Forum Moderators: open
Lately, when I have started new threads, about every other has been stopped for review. There has been nothing controversial about them at all.
Since I've been looking for help I need to get my job done, it is extremely frustrating, and the most aggravating thing is that I haven't a clue as why this happens and can therefore not adjust my next post to comply with the requirements since I don't know them.
So, please: Why is this happening, and how should I write a post to make it propagate?
TIA
Dan
I doubt this post will ever appear!
Yes, I know about them (I should have mentioned that, sorry).
But posts I've made have been on hold for review despite that they've been prefectly nice, not mentioning any program or having links or anything prohibited: Just plain, simple, polite posts!
I also forgot mentioning that it's additionally frustrating not knowing when (if ever) the post eventually goes public! Last spring, I made a similar post (harmless and according to the rules) that never propagated at all.
Cheers,
Dan
Please read my posts: All posts that have come under review have been nice, polite, etc. And they have not been criticising Google at all! Far from it!
Besides: I don't understand what you mean by "paying for it" and your doubt that this will never appear? Am I not allowed to ask what the criteria for posting are?
Ah well....this probably just have to be sorted under "one of life's mysteries"... :-(
Lately, when I have started new threads, about every other has been stopped for review.
That's because some of the forums are pre-moderated, so all the posts that start new threads have to wait until someone looks at them individually and approves them.
If your new posts are critical of Google they won't get published.
Besides, what some consider critical can appear to many others to be incessant whining, which not only doesn't benefit anyone or accomplish anything, but can get mighty tiresome to a lot of people after seeing the same things posted dozens or hundreds of times over the years. It can easily chase "pros" away who are the ones who could contribute posts of much value to others, when they get sick and tired of seeing repetitious posts by newbies who think because they put up a site and pay $10 for hosting, Google or Yahoo owes them a top ten listing.
Don't take it personally, it applies to everyone; which IMHO is something major that needs to be addressed and corrected.
Ok, but what worrying me is that I'm getting replies here that are presupposing that I have been critical to Google or anything else depsite that I'm saying that I have NOT criticising anything at all. So, can any other contributor to the thread please drop that assumption? Thanks.
The latest of my posts, made a couple of hours ago and which was stopped, was a regular and polite question about whether Gooogle actually is following javascript links or not (Now, please don't start debating this here since that's not the topic of the thread. I just offering an example).
A few weeks ago, I asked a completely innocent question about AdWords and was also stopped. A couple of months ago, I asked about sandboxing and Gooogle and was stopped (I'm not that frequent visitor, as you notice). All of them absolutely decent and curteous, guaranteed.
Let's see if some moderator might jump in and shed some light on this later.
Cheers,
Dan
I'm not going back and re-read those again, but they may be off-topic to the thread. ;)
I can't speak for anyone else, but I was one of the mods in the Google News forum for several years up until a few months ago, and most that didn't make it past me were so that other members wouldn't tear their hair out from reading the same thing over and over and over again. But that wouldn't have been responded to in public because it isn't done that way here.
If there's ever a question about a post, just stickymail the moderator(s) and/or an admin or two asking about it. But remember, at this point in time most everyone has been away at the conference, was busy preparing for it beforehand as well as seeing after their own business affairs, and are all now busily catching up on things after it's over.
As long as you realize now that it isn't your posts in particular, I think the question's been answered for you. Hope it helps clear things up a bit.
In the end, when mods act contrary to *their* sensible guidelines i.e. sticky a person when you edit or pull a post, it just usually ends up causing so much more hurt feelings and work all round.
lawman
Type:
Premoderated. This means that every thread must be approved by a moderator before it is visible to everyone. Due to the number of posts in the Google Forum requiring pre-moderation, we are often unable to send notifications if a thread is not released for public viewing. Please see the guidelines below for some of the reasons why posts may not be authorized.emphasis supplied
<quote>
If there's ever a question about a post, just stickymail the moderator(s) and/or an admin or two asking about it. But remember, at this point in time most everyone has been away at the conference, was busy preparing for it beforehand as well as seeing after their own business affairs, and are all now busily catching up on things after it's over.
