In repsonse to :"Abuse of admin rights"

[eentonig]

Since regular users can't reply on posts in this section, I have to resort to opening a new topic.

I just wanted to express my concern, because I think that the topic starter in that thread brings up a good point.

I'm a moderator myself on another forum, and one of the rules we follow as well, is "Thou shall not moderate when involved!"

So, purely by the fact that the moderator in question was brought in to question, he should have refrained from taking further actions towards this person, untill at least one other administrator clarified if the statement brought up was correct or not.

I haven't read the posts in questions which lead to the infrictions, as I don't care if they are just or not. But I do wanted to point out that the admin in question in my eyes did indeed break with good policy.

Now, everybody makes mistakes. But why continue with them when your attention has been brought on to it?

I would really appreciate if some other moderators could shed their point of view on that topic.


Regards,

[KiwiNZ]

The guidline we have for Moderators is as follows....

Posting and moderating in the same thread:
This is generally discouraged. If you have participated in a discussion and later find there is a problem in the thread contact the other staff and have someone else who is uninvolved moderate. The exception would be if no one is available, you can close the thread temporarily with a post stating that it will be looked at by a non-involved staff member as soon as possible. If you aren't sure what to do, get an administrator.

Now the key here is that it is generally discouraged ,and this is right that it should be , however this Forum is a large fast growing Forum with a very high post rate.
It is not always going to be possible to follow this. The Forum is open 24/7 and thus is open over numerous time zones. Unfortunately it is very difficult for there to be Moderating staff to be spread evenly over all time zones.

For example there is many times that I visit the Forum and will be the only staff member present.

It is therefore appropriate for Administrators and Forum Council members to act in threads if necessary.

[eentonig]

I perfectly understand and agree that sometimes you need to bypass the policy and have to react in a thread were you have been a participant.

I however do not understand/agree that when an escalation arise following that action, that you remain the only moderator that responds to that. It would have been better if the moderator that has been put to question does not respond in this thread at all. Or at least not untill a (few) other moderator(s) have reviewed and commented on the issue. That way, the topic starter knows that it was a group supported decission and not a single moderator that (mis)uses his powers.

I haven't read the offending threads. But I'm sure that your co-moderators would have backed you up on your decission.

I've had a similar issue on the board where I moderate, and I forced a co-moderator to resign, because he was abusing his function (I'm not saying you do) and regularly intervened unappropriately in threads where he was under (self inflicted) fire.
We also get a lot of heat from a group of users who regularly question our actions, but we always face it as a group. So they never get to say that they got picked on by someone who has a personal feeling against them.

That said, I have nothing against the moderators or their policies. Neither do I have a problem with the infriction that was sent out. I just wanted to raise my concern that the impression that was given, was indeed that this was a solo mission from one moderator. especially if no other moderator even bothers to post a reply or comment in the thread he opened here.

[KiwiNZ]

You need to remember the structure of the Forum

We have

The Forum Council
Ubuntu-Geek , KiwiNZ , Matthew , Mike, Jdong

Over all management of the Forum

Forum Administrators

Ubuntu-Geek KiwiNZ,Matthew Mike , Jdong, Vorian

Forum Moderators

Refer here for full list http://ubuntuforums.org/showgroups.php

[eentonig]

Ok,

but no matter what the structure is. You must agree that the perception will be totally different if you have to defend your infringment against the one person who gave you the infringment.

Or if one or more of the Forum Moderators/Foram Administrators/Council members/God came in and told you that the reason for the infringment was justified.

In the latter case, you know it was not just a personal grudge against you. But something that is backed up by the team in charge.

[ubuntu-geek]

I will handle this from this point forward. I replied to the thread you are questioning and gave my position and an alternative if the OP believes he is wronged.

I have nothing further to add to this thread since its merely a personal attack on Kiwinz for doing his volunteer job before another volunteer could handle it.

[eentonig]

I have no prior knowledge of who Kiwinz is, what is posts are or what his moderation style is. When I read a board, one of the least things that interest me, are the names of the posters. So I'm sorry if you take this as a personal attack on him. That was certainly not my itention. If it were you who took the original moderation and were the only to repsond in the topic opened here, I would have reacted the same way.

This aside, I'm happy that another admin took the time to react to the person who felt he was being wronged.