17-Jul-2017, 21:28
I have just performed a quick check on the rules and posting guidelines for this forum. Mindful that this forum is generally a very civil and troll free place, I was a little surprised that there are not really any official rules or guidelines at all.
OK, that is not quite true, there are some specific rules for the 'for sale' section, and also some for dealers / trade and advertising, but for general posting, no rules or guidelines are readily apparent.
I did find this, which appears to be very relevant to the recent debates regarding on topic posting, moderation etc.:
https://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?tid=3148
In the above thread there is even a set off rules / posting guidelines 'borrowed' from another forum by Antoine.
I am thinking aloud a little bit here, so this is open to debate and discussion, but what I am thinking that considering just how good this forum has been over the years, and considering it is effectively a rules free zone (almost), it actually does not need much in the way of moderation. To make things a little better, perhaps we could extract some very basic 'light touch' posting guidelines from the thread above, and place this as a 'sticky' in the Information, Rules & FAQ section. This could cover the 'big stuff', like racial abuse, general abuse, trolling, anything illegal, and so on. Plus, it could include some very basic posing guidelines, which I think could be a lot shorter and simpler than the example list provides by Antoine per the link above. With this in place, no additional moderation as such would be required, but it would allow public spirited forum members to occasionally point itinerant posters towards the 'official' guidelines.
As I say, just a few thoughts from me and of course everything here is open to discussion and debate.
One final thought, and lets be honest, forums of this type will always be slightly organic and chaotic. The irony should be lost on nobody that a thread is opened to discuss moderation and it very soon drifts off topic into discussions of the Calmel family resemblances. I think this just goes to show that the guidelines need to be 'light touch', sometimes the off topic stuff can be amongst the very best material on the forum. As a final thought on the off topic subject matter, whilst I can see the Calmel family resemblance, I do remain a little puzzled as to why our much loved Jean-Marie is just so much more handsome and intelligent looking than his brother?
(Confused sets a cunning trap here, to see if Pierre-Emmanuel ever checks in and reads this forum)
OK, that is not quite true, there are some specific rules for the 'for sale' section, and also some for dealers / trade and advertising, but for general posting, no rules or guidelines are readily apparent.
I did find this, which appears to be very relevant to the recent debates regarding on topic posting, moderation etc.:
https://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?tid=3148
In the above thread there is even a set off rules / posting guidelines 'borrowed' from another forum by Antoine.
I am thinking aloud a little bit here, so this is open to debate and discussion, but what I am thinking that considering just how good this forum has been over the years, and considering it is effectively a rules free zone (almost), it actually does not need much in the way of moderation. To make things a little better, perhaps we could extract some very basic 'light touch' posting guidelines from the thread above, and place this as a 'sticky' in the Information, Rules & FAQ section. This could cover the 'big stuff', like racial abuse, general abuse, trolling, anything illegal, and so on. Plus, it could include some very basic posing guidelines, which I think could be a lot shorter and simpler than the example list provides by Antoine per the link above. With this in place, no additional moderation as such would be required, but it would allow public spirited forum members to occasionally point itinerant posters towards the 'official' guidelines.
As I say, just a few thoughts from me and of course everything here is open to discussion and debate.
One final thought, and lets be honest, forums of this type will always be slightly organic and chaotic. The irony should be lost on nobody that a thread is opened to discuss moderation and it very soon drifts off topic into discussions of the Calmel family resemblances. I think this just goes to show that the guidelines need to be 'light touch', sometimes the off topic stuff can be amongst the very best material on the forum. As a final thought on the off topic subject matter, whilst I can see the Calmel family resemblance, I do remain a little puzzled as to why our much loved Jean-Marie is just so much more handsome and intelligent looking than his brother?
(Confused sets a cunning trap here, to see if Pierre-Emmanuel ever checks in and reads this forum)
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