</quote>
Well, how can I stickymail to someone when I don't have a referring URL to a thread? And since I don't make a copy of the post I'm writing before I send it off, it's virtually impossible for anyone to gouge what's impropriate in it, no?
And no, I'm not sure the initial question has been answered.
FYI, I myself took the time, together with the assistance of one of the Admins to get it worded right, to add the portion in the charter that points to the reasons some don't make it out and were not being individually responded to - as a courtesy to the members, so there wouldn't be any offenses or misunderstandings.
Members are individually responsible for reading both the TOS and individual forum charters for themselves. No one else can do that for them - besides, reading instructions and properly interpreting them is one of the more critical parts of the skill-set for webmastering and SEO.
That applies to all of us, none of us are exceptions. Though now that I think of it, though it hasn't been done, in some cases it might be a good idea for some individuals to be individually put on pre-mod. Who knows, I might be one of them if that were done. ;)
Maybe I posted to the Google News, and if the rules are that all posts are being checked before they're published, fair enough! I buy that, and can vividly understand the reasons why.
But when I had submitted the post, I got this page saying that something else, like "the post might not be published right away since it might contain stuff we don't like, or the forum might be down due maintenance".
If they're checking all posts, why not simply give us a page saying "Hi, since we're manually checking every single post to this forum, it might take one or two days before your post is published".
That would be crystal clear, and I wouldn't think that I had violated some rules, right?
Cheers,
Dan
Brett's original pre-mod thread can be found here: [webmasterworld.com...]
And a recent discussion from a few months ago is here: [webmasterworld.com...]
And here is what I said in that last thread (just remember that this applies to all pre-mod forums, not just Google):
As far as Google pre-moderation is concerned, an interesting discussion about this issue (including the overall rules as stated by Brett) can be found in this thread: Google Premoderation [webmasterworld.com]. The key to remember as you read this thread from June 2003) is that premoderation was started over a year ago in that forum because of our rapid growth and the number of people who were contributing similar ideas over and over again. Now, a year later, we have even more members in the Google News forum and so the repeats/dupes/already answered questions/non-issues are even more numerous.If your post isn't accepted into the Google News forum, this is a signal for you to get back in there and read, read, read. Because that means the answer is here somewhere at WebmasterWorld. I know that searching for topics can be a little frustrating - there are so many great discussions that it's sometimes hard to track down exactly what you're looking for. This is where Google will come is as a valuable friend - use it to search for your topic on this site specifically and you should have some luck.
Please remember that starting a new topic that is ultimately not accepted by the Google mods is not a personal thing. It's an action taken to ensure that all of our members are reading the highest quality, most pertinent threads on the Google topic.
It would be a great thing to always have an explanation for an edit or premoderation action - but sometimes this isn't possible. The workload that the admins and Google mods have is unbelievable. (I think I'll ask Brett to dig around and find some stats so that you can understand the magnitude we're talking here, as far as number of new threads started that are repeats, etc. You'll be surprised at how much information comes pouring in that the Google mods and admins have to handle on an hourly basis!)
Always - if you have a moderation question about why a post was edited, removed or not accepted into a premoderated forum - ask the moderator of that forum or an admin. He or she will have the best explanation as to why something was done - and will be able to give you some pointers.
On Hold: This discussion is temporarily on hold pending administrative review. This simply means there was something about the post worth reviewing before public viewing. It could also mean work is being performed on the thread or forum.
It's the standard message for "On Hold" posts here at WW and doesn't pertain to Google News in particular. If anything in that standard message conflicts with the Google News Charter, the Charter controls.
<added>
From the Index Page:
A pre-moderated forum oriented towards Google news for professional Webmasters and site operators.
WebmasterWorld Google Knowledge Base [webmasterworld.com] (The Webmasters Google FAQ)
Please read the faq and charter before posting. We also now have a Google AdSense, Google Toolbar, Froogle, and Google AdWords forums.</added>
I just looked at the first three pages in the Google News forum. Only one post was on hold. Your two were live.
how can I stickymail to someone when I don't have a referring URL to a thread?
