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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Announcement: Away Colors for Moderators

Discussion in 'Communications' started by rhonderoo, Jun 26, 2006.

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  1. Pyrus

    Pyrus Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 13, 1998
    Why not make the naysayers all epink until they comply quietly?
     
  2. septic

    septic Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2005
    i really fail to see why the need to differentiate temporarily inactive mods from random VIPs to avoid confusion is such a big deal in the first place but anyway, i agree with DA's last point in that if you are a mod and you are away on holiday, you should be demoted temporarily to VIP. no need to have your moderating ability or access to the MS if you're (supposively) away from the boards for a period of time.

    and no to teh pink!
     
  3. Dingo

    Dingo Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 23, 2001
    FYI, not the case. Don't know about post-April 2003, but it was never a 'policy' on what to do with reduced-time mods before then. It was never done at all until one moderator did it in late 2001 when they were going to be without active connection for 2 months, and since then some have followed it in an 'unofficial' capacity, along with demotion/access removal for some of those with extended break periods.

    Personally I don't see that there was really that much of a need for this given that the only problems are not that much of an issue. I see it going the way of the purple-ex-mod-colours idea given the lack of actual ability to enforce it, whereas red was achievable given just reseting did it. I can think of a few situations where a mod would end up on "leave" where they can't change their colours (eg. losing net access and only able to get a quick email to an admin for any notice), thus their colours won't change (and I don't ever view logging into an account as acceptable for something as trivial as this).

    It's not that hard work out when.
     
  4. septic

    septic Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2005
    this is a good point.
     
  5. DARTH-SHREDDER

    DARTH-SHREDDER Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 6, 2005
    Perhaps it could made slightly different from the City Rep colors. ;)
     
  6. George_Roper

    George_Roper Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    May 1, 2005
    Wurd
     
  7. YodaJeff

    YodaJeff Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 18, 2001
    Sounds like you and Sapient need to work that out. Although it sure was nice of him to volunteer you to continually update the headers without talking to you about it ahead of time. :)

    Which is exactly what this "announcement" is doing. The majority of JCers aren't stupid enough to confuse mods on vacation (and red) with ex-mods. There already are titles to announce vacations, the profile still has the correct user level, etc. Very few people were confused, and I don't think the confusion lead to any mass panic or huge issues.

    If a mod is away, they are not logging in, so they will not appear on the users online page. I'm sure people PMing mods who just logged off with an urgent issue (since they appear on the users online page for the next hour) is just as prevalent as those somehow PMing a mod who has not logged in while on vacation with an urgent issue. I know I've tried PMing mods who appeared to be "online" but just signed off multiple times... and I've never PM'd a mod who was on vacation while thinking that they were online. If it is not an urgent issue, it can wait for the person to return. What's next, suggesting that mods should only have colors while they are logged in - have them remove their colors prior to logging out, so their name does not appear with colors on the users online page? I sure hope most people would realize how asinine of an idea that is.
     
  8. England

    England Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    Except this is not always the case. On many occasions a mod who is not in a position to moderate for a couple of days or however long will change their colours to red, but they may well log in for some reason. Just to post a couple of times or whatever, say hi. That is enough to invite a PM or two on an issue, because you do show up as online. A mod away from duty for a period of time (dressed in red) is not obliged to stay away from the JC incase someone possibly sends them a PM. During my time, if I was away for a period of time and had made this known, I didn't think twice about popping online once or twice over that period of time to see if there was a thread I fancied posting in. If I could've changed my colours to green (as a standard policy) to prevent people PMing me with a 'situation' because I wouldn't have been able to spend a longer period of time online to rectify any problem - that would've been good.

    There will always be occasions when a user will not be online very often at all for a period of time, but may still make the odd appearance. This applies to regular users and mods alike.

    Yes the MS is in turmoil. :)
     
  9. YodaJeff

    YodaJeff Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 18, 2001
    Yes, but in that case, their colors are red. Therefore, they do not appear to be an active moderator. And the way the policy was explained, they would only go green if they were unable to log in at least once per day...

    It's common courtesy to ask someone their opinion before volunteering them to do work.
     
  10. rhonderoo

    rhonderoo Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 7, 2002
    It's been a catastophre. :(


    Okay, not really. But I've never been able to use that word, and you presented the perfect opportunity. For that I thank you, my British friend. :)

    I'm still of the opinion that if a mod is on at all, they should have their colors. The "limited capacity" stuff is where people started losing sight of the old rule. We had mods back in April/May that were red, but posting around Comms, JCC, etc. That's where the line got blurry. Oh well, live and learn.
     
  11. malkieD2

    malkieD2 Ex-Manager and RSA star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2002
    do you mean catastrophe? Or has something gone straight over my head?
     
  12. rhonderoo

    rhonderoo Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 7, 2002
    Yes! That's it.

    I've tried three different times to spell that word and finally gave up. Apparently the link between the brain and fingers isn't working today. :(
     
  13. malkieD2

    malkieD2 Ex-Manager and RSA star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2002
    ah ok

    there was a reasonable degree of irony in you finally getting to use a word you've been desperate to use, then botching it's spelling resulting in people not knowing what you were talking about.
     
