A couple of suggestions...

I've been a member of this forum for a little over a year. I've noticed a lot of hostility and silliness here lately. Mostly little girl slap fights caused by individuals who feel it is necessary to foist their nasty opinions on people. The BS usually has nothing to do with the topic at hand, and generally is something that could have gone unwritten.
We've all done it at one time or another, usually just trying to joke about something, but there are a few here who are consistently rude, patronizing and disrepectful to other members and their ideas and opinions.
I've noticed that some of the veteran posters here, who are generally good guys with a lot of knowledge about our cars have stopped posting. It could be because it is summer, and everyone is busy. Or it could be they are tired of some of the insults and idiocy.
I've got a couple of suggestions picked up from other forums that may help to put a stop to some of the stupidity.

1. IGNORE feature- other forums have a select button that you can access that will block all postings by individuals that rub the wrong way. Anything posted by that person will be blocked on your screen. It has come in handy on other forums where people who can't get along are blocked from seeing each others posts, thus, no slap fights. Once someone is being ignored by a large number of members, they leave or are shown the door by the mods. It sort of allows members to vote someone out. It also allows individuals to avoid postings by members/post whores/keyboard cowboys who aggravate them.

2. Anything goes sections. - I've seen these areas used as a spot where people must sign in to go to that section. They can go to this section to call each other names, bitch about the gov't, post racy pix etc. You must be a member of this section, and sign in to it separately from the main forum. Members can jon this group, or they can remain in the main forum. Topics deemed too alarming for the general public are often moved to these sections by moderators. It keeps the forums "dirty laundry" from being aired to non-members, but allows guys to argue and insult each other (within reason) and then work out their differences semi-privately. these sections usually have a set of rules posted as a sticky smewhere in the main forum warning non-members and main forum members what it is and what it is for, so you may avoid it if you find that section offensive.
(See the "Current Events" section at teamchevelle )

Just a couple of ideas for Dan and Rago to consider. I'd like to hear what other members think, or any ideas anyone else may have.


****I don't own a website, so I don't know if adding these features would cost anything.

If I may add to your idea...

An "Anything Goes" section would be cool, but then to have sub sections within it. Such as: Government, Pictures, Random Rants Of Anger, and so on and so forth.

I think the sub sections would be good, for people who don't care about certain things that may be posted. Like myself, I don't care to read about people bicker about the government, either side (DorR). So I just don't go into it.

Something more to consider

I should also add that posting a sticky with "The RULES" prominently displayed somewhere might cut down on some stuff.

Posted my thoughts on the situation. +1 SC. I will have to get with Dan for approval & I'm not sure if the ignore button is even possible. I had hoped the street cred feature would have knocked down on some BS but that was silly I guess. My thoughts on the "private members only area".... Good, but could be bad. Obviously porn is a no go no matter what. Religion would probably be out as well. I think a section called "pissing matches" would be appropriate for some members, lol. How about I add an unofficial poll & let bossman decide?

I think a poll would be a good idea. Ignore features are possible on some sites, don't know the technical requirements though.

Dan seemed frustrated this weekend over some bickering, I think he is ready to put the hammer down on a couple of people here. There are a couple of guys who have disappeared who were good for the site, and I suspect some of the more "disagreeable" members have run them off. It's a shame. There aren't many sites that address the 73-77 cars, and i beleive with a little work this one could be the best of them.

You could add the private section and post whatever rules you think necessary. Any contoversial posts could be "hidden" there or just deleted completely.

I think there are some posts and members here who scare off potential members. I know someone posted a while back that they thought the street cred feature was too "political", and almost didn't join up.. I don't really mind it, but I wouldn't miss it if it was gone.

honestly i thought thats what the off topic section was for? for when we gotta debate. or maybe we can start using the chatbox? so other people dont have to read it

Poll is at the top of this page, go ahead & vote. SC wasn't meant to be political, but I could see the negatives. I had nothing but good intentions when I added it. Really is helpful when reading posts to see how others feel about the information provided & it gives you, me, & everyone else the lazy man's way of saying "X2" or "I don't think so". Some people just have to throw in that damn extra $.02 though.

Chatbox would be an awesome area to debate, if people are on at the same time. Too bad it isn't used hardly at all anymore. OT section is for off the wall stuff, not pissing matches. A good debate is fine, but you telling me what to do with my ride or me arguing with you over music is beyond that section. Keep that junk off of the threads.

I think the street cred thing is a good idea, if used as you intended.

77malibu77 wrote:honestly i thought thats what the off topic section was for? for when we gotta debate. or maybe we can start using the chatbox? so other people dont have to read it

Off topic can be whatever anyone wants to post. The problem , as I see it, is threads being hi-jacked, and topics turning away from the original post. We also have a problem with people hi-jacking threads instead of just starting a new one.

The BIGGEST problem we have is people who feel like they have to chime in on a topic with a negative opinion about what someone else says. It is not necessary to criticize someone else to express your own two cents. .

The thread the other day where Chris was pointing out an odd image in a picture is a good example.
No one needed to tell Chris what to do with his car. No one needed to comment at all. Read the thread and comment on the image he was talking about, or just move on to the next thread. No one needed to comment on what HIS kids do with HIS car. Unnecessary.
I'm sure there was no harm intended, but the fact remains that the whole thing went bad because of comments that had nothing to do with the thread.
A visitor to this site would see the results of that, and decide that this site was inhabited by a bunch of jerks, and move on elsewhere.
We understand the dynamics of the site, we know there are occasional disagreements between "regulars". Noobs or visitors would be turned off by those types of exchanges.
That thread could have been moved to a "members only" section. The battle could have continued, or the thread deleted/locked. Rago or Dan could then have dealt with the situation "behind closed doors". There have been sites that I checked out then stayed away from because of people constantly attacking others, instead of offering helpful advice.
Why would anyone sign up for abuse?

