Bigfooty has been down lately and a little birdie tells me the rules of bigfooty and mod system will be revised. If this is true i suggest we should all pm danni or bluey our suggestions on little things that should be included if they are open to this? The mods get criticed a lot so why don't the users privately suggest how to run the site better? I have a few ideas.
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Suggestions to make bigfooty better...
- Thread starter Spidergirl~RiCkChiCk
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- Nov 17, 2000
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We had two threads going before the crash about improving bigfooty. I hope they weren't completely lost. Anyhow, I suggest posting the suggestions here to allow debate, refinement and support.
jefffff34
Premium Gold
- Sep 20, 2001
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This might sound like a crazy, wacky and some might say...stupid idea but how about putting our suggestions onto the Suggestions board?
Macca19
Moderator
- Moderator
- #5
Why do we have to privately gime them ideas. What is the point of a suggestions board if we dont give suggestions here??
A few ideas:
1) Already suggested by Danni in the other threa dbut getting rid of hotmail, yahoo and other free email addresses which would sift out 80% of the crap on this site. It means no more aliases for "comedic value" and no more banned users simply going to hotmail and making a new email address 2 minutes after theyve been banned and re-registering. What is the point of banning someone if they are in fact never banned. Just about every banned poster is still posting on this site - so either get rid of the free email addresses, or never ban anyone. If banned users are just able to create a new alias 2 minutes after they are banned, then why not just un-ban them and let them post their crap under their original user name. It would be a lot easier to simply read McCartney5s posts instead of his other aliases like JMAC5, Sinkers_9, Makepeace35 etc etc
2) Get some new moderators. I have no particular problem with any moderator at the moment but what is wrong with getting some new moderators. Not necessarily get rid of current ones...but add some new ones. Do people that want to be moderators have to kiss Bluey and co's arse for 6 months before they become moderator because that seems to be the system at the moment. If you have one disagreement with a moderator then there goes your chance.
Dee is the music forum moderator, yet she has only posted there 26 times ever in the 15 or so months its been up and running. She hasnt posted there since June.
Sbagman is the Soccer board moderator. I have no problem with Sbagman...i think he is one of the better posters this site has ever had...but how often does he post lately?? Last time he posted he flooded a thread with about 40 posts full of full stops. He rarely posts on the Soccer board anymore.
Shinboners is moderator of the Port board. I rate Shinners as one of the top 5 posters on this site, but why is he moderating the Port board??
I remember you Bluey, telling me that one of the key roles of a moderator was to help generate discussion on that particular board they are moderating, to help keep the posts ticking over and to make newcomers feel welcome.
Yet we have people moderating certain boards that dont even post there at all. What is the point? What would be wrong with replacing Dee (who never posts on the music board) with someone that posts all the time there, replace Shinboners with a Port supporter on the Port board etc etc??
Anyway...thats my rant for the new year!
A few ideas:
1) Already suggested by Danni in the other threa dbut getting rid of hotmail, yahoo and other free email addresses which would sift out 80% of the crap on this site. It means no more aliases for "comedic value" and no more banned users simply going to hotmail and making a new email address 2 minutes after theyve been banned and re-registering. What is the point of banning someone if they are in fact never banned. Just about every banned poster is still posting on this site - so either get rid of the free email addresses, or never ban anyone. If banned users are just able to create a new alias 2 minutes after they are banned, then why not just un-ban them and let them post their crap under their original user name. It would be a lot easier to simply read McCartney5s posts instead of his other aliases like JMAC5, Sinkers_9, Makepeace35 etc etc
2) Get some new moderators. I have no particular problem with any moderator at the moment but what is wrong with getting some new moderators. Not necessarily get rid of current ones...but add some new ones. Do people that want to be moderators have to kiss Bluey and co's arse for 6 months before they become moderator because that seems to be the system at the moment. If you have one disagreement with a moderator then there goes your chance.
Dee is the music forum moderator, yet she has only posted there 26 times ever in the 15 or so months its been up and running. She hasnt posted there since June.
