Amazing stuff!! :mrgreen:
and
to Jny (any day now you'll pass the bar
)
Not much to add really … you've done all of the thinking for me
Just maybe a couple of things:
- re access and posting rights to the to be created 'outside' forum (or whatever it's going to be named though I must say I love just this name): easiest would be to give global 'read only' access to all members and then change individually the posting settings for those that need it, when they need it.
Also I like
Estels suggestion of two categories within the forum – the bike-rack :mrgreen: and the 'jury room'. Full access to every member for the bike-rack / Jury-room access restricted as said above (a quick settings change by the admin – no big deal but it would keep 'de-railings' to a minimum) – and a third (the vault, read access only) for keeping the 'history' (txt only see below)
If a member has committed a bannable offense that entitles them to a Hearing, any current administrator may propose the ban and convene a jury for a Hearing.
In such case the admin should restrict access of the offender to only read/posting rights in the 'outside' forum until the dispute is resolved. After that the poster is either permanently banned or re-instated.
- possible other terminology for jury: (members of the) conclave (I kind of like that one lol)
- re:
voting on who the ‘jury’ would be was suggested several times. There may be a more efficient way to do this.
Although voting in the 'jury' (or conclave
) will take time (it's 8 days now? – sorry I'm behind and furiously catching up. I thought voting in takes 10 days) I feel this delay is actually beneficial, giving people time to think and cool off
If a recommendation to ban is overturned by a vote of the membership, the poster will be on x-month probation. If new bannable offenses are committed during that period, a new jury with three different members will be convened according to the same terms as above, but this time the decision of the jury will be final.
3 months probation is good.
However, if a poster keeps repeating bannable offenses – are you going to 'forever' hold council? I think there should be a max allowance of 2 offences – 3rd time (within the probation period) and the hammer comes down. And only 2 probations periods per year otherwise we'd end up having perpetual problem cases. If after 2 probation periods the poster yet makes another bannable offence – he/she should be banned without means of recourse. Perhaps, if the offender truly repents, (contact to other members via email or IM) then after e.g. 6 months (long enough to really consider) under certain circumstances and with member discussion he/she might be allowed back (again, initially on 3 month probation)
- keeping 'old' jury threads for ref purposes, txt only without posters names is a great idea (transparency all the way :mrgreen) and I think should be kept in an archive forum (within the 'outside' forum) read-only (and locked) for ref purposes.
I have no idea what will happen once we open up or become a larger community.
The point is, for me, even if the experiment has failed a hundred times before - I just want to try it yet once more.
I don't like the idea of giving up on an ideal just because it usually fails. It's like giving up pre-emptively, and I don't like that idea.
I'm also the eternal optimist – could not have said it better myself :mrgreen:
- About opening B77 – like
Ethel said: don't worry too much about the when. Eventually we'll be ready to take that step though some of us undoubtedly will fondly remember 'the good ol' times'
So what we really need to do now is decide just when and where the various rules apply and where the power of the admins begins and ends. Certainly there are some cases where the acting admins need power to make decisions on their own, and what democracy means is that we members will be the ones who decide how far that power will extend.
'Powa' of the admins, aye?
It is very much a trust issue as has been stated. We trust the integrity of the people we vote in as admins (and hope they won't throw a mid-life crisis during the duration of their term
)
What powers do the admins have?
- they can lock/move threads upon request of members or when it's necessary during 'clean-up' sessions. If someone has a problem with that, they need to contact the admin (e.g. PM, email). If it ends up in a tug-a-war (which I highly doubt) then they can take it to a thread 'outside'
- admins should not edit or delete any posts unless it's clear troll behaviour
- Admins have the right to instantly ban trolls, delete their posts and threads. In such a case they should also send an email to the offender. Should the email get an apologetic reply, it could be posted for the member to then discuss and vote if that person is allowed back in.
In the highly unlikely event that a member (let's say someone who's been aboard for a minimum of 3 month) starts trolling, I think the admin should have the right to restrict posting rights to such a poster to read/post only in the 'outside' forum. The offending member then has two choices – either go public (or semi-public) with the dispute (arbitration process) or leave. If there is no reply in that thread for say 8 days, the thread will be locked and the user banned.
- Admins should have the right to limit posting rights to 'outside' when it is found the poster has registered an invalid email address
- Double IDs: even when we go public, I would like to see the rule of multiple IDs we so far have here kept. Meaning, they're only allowed for RP purposes and as such need to be 'claimed'. They will be given access only to the RP forum. If it is found (when we're public) that a user has registered with multiple IDs for non-RP purposes, the Admin should have the right to instantly ban those alternative ID's notifying the perpetrator via email.
- and then there are the 'lets make new smileys and meddle with the styles' stuff, but we don't really need to get into that. Btw – did you upload some style setting here? Doh! I said I'm not getting into that.
Now it's definitely time for another cuppa tea.
Thanks again to Jny and all you wonderful people for your input. This place is truly a wonder to behold :mrgreen:
____________
Resident witch