When moderating, don't edit the post, delete it.

Cornellius

Active member
I know some of you like to edit a post when a user did something against the rules, and write something "funny". For example, a user posted spam for WoW, or when a user did anything else that's not tolerated.

Then, I log on the forum, and see: "You have a new post". I then click to read it, only to see that's it's a stupid post, or an edited one.

Seriously, just delete the post made by users that did something against the rules.
 
Personally, I like to edit because then I can give a reason...

(ie "Stop spamming." or "Post patches for your hacks, not ROM files").

It really depends on the situation.
 
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Personally, I like to edit because then I can give a reason...

For that reason, I don't mind. It's a good reason to edit the post (ex: removal of a link that points to illegal softwares). However, when it's to say things like "rape my face", "I am confused !", or any other things like that, it's annoying for the reasons I've posted earlier.
 
For that reason, I don't mind. It's a good reason to edit the post. However, when it's to say things like "rape my face", "I am confused !", or any other things like that, it's annoying for the reasons I've posted earlier.

Well yes, that's a little different IMHO.
 
The mod edits that Cornellius is referring to are rather juvenile. They can be funny at times, but it doesn't do much to instill faith in the mods.
 
Additionally, persons who sincerely wish to have their faces raped will experience difficulty getting their requests fulfilled.
 
Guys, soft delete the posts, do not participate in the original user's idiocy.
 
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Yes please, spam gets on my nerves.
Just do soft delete the message, please. That way, us normal users won't see them.
 
I want to raise this again. I've banned two spambots recently by hard deleting all of the posts and then permabanning the bot. This means all traces that the bot ever existed vanish so anyone who didn't see the initial post/posts never even knows there was a bot, which I think is ideal.

Can we establish this as semi-official policy for dealing with obvious spambots? I'd also like to request that users not respond to spambot posts. The bot can't understand any of what you're saying, and it'd be easier to just make the bot vanish if everyone ignored it.
 
I want to raise this again. I've banned two spambots recently by hard deleting all of the posts and then permabanning the bot. This means all traces that the bot ever existed vanish so anyone who didn't see the initial post/posts never even knows there was a bot, which I think is ideal.

Can we establish this as semi-official policy for dealing with obvious spambots? I'd also like to request that users not respond to spambot posts. The bot can't understand any of what you're saying, and it'd be easier to just make the bot vanish if everyone ignored it.

I agree with everything you said. It's like yelling at an answering machine.
 
Bot or not there are probably users who would get more offended seeing a moderator edit their post--even if it's just deleting the text and replacing it with the reason--than a complete removal.

You can give reasons without editing the post; delete it and fill in a reason for the deletion reason field. It's for other moderators to see but not the users. Zophar's isn't some college class where the moderators lecture fans of emulation on what happens when a rule is offended; it's just janitor work and simple patience for inevitable newbs. Other than it being easier for the moderator and a chance to vent at stupid people online (hello on the Internet?) what's a better method than that?

But let's not talk to reaper man now; it's obvious that judging by Edman's responsibility we may as well admire that he doesn't care. It's really bad that I should find a reason to post about moderation in a public forum on a forum board that isn't anything about how to moderate :rolleyes:; this is just my feedback for a neglected situation.

Logically if you're on the oldest emulation site with the oldest crew you know people who won't grow out of being savages.
 
Can we establish this as semi-official policy for dealing with obvious spambots? I'd also like to request that users not respond to spambot posts. The bot can't understand any of what you're saying, and it'd be easier to just make the bot vanish if everyone ignored it.

I agree with you. This is what I do. I just wish there was more we could to do preemptively stop the spamming so we didn't have to deal with them in the first place.

I also want to thank those who report these posts.
 
I want to raise this again. I've banned two spambots recently by hard deleting all of the posts and then permabanning the bot. This means all traces that the bot ever existed vanish so anyone who didn't see the initial post/posts never even knows there was a bot, which I think is ideal.

Can we establish this as semi-official policy for dealing with obvious spambots? I'd also like to request that users not respond to spambot posts. The bot can't understand any of what you're saying, and it'd be easier to just make the bot vanish if everyone ignored it.

I'll be honest, after enough complaints about not deleting the posts, I started to hard delete more and more. This is what I do each time now. Sadly, we're not getting to the root of the problem. We really need to update the board software so that admins (me, 9th sage, and edman) can add more anti spam measures so that we stop them before they can even register.
 
Eh, Reaper man is Reaper man...but I am glad to see him being serious about the topic now.

Ah, by the way...since I've not been around too much lately...are users like 'Omega (insert some crappy fanboy sounding word here)' considered spambots? What exactly is a spambot?
 
Eh, Reaper man is Reaper man...but I am glad to see him being serious about the topic now.

Ah, by the way...since I've not been around too much lately...are users like 'Omega (insert some crappy fanboy sounding word here)' considered spambots? What exactly is a spambot?


A spambot is rather self explanatory. It is an automated bot that searches the internet for web forums and registers itself so that it can post advertisements (spam).

omega was just a fucktard.
 
A spambot is rather self explanatory. It is an automated bot that searches the internet for web forums and registers itself so that it can post advertisements (spam)

Most of the time you can tell the difference between them and legitimate users. If you ever see any of their posts, you'll know what I'm talking about. They are obvious ads, usually the same exact thing in each of their posts.
 
Most spam-bots may also harvest email addresses from most message board sites (especially those discovered by big search engines like Google) and use this to spoil most legit inboxes. All I can do is hit the ignore and report buttons.

Lillymon: If you can, try to review the spam-bot messages and use word censoring or filtering. That's what I would do.
 
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