Sbagman is the Soccer board moderator. I have no problem with Sbagman...i think he is one of the better posters this site has ever had...but how often does he post lately?? Last time he posted he flooded a thread with about 40 posts full of full stops. He rarely posts on the Soccer board anymore.
Shinboners is moderator of the Port board. I rate Shinners as one of the top 5 posters on this site, but why is he moderating the Port board??
I remember you Bluey, telling me that one of the key roles of a moderator was to help generate discussion on that particular board they are moderating, to help keep the posts ticking over and to make newcomers feel welcome.
Yet we have people moderating certain boards that dont even post there at all. What is the point? What would be wrong with replacing Dee (who never posts on the music board) with someone that posts all the time there, replace Shinboners with a Port supporter on the Port board etc etc??
Anyway...thats my rant for the new year!
- Nov 17, 2000
- 12,447
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- West Coast
- Other Teams
- Post Count: 125,527
fair rant IMO
You don't have to, as long as when people post here they recognise that what is being posted by others are just suggestions, and not the gospel, or any reasons to start name calling yet again.
A number of people are choosing to email or pm rather than publicly post as they are sick of being ridiculed, or fear being ridiculed by others for their own opinions. And that's fair enough.
Post suggestions here, or in private - both ways are fine.
Slash the number of boards.
Retain only:
AFL
Regional
The club boards
General talk
Cricket
Soccer
and create an additional General Sport board
BigFooty was created as a football forum, perhaps it is time to refocus its operation on that aim.
Retain only:
AFL
Regional
The club boards
General talk
Cricket
Soccer
and create an additional General Sport board
BigFooty was created as a football forum, perhaps it is time to refocus its operation on that aim.
- Aug 15, 2000
- 2,691
- 205
- AFL Club
- Sydney
- Other Teams
- S’roos, Brisbane Lions, N Syd Bears
Good points, Macca.
I think it's time for a few more Moderators to help freshen up the place and lessen the burden of the current Moderators. It's a pretty thankless job but all in all the Mods do a good job here though it would be beneficial to have a couple more around, particularly having people moderate boards which they frequently post on.
I think it's time for a few more Moderators to help freshen up the place and lessen the burden of the current Moderators. It's a pretty thankless job but all in all the Mods do a good job here though it would be beneficial to have a couple more around, particularly having people moderate boards which they frequently post on.
I have to disagree there.
Sure, the main reason we come here is Footy but I also think it is good that there are boards for many other interests and hobbies which users have. It adds variety and it is good to talk about other interests and not just footy all the time. Bigfooty is the best discussion forum on the entire internet, reducing the boards would be a negative thing to do.
But there is variety and then there is variety. The current breadth of discussion available on BF has led to a situation where several people wouldn't know an intelligent football-related (or even just sports-related) post if it bit them on the arse. And really that's just abusing the generosity of those who essentially provide the site for absolutely no cost to you and me.
I also think there is an argument to be made that encouraging talk on more general and personal subjects is partially to blame for the increase in personal aggro around here. At least most football arguments just involve trashing other clubs....
- Nov 17, 2000
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- West Coast
- Other Teams
- Post Count: 125,527
If an aim of bigfooty is to provide a pleasant environment for discussion then the antagonistic boards should go. Politics and religion are recipes for bad feeling. Although I use the society and culture board I would be happy to see it go.
Fantasy cricket should stay though
Fantasy cricket should stay though
Fantasy footy and cricket boards HAVE to stay
Macca19
Moderator
- Moderator
- #14
Fair point but if you look at it from a different point of view...if you take away the majority of the general talk boards, then all the crap that is posted on those boards will just flow onto the AFL boards which will lessen the quality on those boards. I dont mind the setup as it is. Maybe one or two boards more than ideal - you could probably join the two rugby boards together, and get rid of the motor board.
I'd hope that less forums dedicated to non-football topics would mean less crap overall because there were less forums that people felt 'welcome' to post crap in. Getting rid of non-football boards would change BF's target audience, hopefully cutting out the more "crap generative" types in the process.
