Forum Rules/New Global Moderators

[MarySmith]

Thanks Moderators for doing a great job.

Ben should be able to ban users by using the ISP numbers that the disruptive members use rather than just banning names.

[petslave]

3cat - I've been wondering the same thing too.  Constant disruption through complaints and attacks are very good ways to destroy morale & get a forum shut down.  I'm sure there would be some people out there very happy to see those results. 

Hopefully it's all more of a personal nature and things will smooth out after awhile.  I'm really sorry to hear problems are still going on, except behind the scenes.  This has to be very stressful to the moderators and Admin.

[3catkidneyfailure]

Itchmo morale is down. I would urge the moderators not to sit there and take it indefinitely.
There are reasonable complaints and those with no merit. So please consider the 3-strikes-you're out
or IP blocking approach seriously so the forums can return to exchanging information and looking out
for pets and their safety with differing viewpoints on some issues expressed in a constructive way.

[carolo]

First of all, a big thank you has to go to Ben for creating Itchmo Forums and then for putting up w/ ensuing headaches and wasted hours of time brought on by what has been a magnificent gift to so many people and so many more pets.  It is distressing to read that our new global moderators have already been stressed and overwhelmed by PMs and problems on the boards.  Yes, the PFI should be doing a dance of joy about now.  And how do I feel about sending new people a link to join or even read these boards?  Not too comfortable w/ adolescent, petty bickering going on.  Most of it I'm fortunately unaware of evidently, but I've seen enough and heard enough that this is no longer the first place I go to every morning when I pull up to my desk. 

It is thanks to a few people on this board that our Jake is no longer an itching, scratching miserable meal time hating puppy but rather a handsome adult dog carrying a luxurious coat.  We have a brand of kibble he likes and have developed the self confidence to home cook totally if that need should arise.  We learned what to avoid both in terms of dog food and in many cases people food.  My DH thought I was losing it for a short while but then I started sending him links to information here, much of it backed by lab tests or well respected sources, and he became a convert as well, avoiding certain products like the plague and reading labels even more carefully, asking hard questions of produce managers, meat markets, store managers.  He insists on staying stocked ahead on unopened kibble so that if problems arise we hopefully are not among the first to be feeding from that lot# and date.  He talks to the owner of the store where we purchase it to acertain if any other customers have mentioned any changes in their dogs.  He is so on board w/ the program he even talks to his doctors about where the supplements are actually sourced for ingredients and how it is important to look beyond just the name on the labels.  BTW, perhaps it is just a local "thing," but although our doctors used to strongly recommend human supplements they now specifically say not to take them.  The only one they recommend is the fish oil capsules and have talked about the possibility we'll find those contanimated and will be warned off of them as well.  One of my own doctors reads my blog and uses my link to this forum...or at least used to do that.

Itchmo Forums has made a real difference, a positive difference in our lives.  How we've allowed ourselves to get sucked into an often out of control, bickering bunch is beyond me.  I've thankfully been oblivious to most of it but have noticed too much as it is.  Our animals depend on us to do the right thing, the honest, human thing and keep their best interest first.  If not, we don't deserve their presence in our lives.

I love the "MOD SQUAD" title for our moderators!  Thanks so much to each one of the four of you.  Do give only a set number of warnings to posters not following the rules and then either suspend their membership or use IP blocking and hope they don't go to the nearest friend or library only to join up again and become disruptive once more.  The guilty ones know who your are.  I don't.  But cut it out!

[JJ]

The Mod Squad set up the FORUM GROUND RULES -

Should rule #5, #5, #7, and #10 be utilized then there should be less disruption to the moderators and to the forum itself.

As Carolo stated she does not know who the people are who are the problem but I second her statement - KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

[catbird]

Good news forum members!  Itchmo has responded to your concerns and the four mods are now able to ban or temporarily suspend offending posters.

Rest assured that such decisions will not be undertaken lightly.  Only serious violations with repeated failure to respond to warnings will result in banning.  No one will be banned without absolute consensus of all four moderators.

ETA: The only exception is spammers or others who use the forum for commercial purposes.  They will be banned without warning.  This does not include PF company officials who are posting for informational reasons.

[YesBiscuit!]

Good news forum members!  Itchmo has responded to your concerns and the four mods are now able to ban or temporarily suspend offending posters.

Rest assured that such decisions will not be undertaken lightly.  Only serious violations with repeated failure to respond to warnings will result in banning.  No one will be banned without absolute consensus of all four moderators.

I'm reporting this to the moderator!   

hee hee, only joking!  Glad to know the mod squad can take care of business.

[catmom5]

 

and that's as it should be

[carolo]

Good news forum members!  Itchmo has responded to your concerns and the four mods are now able to ban or temporarily suspend offending posters.

Rest assured that such decisions will not be undertaken lightly.  Only serious violations with repeated failure to respond to warnings will result in banning.  No one will be banned without absolute consensus of all four moderators.

Good news and in fact GR8 news.  If banning doesn't prove effective enough due to the offenders signing up from a different location and using new I.D., then simply have a "we really need to know exactly who you are" to let the good ones we have lost back in here in addition to completely new people requiring a member to sponsor them.  Otherwise, this could be a read only board for newbies.  I don't think it would ever come to this but better that than headaches and lost work time for MOD SQUAD.

It is a relief to know Itchmo Forums will not disappear in the dark of one night.

[JanC]

Woooooohoooooooooo......happy dance to Mod Squad theme......

[lesliek]

Thats definitely great news ! Hopefully just knowing what can happen will be a deterrant.

[MarySmith]

Good News Indeed! Go get 'um Mods - you have enough to do without having forum members 'spamming' your 'in' box.

I don't think making newbies have sponsors is a good idea because most of the ones that find this forum are just looking for information though search engines or links posted at other forums. This rule would seriously limit the newbies coming here.

[MarySmith]

When using the 'Report to moderator' function, what type of information is automatically included and what information do we have to type in?

Is the url included?
Is the post quoted?
Is the author of the post included?

Thanks

[JustMe]

You just need to type in what your complaint is.

[Mandycat]

     I think the rules are fine the way the are currently, and I trust the moderators to be fair in enforcing them.  I think we need to keep things open for anyone to register without any further restrictions.  New people come here sometimes because they have an immediate problem they need help solving, or they may have important information about an experience with a food or news of a recall, etc. that they want to report right away.  Making it unnecessarily difficult to register would only discourage new people from even considering joining the forum.