Welcome to Best of Jackie on the Web's Fan Forum -- Help Set the Rules

Greetings fellow Jackie Evancho fans. This fan forum is an experiment of the website Best of Jackie on the Web http://bestofjackieontheweb.com/

We're novices at this sort of thing, so, please, help us determine the best way to administer and moderate this social utility for your benefit as a Jackie Evancho fan.

At its most general level, our policy is to encourage free discussion.

Before we start listing all the do-nots, we invite you to help us set the rules for this forum.

What are you looking for in a Jackie Evancho forum that you can't get elsewhere (sorry, we can't give you access to the Evanchos or Jackie's management).

Greetings! You fellows at Best of Jackie on the Web sure are beggars for punishment. The best of luck to you.

The first rule I suggest is: the golden rule!

Looks like I spontaneously went to BOJOTW at just the right time! I'll try to give some good input when it occurs to me.. I've never moderated a forum, but I've been a member of several since 2001 so hopefully something has stuck with me after all this time

For a quick starter, is there a way to make it one less click to get to the subforums? It's currently set up so you click on a subforum to get to that subforum's link to get into that subforum. Seems like it's one click to many to get anywhere

I love the idea of a fan-moderated forum though- Can't beat pure democracy when it comes to social media!


-edit- as far as what to do and not to do.. Of all the forums I've ever been around, none have even come close to how nice the people on Jackie's forums are. I wouldn't worry too much about rules for people getting out of hand at the moment; IMO more focus should be given to ease-of-use and setup at the right now. Honestly, I think this place will moderate itself with very little trouble.

I completely agree, Bristol, that is a good foundational principle.

EDIT: Post overlap. I also agree with you, Spudchucker, that there's not much to worry about. In light of what you said, my post might seem like a list of hypothetical horribles or something, but it's just my observations about other fora that might be relevant to starting up a new one.

Here are some things I've observed from other fora that I think work well, along with other miscellaneous thoughts. Many of them have to do with putting out fires and preventing chaos, but this is probably the most important purpose of having moderation, and good rules and guidelines. An out-of-control forum can quickly acquire a bad reputation, and repel both existing and new members:

• As few rules as possible—limited to cardinal rules regarding commercial spamming, sexually explicit and illegal material, ad hominem attacks (attack the idea, not the person), religious and anti-religious condescension, trolling (more on this below), and "sock puppet" accounts (multiple accounts), sharing PMs, etc.
  

• About trolling. Contrary to what some would like to believe, trolling is not posting an unpopular opinion, and it is not always obvious whether someone is a troll after only one post. The key to recognizing a troll, IMO, is repetition.
  
  The question was, "What are you looking for in a Jackie Evancho forum that you can't get elsewhere?" What I would like is for anyone to express their views, no matter how unpopular, without being scolded, called names, or told to withhold their opinion. This is an old and divisive topic (and perhaps deserves a thread of its own), but it is an important one, as there are vastly divergent views on what is or isn't appropriate.
  
  Where Jackie is concerned, I think a good guideline is to not make any critique of Jackie the performer, or Jackie the brand, that is scornful of Jackie the person. It isn't as hard to distinguish between the two as some might think, and IMO the latter is more rare than some might believe. But I acknowledge that Jackie's age is an important factor to consider when deciding on the propriety of parts or all of a critique, but it is not exemptive. Again, does it demean Jackie's character? I encourage the moderators to give a lot of thought to how to handle this one.
  

• An active moderator presence. Not every forum moderator can read all posts—especially true on fora with hundreds of active members—but it is always nice to see a moderator step in to answer questions or cool things down if debates get too heated or personal.
  

• Moderators should reserve the right to interpret rules and guidelines as they see fit, but if they endeavor to be consistent, and it is made clear that they are human, so are willing to reconsider rulings or warnings (and do), then members generally respect moderator actions.
  

• Disputes regarding a moderator action (as opposed to open civil discussions about forum rules) should be conducted by PM, between the moderator and the person affected by the action.
  

