Damn....Was there at least a message left by whomever deleted it stating that so and so's "Post Has Been Deleted"??
And a reason why it was deleted also?
____
____
For the record I deleted the post in question last night just to calm things down. It was Sunday, I was trying to watch the climax to the football leagues, I was getting was "reported posts" and PM's from people with "he said/she said" arguments and yes I was very pissed off at the interuptions.
I can certainly appreciate and respect the fact that you would rather not have been bothered while being involved with a game or something else of great passion instead of splitting up peeps from back and forth rebuttal?/arguing? ....it's all relative to each of our own perceptions for sure.
It was clear that the people involved were just going at each other - I still don't really know why to be honest - and there was a) never going to be a resoulution and b) it was derailing threads.
I totally agree with you that it was in fact derailing the thread and it should have been split off much earlier in the thread when WW was on the mount of olives for the 3rd time at the latest.
I had two choices: ban the two people directly involved for 24 hours or remove the offending material.
That's a tough one for sure, but with all the previous evidence (that is if you had been tuned in and following the particular thread closely, no disrespect intended there my friend

), I think you too would have seen the clear instigator and thread derailer there, sorry WW but I can not at all agree with your "Sermon on the Mount Speech", over and over and over again there, like you were chastising children. Once, maybe twice, hell...even a 3rd time tops to get your point across or even post something a little different but on the same lines, maybe even a few good analogies....that would have worked to. You had already given Marty full extrication there. But you still carried it into other threads as well.
But to go on and on and on about the same thing was just way over the top IMO. I totally agree with everything Jetset said there in that thread regarding that very issue.
So back to my point Simmo, In light of the above and following the thread closely, I would have gave WW a 24 hour timeout. I'm only talking about Dave and WW here as that is what you and Bryan asked me about. Maybe a few "infractions", gain too many "infractions" in the same day or within the same thread then....you're gonna have a bad day. Gain 2 or 3 infractions and you get a 24-72 hour timeout, banished from the forum for a cooling off period. You 'French Fry when you should have Pizza-ed'...you're gonna have a bad day. It works, I know...I had one of those myself a few months back...
As far as Dave's post is concerned, I personally did not see anything at all inflammatory in it and he also did state that he could not have posted that in the other thread because it had been previously closed and that he was simply rebutting to WW's latest post there where she quoted him....I really saw nothing at all in Dave's post
HERE post #363409 that I thought was offensive either.
I closed one thread and then *soft* deleted this post (meaning other admins can check it out before deletion) because it had nothing to do with the original topic and I saw it as being inflamatory.
I will agree to disagree with you on that one. I think it's all relative to the particular reader. But when posts are deleted like that, it screws up the entire topic flow or the structure. Makes the whole thing go out of perspective...for example: When you said
Here "Keep on topic please Dave. Thx.", I thought you were referring to Rusty's post
Here since Dave's post was now missing and yours was right after Rusty's. Deleting posts can certainly make a quagmire out of the thread IMO.
I then started getting PM's accusing me of taking sides, being hypocritical, etc etc and quite frankly I had better things to do than referee a fight last night.
I apologise if I offended anyone in what was clearly a sensitive topic but I just wanted the squabbling to end and to watch Blackpool make it the playoff finals.
I can understand that and I can clearly see that as well in your personality that I have come to know here and a few other places over the years. If I were ever out partying and drinking with you, I would certainly want you by my side to step in and help keep me from getting my ass kicked by being the great diplomat and person that you are..
Incidentally - when I soft delete a post I see a message saying "This post has been deleted by Simmo because.....<reason>". Do regular users not see that?
Nope, not even old or senior (senile) members like myself can either. That's what got my goat the time about a month ago or so when you deleted that 'one sentence post' of mine and I went back and asked about where the heck it was. Leave the posts, issue the infractions. Split the posts off if need be, but do not delete them. You start down the road of deleting posts and then someone new comes in to visit the forum and they will have a totally different perspective on who that person's real or 'forum real' personality is. It takes too much out of perspective when that happens. You could also show the 'infractions' that poster has received as well up there next to their posts count.
@Robwin: I'd love to hear how you would have handled a post/poster you considered inflammatory, offensive or off-topic?
Hope you can deciper my answer from all of the above Simmo, sure I could have bullet pointed my main objectives there but then that would have been too easy for you!
Hi Rob! Same here. If you were a moderator, what would you have done? Bearing in mind that Simmo had limited time to deal with this effectively.
I think I answered your question up above Bryan as I just combined my thoughts and ideas there under Simmos's quotes.
IMO, the 'limited time' part of the equation is at the core of all this. It is time my friend that you hire, appoint, capture whatever you want to call it...a full time "weekend forum moderator". You are there buddy, you have been there for some time now....just do it already and then you won't be so damn grumpy when you come in on Monday mornings...
Seriously, you need a full time weekend forum mod here (no offense Max, Simmo, Webzcas). Split the shifts of a few mods if need be. I'm not talking about forum Nazi police either, just someone to do it full-time or in full-time shifts to keep the civility and order before it gets out of hand. And to be there to split off threads, etc. etc. This forum has been needing one for quite some time now as we have seen these weekend derailments, bashings, mosh pits for awhile now. This way if a thread derailment does get started then it can be split off right away, the infractions issued, everyone gets back to their business in whatever particular thread they were focusing on and most will remain happy campers.
Hell, start a private section like Simmo suggested with a different slant than what Simmo is thinking I believe but for those brazen ones to join in and let the steam roll off and then come back into the forum when they have cooled off a little. Banish them to the "Mosh Pit"!
I think you should seriously consider implementing the "infraction system" for all to see.
____
____