Ab's New Year Resolutions

[AB Editor]

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope we're all feeling refreshed and ready to face the great sparkling potential of 2014.

I've not made any resolutions this year - not yet anyway.

I wondered if you'd like to make some for me, and the site in the general.

What direction would you like the site to go in over the next year?

What do you think we could do better over the next 12 months?

What's missing from AB?

Any suggestions and ideas welcome, as long as you're not too rude about it :)

[redman41]

Happy New Year to you and all the Staff ,Ed, and also to all on AB !
Suggestions :
No New Poster should be allowed to post on AB until you have firstly viewed the Question and/or the Answer beforehand. This might help to block some of the Trolls who appear on here with stupid and meaningless Posts, and also stop the un-authorised advertisers.
No one should have more than 1 User name e.g Poster below ! There must be others.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/AB-Editors-Blog/Question1301367.html

Usernames should not be more than 10 Characters long, but can be a combination of both letters and numbers. Some on here are ridiculously long !
All the best !

[mrs_overall]

Happy New Year to you and all the Mods.

I agree something needs to be done about the trolls. On another site banned users boast about how they have sneaked back in.

[boxtops]

How about, Ed, there is some way of knowing why comments have been removed from threads? Sometimes of course it's blatantly obvious, and comments are irrelevant to the OP, but often there's bewilderment when a good thread goes, if people are having a good argument. Is there a way of at least letting the ABer know why their comment has been removed, even if it's with a pro forma response?

[boxtops]

Good thought, triggs - several previously active ABers have faded away during 2013.

[dannyk13]

Could one's personal profile include the country of residence.(Just for interest)

[ChillDoubt]

I agree with boxy. We were having a discussion once that was up to 100 posts, very good debate and all that. One idiot posted something untoward so instead of removing that post, the mod (inexplicably, as ever) pulled the whole thread.
Can we at least have some form of feedback or explanation?
Also, a list of mods might prove handy, it's like dealing with the Cosa Nostra at the best of times!

[mrs_overall]

I agree with Chilldoubt. Knowing who the Mods are could come in handy.
We only need to know their AB names and don't need any details of the secret handshakes, initiation ceremony or how much they get paid

[boxtops]

It might have been the duty Ed pulled that thread, surely - anyone can report a post which offends them, not only the Mods.

[Old_Geezer]

What direction ? Well taking the weather into consideration, I'd suggest southward.

[Ric.ror]

My resolution is to eat all the cheese we have left and the christmas puds left and then drink all the wine/liquers we have left

I also resolve to visit the doctor in Feb to see why I have gotten so fat ;-))

[ChillDoubt]

Maybe so boxy, but why pull it 100 posts in, without explanation?
It's bewildering at times, it really is.
Can't the offender have their post removed and an on-thread warning issued?

[boxtops]

That's what does happen if Ed does it, doesn't it? I've seen Ed issue stern warnings - perhaps that could happen more often.

[AB Editor]

"No New Poster should be allowed to post on AB until you have firstly viewed the Question and/or the Answer beforehand."

I don't understand this bit?

I've not noticed any serious trolls. Minor annoyances maybe. Emails with any information welcome here:

theeditor AT theanswerbank DOT co DOT uk

"Is there a way of at least letting the ABer know why their comment has been removed, even if it's with a pro forma response?"

I'm sure we could work something out - but it's tricky because sometimes the reasons for removal are different to those the reporter reported them. Also, it may just give ammunition to the arguments that arise... We've always tried to tread carefully around this area of "feedback".

[AB Editor]

We will not be releasing the usernames of mods. It's not useful in the slightest - besides harassing them that is!

[B00]

Harass? We just beat em off with sticks Ed!

Happy New Year to you too, hope it was a good one.

Can I resurrect my old request please? That being the posts are numbered in a thread so if we want to refer someone to it we can say something along the lines of "as per your point on post 3" for example.

[ChillDoubt]

We will not be releasing the usernames of mods. It's not useful in the slightest - besides harassing them that is!
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So the pulling of threads without recourse or redress will continue willy-nilly then?
Same old, same old. Don't see the point in asking for suggestions if they're going to be waived off out of hand.

[naomi24]

I’d like to repeat my request for an ‘FAO ’ section, where messages restricted to a few words can be left for other users in order, for example, to draw their attention to a particular question.

[B00]

The problem there is Chilly, that in the past i've told people why i've removed a particular thread/post etc, only to have to defend my decision why I did so against those who disagreed with me.

Now I've learn (well sometimes) and just do it more slyly, to avoid a further row but this time involving myself!

[Zacs-Master]

Boo - all posts are timed so you can refer to them that way. I'd like consideration to be given to a separate section for Q&P which, at times, dominate the 'latest posts' list.