rus in the first place when he opened the thread I think it would have avoided all this.... So the rest of us who got pms and .... saw the mods writing in the post that they will tell ....Rus... in a pm... would not have rise so much fuss...

We know you guys do a hard job and want you to keep it. Just try to understand that we are all mature adutls not kids that need to be told in secret the rules .... why? Just say when someone get banned we close some of his threads... that is all.... no biggy. Instead the secrecy spreads frustration and suspicion and above all misstrust.... Putting it in theological terms let us be honest and trust each other that we are not here to "stab" others.... I personally do not mind the mods making decisions as long as they lay down the rules for making those decisions... so confidentiality has absolutely nothing to do with it..

Again thanks Tonks and Blake for the information about how this works. I would suggest also like Tishn mentioned that these and other rule s to be communicated to us through a post... or a sticky so in the future we know what to expect and not through the "gossip" line....

Again forgive me I need to work on my prayer life more and talk less...

Philothei
 
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