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Post by AdminSTB on Aug 11, 2019 13:59:35 GMT
Following a recent discussion, I have decided to rename the "Rest in Peace" thread to "Lately deceased". This is a course of action, as Administrator, that I am entitled to make.
I have run polls in the past over the forum name and new boards, but if we start extending this to thread titles I'd be online all day and all night. I do not take kindly to people giving me personal abuse and setting up threads and polls intended to undermine me after every decision I make on my own forum.
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Post by AdminSTB on Aug 11, 2019 14:00:50 GMT
I have deleted wattyler81's account and posts (not any threads) at his own request.
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Post by AdminSTB on Sept 29, 2019 20:28:51 GMT
I have locked the thread "Threats and abuse in politics" on the request of its original poster.
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Post by AdminSTB on Oct 2, 2019 19:28:50 GMT
I have deleted doktorb's account and posts at his request.
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Post by AdminSTB on Oct 29, 2019 17:48:05 GMT
MODERATION NOTICE
We appear almost certain to be heading for an imminent general election.
Heated arguments are to be expected, after all it's in the nature of politics.
But, as is customary on these occasions, as Administrator I would remind all forum members to stick to the issues and avoid personal attacks in order to avoid sanctions being made on their access to the forum.
Remember. Play the ball, not the man.
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Post by AdminSTB on Feb 26, 2020 17:39:31 GMT
Some members may have noticed that former members are now simply described as "Deleted" rather than the username they used to post under.
Patrick Clinger, the President and CEO of ProBoards has stated on the ProBoards Support website that this was a deliberate change made due to privacy law changes in the USA.
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Post by AdminSTB on Mar 28, 2020 11:49:29 GMT
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Post by AdminSTB on Apr 14, 2020 19:40:56 GMT
The Labour Report thread has been moved to a private location due to moderation concerns.
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Post by AdminSTB on May 21, 2020 17:16:14 GMT
The "Inbreeding v genetic diversity" thread has been removed following a number of complaints about its content which has the potential to cause problems for the forum.
STAY RELEVANT
PROTECT OUR REPUTATION
SAVE THE FORUM
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Post by AdminSTB on Jun 26, 2020 17:26:01 GMT
Davıd Boothroyd and Strontium Dog have been handed three day bans for ignoring the Global Moderator's request to stop their spat in the councillor defection thread.
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Post by AdminSTB on Jun 26, 2020 17:26:43 GMT
I confirm that I have deleted priceofdawn's account at his own request.
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Post by AdminSTB on Jun 28, 2020 20:59:10 GMT
Some forum members may recall about three weeks ago I decided to trial making the General Discussion boards (that is General UK Politics, Brexit and Off-Topic) viewable only to those who are signed in. This is because I want potential new members to realise that this is a psephological forum, first and foremost. This action might dissuade "hotheads" and "nutcases" - for want of better terms(!) - from joining. The Global Moderator and I had been getting an increased number of complaints about certain posts. The recent events surrounding the death of George Floyd, accusations of racism and denials of racism - have not helped. Worse still of course is the seemingly interminable, extremely inhibitive COVID-19 pandemic, which has among many other things stopped elections from taking place - a serious deprivation for any member of this forum. One consequence of making these boards visible only to those signed in is that Moderation Notices have not been viewable to those choosing to "lurk", or for those given temporary bans, which has left them out the loop regarding why they have been banned and how long they have been banned for. This is a perfectly reasonable point made by Davıd Boothroyd who I understand has contacted another forum member and is ready to apologise for what he was given a 3 day ban for. He has occasionally used very abusive language towards people who are either incorrect about something or have interpreted something differently from him, but he is a much valued contributor with an encyclopedic knowledge. I have decided to use some goodwill and lift his ban a day early. The member David got in touch with proposed that I create this new sub forum: "Forum announcements". Not just for Moderation Notices, but also for the "Introduce yourself" thread. I will also be putting an FAQs thread down, with information such as how to contact the moderators, how to get your preferred political allegiance on display, and so on. Most newbies will want to know these things. I will also create a thread with links which members may find useful and can easily be lost. Members are invited to send me private messages to suggest links to mention, such as LEAP. One thing I've been doing during the lockdown is helping Alan Willis collate election results from pre-1973 local authorities, which have tended to be very difficult to access. Great progress is being made. He has told me he is happy for me to share his findings. Along with reading all the excellent constituency profiles for Robert Waller's proposed new edition of the Almanac of British Politics, I've found it a good way to get through these long weeks. I still hold out some hope that the next batch of local elections can be brought forward to this autumn. Here's hoping. |
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Post by AdminSTB on Jul 15, 2020 18:01:37 GMT
