Moderating

Moderating in terms of this FAQ is specifically the moderation of Comment Post, not Initial Topic Posts which is discussed in the Voting FAQ. Comment posts are those posts that are in response to an initial posting.

Topic Posts can only be posted by Registered Users while Comment Posts can be from anyone.

Moderating Comments

Only registered users can Moderate Comments. Each Comment Post will have a Moderation: drop down within it. There you will find a number of moderation options;

• Excellent
• Good
• Average
• Below Par
• Utter Rubbish

Select a moderation option for some or all of the comments posted. Once you have select your options, you will find a Moderate Comments button after the very last comment listed. Clicking this will lock your moderator options in. Once done, you will NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR CHOICE, so moderate with care and judiciously. All moderation options are averaged.

Effects of Moderation

Each Registered User has one vote and one vote only with Comment Moderation. The main effect of moderation is how the comments appear when filters are applied. Under the initial post, you will find a section titled Comment Viewing Options (see below) which will have a number of drop down options, the fourth of these being a Comment or Mod Filter tool. To change your filtering options, select the desired level of filtering and the click Save Settings. It looks like this;

Comment viewing options  Thread Layout  ↓ Sorting   ↓ List Length   ↓ Mod Filter   ↓ Save Settings Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

All the Rubbish in the Mod Filter will list all posts regardless of moderation (except those moderated off the forum - see later) while Best of the Best will only display the highest rated posts. Those that have been 'filtered' will appear only as a Comment Title which can be clicked on if you want to read the comment itself. They will look something like this;

Filtered Comment Heading	Author Userid	Date - Time
Filtered Reply Heading	Author Userid	Date - Time

Note that if you open an individual Comment for viewing, you cannot moderate the comment. Comments can only be moderated while being viewed as a list.

A comment that has been moderated Utter Rubbish several times will be "removed" from the thread. Again, this is based on the average of the votes. Once a comment has been moderated Off a thread, it cannot be returned.

What should I moderate?

The type of content that is posted to this site is very much in the hands of you the users. You get to have a say in what you would like to see and what you would not. In that way, the site is run by a democratic vote of  registered users. After all, with all the posts, it would be very difficult for one or two admin officers to moderate it all.

It is recommended that you moderate reasonably and fairly. If the post is relevant and constructive in its nature, then your are encouraged to vote the posting up or to average. If a posting offers little contextual usefulness or is basically vulgar in nature, vote it down.

It is important that you moderate without bias. If a posting is the expression of a personal opinion expressed in a constructive manner and does not violate the sites Disclaimer and Conditions of Use nor is SPAM or vulgar then it should not be moderated down.

Ultimately, it is a matter of personal opinion yet it is hoped that any and all voting is done with fairness and be as unbiased as possible.

Moderate Fairly. Moderate Frequently.