I dont think that boards like basketball, wrestling and cricket should suffer. I go to each of these and they would have to be the best as far as talking about the actual topic of the board goes. They are great to go to and are great for conversations with people who have a great knowledge in their particular subject. It is the general talk board and AFL board which seems to have the problem, because they are the most popular boards and more people go there meaning the trouble makers would choose them to cause trouble in. Dont get rid of boards which the trouble does not occur in.
Notice that I have kept cricket, could probably be persuaded to keep basketball, and have set up the General Sports board for stuff like wrestling, which on its own generates litte traffic (2000ish posts total at present I think?) compared to soccer/cricket/bball, etc.
Inevitably there's no way to directly cut out the cancer because removing the AFL and general boards would destroy the site. The only real answer is to swing the site's general audience back into a sportier frame of mind. So at a more forgiving level this might mean removing Society and Culture, Music, Computing, Punting, Memorabilia, and Games, and merging the two fantasy league boards.
(I am also trying to look at this from a cost viewpoint, which sadly is likely to dictate the breadth of services offered on BigFooty in the future....)
Just out of interest, the Cricket board was on BigFooty before any of the 'team boards'.
If we are going to start slaying the non-AFL sports on BigFooty, I propose a BigCricket.com with a board on the Test matches, One Dayers and then seperate boards for each states.
If we are going to start slaying the non-AFL sports on BigFooty, I propose a BigCricket.com with a board on the Test matches, One Dayers and then seperate boards for each states.
- Aug 15, 2000
- 2,691
- 205
- AFL Club
- Sydney
- Other Teams
- S’roos, Brisbane Lions, N Syd Bears
My Suggestions to improve BigFooty
FWIW, Here's my suggestions to help improve BigFooty, possibly some of them are already in the process of being implemented but I'll post them anyway.
My Thoughts on Other Ideas raised before on BigFooty
No more Hotmail, Yahoo email accounts
I think the concept of banning freebie or non-ISP email addresses such Hotmail and Yahoo account does have a lot of merit though wonder a bit about possibly alienating younger members who are disadvantaged due to not having an adequate email address of their own.
Paid BigFooty
Having a small fee in order to have full BigFooty privileges does have merit though I'd like to see clearer guidelines on the rules and regulations of BigFooty before this were to be set up. This would (hopefully) reduce a lot of the problems with BigFooty and could be set up in a similarly to the one I mentioned in the first month scenario (non-paying BF users only get the basic package while paid members get all boards available to them). Bear in mind I think only a cost somewhere between $5 to $25 a year is all most keen BF users would be keen to fork out, though I could be wrong. Personally, if this were set up it could enable the development of paid-up adult BigFooty users to access a special Adults Only BigFooty board (verifiable by credit card) but that's a different kettle of fish altogether!
That's about all I can think of for now!
Cheers,
Ben aka. Sydneyfan
FWIW, Here's my suggestions to help improve BigFooty, possibly some of them are already in the process of being implemented but I'll post them anyway.
- 1. More Moderators on the AFL and General Boards
I can understand the Moderators getting annoyed at times due to things such as when people continually stretch the rules or when they get flooded with PMs and emails by begrieved members, especially considering they are doing this on a purely voluntary basis.
My suggestion is more Moderators on the two most popular and lively (or troublesome) boards - the AFL and General Talk Boards. Three Moderators for each of these boards is not fair on the Moderators considering the sheer volume of posts on any given day.
Having 5 or even 7 Moderators for each of these boards would lessen the load on the current Moderators and enable the possibility that most threads are viewed by Moderators before they spread out of control. Sometimes, the damage has already been done before the Mods reach the thread, through no fault of the Mods, they have lives and can't be online 24/7. Possibly broaden the demographic base of the Mods, including a couple of younger Mods (late teens, early 20s age brackets) provided of course they are mature and responsible posters. There's plenty of younger BF members who I believe would make good Mods.
- 2. Greater Awareness of Rules and Guidelines, and Further Transparency when it comes to significant Moderator decisions
Danni's hinted that a clear guideline of the rules and regulations of BigFooty is in development, which is a great step since the last couple of days in particular have proved they are necessary. The details of this Rules and Guidelines are purely Bluey's (and associated parties) decisions, personally I'd like to see greater reasoning why someone is banned (or temporarily barred). But, I'll accept no transparency of decisions as long as this is clearly stated in the guideline of rules and regulations as one of the rules.
