Moderators / Xhris dispute

[Josè Campoy.]

Who is your dad? (username).

And as i undestand, was he banned just because a moterator want him out?.

@All - He is not trolling here, me neither.

[Regular]

He is signed in now I believe, can't tell because we share the same IP. We live in the same house (with my grammy and gramps too).

I hope I don't get banned for sharing a bloodline.

[zee]

.....there are many of us who would be totally clueless! I doubt I would have bought/upgraded as I have done without the help this forum gives - my first Xara product would still be gathering dust in my hard-drive ....

John,
I agree with you 100%.
Zee

[covoxer]

My Dad asked me to post this,

What is the point of posting it? No one here knows who was it. No one knows why was he banned for the first time. No one knows what he did when registered for the second time. So what does it show us except his attitude?

[Drwyd]

Psalm 79:8
Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need.

[Regular]

What is the point of posting it? No one here knows who was it. No one knows why was he banned for the first time. No one knows what he did when registered for the second time. So what does it show us except his attitude?

My apologies, I don't wish to hijack this thread with personal agena. It is not necessary and is distracting to the matter at hand.

[alilister]

Attatude?

[Charles Moir]

OK guys enough with the pointless speculation, this is the position from the horses mouth.

No moderators have been fired or asked to leave.

Chris did not pretend to be a mod when he is not, so that argument is incorrect. In fact Chris broke no rule, but was banned. The mods objected to Chris' signature which pointed at his own website. The mods took a perceived slight at the wording of that sig when there was none. The rules allows for signatures to contain links, and always have done. It even allows for commercial links under certain circumstances. Chris website is not commercial but a real help to a great many Xara users (as a great many forum members have made clear). In our opinion his signature was and is fine. And so to ban one of the most helpful contributors was a step too far. We acted.

Xhris like the mods, does all this for no remuneration. He does it because he is a fan of the product and likes helping. As do the mods.

So when Xara supporters start fighting, which is what was happening, should we stand around and do nothing? Of course not. When we get growing complaints about the moderation of the forum should we sit back and ignore it? Of course not. Should we bring it to the attention of the mods issues we believe need attention? (After all we get the complaints the mods don't often see). Of course we should.

The banning of ANY significant contributor is a very serious step, no matter what the reason. So we have clarified that from now on banning of any significant contributor requires our approval. Nothing more. We also clarified that links to websites, especially ones that are helpful to Xara are OK and fine. (although we reserve the right to remove some links of course, e.g. to rude or abusive sites etc)

So all we did was point out that SOME moderation was poor. We pointed out that some posts, that were in our opinion perfectly legitimate and broke no rules were being deleted, so we were objecting to too much censoring.

So yes the moderators were moderated. So some of them have resigned their mod position as a result, but have suggested they would continue to contribute to the forum.

Xara has always had an extremely hands off stance when it comes to the moderation of the forum.

But very, very occasionally the mods are moderated, when we believe we absolutely have to to keep the smooth running of the forum. The banning of one of the most valued contributors is an example of where we interjected, and have clarified new moderator rules as a result.

Bill's argument that the mods do not have the authority to make decisions is absurd and misleading. They take and will continue to take thousands of day to day decisions on the smooth running of the forum. But to expect us to sit back and see Xara supporters fighting is not going to happen. Inevitably some will object to any decision we make. Unavoidable. No different that the many people who have been on the receiving end of the moderators actions (and just about everyone on the receiving end of moderation, whether good or bad, objects.)

I would point out that Xara does appreciate all the time and effort put into the forum by all the contributors. It's ridiculous to suggest we do not. We greatly appreciate the help from ALL the members and contributors, and we always have. The moderation of the forum has generally been excellent, but nothing is perfect and to expect total carte blanch control over the forums that we own and pay for is naive. Perhaps the fact our moderation has been so hands-off has exacerbated the surprise when we do have to act.

The fact some moderators decide to stop being a mod is not a disaster, or anything close. In fact they might regard it as a relief since it's a burden removed. Moderators change, as they have done for 15 years, new ones volunteer, old ones move on for a variety of reasons. The forum will carry on.

Charles

[alilister]

Sorry, this has come in miles down! Just amused by the spelling.

I'll shut up now.

[zee]

Charles,
Thank your very much for filling in the blanks.
Zee