cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Special moderators team user?

jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Special moderators team user?

I notice that the forum rules appear as being posted by Chilly who is no longer a member of the moderators team.
I wonder if there is a case for creating a special ModTeam username on these forums which could be used by any one of the moderators for posting items like this, announcing forum elections, starting the election poll. That would mean that in months to come if anyone has moved on you wouldn't be left with moderators posts made by people who are no longer moderators or even as in the case of this moderator's post, people who are not even members of the community.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
31 REPLIES 31
glyndev
Grafter
Posts: 620
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

I would heartily agree with this idea. As it would present a unified front for moderator announcements and make it quite clear where the announcement has come from.
At present with a moderator using their own username it can cause confusion with new users and possibly make them the target of personal attacks.
And as Jelv also says, people move on or are no longer mods yet posts by them still state Forum Moderator.
beautifulways
Grafter
Posts: 26
Registered: ‎16-02-2009

Re: Special moderators team user?

This is a great idea, but I'm thinking of something other than a "Moderator" account, even though it would appear to the viewing public as a separate account.
For example, when a mod goes to create a new topic, they could click "Additional Options" and there would be a checkbox with something like this:
[_] Post topic as moderator.

Then by checking that box, the poster would be shown as "Moderator" although that particular mod's 'user' settings would still be visible, i.e. signature, avatar etc..
By doing this, yes it would require extra work to start with, but is gonna be much more secure than creating a "ModTeam" user account... To avoid the security issue associated with one account (or memory issue with passwords changing every week or so) one "ModTeam" account could be created for each moderator, based on their username (e.g. "ModTeam_chillypenguin") but that would cause additional load on the servers depending on how many mods there are at any one time.

Edit: Forgot to add last paragraph Cool
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

jim:post I agree that posting as a moderator needs clarity which is why I use this mod:end
glyndev
Grafter
Posts: 620
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

Quote from: beautifulways
For example, when a mod goes to create a new topic, they could click "Additional Options" and there would be a checkbox :

The additional options that are there now are a standard set of options. To create a "Post topic as Moderator" would require quite a bit of recoding of the software used for the forums.
Having a seperate "Moderator Team" user is by far the simplest option. Then just change the password as and when a moderator leaves.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

Quote from: Devonports
To create a "Post topic as Moderator" would require quite a bit of recoding of the software used for the forums.

... and mean that it diverged more from the standard version of SMF with the consequent issues in keeping the software updated when SMF updates are issued.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

Shouldn't this topic be in the Community Site Forum board? Wink
chillypenguin
Grafter
Posts: 4,729
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

There is a `short code` set up that can be used to put `mod:note`  on the first line of a post. To indicate that the post is made as a moderator.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing Jelv, the problem that we have with the rules is that the url for that post is ingrained in a lager number of places such as the portal, and in old posts. Which makes it difficult to repost without breaking a lot of things.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

I wonder if Colin could patch it in the database to reassign the post to a different user?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Colin
Grafter
Posts: 1,264
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

If it was felt strongly, we could investigate the possibility - no guarantees as manually hacking data in the database isn't REALLY a good idea...
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

Quote from: chillypenguin
There is a `short code` set up that can be used to put `Moderators Note.`  on the first line of a post. To indicate that the post is made as a moderator....................................

Barry seems to make use of that on a regular basis.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

It's not the moderators notes attached to posts that are an issue - it's when you get the situation where apparently someone who isn't even a moderator has posted the forum rules.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

Why not simple copy the complete content, make a new thread (slightly different title, or re-title the old one first) then delete the old one. Sounds a lot simpler to me than messing with code.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

Yep.  I was thinking the same as Chris.
zubel
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,793
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎08-06-2007

Re: Special moderators team user?

Quote from: chillypenguin
the problem that we have with the rules is that the url for that post is ingrained in a lager number of places such as the portal, and in old posts. Which makes it difficult to repost without breaking a lot of things.

B.