[diesanni]

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Moderator's Note #1 ... Your Privacy: Before asking about a Reminder or a Formal Warining in this thread, please stop and consider if you want to make it public that you have a "ding" on your record. The moderators will never discuss your rules violations with any other member unless you make it public. We strongly suggest that you just PM any moderator if you want an explanation about your record. No other member may see your record of Reminders and Warnings. It is confidential, unless you choose to discuss it here. When you post a question here about a reminder or a warning that you have received it is viewable by anyone, members and non members. Posting it here gives us permission to discuss your record publically.

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Moderator's Note #2: Overview about Reminders & Warnings There are several ways that you will receive notification that a post has been deleted or edited. Most of them are generated by the system when a post has been deleted and the notice is very generic in nature. Not every notice is a "Warning" ... most of them are only "Reminders" and/or notification so that you know what happened to your post. In fact, unless it says it's a "Warning", it does not affect your record in a negative way. However, accumulated reminders stay on your file to let the moderators know if we have ever advised you about any specific rules. We need to check that information, because we almost never give a "Warning" unless we have previously advised you about the rule and pointed you to where you can read about it. "Warnings" do count towards a temporary ban and eventually a permanent ban/removal of your membership privileges ... "Reminders" do not. Read the notification that you received carefully and you should be able to determine which it is. To learn more about the differences between and the impact of "Reminders" and "Warnings", please review the Community Rules (a link can be found at the bottom of every forum page).

I keep getting this message because I've replied to some post that has been deleted or because I made a comment that was deemed "off topic". Which is a highly subjective matter anyway, but whatever. You don't get an explanation on why your supposedly off-topic anyway, do you?

It would be very kind if you would at least include the relevant posts in your "reminder" so that one can see what you're talking about. I can't "better" myself if I have no clue what you're talking about, since the posts in question have been deleted already.

It would also be nice and just fair to post the moderators name along with the message instead of some odd "mod spuad" alibi one can't even respond to. Anonymity simplifies things, I'm aware of that but when you call someone off it's just not fair or appropriate to not at least explain why you do so (and by explain I'm not talking about some lazy reverence to the thread rules) and allow them to explain their behavior.

[tarsha]

^ Absolutely agree, sometimes I can't understand why I've got this reminder.

[BetteT]

There are several ways that the Moderators communicate with a member has a post deleted.

This is probably what you are talking about ... whenever we delete a post the system sends an automatic PM:

When moderators are deleting posts, they check the ones we want to remove and choose a reason from a list. If they are deleting a series of posts, such as when a thread has veered off topic, the posts are all removed at the same time, as a group. For each post that is removed, the system sends out an automatic PM unless we disable it for some reason.

The PM also provides you with a link back to the page where the post was deleted,. You may cut and paste this into your browser, so you will know exactly what thread it was in.

Therefore, the system gives you a standard "reason" as to why the post is being deleted and a link to the thread. You are also directed to the Community Rules in that PM and if you read them and are familiar with them (which is a condition of membership, BTW), in at least 90% of the cases you should be able to figure out why it was deleted.

And, I beleive the PM also states that if you have any questions about that particular PM, you may contact any moderator. All moderators have full access to every deleted post, so they can look at the actual post (and any other posts deleted, too) and can give you an explanation. Just PM any one of us and ask nicely and we will be happy to look it up for you.

[BetteT]

We have a second system that does provide more information to our members. If we think that you need an explanation because you are new, or have had ongoing problems with the same issue, we can take extra time and add this:

This second sytem is used in conjunction with the first one and takes a lot of extra time, so we use it only when a stronger message is needed or we want to explain the rule to a member.

We can send an official reminder or warning ... which actually quotes the post in question and we have to cut and paste the rules that have been breached into it so you can actually see the particular rule that has been violated. It, too, directs you back to where you may find the rules and advises you to contact a moderator if you have any questions. It leaves a permanent record on the top of you profile, which only you and moderators can see. That allows us to keep track of which rules we have actually sent to your attention and whether or not you have had additional infractions. And it also has links to each of the reminder/warnings and to the ogiginal posts so we can easily review the entire record.

