Forums back up (and on shiny new VPS)

[SoulRiser]

Pretty much what the title says. I also updated MyBB to the latest version.

As for changes... we now have a Forum Helpers group. They're kind of like moderators, but they can only move & split threads. No deleting or banning or warning or anything potentially destructive. So pretty much anyone can be a Forum Helper as long as they're not blatantly malicious (or very bad with computers).

I'm also disabling the warning system entirely... it was never very well-implemented anyway, and seems to have done more harm than good overall.

Any discussion about disagreements or whatever should be done in PM and not in public forums.

Also, I enjoyed my break from the forums so much that I've decided I'm going to be mostly inactive here. I'll pretty much only really care about the psychology and emotional support sections, and ignore mostly everything else. I'll still get rid of spambots though.

xcriteria, Chanku and Night will be the people you can contact if you need something done on the forums that the Forum Helpers can't do. I've disabled my PM's.

[GamerGurl]

Will there be a point in time where you decide to become more active on SS then? I feel as if what discouraged you (and still discourages you) to be active is the whole drama and moderation which, for the most part, I think is behind us. At least our lead admin won't be inactive entirely, but I hope you reconsider sooner rather than later. SS needs you or I think forum morale might plummet. I believe our movement needs one of the people who started it all.

I don't think the warning system was any issue. I remember someone (who shall go unnamed to avoid call-outs) specifically mentioned that some former members were coming back just for the sake of trolling and baiting. Those people DO deserve warnings and infractions for disrupting community discussion and for potentially trying to creating a toxic atmosphere.

Remember you said that this forum isn't for everyone, and if they don't want to adhere to basic forum etiquette then they should face the consequences or deserve permanent sanctions against their account.

As with any forum I think we should create a community team when SS gets bigger. A team of forum mods who handle reports on a case by case basis who issue warnings, infractions, and bans. I believe people have a right to chances, but if they continually break their chances harsher sanctions should be imposed if they continue with their forum riff-raff.

I say that there should be a system of temporary warnings and infractions. These could last for as little as a week but as long as a month. However, alongside those would be serious warnings and infractions. Only under extreme circumstances would these be handed out, and these would be handed out to those who've continually been given temporary warnings and infractions.

I don't think that suspensions should exist, but only perma bans. Permanent bans would only be handed out in the utmost extreme cases; i.e. Duelix.

When warnings, infractions, or bans are handed out the user would be sent a PM by a moderator account (ex. SS Community Team) detailing what the user is in violation of and what post(s) lead to that warning, infraction, or ban. In the final part of the PM, the user would be told to send a new PM to the Community Team account in order to contest the warning or infraction.

That is just an idea but with us being such a different forum (anti-schooling, extremely unconventional) I highly doubt we'd ever have to hand out warnings or infractions or bans (except with trolls such as Duelix ). I just think we need a system in place in the event that SS grows dramatically since forums occasionally have a period of time every year where forum activity and registration increases.

If you want me to I'd be happy to handle such a system (since I created it and all, and yes when it comes to being a leader or "on top" I'm certainly not as modest as I appear to be), but if Chanku and Night will be the only moderators that's fine too. This is for in the event that SS grows unexpectedly or if we have former members returning for payback.

---

I'm also going to touch on one more point.

The forum that shall go unnamed thinks that there should be "freedom of speech." You know what? I call bullshit on that.

You know why? I honestly think that that's just an excuse to justify their riff-raff. You can offer criticism without sounding crass, disrespectful, and toxic. You know what they call that? Constructive criticism. It's being mature. This is a forum to offer support to those who're going through a shitty time in their life because of school. They do NOT need to deal with more personal attacks and harassment because they're not going to school and/or "disobeying" their elders, especially here.

Forum rules and moderation are needed in order for the users to understand what IS and what is NOT okay. If you don't have that you're going to have chaos just like what happened throughout most of the summer here on SS. Someone I talked to admitted that some people were coming back here only to cause chaos – and guess what – it fucking worked!

Also, there is a derogatory term that those who boast the "freedom of speech" card use to describe this forum but we're a support group. In case you didn't know, that means being compassionate.