- 3. Team Boards have a Supporter moderate their board
I think it would be in everyone's best interests if each team board was moderated by 'one of their own'. Currently, the Adelaide, Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn and Port Adelaide boards are not moderated by one of their supporters but for each of these clubs, I can think of at least one appopriate Moderator for their board.
- 4. New users restricted to AFL-Related (but not Team boards) and General Talk board for the first month
To lessen the chance of gooses running amok right from the start as soon as they sign up, limit first-month posters to just the AFL related (such as Regional Leagues, Match Previews etc. boards, but not the team boards) and General Talk board (but not the others such as Cricket, Society & Culture, etc.). Since there are more Moderators on the AFL and General Talk boards, there's greater resources to contain trolls as soon as they start.
New users get a taste of BigFooty, having access to half a dozen or so boards but have the incentive (if they are good!) of accessing all BigFooty has to offer after one month.
- 5. Merge several smaller boards
Some boards, although interesting to some, aren't getting all that much traffic. I'd propose to merge the Rugby codes into the one board, have the one Fantasy/Games board, and another board - Other Sports (merging American sports and wrestling) where people can discuss any sport other than those with an existing board, eg. Tennis, Water Polo, etc. Keep the Soccer and Basketball boards as they are since they're quite popular ditto for the Music board.
My Thoughts on Other Ideas raised before on BigFooty
No more Hotmail, Yahoo email accounts
I think the concept of banning freebie or non-ISP email addresses such Hotmail and Yahoo account does have a lot of merit though wonder a bit about possibly alienating younger members who are disadvantaged due to not having an adequate email address of their own.
Paid BigFooty
Having a small fee in order to have full BigFooty privileges does have merit though I'd like to see clearer guidelines on the rules and regulations of BigFooty before this were to be set up. This would (hopefully) reduce a lot of the problems with BigFooty and could be set up in a similarly to the one I mentioned in the first month scenario (non-paying BF users only get the basic package while paid members get all boards available to them). Bear in mind I think only a cost somewhere between $5 to $25 a year is all most keen BF users would be keen to fork out, though I could be wrong. Personally, if this were set up it could enable the development of paid-up adult BigFooty users to access a special Adults Only BigFooty board (verifiable by credit card) but that's a different kettle of fish altogether!
That's about all I can think of for now!
Cheers,
Ben aka. Sydneyfan
Mobbs
A Large Portion, Yes
Thanks sydneyfan, great post, good food for thought.
For your info, some of the points you raised are indeed the subject of heavy discussion amongst the mods.
For your info, some of the points you raised are indeed the subject of heavy discussion amongst the mods.
- Aug 15, 2000
- 2,691
- 205
- AFL Club
- Sydney
- Other Teams
- S’roos, Brisbane Lions, N Syd Bears
Cheers Mobbenfuhrer,
Glad it was relatively useful. I thought some of them probably would have already been discussed though thought I'd just include everything I could think of in case there was stuff which hadn't been brought up before.
Glad it was relatively useful. I thought some of them probably would have already been discussed though thought I'd just include everything I could think of in case there was stuff which hadn't been brought up before.
- Aug 6, 2000
- 3,546
- 50
- AFL Club
- Essendon
- Other Teams
- GB Packers, STL Cards, PHI Flyers
I would say there is a good chance some of these suggestions will be put to use.
- Nov 17, 2000
- 12,447
- 23
- AFL Club
- West Coast
- Other Teams
- Post Count: 125,527
I think that this post goes to the heart of bigfooty problems, as highlighted by Hitman.
Why are discussions going on between moderators and not open to other members. Are moderators an elite group that have more intelligence than the rest of us? Will they come up with their ideas of constructive change and just impose new rules without consulting the members?
It can't work effectively. Moderators need to be seen as members not demi-gods.
No they are an arbitrary group more or less, but one that might actually be able to come to a solid conclusion before we are all on the pension...
- Banned
- #25
Being able to express an opinion and not get pointless pm's from the mods and administrators.
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