I'm not saying anyone was right or wrong in that thread, but it got way beyond what Chris intended when he originally posted.

Just some folks need to learn some manners, or move it to a more private area to keep visitors and potential members from thinking evryone here is an A$$.
It would also help current members by restricting stupidity to that area, while leaving the other sections for more "professional" postings. If you don't want to play rough, you could stay away from that section. Members who want to be silly could go there, mebers who just want onfo or to offer advice could stay in the "main" areas.

IMO I think a "anything goes" section is just permission for people to go there and be jerks to each other, and the hostilty will still leak into the main board. Also, an "ignore" feature would only work if nobody used the "quote" to make it show up in their own posts, which may be visible to the person who blocked the people who annoy them.

Here's a new suggestion: How about a "Blacklist" feature which would kind of be a message sent only to the admins. After someone was "tagged" a few times by a minimum of a few different posters, they would certainly be deemed a "troublemaker" and their membership would be discontinued. The admins could give private warnings to the offenders that they have been "bad boys" and will be deleted if they cannot behave. No need to keep airing stupidity in the main forum.

"Why can't we all just get along?"

HDHugger wrote:IMO I think a "anything goes" section is just permission for people to go there and be jerks to each other, and the hostilty will still leak into the main board. Also, an "ignore" feature would only work if nobody used the "quote" to make it show up in their own posts, which may be visible to the person who blocked the people who annoy them.

Here's a new suggestion: How about a "Blacklist" feature which would kind of be a message sent only to the admins. After someone was "tagged" a few times by a minimum of a few different posters, they would certainly be deemed a "troublemaker" and their membership would be discontinued. The admins could give private warnings to the offenders that they have been "bad boys" and will be deleted if they cannot behave. No need to keep airing stupidity in the main forum.

"Why can't we all just get along?"

I agree. JB

HDHugger wrote:IMO I think a "anything goes" section is just permission for people to go there and be jerks to each other, and the hostilty will still leak into the main board. Also, an "ignore" feature would only work if nobody used the "quote" to make it show up in their own posts, which may be visible to the person who blocked the people who annoy them.

Here's a new suggestion: How about a "Blacklist" feature which would kind of be a message sent only to the admins. After someone was "tagged" a few times by a minimum of a few different posters, they would certainly be deemed a "troublemaker" and their membership would be discontinued. The admins could give private warnings to the offenders that they have been "bad boys" and will be deleted if they cannot behave. No need to keep airing stupidity in the main forum.

"Why can't we all just get along?"

Not a bad idea, and I agree it would be a wonderful world if everyone COULD get along. But warnings haven't worked in the past. It's been tried.

Someone will say or do something out of line, they are warned, and they act civil for a while, then they are right back at it in short order.
Some have "quit" after cussing everyone out, only to return with apologies, then start quibbling again in a short time.
Others HAVE been kicked off, then slide back in under a different handle, apparently learning very little after being banished.
None of those people were absolute jackasses, just... uh..."spirited".

Rago initiated the "street cred" as a way of thanking or zapping a poster (blacklist type thing). The problem is that no one knows who thanked them or zapped them, or why they were thanked or zapped, unless the thanker/zapper posted it. So you have people gaining and losing "street cred' without knowing how or why.

Maybe we could find a way to report specific posts to the admins for review. Like forwarding an email?

HDHugger wrote:IMO I think a "anything goes" section is just permission for people to go there and be jerks to each other, and the hostilty will still leak into the main board.

Same thing as private messages though... And you wouldn't believe how many he said she said PMs I get. This is where problems should be resolved/continued in the first place, but as you said, sometimes it still leaks into the public threads.

Also, an "ignore" feature would only work if nobody used the "quote" to make it show up in their own posts, which may be visible to the person who blocked the people who annoy them.

Good point!

Here's a new suggestion: How about a "Blacklist" feature which would kind of be a message sent only to the admins. After someone was "tagged" a few times by a minimum of a few different posters, they would certainly be deemed a "troublemaker" and their membership would be discontinued. The admins could give private warnings to the offenders that they have been "bad boys" and will be deleted if they cannot behave. No need to keep airing stupidity in the main forum.

We try to stay laid back around here. If this was the way we operated, I can think of a few that would have been gone already. I'm not sure if they should be permanently banned since these certain members have contributed some good to the forum, but I can say both would have been "voted off" by the request of members PM'ing me.

"Why can't we all just get along?"

We will. It isn't worth keeping someone that disrupts the group no matter who they are or how much they have contributed. Changes are happening. This is & always will be the ONLY REAL source of 73-77 A Body information on the web. Not just Chevy or Oldsmobile info. That's why we're here.

Here is a link to the teamchevelle "Current Events" sticky that explains the difference between the off-topic section (they call it "bench racing") and the anything goes section they call CE.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115782

Maybe this will explain what I'm talking about better than I can.

Looks like I missed out on all the BS again. . . Anyways, seems like it getting out of hand by some of the post here. I go on another forum its all BS over there, especially the off topic section. I hope this forum doesn't get like that in any way.

The Blacklist sounds like a very good idea, like a 3 strikes ur out type of thing with an IP band. Or put them in a time out were they can't post for a few days.

This is nothing. I used to go to a site called the Hell Forum, mostly musicians from Janesville. Now THAT was a bad place! Anything goes there, on any topic! Their warning when you join: if you cant handle it, leave! This place is Heaven compared to them.