I have no idea why these people want to use the "freedom of speech" card to get their point across in the way they do when they fully realize (unless they don't and are that stupid) that many adults do the exact same thing to us IRL and guess what: it doesn't fucking work. What makes you think it'll work here... in a support group... for those against compulsory schooling? Talk about aiding the pro-school doctrine. They remind me of what someone explained here of the people who used to be against compulsory schooling but forget about it, don't mind about it or happen to encourage it later in life.

[SoulRiser]

Wow, even just skimming through your post made me get all agitated again. So I'm not gonna read it properly.. hope you don't mind. I need to take care of my own sanity first and foremost. Everyone else is just gonna have to deal with it.

So yeah, I'll be mainly in the background for a while. Could definitely use help running SS. I think you'd do great. I also think people should be a Forum Helper for a while before getting upgraded to anything else. So I'll get you in there now...

[GamerGurl]

(08-18-2014 09:21 AM)SoulRiser Wrote:  Wow, even just skimming through your post made me get all agitated again. So I'm not gonna read it properly.. hope you don't mind. I need to take care of my own sanity first and foremost. Everyone else is just gonna have to deal with it.

So yeah, I'll be mainly in the background for a while. Could definitely use help running SS. I think you'd do great. I also think people should be a Forum Helper for a while before getting upgraded to anything else. So I'll get you in there now...

I apologize if it got you mad. That wasn't my intention at all. It was just an idea for mod-ship and that a forum DOES need guidelines so things don't get all chaotic and non-constructive. And that maybe we could also incorporate a School Survival Community Team that would be comprised of the mods/admins who would be in charge of executing and interpreting the forum rules.

Then I kinda took a shot (that didn't miss ) of the community that shall go unnamed. I dislike people who most likely knowingly use the "freedom of speech" card so they can justify whatever riff-raff they want to say to avoid any penalty for doing so.

[SoulRiser]

I know you didn't mean to. It's just that I was sooooo happy without having forums to worry about... pretty much anything that requires my input annoys me now. I haven't yet recovered, and it will probably take a long time.

[GamerGurl]

(08-18-2014 09:58 AM)SoulRiser Wrote:  I know you didn't mean to. It's just that I was sooooo happy without having forums to worry about... pretty much anything that requires my input annoys me now. I haven't yet recovered, and it will probably take a long time.

If you feel as if the forums are becoming a burden on you, maybe you should consider "retiring."

Haha sorry, felt like saying that. Reminded me of a leader who was cheekily told by one of her colleagues to consider retiring since she was getting older. You'd still be lead admin, but maybe elect someone who can do what you don't like handling while, at the same time, your input won't be needed as much if at all.

[brainiac3397]

I don't know what VPS is...but I'll go along with your belief that it's shiny.

Now I shall enjoy the shine.

[SoulRiser]

Quote:If you feel as if the forums are becoming a burden on you, maybe you should consider "retiring."

That's actually kind of what I'm doing.

[Ky]

Damn, the one day I didn't log on was the day we returned to normalcy.

Still, it's good to finally be able to post again.

[brainiac3397]

(08-18-2014 10:12 PM)SoulRiser Wrote:  

Quote:If you feel as if the forums are becoming a burden on you, maybe you should consider "retiring."

That's actually kind of what I'm doing.

I'm not paying your socials security benefits...

[Gwedin]

But I hate glossy finishes. :| They catch fingerprints easily...

[vonunov]

(08-19-2014 05:07 PM)Gwedin Wrote:  But I hate glossy finishes. :| They catch fingerprints easily...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31hhHEDIlj8

[Gwedin]

(08-20-2014 01:19 AM)vonunov Wrote:  

(08-19-2014 05:07 PM)Gwedin Wrote:  But I hate glossy finishes. :| They catch fingerprints easily...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31hhHEDIlj8

I honestly love you.

[Sharpie]

Wear gloves you fucking amateurs

[brainiac3397]

fingerless gloves

[Faby]

Is this place doing OK now? Is everyone all right?

[brainiac3397]

Who were you again?

[Username]

(09-15-2014 06:30 AM)Faby Wrote:  Is this place doing OK now? Is everyone all right?

It is certainly dead, ya Skyrim lovin' f**