What is a moderator?

[Darth Groovy]

I'm trying this thread out as an experiment.

 

Some of you when you were very young, maybe kindergarden, might have had a police officer come and visit your school. He/she goes through their speech, then they open up for questions. The kids all ask if the police officer has shot anyone, can you get arrested for this or that....etc. I'm attempting for the first time, to do this here, in a stuck thread.

 

Alot of members seem to not really know what a moderator is, most of them know what we do, but little fail to realize how we go about doing it, or how we reach a decision.

 

It is a popular belief that we are just power hungry joy killers that live to get people in trouble. This is a popular myth.

 

We all started out as regular members, who came here out of our own free will. We just post on LF like the rest of you, only we have a few extra options in our toobar.

 

I am opening this thread up as a free Q & A between forum members and moderators. Feel free to ask us anything you want, as long as it pertains to procedure, LF polices, and moderators in general.

 

Keep in mind that this is a serious discussion, so if any of you feel inclined to make a joke out of this, i'll only delete the post.

 

Feel free to ask anything, and I will answer any questions you may have. I f I don't know the answer, I will look into it and quote the person, or persons who give me an answer.

[ZBomber]

How similar is being a mod on a PHP board to a VB board? I mean, like the options, mod cp, etc?

[Kain]

How does one become a moderator?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever shot anyone?(C'mon, you were asking for it with that police scenerio!)

[Guest Jed]

Originally posted by ZBomber

How similar is being a mod on a PHP board to a VB board? I mean, like the options, mod cp, etc?

 

I assume you mean phpBB boards.

 

Well, it's pretty similar. phpBB itself has all the basic functions that vBulletin has, so it's natural that moderating both would be similar. Editing, deleting, and etc. However, there really isn't a ModCP for Moderators, since there'd be no need for one. Supermods and Administrators have CPs.

 

Originally posted by Kain

How does one become a moderator?

 

Basically, becoming a moderator happens like this.

 

Usually, you're a prominent community member with a history of responsible posting. If a spot opens up or there's a time where the staff feels like there is a need for more moderators (influx of new users, time around a new game being released, etc), you're contacted by a member of the staff and asked if you'd like to join the team to help out.

 

Have you ever shot anyone?(C'mon, you were asking for it with that police scenerio!)

 

On the record, no.

[--ZeeMan--]

vb is like a mix of phpbb and ipb from i've noticed so far too

 

my only questions was already answered =\

[Kain]

I got another one: How do bans work?

 

I was told along time ago by a moderator who shall remain nameless that he couldn't ban me by his lonesome and that it had to be a decision made by the majority of mods, or do you just do it out of the kindness of your hearts?

[El Sitherino]

what if you accidentally hit a wrong button, say delete, but it was an accident could you be demodded? I ask because I sometimes hit wrong buttons because... well I'm a dumbass. point is are mods able to make mistakes? or are they held to a higher standard?

[Lynk Former]

Originally posted by InsaneSith

what if you accidentally hit a wrong button, say delete, but it was an accident could you be demodded? I ask because I sometimes hit wrong buttons because... well I'm a dumbass. point is are mods able to make mistakes? or are they held to a higher standard?

 

Well if you have done something accidentally like that the best thing to do is if the situation calls for it is to apologise for it. It was just an accident. And yes mods do make mistakes, we're human not machines.

 

We generally do try to go by higher standards in terms of how we conduct ourselves. Though these higher standards can sometimes be seen as bullying by those few members who don't understand and then start saying we have low standards because they don't understand.

 

But just like everyone else we can fool around too

[Darth Groovy]

Originally posted by Kain

I got another one: How do bans work?

 

I was told along time ago by a moderator who shall remain nameless that he couldn't ban me by his lonesome and that it had to be a decision made by the majority of mods, or do you just do it out of the kindness of your hearts?

 

Only Super Moderators and above can ban people.

 

There was a brief time where all mods could ban, but once the forums got really busy, that feature was removed.

 

Basically, I have a password and login at VBulletin.

 

Once I log in, there is a portal where I can look up usernames, groups, IPs...etc.

 

Once I look up the name, I can either view the user, or ban.

 

Once I click ban, that user is banned and remains banned.

 

Only an admin can remove bans.

[RpTheHotrod]

Yes. The moderators must go through super moderators and admins to get the "power" stuff done.

 

Moderaters merely help maintain the enviroment and keep it safe and clean for everyone.

[TK-8252]

I did come across the actual "Mod CP" for LucasForums, but I really couldn't do anything (everything is off-limits). Although, I did happen to see that I could go through announcements. Are regular Moderators able to add/edit/remove announcements via Mod CP? I didn't want to try, just incase I actually could and got in trouble for messing with it.

 

BTW, any regular member here can SEE the moderation options, which are at the bottom of each forum and thread in the "Admin Options" toolbar. But of course, only the Moderators can USE them. We can also click that "IP: Logged" button in each post and see what a poster's IP address and host name is. Often from the host name you can find out what state someone is in and what internet service they use. For example: I can tell by looking at Groovy's host name that he is on DSL.

 

Anyway... I'll tell you all that getting someone banned is a lot of hassle. Believe me when I say that banning is no fun for the staff (only for the members). And, everytime that someone is given a warning, you have to file a "report" about it for the record. For example, let's say I warned myself for flaming - a report thread would look something like this:

 

WARNED: TK-8252

 

Username: TK-8252

Status: Warned

Issued by: TK-8252

Reason for warning: Flaming here. ("here" would be a link to the flame)

Recommendation(s) on next offense: Second warning.

