In order to avoid any misunderstandings, misconceptions, and other problems, please make the effort to read the following.

As some people seem to be completely unclear exactly what moderators are and what they do, I shall endeavour to clarify this here.

Generally, on boards moderators are unpaid volunteers who generously give up what spare time they can, as is the case on this board. The currently active moderators here are DesertDwarf and I, nexter, although at present the former is currently absent and seems to be taking a sabbatical. We both are global moderators, that is, we moderate all public forums, but many large and very busy boards usually have 'Forum Moderators' - moderators responsible for a designated individual forum - as well as senior global ones. Our sole administrator is also the owner of this board and the sole proprietor and coder of Winstep Software Technologies, Jorge Coelho, user name Winstep.

Furthermore, especially in the case of small software outfits' boards as this one, moderators are generally not in any way connected to or affiliated with the software house. As such, moderators also are not any kind of official customer or technical support, although they will usually try their best to help with queries where they can, when they can, time permitting. Remember, this is in their own spare time which may be very limited! Moderators also are not responsible for or involved in the development of software.

A moderator's role is a simple one if often quite demanding, difficult, and thankless. It is, principally, to keep some sort of order in the forums and avoid conflicts and arguments, and enforce any board rules etc. that may apply, as well as to eliminate spam, spurious or frivolous posts, nonsense posts, nuisance posts, and the like, by deleting them and if necessary ban the user responsible. Abusive posts and abusive language fall into the same orbit, as does trolling.

To sum up, it could be said that moderators facilitate the smooth operation of forums and the board as a whole.

Moderators - as well as administrators, all collectively called 'staff' - should always be treated with respect and courtesy. Do so, and they will respond in like manner. Get stroppy, and you'll reap as you'll sow. Simple. Keep within Board Rules etc. and use a bit of common sense and all will be well.

Personally, I do not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise, and my patience is limited. However, I do try and keep within the spirit of tolerance and liberalness of this board where possible. Some boards' moderators are a lot stricter and harsher.

Thank you.


:Edit: This post revised 2023/12/04 :/Edit:

As things are fairly quiet right now this is a good time for a reminder.

Bears repeating.

Did I say *some* people being unclear exactly what moderators are and what they do? More like *a lot*, I should have said. So perhaps best to keep this near the top for now.

Please, do make the effort and read to help avoid any misconceptions and possible misunderstandings.

Thank you.

In order to avoid any misunderstandings, misconceptions, and other problems, please make the effort to read the following.

As some people seem to be completely unclear exactly what moderators are and what they do, I shall endeavour to clarify this here.

Generally, on boards moderators are unpaid volunteers who generously give up what spare time they can, as is the case on this board. The currently active moderators here are DesertDwarf and I, nexter, although at present the former is temporarily absent. We both are global moderators, that is, we moderate all public forums, but many large and very busy boards usually have 'Forum Moderators' - moderators responsible for a designated individual forum - as well as senior global ones. Our sole administrator is also the owner of this board and the sole proprietor and coder of Winstep Software Technologies, Jorge Coelho, user name Winstep.

Furthermore, especially in the case of small software outfits' boards as this one, moderators are generally not in any way connected to or affiliated with the software house. As such, moderators also are not any kind of official customer or technical support, although they will usually try their best to help with queries where they can, when they can, time permitting. Remember, this is in their own spare time which may be very limited! Moderators also are not responsible for or involved in the development of software.

A moderator's role is a simple one if often quite demanding, difficult, and thankless. It is, principally, to keep some sort of order in the forums and avoid conflicts and arguments, and enforce any board rules etc. that may apply, as well as to eliminate spam, spurious or frivolous posts, nonsense posts, nuisance posts, and the like, by deleting them and if necessary ban the user responsible. Abusive posts and abusive language fall into the same orbit, as does trolling.

To sum up, it could be said that moderators facilitate the smooth operation of forums and the board as a whole.

Moderators - as well as administrators, all collectively called 'staff' - should always be treated with respect and courtesy. Do so, and they will respond in like manner. Get stroppy, and you'll reap as you'll sow. Simple. Keep within Board Rules etc. and use a bit of common sense and all will be well.

Personally, I do not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise, and my patience is limited. However, I do try and keep within the spirit of tolerance and liberalness of this board where possible. Some boards' moderators are a lot stricter and harsher.

Thank you.

Please note that the original post has been revised 2023/12/04.

Thank you.

Please make the effort to read the original post at the top of this thread so as to avoid any misconceptions and misunderstandings.

Thank you.

Especially for the benefit of those kinds of new users who cannot be arsed to scroll down more than a handful of topics, and generally too, a reminder:

It is to be hoped that this clears up any misconceptions and helps avoid any misunderstandings.