Joeychgo
07-22-2006, 01:15 AM
I have been doing some thinking about the new infraction system in vBulletin 3.6.
For those of you who dont know about it, you can see details in the vBulletin Infraction System article (http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/moderation-infraction.htm).
The way it works in a nutshell, is that the admin sets various infractions such as Spamming, Flaming, Signature rule violation, Thread Hijack, etc. You assign each infraction type a number of points, and then you set penalties for different levels of infraction points. A penalty for example, may be loss of ability to have a signature.
Here, I have it set only for spamming. A spammer comes here and posts their spam, the thread is deleted and they get the infraction. I have it set to ban the user permanantly.
From what I have seen so far, its not something I would implement on any of my forums.
Why?
Because I think in most forum situations, it would be more destructive the helpful.
I myself have received a number of infractions on various forums. As a user, I felt they were petty, and it really got under my skin a bit. Now, none of these infractions were for anything serious, and pretty much were for things that wouldnt otherwise have even called for a PM. But, its so easy to "Reach Out and Give the Infraction" that moderators, IMO, are slipping quickly into overmoderation.
Here are a few examples.
I received and infraction on one forum for "Bumping a thread"
I received another infraction on a different forum for a signature violation. (3 links when only 2 were allowed) Whats interesting in this case is that the forum had recently merged with another, and my signature was within the rules on the original forum.
In both cases, when I questioned the moderators, I was given the same basic response. The infractions are basically meaningless.
So that begs the question, why give them?
Now, all of the above may seem a little biased, and like I am complaining.
In short, I guess I am.
And that is the point of this article. If I, as an experienced Admin, can feel so put off, how do you think the members of a forum will feel?
So, I inquired with other members of one of these forums.
I received alot of responses and most of them seemed to share my feelings.
Here are a few comments made (names deleted to protect the innocent)
I agree with you XXXXXX you can't have a real good arguement about anything whether politics or programming or anything without being treated like you 5 were all adults here..calling someone a few words and stating your point about a subject should not draw an infraction unless you make it personal.
The interesting thing about this forum was the fact that it was not censored and the mods didn't behave like the users are children in the kindergarten but that it seems is coming to an end and I wonder if there is any point in posting in this forum.
To give a "demerit" for such is a little "prickish" unless its blatant or a repeat offense. This might be one of those ideas that need a little more time at the drawing board .... ?
Now thats just a small microcosm. There were some good posts as well, but the negative seemed to far outweigh the positive.
At this time, I caution the use of the infraction system. At this point, I think it should only be utilized for the most clear cut and serious of infractions, if at all. Admins would be well served to think the system through before implementing it.
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For those of you who dont know about it, you can see details in the vBulletin Infraction System article (http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/moderation-infraction.htm).
The way it works in a nutshell, is that the admin sets various infractions such as Spamming, Flaming, Signature rule violation, Thread Hijack, etc. You assign each infraction type a number of points, and then you set penalties for different levels of infraction points. A penalty for example, may be loss of ability to have a signature.
Here, I have it set only for spamming. A spammer comes here and posts their spam, the thread is deleted and they get the infraction. I have it set to ban the user permanantly.
From what I have seen so far, its not something I would implement on any of my forums.
Why?
Because I think in most forum situations, it would be more destructive the helpful.
I myself have received a number of infractions on various forums. As a user, I felt they were petty, and it really got under my skin a bit. Now, none of these infractions were for anything serious, and pretty much were for things that wouldnt otherwise have even called for a PM. But, its so easy to "Reach Out and Give the Infraction" that moderators, IMO, are slipping quickly into overmoderation.
Here are a few examples.
I received and infraction on one forum for "Bumping a thread"
I received another infraction on a different forum for a signature violation. (3 links when only 2 were allowed) Whats interesting in this case is that the forum had recently merged with another, and my signature was within the rules on the original forum.
In both cases, when I questioned the moderators, I was given the same basic response. The infractions are basically meaningless.
So that begs the question, why give them?
Now, all of the above may seem a little biased, and like I am complaining.
In short, I guess I am.
And that is the point of this article. If I, as an experienced Admin, can feel so put off, how do you think the members of a forum will feel?
So, I inquired with other members of one of these forums.
I received alot of responses and most of them seemed to share my feelings.
Here are a few comments made (names deleted to protect the innocent)
I agree with you XXXXXX you can't have a real good arguement about anything whether politics or programming or anything without being treated like you 5 were all adults here..calling someone a few words and stating your point about a subject should not draw an infraction unless you make it personal.
The interesting thing about this forum was the fact that it was not censored and the mods didn't behave like the users are children in the kindergarten but that it seems is coming to an end and I wonder if there is any point in posting in this forum.
To give a "demerit" for such is a little "prickish" unless its blatant or a repeat offense. This might be one of those ideas that need a little more time at the drawing board .... ?
Now thats just a small microcosm. There were some good posts as well, but the negative seemed to far outweigh the positive.
At this time, I caution the use of the infraction system. At this point, I think it should only be utilized for the most clear cut and serious of infractions, if at all. Admins would be well served to think the system through before implementing it.
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