Rethink Banning Policies

[ATL4EVER]

I started this topic to get complete attention from the administration. This is not a stab at the administration, I just want to get heard.

I think that banning as well as other punishments should be distributed after a warning via personal message. I also think that a user's number of posts should not be tampered with. Before I was banned, I had 171 posts, now I am at 100 and something. I know if I don't like the rules I am free to go. but I like this site and I plan to stay.

[Neo]

In our rules spam is not tolerated and sometimes it comes down to us returning your post count to the count before spam which was done in your case. Banning requires no warning and the rules state as such. You read the rules when you sign up for an account here and you submit an agreement telling us that you do indeed agree with and will comply with all rules we have. If you break them it is our discretion on what action we deem necessary.

[ATL4EVER]

In our rules spam is not tolerated and sometimes it comes down to us returning your post count to the count before spam which was done in your case.  Banning requires no warning and the rules state as such.  You read the rules when you sign up for an account here and you submit an agreement telling us that you do indeed agree with and will comply with all rules we have.  If you break them it is our discretion on what action we deem necessary.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But I wasn't 100% sure on spamming, I was thinking it had something to do with ads, or email or something. I thought that the administration would be glad for the sites members to post on all the topics in the forum. But i'm not trying to get out of anything, I just wanted it to be clear that I meant no harm, and I was just trying to get the full urbanplanet expierence.

[monsoon]

We have an age limit too, BTW.

[Spartan]

Part of the UrbanPlanet experience is not having to read pointless threads designed to sell you crap. We have no interest in keeping any members who only sign up with UP to make money and place unsolicited ads on this site (I won't mention that it says in the rules you read that you are not allowed to do that).

[ATL4EVER]

[ATL4EVER]

We have an age limit too, BTW.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is up with you and this????? What are you getting at???? CAn you maturely state what you need to say, instead of trying to be shy and funny about it? I know you have an age limit. If i was below the age limit, I would find this site a bore to no end.

monsoon, what have I done to you? If you weren't admin.........

Nevermind , I don't want to have to get kicked off the site for cussin someone out.

[Spartan]

What is up with you and this????? What are you getting at???? CAn you maturely state what you need to say, instead of trying to be shy and funny about it? I know you have an age limit. If i was below the age limit, I would find this site a bore to no end.

monsoon, what have I done to you? If you weren't admin.........

Nevermind ,  I don't want to have to get kicked off the site for cussin someone out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You should really calm down there buddy. Your spazzing out like that and the immaturity you just displayed are also why you didn't get the moderator position you wanted. This is not the first time YOU have showed a clear immaturity, which is probably why monsoon said that. Just relax and enjoy the ride, or you may end up at the recieving end of the "banning policy." And just so we are clear, I'm not threatening you- I'm just trying to offer some friendly advice. I just hope you are wise enough to take it.

[ironchapman]

You should really calm down there buddy. Your spazzing out like that and the immaturity you just displayed are also why you didn't get the moderator position you wanted. This is not the first time YOU have showed a clear immaturity, which is probably why monsoon said that. Just relax and enjoy the ride, or you may end up at the recieving end of the "banning policy." And just so we are clear, I'm not threatening you- I'm just trying to offer some friendly advice. I just hope you are wise enough to take it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How old do you have to be to become a moderator?

[Spartan]

How old do you have to be to become a moderator?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its not really an exact age, but we have found that members who are younger than your average college student are not reliable moderators.

[ironchapman]

So, about 17 or 18+ then?

[monsoon]

So, about 17 or 18+ then?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

NO!

[hood]

I'm really, really late on reading this but if any adminb is still watching this... You need to notify people when they have done something wrong, When I first got on this site I posted a topic on the Grand Rapids forum to ask someone to become a photographer for Emporis.com, nobody let me know when it was deleted so I figured I skrewed up and clicked on "preview" rather than "post," so I re-posted the message, then Grdadof3 thankfully notified me it was deleted to begin with. When you delete someones message or have a problem with someones post or topic, please notify them, it would be very helpful.

[monsoon]

I assume that it would. But we get so many idiots showing up at this site now that it is too much work for our staff. My advice is to read the rules, understand them, and don't break them. If you do that you won't be in the position to have to worry about it.

