Help with the new job

[TracyP]

Thank all of the fellow moderators for welcoming me, I will have an abundance of time on my hands next week after surgery. Surgery is on Monday. I would like to use this time to get used to my duties as a moderator so I am looking for advise on what I need to be doing for the site. What do I look for, and how do I handle adverse situations? I am looking forward to the newly acquired role. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Tracy

 

[cskipper]

You're going to be reading the posts and trying to read them as someone who doesn't really the personality of the poster. That way you will see something that sounds argumentative, adversarial, inappropriate, etc... much easier. I think if I'd remember to read them that way I would be less likely to miss a post that could start an argument or be taken the wrong way. If you wouldn't mind you child (figuratively speaking) or mom read a post, it's probably ok. If in doubt you can put a post or thread into moderation. There is a whole thread about how to do this. If you do put something in moderation, send the poster a pm explaining why. You can always ask this group, but if you feel strongly and there's none of us on site, just kick it to moderation. Sometimes the poster doesn't take kindly to your actions - just don't take it personally. Problem posts run in spurts. There were just a run of them, so it may be awhile until the next group. Hope that helps.

 

[TracyP]

You're going to be reading the posts and trying to read them as someone who doesn't really the personality of the poster. That way you will see something that sounds argumentative, adversarial, inappropriate, etc... much easier. I think if I'd remember to read them that way I would be less likely to miss a post that could start an argument or be taken the wrong way. If you wouldn't mind you child (figuratively speaking) or mom read a post, it's probably ok. If in doubt you can put a post or thread into moderation. There is a whole thread about how to do this. If you do put something in moderation, send the poster a pm explaining why. You can always ask this group, but if you feel strongly and there's none of us on site, just kick it to moderation. Sometimes the poster doesn't take kindly to your actions - just don't take it personally. Problem posts run in spurts. There were just a run of them, so it may be awhile until the next group. Hope that helps.

Thanks, that is kinda exactly what I figured I needed to be looking for. I manage people, so I kinda know what to look for already, the only difference is that now instead of listening with my ears I will be listening with my eyes.
:rotflm:

 

[DaveO]

Tracy, looking for postings against the site's policies is a very small part of your role. Lucky we have a great group of members and have already established a very good attitude. There is little action on this site that really needs moderating. It does happen, but thankfully rarely. The biggest part of your role is reading all the post in your forum and making sure that threads don't go unanswered for too long. You might not have the answer, but you can always support the poster in their efforts to find the answer. Also there is the general house-keeping, making sure that the threads posted are correct for your forum, merging threads that should be and moving threads that are out of place. This is important because this site is an information resource, and we have to look at it as a place that is easy to find the information that someone is looking for. A great introduction thread that goes off on a tangent about a new members special turning skills might be split and have part of it placed in a thread in the turning forum, for example. Unfortunately there really aren't a lot of guidelines to follow for most of the duties that a Moderator does, the best thing is to use your best judgment, and trust that judgment is correct. We will always have your back, and there are few things on this site that can't be reversed.

Dave

 

[TracyP]

Thanks Dave. Looking forward to getting my feet wet.

 

[NCPete]

Thanks Dave. Looking forward to getting my feet wet.

Tracy, I don't know how you guys do it in Salisbury, but down here, we get our feet wet each time we shower! :rotflm:


welcome aboard!

 

[TracyP]

Thanks for the welcome Peter.

 

[sapwood]

Tracy,
I'll add a few more
1) Familiarize yourself with the site. Folks frequently seek answers that already exist on the site. They just don't know where. Stuff like Download Library, Link Library, Where Are menu, NC WW Info, etc.
2) Learn the mechanics of Closing Threads, Moving Threads, etc. I don't think you would get in any trouble if you did a few "test" posts in the Moderator Forum to practice those skills
[Hope I'm not wrong on that :eusa_pray]
3) Log in to Mod and look around. Generally, access will be denied if it's someplace you shouldn't be poking around.

Thank again and good luck with the surgery,
Roger