 

Being a part of the LucasForums staff is a great honor and the staff are all fun-loving guys and gals who love LucasArts stuff (which is why they came here in the first place ). I know that a lot of people have the wrong ideas about the Mods. I admit that I sure did before I went behind the scenes and saw how the Mods really are, under their tough diplomatic exterior.

[Darth Groovy]

Thanks TK,

 

That brings me to my next point. All moderators in every set of forums have a "private mod forum". This is a restricted access forum, where only active moderators can post. In these threads we discuss topics that need to be closed, difficult members which some of us will refer too as a "problem child". We also have a subforum from there, where we post a thread for every member that is warned, and yet another seperate thread for who is banned. In these threads, we post links, reasons, and methods of communication. This serves as our "record" of offenses. And yes, after a while we let these warnings go away. The length of time for a warning to lapse is still under discussion among the big shots within LF. When it comes to banning people, even though a Super Moderator can do the banning, the admins will usually decide on wether it is a permanent ban, and if it is not a permanent ban, they will decide how long one stays banned. We post these threads so that we don't forget about anybody. Usually, unless it is a clear cut case of genuine troll-ism, we will post a thread and discuss the pros and cons of peoples' actions prior to banning anyone. Alot of times we just are not sure, and we bring it up in a topic discussion, before we click any buttons. That way there are no "accidental" or wrongful bans.

 

Keep in mind that even though all forums within LF have a private mod section, not ALL forums within LF have the same rules. Most of the Star Wars oriented forums have the same rules, but places like Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Mixmojo and others have different rules and regulations, some stricter, some less. It all depends on the nature and maturity of the community.

 

Since Star Wars is pretty much a "family freindly" sort of topic, we tend to keep things rather clean in those areas.

 

Now keep in mind the registration age is 13 years and up, although I must confess that it is quite difficult to monitor and enforce that rule. It is mostly there to protect LF from lawsuits.

[RpTheHotrod]

Aye. Mods to not work alone. They all post every detail in the mod forums.

[Tyrion]

Originally posted by Darth Groovy

Now keep in mind the registration age is 13 years and up, although I must confess that it is quite difficult to monitor and enforce that rule. It is mostly there to protect LF from lawsuits.

 

I dunno, I've stated my age when I was 12, and I wasn't banned...

 

(Although I'm 13 now , almost 14, so tough nookies if any of you wanted to ban me. )

 

Anyway, here's a question:

 

Can the moderators find out passwords?

[Lynk Former]

And no, just cause we have private mod forums doesn't mean we go around posting about people we don't like, etc. In the private forums it's purely business... and the occasional game of strip poker

[El Sitherino]

then they re-enact Dirty Dancing: Havannah Nights and after lots of hot passion we have a demi-mod.

 

or so the legend goes.

[Darth Groovy]

Originally posted by Tyrion

I dunno, I've stated my age when I was 12, and I wasn't banned...

 

(Although I'm 13 now , almost 14, so tough nookies if any of you wanted to ban me. )

 

Anyway, here's a question:

 

Can the moderators find out passwords?

 

Nah, even though you probably lied about your registration, we did not "ban you". But if it is any comfort, ALOT of people joined after you did that were your age, and even younger. Far as I can see, you turned out ok, so we didn't HAVE to ban you.

 

And for the record, no....your name never came up on a banning thread.

 

Can the moderators find out passwords?

 

Not that I am aware of. I THINK an admin may be able to look up your password, becasue they can edit your profile. Admin can also change your username. For a short time, I was known as darthgroovyii, until I had Metallus hook me up with my true name. (at the time, I was not sure if LF would take usernames with spaces, and caps, because not all forums do)

 

I may have to get back to you on that one.

[IG-64]

There is one thing iv'e been wondering, every once in awile there will be an announcement made by some misc. admin who has a few hundred posts and i've never seen before. Who are these guys and how did they get admin? Are they all friends in some admin/mod community over LF?

[Sivy]

you mean people like aristotle and chris3p0 etc.

 

they just feed the hamsters.

 

 

oh and they’re the ones responsible for this place.

[Lynk Former]

Without them there'd be no LF

 

And yes they are around, they just don't post like we do. They're usually plotting to take over the world in some hidden part of LF that none of us are aware of.

[Pad]

Originally posted by Darth Groovy

Not that I am aware of. I THINK an admin may be able to look up your password, becasue they can edit your profile.

 

I may have to get back to you on that one.

An admin can look up people´s profile and can change whatever they want, even the password, but they can´t look up a password. For obvious reasons off course.

[Darth Rythe]

So an Admin can change someones password but not see the original, thats dumb:rolleyes:

[Pad]

Originally posted by Darth Rythe

So an Admin can change someones password but not see the original, thats dumb:rolleyes:

No it isn´t. Nobody can now accidently see your password and start using your account.

They could use your account but then they have to change the password and performing changes are all saved in the dbase.

[Sivy]

the whole point of passwords are that they are private.

admins only need to change a password if the user has forgotten their old one.

[ZBomber]

Can admins read PMs? I kjnow there is a hack that lets you monitor PM's and stuff, so that could help if something illegal is going on. But it's also invading someone's privacy.