Infraction / Warning System Information

[elevan]

Over the many years the BYC family of forums have been around, weve worked hard to create a friendly and helpful environment where peeps can chat about animals (and a bunch of other topics). Over that time, weve also developed a bunch of rules that every member agrees to when joining our wonderful groups. After a member registers, they are responsible for adhering to the rules they agreed to when joining.

Our forum moderators do a fantastic job, but managing a community of tens of thousands of active members is really a tricky challenge, especially when it comes to remembering who did what, where, and when.

To help our moderators keep their sanity while helping us do a better job communicating with our members, weve implemented a Warning / Infraction System feature. This will allow for better and simplified moderation that is universal for all users and ultimately provides a better forum experience.

This system allows us to better manage the behavior of our forum members and offers an easier way of issuing warnings, suspensions and, when absolutely necessary, bans.

It is important to keep in mind that an infraction / warning is not given to punish our members, but is a way for us to help our members better understand our communitys rules and tone. If you get an warning, please simply become better acquainted with our rules and try to understand why you received a warning and continue enjoying our wonderful community!


Here is how the system works:

If a user should earn a warning, a message will be sent to the user explaining why the warning was issued along with how many points they have "earned". The more severe the infraction, the more points received. If you get an warning, you will receive a Private Message alerting you to the infraction along with details of why you received the warning.

If you gather too many infraction points, you will be prevented from using aspects of the forum for a certain amount of time.

If you feel the infraction/warning was unfair then please contact a moderator; dont start a public thread as it will be locked/ removed and result in even more infraction points.

Sometimes a warning may be issued without infraction points; if this is the case, any further breaches of the rules will result in an infraction with points associated.

Almost every infractions points have an expiration to them, and they vary between types of infractions.

You can see your infraction points and warning history in your user profile (Profile, Essentials, User activity). Only you and forum staff can see your warnings.

Below is the current list of warnings and points. Please keep in mind that this system is brand-new and we expect that we will need to continue evaluating and tweaking the warning, points per infraction, expiration dates, etc.
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/warnings.php

We appreciate the members of our community that work hard to keep the forum rules and are very glad that this applies to the vast majority of you!

 

[big brown horse]

 

[FarmerDenise]

Huh?! What's up with that.

 

[Nifty]

We've actually had the infraction system here on SS for a while, but I made the mistake of not posting info about it (sorry)

There is a very long discussion at BYC about it, but the bottom line is this: We love the community and it is almost impossible for us to moderate fairly and evenly cross all our members AND track moderation without some form of system. The warning system makes the moderator's jobs easier while also giving the members 100% visibility into where they stand so there are no surprises.

What I posted before definitely still applies:


The staff here at SS LOVE this community! We all donate countless hours to ensure SSremains a friendly place where people can ask questions, get answers, and build long-term friendships.

We have a collective many years experience working with this community. We create rules, policies, and enforcement of the rules based on this experience coupled with our love of the community.

We wish we never had to ever give a single warning, point, temp ban, or permanent ban. Heck, I wish we didn't need more than one moderator... just someone to change userIDs and give out funny user titles.

Unfortunately every community need rules and ways to report, track, and enforce those rules. This new system has proven to be a sanity saver for our moderators, and a great way to help our members learn what is / isn't appropriate on SS without having to resort to removing access to our great community.

Please keep in mind that we're not perfect, so if we do make a mistake on how your post was interpreted (again, your post is reported/reviewed by multiple members / moderators) please do the following:

1) Try to see how your post was misinterpreted and be more careful about the way you phrase things
2) Let a moderator know that your post was misinterpreted and that you didn't mean what others thought it meant and that you'll be more careful

Again, I want to stress that the warning / infraction system is NOT a form of punishment, but a way for us to track warnings, educate members on our rules, and be even more "fair" with how we moderate all of our members.

Thanks for your understanding and support of this amazing community of VERY diverse individuals from literally all over the world!


Reminder Concerning Forum Tone

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Are we allowed to ask questions about the point system and how it works?

I'd like to know when a person is issued points, are the only people able to see the points staff and the person given the points?

 

[elevan]

Are we allowed to ask questions about the point system and how it works?

I'd like to know when a person is issued points, are the only people able to see the points staff and the person given the points?

That is correct.

 

[colowyo0809]

Over the many years the BYC family of forums have been around, weve worked hard to create a friendly and helpful environment where peeps can chat about animals (and a bunch of other topics). Over that time, weve also developed a bunch of rules that every member agrees to when joining our wonderful groups. After a member registers, they are responsible for adhering to the rules they agreed to when joining.

Our forum moderators do a fantastic job, but managing a community of tens of thousands of active members is really a tricky challenge, especially when it comes to remembering who did what, where, and when.

Here is how the system works:


Almost every infractions points have an expiration to them, and they vary between types of infractions.

You can see your infraction points and warning history in your user profile (Profile, Essentials, User activity). Only you and forum staff can see your warnings.

So, what are the expiration periods on these various types of infractions?

Also, how long do you see these in your essential user activity? I'm asking because I've never seen these before, and I've had moderators shut down threads because of what I posted, had my posts altered or deleted because of "inflammatory content" etc .

 

[elevan]

From 0 days to 3 months is standard. Meaning that the points no longer count in accrual after that time has expired. Staff may choose to make them less, just as they may chose to give zero (0) points.

Members may view their warnings by going to their profile. Clicking on the details link in the warning will give the post that the member was warned for.

Warnings are not a death sentence. They are simply a reminder of the rules. Written word is often very hard to discern the meaning of and often a simple pause before you hit submit and rereading your post before submitting can be enough to prevent breaking rules.

Here's a full Q&A on BYC that members may want to read: http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=524146

Another good read on contacting moderators, reporting problems and asking general questions: http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=447614

 

[Nifty]

We're totally open to discussions on how to make the forum better, but we do not allow flaming, trolling, questioning moderation, etc. in public.

Quail_Antwerp, your question was a perfect example of an appropriate question to ask.

Yes, warnings expire... some faster than others. Many forums do not expire warnings, but we feel strongly that people should be given the opportunity to learn the style of our community along with a chance to adjust the way they post here. Expiring the warnings gives peeps the chance to move past an old warning.

Easy peasy!

 

[BarredBuff]

Honestly, I'd like more categories. Likes animals and gardening in a way which is different from BYH, BYC, and TEG.