I look forward to seeing your list Amie.

Mike

Okay, I finally have my list composed

First off, I have noticed a change in the message board in the past month or so because I know Shane H has been working hard to monitor the boards.  So I won't bring up the fact that the board needs to be monitored more because that obviously has been addressed.  Thanks Shane.

When I thought about the possibility of being a MB monitor, I came up with some ideas of how to change the MB to improve it.  So I'll just put my ideas here and hopefully the presidency will look some of them over. 

1)      Have multiple monitors.  More than just Shane.  I know this is a big burden on anyone, but it shouldn't have to be.  Other boards that I frequent have monitors for each individual forum.  There may be 1 or 2 monitors and those monitor's names would be listed right below the forum name on the first page of the board.  So, for example, under the Chemistry Forum it would look like this :

Chemistry

This is the place to ask question about chemistry.

Moderator: Jon Finch

Then  Jon, as the moderator of the Chemistry forum, would not only be in charge of making sure that there were not unwanted posts, but he would make sure 1) all posts were answered correctly, 2) if people were having problems, they would get the additional help they needed. Ie, follow-up, and 3) he could add 'sticky' posts for important or consistently asked chemistry questions.

I'm assuming that there is a way to set it up so a user could have have a password that would just give them access to their assigned forum, right? 

Maybe you noticed that I used Jon Finch as the moderator of Chemistry and he's not in the presidency.  Does everyone have to be in the presidency to volunteer their time?  (Just a thought.)

2)      Add a chemistry forum.  I know, I've been mentioning this for 3 years now...there's always hope.

3)      Add sticky notes above each forum that contain information that is asked over and over again.  This would be added by the individual moderator's at their discretion.  Or, add a general beginner's overview of the subject as a sticky.  This could be for beginner's to reference.  Ask for volunteer's from the group to write these for the individual forums and then have the moderator's approve/modify them before posting. 

        I really hope you consider this option because it has potential to solve a lot of problems that have existed on the board.  It gives the people that really know each other a place to chat without worrying that kids, LFS' or people from out of state are reading it.  An up-to-date list of who is on the forum should be available on the forum.  And there should be no exceptions to letting people in on the board.  You sign up in person, or you don't have access.  

4)       Add a Breeder's forum - There are so many people starting to raise different fish and inverts in this area.  The logs of the different people raising them could go here.  And the information of how to raise them could also go here.   Also, how to raise the food, i.e. Phyto, brine shrimp, rotifers, copepods, could be here.

5)      Add a reference manual link to the front page of the message board or each individual forum.  Sounds crazy, no?  There are so many great threads on this MB that I think it should be referenced as if it was a book.  Like, how to move a tank, how to go on vacation, different types of macro algae, DIY Calcium and Alk, how to remove bristle worms, plumbing a tank, etc., etc.    Some of these threads are priceless, but they are buried and rarely referenced unless you know they are there. 

Yep, I know you are going to throw this one out.  But, it was on my list of things I was going to do if I was working on the message board this year, so I'm putting it down.

6)      Now onto the monitoring that everyone thinks of when they think of monitoring...monitoring the posts.  Currently, I think 3 people can actually delete posts, but mostly ShaneH has been handling this.  (I could be wrong about that.) This is a big job and I don't think it should have to fall on one person.  If you have it broken down into individual forums, those monitors can help with their forums, plus Shane could oversee the entire board.  When someone posts an inappropriate post, as stated in the rules when we all signed up for the MB, either their thread should be deleted individually or the entire thread should be deleted.  Then a very nicely worded pm should be sent to the person with a warning that they can have 3 strikes.  3 strikes means that if they post a 3rd inappropriate post within a certain period of time, then all their  known ip addresses (work, home and school) will be blocked for X number of months.  (It is very important to note that all presidency members should be included in this rule.) 

If the person feels that the post was deleted and shouldn't have been (or the strike against them was unwarranted)  there should be a way to petition the strike against them.  I think there should be a silent vote among the entire presidency.  The reason  I mention that it should be silent is because I know that some people don't say what they really feel because they are a little intimidated by other powers that be.   And the reason that I mention the entire presidency is so there are no small groups that try to eliminate people.  (which I'm sure would never happen, but just a precaution.)

7)      Finally, I think there should be a teaching forum.  When the message board gets a little slow and not much is going on, it would be cool if someone could start up a conversation about a subject that others could pipe in on and learn something about.  Possibly even invite someone from another forum that is knowledgeable in a given subject, i.e. Raising bangaii's, (FMarini), to come to the forum for a certain assigned hour and answer questions or talk about a given subject. 

Well, I think that's it.  Oh, one more thing.  I think that when you vote, you should also have on the ballot, a vote for a person that is in charge of the message board for that year as a head monitor, so to speak?  They would work in conjunction with Jake and the presidency to accomplish all these things.  Because, dang, this is a long list.

 edited: trying to eliminate strange characters.  One number change. No content change.

i believe that the moditors may not have to be on the presidency but other members that are on the board enough to be able to monitor items. the presidency has enough responsibility that haveing other members monitor the mb would help alot, even if the threads have to be reviewed by the presidency before it gets completely deleted. that way they have the final say in it. which shouldn't matter to much if the moditor has good judgement.

YOU all are monitors. See the little button on the bottom of each post? It says REPORT. That is your power. Once pressed it is reviewed by up to 3 different individuals. Once reviewed it is determined if its in violation of the MB bylaws and dealt with from there.