Moderators / Xhris dispute

[ss-kalm]

Unbelievable!

I know that Egg said he would still be around, just not as a moderator, but Bill implies that he will no longer be around. This is a very sad day ......

[Xhris]

Hi, just to let people know I am still available on the forums to help as I can. The help material I've made for people will always be available on my website, and the videos are all still on my YouTube page (where I can also be contacted for further help). There is a new help video on there too which I hope people find useful. I'll continue to post this stuff for everyone.

[Soquili]

Frances my goodbye means I will not be actively participating in the forums as in the past. I'm online now to reply to several PMs for which I have received email notifications.

Being a moderator requires the ability to make decisions. Xara has decided that moderators will no longer have that authority.

Spending hours of my free time is no longer desirable if I cannot be assured decisions will be upheld.

[gwpriester]

There has been some concern expressed by Xara (who as you know, makes TalkGraphics possible), that the moderators have acted inappropriately both in the recent banning of a member as referenced by the title to this thread, but also in respect to dealing most recently with a new member who in the opinion of the moderators was behaving in an openly hostile and disruptive manner.

I am not going to go into specifics. I think the fact that Xhris has been reinstated tells you who prevailed.

But I want to point out a few things about the TalkGraphics moderating staff.

All of the TalkGraphics moderators are volunteers. They don't get paid. Most give up a generous amount of their personal time moderating these conferences. If you look at the number of posts made by Steve, for example, who is the head moderator, the count is in excess of 15,000. And Steve shares his considerable knowledge not only in the Xara forums, but in the other forums as well. Steve's duties extend well beyond his appearance in the forums. He spends a fair amount of time each week behind the scenes making sure the mechanical part of the forums are running smoothly. All of the other moderators have logged similar numbers of posts. I may be wrong, but I do not think any of the moderators, with the exception of John, are employees of Xara or Magix.

User conferences are an invaluable resource used today by most software companies to provide free tech support. Questions are generally answered correctly and in a timely manner. And because the moderators are all volunteers, the cost to the software companies is a fraction of what it would cost if they "off shored" their tech support.

But more importantly, in my opinion, forums such as TalkGraphics go beyond tech support. They becomes virtual communities that bond users together and for many of us, become a special place where we can get together with our virtual friends and share our common interests.

I believe that some of the moderators think there has not been enough gratitude shown by Xara for all of the hard work and personal time they spend helping others with their questions and sharing their excellent tips and tricks with the community. Too often as long as things are running smoothly it is a case of out of sight, out of mind.

Xhris is certainly a valuable member of this community and his extensive knowledge of Xara and his video tutorials are an excellent resource.

But Xhris is just one of a large number of people who generously, 24/7 have given hundreds of hours of their time to help out Xara, the moderators.

I am sure that I am being overly dramatic here, and I am sure that Xara really does appreciate the contributions of people like Steve, Egg, Bill and all the other moderators. But being British, perhaps they just have a hard time expressing it.

Bill (soquili), you have been a good and loyal friend to this community and you will be sorely missed. I do not think it is widely known that you hold down a full time job and yet still found time to contribute your warmth, time and talent to helping out others. I think I speak for the rest of the community when I say, I wish you all the best will miss your generosity, your contributions and your friendship.

TalkGraphics will continue and in time I am sure all of this will be water under the bridge. In the words of Cecil, "We will shoulder on!"

[zaphodeist]

Thank you for expanding on the situation Gary.

"They become virtual communities that bond users together and for many of us, become a special place where we can get together with our virtual friends and share our common interests."

How true of TG. And - with due respect elsewhere - without yourself, Bill, Egg and Steve [the amount of accessible help and solutions he gives every day is phenomenal!] 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 along with all the other programs I haven't the nous to fathom by myself - and I'm certain I'm not alone in this. Moreover - and it may sound trite, but -TG is family: I hope you're right and that won't change, but at the moment I'm a bit too sad [and angry at Xara for not letting mods mod!] to foresee.

If you think that's a bit too dramatic, I don't apologise ... it's the way I feel right now.

[Drwyd]

A sad day. Much has been lost and little gained.

[gidgit]

hmmm... two more good mods hanging em up early... sad indeed...

[samrc]

I came to the forum today to see discussion of the v6 that was just released only to find this thread and it saddens me.

Most software forums are populated by volunteers that help to further the program. Some do it from pure enjoyment of the software itself, others for the pleasure of helping others.

Xara makes quality products. No doubt about that.

But the support given freely on this forum has tipped the scale for many people. It strongly contributes to the repeat/upgrade sales. Appreciation for the products multiplies with the understanding of the features/benefits.

The people that help most are important to the products themselves. There are techniques demonstrated, defined, explained on this forum, found no where else by people that understand and use the products to their limits. The caliber of support provided by Xhris, Bill, Egg has been outstanding and to lose any of them on a regular basis will impact this forum, this line of products. I have been personally and professionally impacted by them. Thank you for giving of your self, your knowledge, your time to make these programs better, make our experiences better.

Sad day.

[angelize]

I want to lend my voice in support of our TG moderators!! We need to support them all we can. Xara please do whatever it takes to get them back! Because if we loose any more mods other members who contribute so much will soon follow.

Is it really worth it to lose Bill, Egg, Steve, Gary and possibly more over one person with only about 1700 posts?

[handrawn]

Hi Neil

thanks for the thread, and the clarification

its good to know there is a court of appeal

right or wrong the outcome [I know not which as I do not have the detail] it is always good to see due process in a situation

but yes it is a sad day

Sorry to see you go too Bill as moderator and I must echo all the grateful thanks that have been justly given to all the moderators

but, at the end of the day, helpfulness and moderating are really two separate things

moderation here has always struck me as rather ad-hoc and clique-ish

if clear rules are to be applied to members, I see no problem in the rule enforcers having clear rules too [though it depends on what they are of course]