Once you have received a reminder/warning you are on our radar and may be on track for this (quoted from the Community Rules):

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The process we follow if members fail to follow the Community Rules: Members should note that tFS runs on an automated reminder and warning system. Each member has the opportunity of having 3 formal warnings, before being permanently banned. See note below. * A “Reminder” has no points and is given to allow you to familiarize yourself with the Community Rules, without penalizing you. However, continued violation of the rules or serious violations will be addressed by a “Formal Warning”. For each formal warning issued, 1 point is assigned automatically by the system. When members’ points reach 3, their membership privileges can be suspended for a period of up to 3 months (a temporary ban). Upon their return to tFS, any further violations, at any time in the future, may result in a permanent ban. Members’ first 2 Formal Warnings are active for 6 months. So with good behavior, they will start to fall off. However, if a banned/suspended member chooses to come back after their first ban/suspension, their next violation (any type; indefinitely) may result in a ban that is permanent. Please note: formal warnings, suspension and banning will take place if members fail to follow tFS Community Rules. The FASHION SPOT Forums reserves the right to suspend/ban any member for breaking any of the community policies and in some extreme instances, without warnings.

It is important the all members understand that we really do work as a team ... and when we have to step things up, it's done as a team ... we actually present the situation for review by all team members and a group decision made. So when something comes from "the tFS Mod Squad", especially when it's the more fomal notice (reminder/warning) ... it is almost always from the team.

However, if you ever feel that any moderator may be unfairly targeting you, you may contact any Mod Squad Leader (there are 8 of us, who oversee the whole team) via a PM and we'll, as a group, will take a look at the record to determine if it was a team decision or a rogue moderator and review if the actions were in compliance with the moderator guidlines or not.

Hope this explains a little bit about the systems that the moderators use here and how we use them.

[diesanni]

Thank you for taking the time to explain this, Bette. I've never run a forum and it's easier to understand what's going on when you have a little insight on how these things work. I hope it's comprehensible that it's quite frustrating when you've supposedly done some wrong but can't figure out what that would be and therefore understand my motivation for starting this thread.

[BetteT]

No problem, diesanni! That's why we are here ... not just to ding our members. We actually spend a lot of helping members with questions and problems. Just ask!

[Filipe]

May I suggest something ?

Maybe give a little more freedom in the discussions and just because it goes slightly off topic, the posts shouldn't be deleted ... that's where members gets pissed off and stop posting, just saying.

One question, what's the difference between getting a reminder or warning ? Or both mean the same thing ?

I got a reminder for an off topic post, my first reminder here ...
And the discussion was very fun actually (which is something that doesn't happen anymore here), too bad it had to be deleted just because it gone slightly off topic and I got a reminder unfairly ...

Why there's not a better explanation for when a post gets deleted ....

I will give an example. Was posting a load of pics in several threads, months ago, and a mod literally haunt me down every single post because implied that instead of credit the pictures as 'headpress', I had to add 'com.au', started editing the posts and actually deleted me 2 or 3. Where it only said "failure to credit" when I had to been posting for months with that credit.
Guess what ? now there's an awful lot of members posting only 'headpress' and I see no editing or deleting. The worst part is that, the mod instead of PMing me and telling me that I needed to add the 'com.au', continued haunting every single post and editing. Ridiculous much ? I think so.

[BetteT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Filipe May I suggest something ? Maybe give a little more freedom in the discussions and just because it goes slightly off topic, the posts shouldn't be deleted ... that's where members gets pissed off and stop posting, just saying.

