IranPlanet.net?

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Perhaps a sticky list of banned offenders might be in order, something like:

• NAME: < membername1 >
• OFFENSE: Posting obscene images
• DATE OF OFFENSE: 11/31/11
• STATUS: Banned, Permanent, No Appeal
• EFFECTIVE: 11/31/11
  
• NAME: < membername2 >
• OFFENSE: Use of racial slur
• DATE OF OFFENSE: 9/31/11
• STATUS: Suspension, 3-Day
• EFFECTIVE: 9/31/11

EDIT: Put original post back since it was already quoted

This is not a new concept for some sites, but I never really saw it on a forum.

Do you think we really need names? I was thinking about this a little more, and it is more important to show WHY the banning/punitive action happened instead of WHO it was done to. (EDIT: I suggest the moderator who did the banning should also be posted)

• NAME: < membername1 >
• OFFENSE: Posting obscene images
• DATE OF OFFENSE: 11/31/11
• STATUS: Banned, Permanent, No Appeal
• EFFECTIVE: 11/31/11
• BY: < modname1 >
  
• NAME: < membername2 >
• OFFENSE: Use of racial slur
• DATE OF OFFENSE: 9/31/11
• STATUS: Suspension, 3-Day
• EFFECTIVE: 9/31/11
• BY: < modname2 >

I have seen this rank and title combination whilst lurking around threads 3 and 4 years old, but I have not seen it used on anyone that has been banned recently, maybe it should be used again.

Banned

One simple idea that I've been pushing for some time is to have moderators basically surrender their mod hat when they participate in opinion threads as members, e.g. if a mod is posting in a discussion and sees a violation, they have to PM another mod to deal with it rather than addressing it directly. This might seem cumbersome, but it reduces the appearance of power abuse and keeps people from feeling picked on for opinions rather than behavior. Speaking from experience, few things are as frustrating as a member here than feeling like a mod is using their power to back up an ideological disagreement. I certainly got that feeling reading through the news forum thread that spawned this one, though people with mod badges participating in opinion threads while also moderating said thread in general tends to make me a tad nervous period.

Incidentally, it's been several years and I have still never been given a specific reason for why I was banned some time back. Certainly I was having a disagreement with the then current mod team over the meaning of "offensive content", but what particularly triggered the ban is still a mystery to me.

Agreed. This often happens on other forums because it gives an impartiality. An alternative idea would be to prohibit moderators from contributing their opinions to controversial threads.

Has anyone ever considered creating a "Dispute Resolution" forum? It could be placed under the Administration category.

Threads could be created there where members who are having a problem could either invite each other to, or be redirected by moderators.

One specific dispute per thread.

Moderators may or may not have to be involved in certain threads, depending on how well members seem to be handling their own disputes. If necessary, once resolution has been reached, either by mutual agreement by the members involved, or by the moderators if members can't seem to resolve problems on their own, the thread is locked. Locked when requested by those who have worked things out on their own, or locked my moderator determination when it appears clear that differences are never going to be worked out.

Resolution can be reached in one of a few ways:

1 - Member admits wrong doing and apologizes.
2 - Mutual agreement to agree to disagree and move on. (Possibly agreeing to just leave each other alone)
3 - Moderators may suggest that no resolution is possible and suggest that members avoid each other in the future.
4 - Moderators may ban one or both (or some or all) of the users involved.

Other resolution scenarios may or may not apply.

This is just the seed of an idea that could be built upon or changed, but you get the idea.

Another thing to possibly consider is an addition to WP rule 2:

A couple of things occurred to me about the DR forum idea:

Advantage: Disputes that start on other forums might be able to be split and moved to this forum, if caught soon enough.

Disadvantage: The forum can't be restricted only to users involved in disputes. Since anyone could become involved in threads there, that could create more problems, but I suppose we'd never know until it's tried.