Links to all threads you've started, even if they are not approved, are available from the "My threads [webmasterworld.com]" page in your control panel [webmasterworld.com]. It's where I track when I start a new Google News thread and I think I was the first to post about something new and noteworthy... Of course, I haven't been first yet. :(
Even with multiple moderators in different time zones, it's still possible to have quite a few threads that are practically identical waiting to be approved. Imagine how many threads there would be to sort through if the moderators just approved all of them? That would be more frustrating, I think. :)
A forum being pre-moderated is understood by those here who know what it is, but will mean nothing to people who have never heard of such a thing. So when the hold message comes up it's a surprise.
The explanation in the hold message is clear to those of us who already know - but will not be for those who don't. There's no way to logically connect "pre-moderated forum" with that message.
On Hold: This discussion is temporarily on hold pending administrative review. This simply means there was something about the post worth reviewing before public viewing. It could also mean work is being performed on the thread or forum.
The part in bold can absolutely be taken to be an individual thing by *anyone* not already familiar because that is *exactly* what it says - "something about the post." There is nothing to indicate it has anything at all to do with a forum being pre-moderated, which full circle means nothing to people who don't know what pre-moderation is.
There should be mention made in the welcome message to new members (in case they read it), and that message needs to be re-written to avoid further confusion because what it says is not what it means. And new people can't be expected to understand what they haven't been clearly told.
On Hold: This discussion is temporarily on hold pending moderator approval prior to release in a pre-moderated forum, for administrative review of the post or thread, or due to work being performed on the thread or forum.Please refer to the forum charter for further information and guidelines concerning forum posting and pre-moderation.
Thank you for your patience and your participation at WebmasterWorld.
Three things:
1. It sends newcomers to the charter, where they can glance through, which they may not otherwise have done, and have an opportunity to learn the ropes in the forum right off.
2. It covers every possible scenario, including Google forum update madness and ODP forum gangsta rumbles.
3. They get a taste of Mary Poppins Moderating [webmasterworld.com] - you've given them a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.
Your description is exactly as I understood the message: I had written something wrong. And that's why I started this thread: which stop word did I use, and how can I find out which words not to use in order to have a post published right away?
To avoid this kind of confusion, perhaps my previous suggestion could be worth looking into, i.e. to say "The forum you have posted to requires every post to be checked manually. Therefore, it might take a day or two before your post will appear."
Again, thanks all. Your input have been much appreciated.
Dan
PS: Marcia, I saw you posted at the same time as I, sp here's an additional thought:
I am not native English spoken, and I assume you have lots of people like me here (perhaps even native English spoken that don't have the most extensive vocabulary?). For instance, I have never seen the word "charter" in a context like this - only when I read the ads for cheap air fares. Therefore, and if possible, I think a more simple language would help minimize the risk of confusion....
Man you have no idea about running a forum where the mods work hard for no pay. Either you ask a good question that hasn't been asked 1000 times before or it doesn't get posted. That's the deal.
Why did you post that?
Regretfully, you are missing the point with about as much anyone can miss a point, and additionally presupposing that I have intentions that I don't have and never have expressed. (I also have a vague idea about about how it might be to run a forum.)
By no means am I trying to change any rules. Nor am I criticising them. What you missed so blatantly is that I am simply trying to find and understand the rules so that I can comply to them.
Cheers,
Dan
Sounds like criticizing to me.
However, I didn't mean to be quite so terse as you do seem a sincere person. Have a great day :)
Jon
>>mods are too busy to always extend that courtesy! Really? Well, stand aside then.
You didn't say that, Dan - Jon was addressing his comments to the person who posted that, not you. Apparently everyone got a little mixed up. ;)
What Mama Foo Foo said.
lawman
If anything, Dan, I would congratulate you for your patience, understanding and staying power, after making a post (in good english!) that has perhaps caused an improvement in the understanding for other new members.
Oh, and I second what Mama Foo Foo said :)
