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[Scott5114]

Nobody likes a mod that uses their powers in an ad-hoc manner.

You mean like the end of the DST thread? 

Oh, no, that was premeditated. (i.e. it was being discussed with the other mods at the time)

I'm not going to say I got the DST thread locked, but

No, I think that would be my fault.

No one person is responsible for it, but the thread had gotten caught in basically an endless loop where reading through it seemed like reading the same five or six posts over and over, and while the political discussion was civil, novel to the thread, and mostly well-reasoned, it seemed like an indication that it was time to move on.

[kphoger]

I'm not going to say I got the DST thread locked, but

No, I think that would be my fault.

No one person is responsible for it, but the thread had gotten caught in basically an endless loop where reading through it seemed like reading the same five or six posts over and over, and while the political discussion was civil, novel to the thread, and mostly well-reasoned, it seemed like an indication that it was time to move on.

Well, I appreciate you saying that, but I was the one who took the conversation purely into politics.  But you're right about it being the same arguments over and over again.


In other news, this thread has now become hijacked by a locked off-topic thread that wandered off of the off topic.

[US71]

I plan on running a road geek forum on my own, mainly for traffic signal enthusiasts, and road and sign geeks. Any suggestions. I'm hoping that this site will became mainstream like Highway Divides. Any suggestions, I'm hoping that familiar users join, I also want to explore more broad topics too, such as the history behind traffic signals, or historic photos. Any suggestions on starting my own forum.

Why? It's your prerogative, of course, but isn't this sort of re-inventing the wheel?

I would suggest multiple moderators in case one gets their account hacked, so you can still get in.

Moderating new members wouldn't be a bad idea just so a Marf-type doesn't try to invade.

Don't be heavy handed on moderation, but watch out for being over permissive, as well. 

[webny99]

I'm not going to say I got the DST thread locked, but

No, I think that would be my fault.

No one person is responsible for it, but the thread had gotten caught in basically an endless loop where reading through it seemed like reading the same five or six posts over and over, and while the political discussion was civil, novel to the thread, and mostly well-reasoned, it seemed like an indication that it was time to move on.

Well, I appreciate you saying that, but I was the one who took the conversation purely into politics.  But you're right about it being the same arguments over and over again.


In other news, this thread has now become hijacked by a locked off-topic thread that wandered off of the off topic.

I actually wanted the credit for derailing the DST thread too... so to come full circle... no favoritism from the mods!!

And yeah, pretty much every thread with over 1000 replies, that gets locked, spills into other threads. It's basically unavoidable. Fortunately, that particular thread was specific to 2018, so there's always 2019... 

Which is actually relevant to the OP's question. Keeping discussion on-topic on a forum can be very challenging, and sometimes there's just no way around it.

[jakeroot]

Which is actually relevant to the OP's question. Keeping discussion on-topic on a forum can be very challenging, and sometimes there's just no way around it.

That's the very nature of discussion. If we all just kept repeating the same thing to each other, over and over, there'd be no discussion. It's the "I appreciate what you said, but what about..." statements that slowly change discussions and topics. There really shouldn't be anything "off topic". It's more "closely related discussions" and "distantly related discussions".

[hbelkins]

The discussion on the DST thread wasn't about politics, but policy -- as to why Congressional representation was set up the way it was. Politics would have been if someone had accused the Republican-Democrats of gerrymandering the colonies to under-represent Whigs when the original state boundaries were drawn. 

[formulanone]

I plan on running a road geek forum on my own, mainly for traffic signal enthusiasts, and road and sign geeks. Any suggestions. I'm hoping that this site will became mainstream like Highway Divides. Any suggestions, I'm hoping that familiar users join, I also want to explore more broad topics too, such as the history behind traffic signals, or historic photos. Any suggestions on starting my own forum.

Why? It's your prerogative, of course, but isn't this sort of re-inventing the wheel?

I would suggest multiple moderators in case one gets their account hacked, so you can still get in.

Moderating new members wouldn't be a bad idea just so a Marf-type doesn't try to invade.

Don't be heavy handed on moderation, but watch out for being over permissive, as well. 

To be honest, why do you need another forum? We're far from overloaded.

When you asked for traffic light photos, we helped out. We have more than a few discussions about the subject, even if this isn't an exhaustive forum dealing with the specifics.

If all you'd like is a separate sub-forum, just ask those in charge.

[Scott5114]

I can see the appeal in making a traffic-light-specific forum. After all, most of us are not exactly on traffic light guy's level when it comes to traffic lights—I couldn't tell any of the signal models apart until I asked him what exactly the difference was.

[jakeroot]

I could see a sub-forum beneath Traffic Control, but I foresee issues with an entire forum dedicated to traffic signals (lack of users chiefly). I certainly like traffic signals, and their identification and placement, but more from a practical, modern-day vantage. And I do enjoy the other parts of this website too. An entire website for traffic lights? I don't know about that.

EDIT: I sometimes flood the "Traffic Signal" thread, but only because I don't want to flood the sub-forum with more threads. If there was a separate "Traffic Signal" sub-forum, that might clean things up a bit.

[US71]

I can see the appeal in making a traffic-light-specific forum. After all, most of us are not exactly on traffic light guy's level when it comes to traffic lights—I couldn't tell any of the signal models apart until I asked him what exactly the difference was.

When I post to Flickr, I usually get feedback on what brands the signals are.

[hbelkins]

There are some Facebook groups dedicated to signals. Maybe try one of those?

[US71]

There are some Facebook groups dedicated to signals. Maybe try one of those?

I'm not sure he's on Facebook, if memory serves correct.

[hbelkins]

If I was starting a forum, I'd require that users have their real names visible somewhere. Not necessarily in their user name (although I more or less choose to use mine here) but on their profile page, at least.

[1]

If I was starting a forum, I'd require that users have their real names visible somewhere. Not necessarily in their user name (although I more or less choose to use mine here) but on their profile page, at least.

Absolutely not. The whole point of usernames is so that users remain anonymous. This is for several reasons: security, preventing harassment, etc. Unless the website is a type where real names are useful (like Facebook), real names should be not only not required, but discouraged.

Fortunately, your username does not reveal too much, as even though I know you are H. B. Elkins, I do not know what H. B. stands for (and even that's not obvious, as some people call you H. Belkins).

[kphoger]

(and even that's not obvious, as some people call you H. Belkins)

And I was recently referred to as 'Mr. Phoger' in a dis.

[webny99]

(and even that's not obvious, as some people call you H. Belkins)

And I was recently referred to as 'Mr. Phoger' in a dis.

Until recently, I actually thought Phoger was your last name. I think it's the "ph" combination that just seems hard to break down, i.e. kfoger is the natural pronunciation when one sees it as a single word.

However, it wasn't NE2's post that enlightened me. I think it was a post of HB's several months ago.