pothos.org

To all:I deleted Kenny's thread today because I was asked to do so. No one asked for the VD thread to be removed so I didn't remove that. Who or what you are isn't the criteria for removing a thread. I only remove threads which have become offensive or personally derogatory to forum members and I only remove those when asked to do so as I don't have time to visit this site on a regular basis anymore, or to keep up with all the new posts. Other people moderate too, I don't know their criteria for removing threads except that I know we all have the best interests of this site as our motive for moderating it at all.Best regardsHalil

Halil: At this point I see no need to remove the VDF thread. I wasnGÇÖt the person who requested the removal of the other truly offending thread, but I do concur that it should have been deleted GÇô it added nothing to this forum and gave the worst impression of Pothos. However, sometimes it is hard to lose a thread when there are interesting and/or important posts that are lost because of one or two truly inappropriate messages. In those circumstances, is it not possible to only delete the offending messages, if requested? For instance, I would hate to see my current thread removed just because someone might choose to be inappropriate in a message or two. GÇô and these days there is always that possibility.I have no complaints about the moderation of this forum. I know that you are sometimes chastised for removing posts and at other times are chastised for allowing them to remain! But if you and the other mods had been asked to remove every thread containing an insult in the last few months then we would have lost almost all the posts of those at the receiving end of the insults. IGÇÖve stayed silent for the longest time because to intervene felt more like interference, but now that I was included in the abuse GÇô albeit it is no longer available to view GÇô I decided it was time to speak out. I donGÇÖt think that the moderators should be expected to operate like some kind of government censor. My real aim here is to encourage others to speak up about the situation and to make those who constantly offend take responsibility for their behavior. This is an open forum and everyone is welcome, but all those who abuse the privilege need to be made aware that it is not acceptable. I agree that who or what you are should never be the criteria for removing a thread. It is what is said that matters. Even those who constantly offend have also made valued and welcome contributions to Pothos. I know that you and the other moderators always have the best interests of the forum at heart GÇô as do we all. To some degree IGÇÖm actually uncomfortable bringing this whole situation out into the open, so to speak. We have better things to talk about, but ignoring the negative posts has only allowed them to proliferate. I hope that I we can soon get back to discussing Alexander and see Pothos flourish as it was intended. There is no other place quite like it on the web.Best regards,Amyntoros

Hello AmyntorosI agree with you that it is sad to lose posts with valuable contributions simply because they are in threads which need to be removed. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to deal with the problem *is* to remove the whole thread. If you don't, the offenders just keep coming back to it and adding more vitriol. And, as I said, I don't have time to monitor every post.But if someone brings a post or a thread to my attention as one which should be removed, then I don't mind deleting it. It is better that people get mad at the moderators than have the forum become an ugly place to visit.The way to not have posts or threads deleted is simply not to reply to offensive posts. This way, the moderator can simply remove the bad post and the rest of the thread can remain intact. (Deletions work this way: all messages which are later in the thread attached to the post to be deleted are also deleted.)Best regardsHalil

HulloI asked the moderators to step in - I didn't in particular want the thread deleted, but I wanted to draw attention to how the conversation was degenerating and perhaps for a warning post to be sent. However, this is difficult for a moderator to do, and even harder when there is no way of enforcing the Law (ie the forum is open).Linda

Hello Halil, that is great advice. We need a re-focusing on that Macedonian son of King Filip.Cheers.OLD MACEDONIANGLISH Koen iyas sam gnayan aza to shwo iyasWhen i's am knowan as to what i's vizden aza tia gorosali gramatik rekoi odviewed as the colossal gramatik reckons ofMakedonsi histori, verieve moy velot sestra,Makedon's history, believe my word sister,brator, keyull gnayall totalno onadto shwo iyas brother, you'll knowall totally on to what i's vidu aza chisto voda. viewed as chaste water.