A New Forum Suggestion

Where people can post quesitons about their site

[atadams]

Just a while ago, a thread on "Google News" was pulled, evidently because the poster was asking specific questions about why his site was banned. I understand this goes against the TOS, but I think there should be a place on Webmaster World where people can post these types of questions (with URLs and everything) and get help from the community. I was actually enjoying trying to figure out his problem and through the process was learning a few things. I didn't see any harm in it.

If you set this up as a separate forum, members can choose to visit and help or not. And it keeps the other forums clean.

[2_much]

Hi Atadams,

Thanks for your suggestion. It's something thta has been considered extensively around here.

There are many pro's and con's, the main being:

Even though this type of forum would be very helpful for beginners, it would be very difficult to maintain.

The way WebmasterWorld is set up is really quite amazing. All people have to do to figure out why their site is banned is read around and perform some searches throughout the different forums - all the answers are here. However, people have to spend some time and do some work to find the answers. Instead of baby-feeding people, we suggest where the answers are and allow people to solve their own puzzle. In the process of searching, people may also learn many other things. That's how I got started here. This way the forum can be balanced with a high level of discussion while trying to cater to people new to the forum and the web.

This is just my opinion of the situation. Even though it's a good idea, I think it'd be difficult to accomplish given the different levels of users on the board.

[rcjordan]

Take a look at the date of this, this isn't a recent issue:
[webmasterworld.com...]

But, there's more reasoning now:

A#1 reason: We don't have the manpower to moderate those. If you open a forum for site review it just becomes a "here's my site, just tell me what to do" black hole.

#2: Veiled pleas to SE and directory editors or employees, trying to circumvent the established "help" route, because they generally suck and everyone knows it. This is currently neck-and-neck with problem #1.
[webmasterworld.com...]

#3: Promotional drops.

[atadams]

Well, I've read through most of the posts on Webmaster World, but I was still finding this individual's problem interesting and was learning from it. I guess it's the difference between therory and practice. I was treating this problem as a working example.

A few questions about your points, rcjordan.

#1 - I don't understand why there would be a need for extensive moderation. If you make it obvious what the forum is about, people can choose to participate or not. If having a bunch people ask "here's my site, just tell me what to do" bugs somebody, they don't have to participate. If they wish to help, they can. What's the harm? In fact, giving people a place to make these posts may reduce the need for moderation in the other forums.

#2 - Again, being in a separate forum helps to eleviate these types of posts from other forums. SE & directory editors can stay out of the forum if they wish.

#3 - I'm not sure what a promotional drop is. Is this where someone is asking for help but they really want people to visit the site? ie. Webpositiongold.com asking for help trying to get people to their site

[Brett_Tabke]

Hi atadams,

Related thread on professional forum spammers:
[webmasterworld.com...]

You ask a good question, and answers aren't cut and dried. The following scenarios have all happened repeatidly on WebmasterWorld.

1a) Shopping the competition.

Would you look at my profile site and tell me if you think the page is optimized ok?

Sounds ok right?

As unethical as it sounds, what happened is it wasn't that guys site, it was his competitions that was spammed out. A few days later, the site mysteriously disappeared out of a major search engine. How would you feel if that were your site?

1b) Pure Spam.

Would you look at my profile site and tell me if you think the page is optimized ok?

The guy couldn't care less, and instead sells software and affiliate items aimed at other webmasters.

1c) The site review:

Would you look at my profile site and tell me if you think the page is optimized ok?

Turned out the guy was a first time poster and didn't have any idea what optimization was - he simply wanted the feedback.

So, we can't determine which is a valid question and which isn't. We do know that if we allow promotion in the forums to go unchallenged, they come out of the woodwork to promote. Keep in mind, we are a forum that is mostly for promoters and optimizers. We know every trick in the book from pure spam to the fine art of the whisper campaign.

[Marcia]

I don't understand why there would be a need for extensive moderation.

To maintain the quality, and for the protection of members.

being in a separate forum helps to eleviate these types of posts from other forums.

Exactly. What we do here is for the benefit of the entire membership. Doing it for individuals elevates it to the level of professional consulting and personal tutoring. Many of us do just that professionally and volunteer here for the benefit of the entire membership at large.

But there is already a forum that covers the need of some for individual consulting, and has been for over two years:

WebmasterWorld Commercial Exchange [webmasterworld.com]

[atadams]

I understand all your concerns, and I understand you have a big responsibility trying to protect the integrity of the site for everyone in the community. But I think that there must be someway to allow this type of discussion to happen. My feeling is that these discussions can be very informative and if you let problem posters affect the type of content you allow so much then they’ve already taken something from you.

Frankly, this site has a reputation of being somewhat heavy-handed in its moderation. I’ve witnessed this several times in the past, and again today. It’s made me consider looking at other sites that have a little freer discussion to supplement the info I get here. That may not really bother y’all that much; I’m just letting you know how I feel.

All in all, y'all have a great site and it's something everyone involved should be proud of. I just feel you could strike a better balance with the moderation.