I have taken the decision to step down as Administrator of the Vote UK Forum when a suitable successor has been found, after 18 months in the role, and an earlier stint of 7 months - just over two years in total. I feel that is long enough, and will not be seeking the role again in the future. This forum has of course not escaped the far-reaching ramifications of COVID-19, and there seems to have been an inevitable shift in concentration of minds away from psephology and towards cut and thrust debate, which I'm finding increasingly out of step with the kind of forum I thought I’d be looking after. I would quite happily look after a forum which concentrates solely on boundaries, maps, polls, historical results and the like, but I realise this would not be acceptable to contributors who enjoy a good argument. Therefore, I take the view that the forum would benefit from a new Administrator who feels they would be suited to handle both sides of the equation to take the site forward. I would also like to devote more time to helping Alan Willis and the Elections Centre in their project of making as many historical local election results available through my other, very different forum, Old UK Councils. In addition, finsobruce has decided to take a break and stand down as well. I thank him profusely for being an excellent Global Moderator over the past 18 months, well liked on all sides and always gracing the forum with his sense of humour. The new Administrator will be able to choose any moderator(s) they see fit, although I hope they would carry on the tradition of creating a balanced team a la the Deputy Speakers, representing both the Left, Right and everything in between. The Administrator primarily deals with approval or rejection of new user registrations, changes of party group and updating the election boards each year, and of course, reported posts. I can provide as many hints and tips as I can before I hand over the reins. I will allow 10 days for applications to be made, by private message or otherwise. I will make any applicants' names known on an SOPN so that everyone is kept in the loop. New thread to follow... |
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Post by AdminSTB on Jul 24, 2020 16:03:10 GMT
lefty has been handed a three day ban for trolling on the Corbyn thread following multiple complaints.
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Post by AdminSTB on Jul 27, 2020 5:22:48 GMT
My tenure as Administrator will almost certainly be coming to an official end by the time I return home from work this afternoon. The process has taken rather longer than expected. We will probably need to wait for the Americans to wake up first - ProBoards is an American company. All that remains for me is to offer Lord Twaddleford my sincere good wishes. |
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Post by AdminSTB on Jul 27, 2020 17:39:39 GMT
Twaddleford here. If can't already tell the transfer has finally gone through, this forum now has a new administrator and so begins my reign of terror!. First, once again a thank you to swanarcadian for his service, I hope he enjoys his retirement.  I will be looking into appointing a new Global Moderator to assist in looking after this place. So far one person has volunteered their services, but I plan to communicate with a few others to see if they're willing to take on the role. Otherwise, no sweeping changes planned for now. |
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Post by AdminSTB on Jul 27, 2020 18:46:30 GMT
I'm still on the hunt for a new forum moderator, but I figured I'd just to mention that swanarcadian has agreed to return to his old role of Forum Pollster. |
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Post by AdminSTB on Jul 28, 2020 15:33:59 GMT
A new Global Moderator has been appointed, that honour/responsibility has gone to bjornhattan, who will now assist me in keeping an eye on this place. Also, thank you to anyone else who has shown a willingness to help out in this manner. |
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Post by AdminSTB on Jul 30, 2020 22:51:50 GMT
I have just learned that this forum is nearing the storage limit for file attachments to posts, in fact we're at 90% of the storage limit (200MB total). As such I have decided to restrict posting attachments to staff only, effectively disabling the feature (but hopefully keeping the attachments that've already been published). It is possible to increase this storage capacity, but I'd need to pay money to ProBoards in order to do that.
I do apologise to those users who frequently made use of this facility, as I know it is particularly useful for posting custom maps in the various boundary threads, but I'm afraid that for now you're going to have to find different image hosting arrangements. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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Post by AdminSTB on Aug 10, 2020 20:29:10 GMT
Earlier on today there was a thread posted in the General UK Politics board concerning a recent incident involving the MP Dawn Butler and the police. This thread was removed after I had received complaints about it and I personally had concerns about its tone (the posting of some rather nasty remarks, and a thread poll that could be perceived as deliberately inflammatory) and the potential for a flame war to erupt over the topic, as well as other minor concerns over issues such as potential libel.
I would like to make clear that though that particular thread has been removed, there is no prohibition on the subject and there is plenty of scope for legitimate discussion. I will make the usual call for civility and refraining from posting potentially libellous material.
I do apologise for not making this announcment earlier, and I will conclude that I myself will be starting a new thread on the topic and hopefully it won't go down in flames.
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