• Forbidden topics? In my experience, religion, politics, guns, conspiracy theories and other hot topics can turn into bloodbaths, so most sites have rules forbidding one or more of these things. Although I'm not generally in favor of blanket restrictions on discussion topics, I have found that when sites instead have general guidelines that apply to all discussions, it gives members some breathing room, and takes some of the load off of moderators. Others may suggest topics that should be verboten, but I'll refrain for now.
  

• Wandering off topic. It's always nice to have a moderator step in and ask people to get back to the thread topic. On the JEFC forum, discussions often go off on a tangent, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish one thread from another (for example, someone starts a thread about Jackie's gowns, with a video or picture to illustrate their favorite, but the discussion wanders off into one about how wonderfully she sang a certain song at that concert, and then how beautiful her voice is, and then how wonderful she is, and on and on...).
  

• Duplicate threads should be combined, or (because combining can be a lot of work for a moderator) one of the threads (usually the last one posted) should be locked, with a final post by the moderator explaining that there is another thread on the topic "here" (embedded link).
  

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

Fantabulosa wrote:I completely agree, Bristol, that is a good foundational principle.

EDIT: Post overlap. I also agree with you, Spudchucker, that there's not much to worry about. In light of what you said, my post might seem like a list of hypothetical horribles or something, but it's just my observations about other fora that might be relevant to starting up a new one.



I can't think of anything else at the moment.

That's a really well-thought out and helpful list. Less is more when it comes to rules, that's for sure

Spudchucker wrote:

For a quick starter, is there a way to make it one less click to get to the subforums? It's currently set up so you click on a subforum to get to that subforum's link to get into that subforum. Seems like it's one click to many to get anywhere

Honestly, I think this place will moderate itself with very little trouble.

Great advice, Spudchucker. Benevolent neglect is our motto.

We'll try to do something about that annoying subform two-step, but it's coded in the template so it'll take a bit of development to get it fixed.

Fantabulosa wrote:I completely agree, Bristol, that is a good foundational principle.

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

What a great list of suggestions. A masterpiece of good advice!

Fantabulosa wrote:I completely agree, Bristol, that is a good foundational principle.

I can't think of anything else at the moment.

Much food for thought there, and very much appreciated.

By the way, I'm now one of the moderators of the site (other volunteers are welcome).

How to block bad behavior is a really tough nut to crack.

I think what is most important is for the site to establish a tone: this is a place where people treat each other with forbearance and politeness.

That, I think, can only be established over time, mainly through the behavior of the site admins and moderators. When the moderator firmly puts his foot down he's setting limits. What I recommend is that if anyone wants to dispute with the moderator they should take it to the Ask Admin section.

I would like to suggest the forum stay away from things like rating members, likes, dislikes etc. I have found in the past that this leads to bad blood, hurt feelings, potential cliques of people patting each other on the back all the time, etc. I think if someone likes a post or something a person said in particular, they can indicate that with a comment. 

I also noticed when registering that there is a Friends and Foes area on the profiles, which again I think can lead to cliques and possible hurt feelings, etc. I would prefer everyone be civil and able to express opinions without having to worry if they are going to get on people's "foes" list or attacked by a group of "friends". 

That's my suggestions. I hope this forum works out well!

bluebird wrote:I also noticed when registering that there is a Friends and Foes area on the profiles, which again I think can lead to cliques and possible hurt feelings, etc. I would prefer everyone be civil and able to express opinions without having to worry if they are going to get on people's "foes" list or attacked by a group of "friends". 

That's my suggestions. I hope this forum works out well!

 We think you have a good point. We suspended the points etc.

-- Admin

Looks like you've made a great start.

One suggestion I have is minor but I think it can help everyone and it involves the title of posts.

I recommend that admin encourage posters creating new topics to use the following rules:

1. Use Title Case (first letter upper, rest lower)
2. No repetitive or unusual punctuation.
3. Abbreviations kept to a minimum.

For example:

Gobsmacked by Jackie Again!

Not:

GOBSMACKED BY JACKIE AGAIN!!!!!!!
~Gobsmacked by jackie again ...