We want tFS to be a place where people who are serious about fashion can get their fashion fix and are not inudndated with gossip, personal conversations, etc. We conitnue to get numerous complaints about this sort of thing. And that is why, over the years, forums like Rumor Has It and Heart & Soul were added. These are places to have fun and get to know each other better. And you also have PM's, profile comments and Karma for of topic or personal discussions. This compromise has worked well for our serious fashion people and still allowed side chatter in it's own places for the members who like to be more social. Remember ... we are a fashion fourm, first and foremost ... not a social networking site.

For general off topic chatter in the fashion threads, it's hard to know where to draw the line, Filipe. It depends on the moderator who is monitoring the thread ... some are tighter than others. It also depends on what has been going on in that thread before .... if we have had previous problems in there, then the mods have to get tougher because all it takes is one ofhand comment to start it all up again. Often the mods try to post a Moderator note first ... asking everyone to stay on topic ... and when the happens, that alerts you that the thread is becoming a problem and they are going to start to monitor it more. In many, many cases we just let it pass ... if it's just one comment and other members don't pick up an run with it.

If you feel that you have been targeted by one particular moderator or that a certain thread is being moderated too tightly, you always have the option to bring it to the attention of a Team Leader and we will review the situation.

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One question, what's the difference between getting a reminder or warning ? Or both mean the same thing ?

An excerpt from the Community Rules:

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The process we follow if members fail to follow the Community Rules: Members should note that tFS runs on an automated reminder and warning system. Each member has the opportunity of having 3 formal warnings, before being permanently banned. See note below. * A “Reminder” has no points and is given to allow you to familiarize yourself with the Community Rules, without penalizing you.

Quote:

Why there's not a better explanation for when a post gets deleted ....

For an explanation about the system we use when we delete posts, see post #3, above. Also see post #4 for an alternative system we use occassionally, which does give more detailed information. ^

Quote:

I will give an example. Was posting a load of pics in several threads, months ago, and a mod literally haunt me down every single post because implied that instead of credit the pictures as 'headpress', I had to add 'com.au', started editing the posts and actually deleted me 2 or 3. Where it only said "failure to credit" when I had to been posting for months with that credit.

Sorry ... that should have been "improper credit" ... as outlined in the Crediting rules:

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Please name the site where you found the images. Site names need to be spelled out in full ... and if the extension is not ".com" please add the extension (for example, ".it" or ".net", etc.). Clickable urls (eg: urls that contain http://) and/or links in lieu of a site name are not acceptable.

Quote:

Guess what ? now there's an awful lot of members posting only 'headpress' and I see no editing or deleting.

You would never see evidence of deleting ... only editing, so you do not have a full picture of what is going on.

Moderators cannot be everywhere all the time, and many things get passed by ... all the time. Eventually, we usually get to repeat offenders and let them know about the rules. But it takes time. Also, in this case, not every moderator would know that headpress is not .com (I didn't ... thanks for letting me know) ... unless they happened to stumble upon it. We don't ask the mods to check every source that is posted ... we assume that our members know and follow the rules. But ... occasionally, we notice something, so we take care of it then.

If you see something that is wrong in credits, please use the Report Post feature to bring it to the team's attention.

[Elfinkova]

There is a warning at the top of my profile that won't go away under the title "Warnings/Reminders":

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My question is why won't it go away? I get it already!

TIA

[Filipe]

Because it's to remind you that you got a reminder, that you should follow the rules. I wished mine would just gone too, but I got unfairly it and now I have it.

Btw, it's not a warning, it's a reminder, which is different.

[BetteT]

Only you can see it ... and the mods ... for the reason Filipe says. Unless, of course, if you make it public that you got a reminder (or a warning).

I"m going to merge a conversation I had with Filipe and this with another thread to keep it all in one place.

[Filipe]

^Yeah we just made it public that we got a reminder, so that means we are super rebel and cool

[Elfinkova]

^ Exactly. Thanks so much BetteT. So it never goes away?

[BetteT]

No ... it never goes away. Even if we were to reverse it, it would still be there, with a notation that it's been reversed. Don't worry about it ... thousands of our members have them ... it's only a reminder of the rules.

[Elfinkova]

^ Thanks for answering.