Question for moderators and others to ruminate...

Discussion in 'PriusChat Website Questions' started by Indyking, Nov 3, 2009.

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  1. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    Why certain threads keep being moved to other topics from the main forum? If you think about it, almost every thread in the main forum could fit in one of the 5 other topics, but for some reason, some threads get moved and others don't. It almost seems that some threads are biased towards staying while others receive a VIP treatment, as if there was an attempt to conceal some threads. I agree the divisions in topics result in a more clear/organized forum but why not eliminate the Main Forum and replace it for a Miscellaneous?

    The rattle noises thread, for instance, is something that many of us are frustrated and protesting about but it just got moved to Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting. Please look again in the first page of the main forum and ask yourselves: if the rattles thread fit better under Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting, what makes other threads like “can you add navigation”, “DST change”, “question about LKA”, “cruise control not deactivated by breaking”, etc, etc etc, fit the Main Forum instead of moving to Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting?

    :confused::confused::confused:
     
    #1 Indyking, Nov 3, 2009
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  2. RodJo

    RodJo Member

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    Please move to the Website Questions Forum.


    j/k
     
    #2 RodJo, Nov 3, 2009
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  3. jamesktg

    jamesktg New Member

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    I would guess that this main forum section is visited first and that this dashboard noise issue is coming up more and more to the point that it could/might affect sales of a Prius. I very seldom go into other sections and would never have seen the Prius problems if it was in another section. For that, I would like to thank PC members for highlighting this isue. I cannot stand a vehicle that constantly creaks and rattle especially if I have to pay $30K incl taxes for a vehicle.

    I for one am holding off on my Prius purchase until they rectify the problem and put in better materials for the dashboard, door trims and improve the quality instead of using the cheap plastic.
     
    #3 jamesktg, Nov 3, 2009
  4. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    The idea of eliminating the "main forum" is worth consideration, and you make some good points to why.

    Some posts are not moved simply b/c we don't notice and it isn't pointed out to us, but not for any "VIP" treatment.
     
    #4 efusco, Nov 3, 2009
  5. DeanFL

    DeanFL 2010 owner - 1st Prius

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    I had the same thought after the "Oil Change Interval debate" was moved yesterday. It does seem to be a very topical topic (...) and of interest to many. Of course it IS maintenance-related, but as you stated so well most any thread can be moved to a specific category. I was going to write something on that yesterday, but realized I couldn't say it as well as you now did.

    I, for one, do not frequent the outside-the-main forum much so may miss some important topics that may be moved... There's a lot of gray in the subject of subjects (another ...) and do respect the moderators decisions.
     
    #5 DeanFL, Nov 3, 2009
  6. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    What would be nice is if all posts started in the Main (for an hour or two) and then magically got farmed to the other areas. Most people hit the Main and to a much lesser degree the others. That is why there are many repeating posts.

    Of course that would take a lot more moderating to accomplish.

    If you remove the Main, one of the other categories will likely become the new "Main".
     
    #6 spiderman, Nov 3, 2009
  7. LRKingII

    LRKingII New Member

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    Hmmm i just hit the "unread posts" under where it says Welcone and my nick.
     
    #7 LRKingII, Nov 3, 2009
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  8. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    There's a big reason most posts end up here. In the top menu on the page header, inside the "Forums" drop-down, the "2010 Toyota Prius" link brings most users "right here". Most posters have no idea the other forums even exist as a result.

    The reason we (I) move threads is to keep things organized. When we get tens of hundreds of posts here in the main forum, new posts quickly end up on page 3. Keeping organized also makes searching much simpler when one can simply limit the scope to one forum. When posts are moved, there are links to follow, and they typically will expire after a month.

    I'll leave it to the super-mods on whether we should eliminate the "catch-all" forum all-together.

    Either way, I'm asking everyone nicely - please pick an appropriate forum to post topics to begin with. When things move, it's because we finally notice and decide the topic has a more appropriate location than where it's sitting. There's even an "announcement" at the top of the forum w/ suggestions to follow.
     
    #8 HTMLSpinnr, Nov 3, 2009
  9. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    It's pretty much a decision to be made by a moderator... What I do is move it to a forum I see appropriate if I catch it early. If say the forum has been going on for days with 30+ posts I'll just leave it in the main. Many posts are easy to find a place for like accessories/modifications, fuel economy etc. Others are questionable imo if they should be in the care/maint/troubleshooting forum. Unless a post seems obvious that it belongs in there, I tend to leave it in the main forum.
     
    #9 Paradox, Nov 3, 2009
  10. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    I've often gone to post something in what's now the 2nd-gen
    tree and sat there looking at the subforum names for several
    minutes going, "well, is it a tech thing? Is it a care/maintenance
    thing? It's both! But it affects how people *drive*, too, so
    where the heck do I most appropriately put this??" ... etc ...
    Sometimes there's just no right answer.
    .
    _H*
     
    #10 hobbit, Nov 3, 2009
  11. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    We can keep the main forum for posts about sheep and goats.

