How we can improve Omnimaga?

[Juju]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

[pianoman]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

[Juju]

Well, I meant something more concrete such as completely disabling the post ratings system and enforce the nDoom policy 12 months a year.

[pianoman]

Well, I meant something more concrete such as completely disabling the post ratings system and enforce the nDoom policy 12 months a year.

Oops, sorry
About those, I would say that the post rating system actually can be, IMO, a rather good deterrent to trolling amongst most users (the true trolls will troll either way).

[z80man]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

That was my fault to lock the politics topic a few nights ago. There were no other moderators online so I didn't have a chance to discuss whether or not it was needed. And I'm thinking that maybe a full ratings system is not needed. Our staff is usually very quick to respond to a crisis situation so negative ratings could be removed to prevent abuse and reduce drama. Positive ratings though should stay because they show how much a member has contributed to our community.

[alberthrocks]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

Nah... we've been able to handle these kinds of topics before. I think we just need better moderation - not to put any more pressure on you guys - but just a bit more emphasis on those hot topics. If we can handle religion topics, surely we can handle politics, right?

EDIT: I opt for a non-negative rating system - that is, you can't rate down posts, only up. Similar to the Cemetech username++ system, but a bit better. This method works on plenty of sites (like Engadget, powered by Disqus), so we might try it.

[yunhua98]

Omnimaga is very good as it is.  The recent problems are not caused by Omnimaga, but by trolls who don't like contributing constructively or by misunderstandings.  We must all figure out what exactly someone is saying before accusing them of something, and listen to his side of the argument.  To prevent events from snowballing, these debates should be discussed via PM as well.  If we all do this, there shouldn't be problems except with deliberate trolls, which is what the banhammer is for. 

[pianoman]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

Nah... we've been able to handle these kinds of topics before. I think we just need better moderation - not to put any more pressure on you guys - but just a bit more emphasis on those hot topics. If we can handle religion topics, surely we can handle politics, right?

But aren't religion topics disallowed?

[Deep Thought]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

Nah... we've been able to handle these kinds of topics before. I think we just need better moderation - not to put any more pressure on you guys - but just a bit more emphasis on those hot topics. If we can handle religion topics, surely we can handle politics, right?

But aren't religion topics disallowed?

Yeah, and so are politics threads. I personally think they're about the same in flame-friendliness.

Omnimaga is very good as it is.  The recent problems are not caused by Omnimaga, but by trolls who don't like contributing constructively or by misunderstandings.  We must all figure out what exactly someone is saying before accusing them of something, and listen to his side of the argument.  To prevent events from snowballing, these debates should be discussed via PM as well.  If we all do this, there shouldn't be problems except with deliberate trolls, which is what the banhammer is for. 

We don't want to use bans too much though.

[yunhua98]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

Nah... we've been able to handle these kinds of topics before. I think we just need better moderation - not to put any more pressure on you guys - but just a bit more emphasis on those hot topics. If we can handle religion topics, surely we can handle politics, right?

EDIT: I opt for a non-negative rating system - that is, you can't rate down posts, only up. Similar to the Cemetech username++ system, but a bit better. This method works on plenty of sites (like Engadget, powered by Disqus), so we might try it.

quite a few people have suggested that, but since we run on SMF 1.1.4, and there aren't any mods for that, it isn't possible.

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

Nah... we've been able to handle these kinds of topics before. I think we just need better moderation - not to put any more pressure on you guys - but just a bit more emphasis on those hot topics. If we can handle religion topics, surely we can handle politics, right?

But aren't religion topics disallowed?

Yeah, and so are politics threads. I personally think they're about the same in flame-friendliness.

Omnimaga is very good as it is.  The recent problems are not caused by Omnimaga, but by trolls who don't like contributing constructively or by misunderstandings.  We must all figure out what exactly someone is saying before accusing them of something, and listen to his side of the argument.  To prevent events from snowballing, these debates should be discussed via PM as well.  If we all do this, there shouldn't be problems except with deliberate trolls, which is what the banhammer is for. 

We don't want to use bans too much though.

There aren't that many deliberate trolls though. 

[pianoman]

I know some people criticized some features, such as the rating system, so I need to know what we could do to improve Omnimaga so it would be more friendly and more drama-less. Any ideas are welcome.

Thanks.

I think that adding politics to the list of things to not discuss here would be a good idea, seeing all of the flaming and locking of the recent politics topic.

Nah... we've been able to handle these kinds of topics before. I think we just need better moderation - not to put any more pressure on you guys - but just a bit more emphasis on those hot topics. If we can handle religion topics, surely we can handle politics, right?

But aren't religion topics disallowed?

Yeah, and so are politics threads. I personally think they're about the same in flame-friendliness.

Omnimaga is very good as it is.  The recent problems are not caused by Omnimaga, but by trolls who don't like contributing constructively or by misunderstandings.  We must all figure out what exactly someone is saying before accusing them of something, and listen to his side of the argument.  To prevent events from snowballing, these debates should be discussed via PM as well.  If we all do this, there shouldn't be problems except with deliberate trolls, which is what the banhammer is for. 

We don't want to use bans too much though.

Oh, I see. Thanks for the clarification
And the non-negative post system actually sounds pretty good, nice way of rewarding helpfulness and hard work.

[alberthrocks]

Yeah, and so are politics threads. I personally think they're about the same in flame-friendliness.

Hmm... I thought there was a religious topic that never escaladed to extremeties. But maybe that's just me.

We don't want to use bans too much though.

Yeah, we already have quite a reputation of banning...

[yunhua98]

And the non-negative post system actually sounds pretty good, nice way of rewarding helpfulness and hard work.

I think the negative part of it is a useful way to show you are offended or the poster is being rude.  That way you don't have to respond in a harsh way, instead just say you rated their post down and why.  Plus what I said above about it not being possible ATM. 

Yeah, and so are politics threads. I personally think they're about the same in flame-friendliness.

Hmm... I thought there was a religious topic that never escaladed to extremeties. But maybe that's just me.
The Are you Christian Thread.

[Darl181]

As far as I've noticed, the only time downrating gets to be a problem is when someone gets downrated and they make a production out of it...
I could be wrong, though.

[z80man]

Yes the "Are you Christian" thread was probably the first thread ever to not get locked due to flaming but I account that mainly to Sir getting perm banned. And with the politics thread there has been debate but so far it hasn't escalated and is a good discussion.