Only way to sort out TV Forum

Indeed. Exactly my position on the matter.

The point I'm making is that if people are so OUTRAGED by the morons on this website (of which there will be many, seeing as the words "TV" and "forum" in Google aren't too obscure a combination), then there are plenty of other discussion boards to provide their requirements.

Because making threads like this won't get far if you ask me. I mean, what is it these people are looking for at TV Forum?! If you want the site minus the 12 year-oldz, go to Media UK or Digital Spy or TV Ark or any other. I honestly can't see what these outcries are calling for that isn't already available elsewhere.

Digital Spy? Are you serious?! DS is far worse than TVF when it comes to being overrun by illiterate idiots

ITV1 are broadcasting The Great British Spelling Test, hosted by Gabby Logan and Neil Fox on 20 October at 9 p.m. Discover if men or women are the better spelllers, with a chance to win £10000.

There is a spelling facility available which I'll have a look at. A PHP version was suggested but I had to discard the idea at the time. I did download a JavaScript version which seemed pretty efficient and could intergrate with the forum quite easily. I'll look into implementing it.

I don't know whether saying we don't care is trying to goad us into arguing back but I think we just feel it's a waste of time. If I remember rightly, the first thread about this place not being as good as it was, came before the end of the first year. Ridiculous!

It's hard to take people's posts about this place seriously if they're just the usual suspects making the usual moans. Constructive criticism is one thing - blatant exaggeration is quite another.

There are on average 200 posts made on here daily and how many do people genuinely think are so bad? It's a tiny minority. I don't understand why people can't be interested in the posts that interest them (additionally from people with perfect grammar, if so be it) and just ignore the threads and posts that don't interest them or look like they're been written by someone you know you're not going to be interested in? It seems such a hard concept to grasp for some and I can't understand why. When it starts growing out of control - and I don't think that's ever happened where we've not acted ASAP - then I'll understand.

Comments like "the forum should be closed" because of an inability to ignore a couple of people they don't like, is a very extreme attitude and would deprive those of us who can just use the forum for what it's intended for and gloss over others.

Certain members are also seeing themselves in the role of customer, who seem to think we have some moral obligation to provide an error-free, correct-clock, instant-idiot-removal site. We don't. We don't expect constant gushing praise but we also don't expect to be dragged up on every little thing that goes wrong or what we're not doing quick enough.

We care about the site but in a strictly realistic way and no amount of abuse from a corner of the room is going to making a difference. We are not 'soderators' and we don't have a 'sod it' attitude. If it's worth doing, it will be done. Please appreciate we do have busy lives.

Thanks to those though who have used this thread for some constructive criticism - we do listen and talk privately about comments made both publicly and directly to us.

Asa

Oh, I regularly visit a site with much more bickering and infighting than this. And we still survive.

I think Asa and the mods are doing fine leaving us to get on with things and allowing light-touch moderation.

Maybe some people take this place too seriously. I enjoy visiting, reading some of the threads, posting occasionally and then going off and doing other things. Try it, folks.

When a new topic is made that seems to make no sense and has nothing to do with television, instead of letting the topic sink out of the way, people post stuff there like "This has nothing to do with television..." Obvious stuff.

I think that kind action only makes the problem seem bigger. I may be guilty of adding to the posts in the past but its something I avoid now. I can understand the moderators' point of view, and I think some things are down to us to put a stop to.

I could well be wrong but unless someone is spamming the forum or being a complete pain, you may not really need magical banning powers to put a stop to the nonsense, just a private message and a good way with words.

Also, and I don't know if it is at all possible, but an ignore member option might be good? Turn it on and all posts by the member(s) on your personal ban list will be ignored.

Correct -- the most annoying thing for us is moderator wannabes who post comments like "this should be in X forum", or "this is an irrelevant thread". That encourages more and more posts about how the forum is going downhill and the thread spirals out of control. What I suggest is that rather than push the reply button, press the report post button instead. This will draw our attention to it a lot quicker and will have it sorted if we deem it necessary. I don't know about the other moderators, but I don't read every thread on this forum. In fact, I read only a few that interest me each day, so any highlighted problems via the post reports would be very helpful indeed.

My GH Online forum has been running for almost a year now and initially I baulked at the idea of a message board, mainly due to the amount of badmouthing that goes on here. However I was talked round, though from the outset I was determined that there would be no bickering or in-fighting.

And so far everything has been running smoothly. So how do we keep the morons out?

1) Every applicant to the GHO forum has to have his/her account activated by the site admin. When a new user signs up, we check their profile and any personal web site they have linked in; this allows us to root out spammers (ie. salesmen) right away.

2) It is a condition of entry to the GHO forum that there shall be no in-fighting, personal attacks on or bullying of other members. This is especially important on a forum which, by its nature, attracts a young membership.

3) There is a "three strikes and you're out" rule for anyone who thinks they are above the rules. We have only had to ban one person so far, mainly for abusiveness and repeated circumvention of the swear filter.

As a result the GHO forum has developed into a strong, happy community where members feel genuinely at ease with each other. Members range from school pupils, students and retired teachers! However I realise that individual vetting of all applications might not be practical for TV Forum given the size of its membership. This would require two more mods at least! Still, that is one suggestion.

So, you want to live under a totalitarian dictatorship then?

In light of that fact, would it not be easier on you just to use the forum as a user? No offense, mind. As my granny used to say, "A job half done... makes a mess of your pants".

I'm not into mod bashing. I love 'em, me. Ison's a peach and I've met Tom. So there.

No, I do enjoy doing the job when I'm not abused for doing it. I always remember what Asa said when he asked me to be a moderator several years ago -- don't feel as if you have to police the forum. Being a moderator doesn't mean you have to look at every single thread each day. We put the post report system in place to help us, and it's just worked a treat again. A user reported a post he felt needed moving at 20.55 -- I saw the post report around 15 mins later and moved it to the correct place. Had it not been reported, I wouldn't have seen it at all, as it wasn't a subject that interests me.