Your post about emporis broke out rule about advertizing for other sites.

[Ruso]

Yeah, when I just got here I also got a post deleted. Lol, it was a rather "radical", extremely controversial question about America's foreign policies. lol. sorry

Anyways, I never understood this: When you are banned, you can still post, right?

Also, how is anyone promoted to moderator, does it depend on the number of posts, and if not, what are the factors that you look for when choosing one?

How many are there?

Do you know each other personally?

How much time do you have to spent online to accomplish your roles?

There are now so many members with more than 1000 posts, do they gain extra priviledges?

What is the difference between an administrator and a moderator?

And last, why the names "whistle-stop", "hamlet", "burg", etc?

[Viper]

I'll answer the basics of that question since they apply to most message boards but Metro and Neo can give you the specifics of UP.

You can't post while banned but not all bans are permanent. You can set the ban for as long as you like and once the ban is over, you may post again.

To be moderator, it's more of quality posts than quantity posts. Time at the forums, exhibit signs of leadership in your posts. You rarely know your mods personally. I just met a few of mine last May after them being on my team for two years.

Moderators are concentrated on just a few of the boards with basic duties. Administrators cover the whole forum plus back end duties that members and mods do not see or deal with. Mods = soldiers...admins = officers.

Whistle stop, hamlet and burg are user titles. They change as you increase your post count. Kind of a quick way to recognize whose a veteran. Metro and Neo cleverly customed the user titles according the theme of the forum.

[monsoon]

Some answers to the questions about Banning & Suspensions

• Bans are permanent at UrbanPlanet. Once banned, we will never un-ban. You can not use any of the facilities of UP once banned. We might very well issue a ban without warning depending upon the offense. Only Neo or myself can ban an individual, but if a mod recommends it, we will do so.
  
• A suspension is temporary. It has a variable length depending upon the moderator who issued it and past history of the forumer. Usually a couple of suspensions is probably all that a former will receive here, as a ban will be issued on someone that is this much trouble. Suspensions will almost always come with an explaination as to why we did it. You cannot post but can still read the forum while suspended. Any moderator has the ability to suspend someone and the suspension ends automatically once the time has expired.
  
• In addition to suspension, we may place a troublesome forumer into the moderation queue which means any post must be approved before it becomes visible to the others. This can be for a variable amount of time or permanent.
  
• Anyone in the MemberZ group can post, but can only PM the moderators.
  
• We may choose to delete posts & topics without warning in an effort to diffuse arguments or for a rules violation. We might not take any furter action than this. I will usually try to send a PM when I do this. We actually don't delete anything. Instead the post goes into the trashpile section.
  
• It should be noted the vast majority of forumers who post here never run into any of these issues as they know how to behave, respect others, and post in an adult manner. Its the small minority that has caused us 98% of the problems.
  

How UrbanPlanet works

• At UrbanPlanet we have Editors, Moderators, Global Moderators, and Admins. Editors are forumers who have had all posting restrictions removed and help with the content. Moderators have control over the sections where their name is listed or Moderators is listed. Global moderators are responsible for the entire forum. Admins control the Board and are resposible for the layout.
  
• There are only two Admins, Neo and myself. The Global Moderators are Spartan, Cotuit, and Allan. The 5 of us have had a long relationship running this forum. I personally know a couple of the staff outside the forum. I know other moderators have met each other.
  
• We are not arranged like the military as mentioned in the post above. Moderators are responsible for their section of the forum and can do with it as they please as long as they follow general forum policy. The only time that Neo or myself get directly involved in a section is when we are dealing with spammers. (which unfortunately we have a lot of these days) I am the default moderator for sections that do not have a moderator.
  
• Neo and myself usually choose new moderators though if someone else on the staff recommends someone we usually will go with that choice after looking into their history here. This has been a learning process for us and we are very cautious about choosing a new moderator these days. We will not take a moderator with a short history, nor will we take anyone 18 or under.
  
• If you look at the Board Statistics listing you will see who is online. New Members & Members appear in Black, Members+ appear in green, Editors appear in itallicized green, Moderators & Global Moderators - blue, Admins - itallicized blue. Red means MemberZ or Banned. You won't see red that often.
  
