SANParks.org Forums

I come in peace so don't see this as confrontational. The question is, who is the Chief in Charge of the Moderators or have they all got equal status? Who makes the final decison on whether to ban a member or delete a post?

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It is my understanding that all major decisions are made as a group!

That is my understanding too, that they work as a team...

Correct Dotty and CC, the mods work as a team. We discuss all issues in the mods forum (which the moderators and SANParks have access to) before taking any decisions. All mods are equal in status, there is no one mod in charge nor is any mod senior to another mod. We do have different strengths though, and we are a very diverse group of people, which we hope is beneficial for the entire forum. This also results in many issues being debated thoroughly before decisions are taken.

The mods work under Nedret, she is the mods' boss.

Decisions to ban members are made by the entire mod team and Nedret - and there are certain steps that need to be followed as per the rules of these forums before a member is banned. It is interesting to note tho, that some people blame one or two mods for their banning (s) - or blame Nedret. When a member is banned you can know the entire mod and Nedret agreed to the ban.

Any moderator related PMs to and from mods are also shared with and discussed with the mod team; as are most posts made by the mods relating to moderating issues. The same goes for any decisions to move topics, locked topics, merge posts etc.

Hope that explains it clearly Rooies?

It also explains why the mods have high post counts. We make a lot of posts in closed forums that members do not see.

Hi Rooies,

When we work on forum, one mod will post on behalf of the whole team. We do not want members to feel bombarded with different mods' posts but even those are done after consultation with the rest of the team.

Rooies, just to add a bit more info on the banning of members:-

Banning someone is a last resort - it means we have really tried hard to get the member to stay within the forum rules but just not succeeded.

No one is banned without very good cause, and without us being confident that we have enough posts by that member breaking the rules on file. We would much rather never ban anyone, and we do not launch into permanent bans right away. Permanent bans are really the very last resort.

About the permanent ban
During the history of the forum ( 5 yrs) only a few mites received a permanent ban

And you might find a few moderators posting in sensitive threads instead of the team.
By our decision, but the whole team knows what is being posted.

Sorry mods, I do find this hilarious,

8 Posts. one starting the thread, two "assistant mods, and 5 from mods.

No offence, it is just very good.

Are PM’s to mods from mites shared amongst mods. I hope not as that defeats the purpose of a personal message

Don't worry Bushcraft a PM of any subject is just that a private message.

There must be decisions though, where not all the mods agree. Do you vote then and majority "wins"?

Another thing: Sometimes things happen so quickly, that it is not possible that all the mods have been able to discuss the question? I have seen posts removed in the time of a flicker of an eye

Bushcraft, all PM's relating to moderation matters are shared and a record is kept for future reference.

Apart from being mods, we are also members of this forum and we are entitled to have "unofficial" or private conversations with members. Those are not shared, because it's private.

Skype is a wonderful thing.

I can confirm THAT one! The only time Skype isn't doing it's thing is when DuQues is sleeping. I judge how bad things are on the forums by the the amount of Skyping going on. That excludes the sms's, which must cost some a fortune! Nevermind the emails. DuQues talks more to his fellow mods than his own family sometimes.