  14. EmpireForever

    EmpireForever Force Ghost star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2004
    Since she never got to use it, it is understandable that she wouldn't know how to spell it.
     
  15. Grand_Admiral_Grant

    Grand_Admiral_Grant Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2004
    She did that on purpose, she not only got to type that particular word a couple of times, but has also shifted the entire direction and attention of this thread to that word.

    [Vader]Impressive...Most impressive[/Vader]
     
  16. rhonderoo

    rhonderoo Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 7, 2002

    I think so, too.

    I had the word spelled out and left the "t" out, then put the "t" in the wrong place even looking at the word. Ever have one of those days?

    But that must be why I wanted to use it, to get spelling it down. Although I wouldn't call it "desperate", only a mild want.
     
  17. England

    England Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 17, 2004
    So 'unable' is the key here? It shouldn't be. I am of the opinion green should be used when moderating duties cannot be fulfilled, when a mod is not available to put out fires. That would mean if they were unable to log in at all, and if they were away for a period of time but could not rule out a quickie post here or there. Green should be a universal 'Don't come to me' statement. It shouldn't be resevred for times when a mod cannot possibly log on, as it's absurd to ask mods to know for absolute sure if they're going to be able to log on or not during every single period of absence they may take. If you are away without prospect of logging on, or are away but *may* post a few times during your time off duty (like malkie's trip to that conference in America a few months ago) then turn green and you won't get any PM's that would be better going to an active mod.

    This of course requires trust in the mods to not simply turn green to avoid responsibility, but I'm also of the opinion the mods can be trusted.

    But why put that into the mix here? I'm sure both Sape and gabe understand nothing is going to happen unless they they both concur. No decision was made, gabe isn't obliged to do something Sape suggests. There's no issue there beyond a possible misunderstanding, but you're still going to bring it up because you know, it smells of possible unrest.
     
  18. Dark_Jedi_Kenobi

    Dark_Jedi_Kenobi Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004


    Must be contagious, RS77 couldn?t spell ?for? or ?ever? correctly yesterday either. Although I?m not sure she was trying that hard.



     
  19. rhonderoo

    rhonderoo Former Head Admin star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 7, 2002
    Good, DJK, I don't feel so bad.


    Gabe and Sape talked it over and Sape agreed he might have jumped the gun. Then they went off together to laugh and be the guy admins.


    We female mods were a little peeved. We were hoping it would end in some kind of altercation involving a kiddle pool and jello. [face_plain]


    You know us, England. ;)
     
  20. Dark_Jedi_Kenobi

    Dark_Jedi_Kenobi Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    A full quarantine is still advisable, we wouldn?t want all the mods to be without their spelling capabilities. Think of the chaos that would ensue when a ?reedunndent thredd? was locked. It would tons of drama in COMMS, something until now, unheard of. :p


    Would that involve a plank and a fight with giant versions of these?

    [image=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/White_menbo.jpg/200px-White_menbo.jpg]

    *Buys tickets*


     
  21. YodaJeff

    YodaJeff Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 18, 2001
    I realize I'm just a lowly red ex-mod, not to be confused with a vacationing mod, but can we please stay on topic here? It's bad enough when regular users go off topic, but seeing mods and the Comms Admin making numerous off-topic posts is quite annoying. If you think the discussion is stupid or trivial, don't post in it. Of all the users here, mods should especially know that.

    So if the headers aren't going to be updated, how will people know that the mod is away (and green) when they click on a mod's name in the JCC header, and it goes directly to the PM user form? The previous answer to that concern was having gabe update the headers, but it appears that he isn't going to do that anymore.

    Because it shows that decisions are sometimes made without prior discussion and thinking about everything involved, and whether or not the decision or policy would actually produce any net benefit to the JC as a whole.
     
  22. George_Roper

    George_Roper Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    May 1, 2005
    I'll suggest again that the vacationing mod could make a sticky in their forum that is titled something to the effect '[username] on vacation from this date to that date'. Their username would still be in green so by having them as author of the thread it draws attention to it (those that already are aware of the change in policy), and helps those who aren't aware of the new policy (green for vacation) become familiar with it.
     
  23. Dark_Jedi_Kenobi

    Dark_Jedi_Kenobi Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2004
    In most forums, many of the moderators have started sticky topics and their usernames would be green and thus easy to identify. Although in forums where this is not the case, it would be difficult. The only thought that comes to mind is that the mod taking a vacation should announce it in a stickied thread in their forum. That way, anyone who uses the forum can easily see it.



    EDIT: Roper beat me to it. :)



     
  24. George_Roper

    George_Roper Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    May 1, 2005
    3 times. :p Although once was in the Update thread. :p
     
  25. EmpireForever

    EmpireForever Force Ghost star 8

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2004
    Or, you know, if you have a serious life threatening issue that involves the JC, you could try PMing more than one person in the administration.


    But that's dangerous thinking.
     
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