• There are no extra priviledges at 1000 posts. At 100 members you reach Members+ status which gives you the ability to host photos on UrbanPlanet. Less than 10 posts you can't use PM or email.
  
• I does take a lot of time, at times, to keep the forum running smoothly. I don't have a specific number of hours as it varies.
  

I hope that answers your questions.

[Urban_Legend]

It's not hard to not get banned here. I've been around forever, and managed to bypass the forum drama. Our mods aren't harsh and obnoxious...

[Ruso]

I'll answer the basics of that question since they apply to most message boards but Metro and Neo can give you the specifics of UP.

You can't post while banned but not all bans are permanent.  You can set the ban for as long as you like and once the ban is over, you may post again.

To be moderator, it's more of quality posts than quantity posts.  Time at the forums, exhibit signs of leadership in your posts.  You rarely know your mods personally.  I just met a few of mine last May after them being on my team for two years.

Moderators are concentrated on just a few of the boards with basic duties.  Administrators cover the whole forum plus back end duties that members and mods do not see or deal with.  Mods = soldiers...admins = officers.

Whistle stop, hamlet and burg are user titles.  They change as you increase your post count.  Kind of a quick way to recognize whose a veteran.  Metro and Neo cleverly customed the user titles according the theme of the forum.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks, Viper I see u got your own forum.

That is cool. Also, metro how do you manage to convine your work with UP? Sorry, am just curious, because sincerely UP is very well managed by all its moderators, admins, etc. I think its unique in that matter. (Even though I dont know many either)

[Spartan]

It's not hard to not get banned here.

The key thing is that you don't get banned for anything. So long as you stick to the rules located in the UP Information section and don't act like a child, you have nothing to worry about.

[NCB]

Also, metro how do you manage to convine your work with UP? Sorry, am just curious, because sincerely UP is very well managed by all its moderators, admins, etc. I think its unique in that matter. (Even though I dont know many either)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yea, UrbanPlanet is run very well, that is why I really enjoy posting here.

The rules are easily accessible, the moderators are fair, and it seems that everytime there is a problem or conflict in one of the forums, it is handled and solved quickly.

[Miesian Corners]

And then there are folks like me who try and help someone out on a move to a new city and suddenly my name shows up in red.

Following the rules does not mean you won't get banned. There are moderators who use expletives in posts when the rules explicitly say you can't. It appears to be subjective.

At any rate, it's been a fun ride. Later y'all.

[monsoon]

And then there are folks like me who try and help someone out on a move to a new city and suddenly my name shows up in red.

Following the rules does not mean you won't get banned. There are moderators who use expletives in posts when the rules explicitly say you can't. It appears to be subjective.

At any rate, it's been a fun ride. Later y'all.

You are not banned or you could not post here. Aside from breaking our rules about real estate, which I would have probably overlooked in your case, you also took the opportunity to tell a new forumer the staff will curse them out publically for making a post like that here. That was uncalled for and does nothing to help UrbanPlanet.org It takes a lot of time, money, and effort to run this forum so we don't need someone coming in here to fight with the staff, call us names, or put words in our mouth. UrbanPlanet is a free service to the community and all we ask is for people to follow the rules for posting here. It really can't be more simple than that.

Sorry it turned out this way.

[Neo]

For what it's worth, we deal with a lot of crap that regular forumers don't see. It is a huge effort among several individuals to keep this forum running as smoothly as possible and when someone, even an avid poster and supporter of this site, comes and publically downs our staff with untrue and unjust remarks it simply takes away from the quality of this forum and has absolutely no place here. Every single person that is dealt with whether banned or put in an observation group has been put themselves in that situation. Many calls that we make are done as a group decision and not just the decision of one moderator or admin. I want to keep this site open to those who want a free place to express their opinions regarding projects and so forth without having to deal with individuals who see fit to pick fights with other forumers or post irrelevant information that leads to destruction of a thread. I'm sorry to see anyone go because of the decisions that we make but we aren't making a decision for just one individual here, we're making it for the current ~5400 members and the hundreds of additional members that we gain each and every month. I've spoke my peace and I hope that any individuals that think we are too harsh on our policies will take a step back and try to appreciate what we're trying to create for you, free of charge.

[teshadoh]

What - Miesian Corners gets in trouble before me? I must really be losing my touch...