It's a minor point but I think it helps with the clutter problem. admin and moderators could also
reserve the right to "fix" topic titles to adhere to the rules. It would not be censorship (since
I assume other rules kick in if the title is otherwise inappropriate).

prairiemain wrote:Looks like you've made a great start.

One suggestion I have is minor but I think it can help everyone and it involves the title of posts.

I recommend that admin encourage posters creating new topics to use the following rules:

1. Use Title Case (first letter upper, rest lower)
2. No repetitive or unusual punctuation.
3. Abbreviations kept to a minimum.

For example:

Gobsmacked by Jackie Again!

Not:

GOBSMACKED BY JACKIE AGAIN!!!!!!!
~Gobsmacked by jackie again ...

It's a minor point but I think it helps with the clutter problem. admin and moderators could also
reserve the right to "fix" topic titles to adhere to the rules. It would not be censorship (since
I assume other rules kick in if the title is otherwise inappropriate).

 These are good suggestions and we'll follow up on them.

It has been my observation that other forums where I actively participate,  the most recent post appears at the top of page, while this forum has the most recent post on the bottom of the page.
I find it an inconvenience to page down to the bottom and then page up to find the most recent post.
Would it be possible to change the sort sequence to "post date, descending"?

Willyiam wrote:It has been my observation that other forums where I actively participate,  the most recent post appears at the top of page, while this forum has the most recent post on the bottom of the page.
I find it an inconvenience to page down to the bottom and then page up to find the most recent post.
Would it be possible to change the sort sequence to "post date, descending"?

Oh, I thought I'd fixed that.

Admin wrote:

Willyiam wrote:It has been my observation that other forums where I actively participate,  the most recent post appears at the top of page, while this forum has the most recent post on the bottom of the page.
I find it an inconvenience to page down to the bottom and then page up to find the most recent post.
Would it be possible to change the sort sequence to "post date, descending"?

Oh, I thought I'd fixed that.

 Come to think of it, on JEFC the first post is on the first page.

Admin wrote:

Admin wrote:

Willyiam wrote:It has been my observation that other forums where I actively participate,  the most recent post appears at the top of page, while this forum has the most recent post on the bottom of the page.
I find it an inconvenience to page down to the bottom and then page up to find the most recent post.
Would it be possible to change the sort sequence to "post date, descending"?

Oh, I thought I'd fixed that.

 Come to think of it, on JEFC the first post is on the first page.

 One thing I wonder if others have noticed?  when you see a green dot indicating new posts in a thread, on the right, right beside the most recent posters name there is a very tiny little icon.  If you click on it it will take you right to the most recent post.

The green dot click does not work like it does on the JEFC site.   But, click on the green flag and all is good.   

I love all these new emoticons.

When I got on this morning, about 5:30 AM, all of the dots were green!!

Also, when I was entering another post here, I accidentally hit the "Draft" button and could not find where to resume the draft.
Could you give me an explanation as to how to resume a draft.

Hi William. do you still see green dots? I don't have and can't replicate that problem. I'll choose another color for one of the dots.

So far, I haven't solved the draft problem.

Thanks for your due diligence!

Drafts are in the Drafts tab in your Profile

Now that I think about it, the Green dots may have been Blue.
I know I don't have a Color Vision Deficiency but, looking at the colors quickly may have registered the wrong color to my eye.
The dots on the front page now appear Blue.

Willyiam wrote:Now that I think about it, the Green dots may have been Blue.
I know I don't have a Color Vision Deficiency but, looking at the colors quickly may have registered the wrong color to my eye.
The dots on the front page now appear Blue.

" The dots on the front page now appear Blue."

Except when there is a new message or post, correct? Those should now be an orange dot rather than, as before, a green dot.

bristol

The Admin must have changed the New Posts color to Orange as I was typing my last post.
The answer to your question is Yes.
And I think the Blue dot for No New Posts and an Orange dot for New Posts is much easier on the eyes.

I think so too. I like the little clef symbol. Maybe Admin (that would be me) could work a Jackie photo in as one of the icons.