    Tom
     
    #11 qbee42, Nov 3, 2009
  12. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Right - when things are a bit fuzzy, we tend to leave them alone. When it's clearly misplaced, it's moved. ;)

    Tom, I have a special forum called /dev/null for those posts!
     
    #12 HTMLSpinnr, Nov 3, 2009
  13. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    I appreciate the responses by the moderators (HTMLSpinnr and Paradox) and I'm glad others are also unhappy with the moving of threads to other topics. Some have even demonstrated that threads hurting the Prius reputation were possibly being moved to other threads on purpose, which I hope it is not true, but it certainly raises skepticism. Clearly, the majority of people visit only the Main Forum so, although this is not my decision, I would strongly support a solution to this by either 1-eliminating the Main Forum or, perhaps, a better solution would be 2-all treads enter the Main Forum but they are moved to the appropriate Forum after a certain period of time, 15-30 days would be my suggestion. The problem of 2 is that, as pointed out above, it would be very time consuming to do it manually, so one alternative would be setting up the system to automatically delete the thread if his/her creator don't move it to the appropriate forum after a predetermined time. An IT person would easily set up the system for number 2 option, which could include some sort of reminder (electronic message) to the thread creator warning about its expiration and the need to move it to avoid deletion.
     
    #13 Indyking, Nov 3, 2009
  14. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I have

    not j/k
     
    #14 efusco, Nov 3, 2009
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  15. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Ha ha, I was going to, but I think they almost expected it!
     
    #15 HTMLSpinnr, Nov 3, 2009
  16. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    Needless to say I'm disappointed. I guess nobody is going to look at this anymore, but if I was one of the moderators, I certainly would, so I have a few more words.

    While organization has been the justification of moving selective threads, this thread apparently was moved by someone who is not even listed as a moderator, so basic features of organization is not even present here to begin with. Unfortunately, there seems to be no consistency among moderators to move threads. Looking back in the ones recently moved, I'm afraid the selection is somewhat biased leaving doubts about transparency.

    I love Priuschat and I have learned a lot from it, including from the moderators, but for now on I will always have that caveat on mind when posting... it will never be the same... a shame, it really is...
    :(:(:(
     
    #16 Indyking, Nov 4, 2009
  17. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    I have a better solution... just create an extra Forum called "Fools Please Post Here" for those kinds of posts...
     
    #17 Indyking, Nov 4, 2009
  18. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I have never 'been' to any of these forums. I just click 'Unread Posts.' What I wish for is an "Unread Posts with no FHP" so I never see word games or violated sheep and goats.

    (Why are we blaming the moderators for filing posts correctly? Why are we not blaming those who fail to start threads where they belong? Perhaps they would find the other 5 threads on the same topic)
     
    #18 JimboPalmer, Nov 4, 2009
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  19. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Your ruminations are way beyond reason at this point. There's no conspiracy, or bias or anything like that at all. If we're guilty of anything it's inconsistancy b/c of volume.

    We moderators are paid absolutely nothing. There are several hundreds of posts daily. We move posts that either we notice are clearly within the wrong forums (like yours in the GenIII main forum when it is clearly a Priuschat website issue) or those where someone has reported it as being in the wrong thread.

    As pointed out the sole reason for moving anything is to try to improve organization of the forum so that when you search for something you can select the threads within the most likely forums.

    Please end the hostile conspiracy theory stuff, it's not helping.

    And, BTW, any discussion about a MAJOR change in the organization of a site that's been up and running for 6 years now will not happen overnight just b/c you've decided it's not how you like it. It will occur amongst the moderators and site owner and not in public, though we're happy to look at input others might have in the topic.

    So, as I pointed out in my first post to this thread, the idea of changing the name of the "Main" forums to "Miscellaneous" has merit and is an interesting one, but you really need to back off the snide remarks and implications of some sort of bias.
     
    #19 efusco, Nov 4, 2009
  20. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    There is no need to be rude, and if I was at anytime during this thread, please let me know where, so I can defend myself and apologize appropriately. I know being a moderator is a voluntary work and I appreciate your time here. I'm sorry but you cannot argue the fact that there is no consistency on how posts are selectively being moved among moderators. I did not say there is a conspiracy at any time, and I'm not sure how you came up with that idea. I agree with JimboPalmer, we also have to try to post in the appropriate Forum but few of us do it because we know it won't be getting as much attention if not in the Main Forum. Please don't accuse me to post threads in the wrong forum, look at yourself first, how many times do you think you have done it?

    All I'm asking here is for some better consistency and I don't expected it to be changed overnight, my only expectation at this point, is that chatters and moderators rethink the way the Chat has been monitored and seems like my goal has been achieved.

    Have a good day.
     
    #20 Indyking, Nov 4, 2009
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