Ask a Webmaster- here's a chance to ask anything you've been wondering about!

[Froggyswife]

42.

Don't you just hate a know-it-all frog?

 

[tiggersmom2]

Why do some posts get points while others don't when they clearly deserve it?

Well, that is easy, because Kathy likes some of us more than others........

Don't hurt me Kathy, you know I love you.

I know you do!

 

[mickeyfan2]

1) How do you decide if a post it sarcastic, a minor personal attack or a major personal attack?

Kathy says: It's really a judgement call, and often in the eyes of the reader. Here are the guidelines I've given the moderators for these:

Argumentative/Sarcastic: for when posters are mildly snarky toward each other

Minor personal attack: for indirect or minor personal attacks, like, "Anyone who believes that is a stupid jerk."

Major personal attack: for direct or nasty personal attacks, like "You are a stupid jerk!"

There's a lot of interpretation involved, obviously.

2) Why not ask the person why they did it before awarding points. Sometimes the post was innocent. This did happen to me on a gay thread. Thankfully Rick was there and asked me rather than issue points. He did agree with me.

You can always discuss with the moderator afterward if you think the post was misinterpreted. The moderator can ask a webmaster to reverse an infraction (removing the points) if an error was made.

3) Why give points for a first offense for a signature?

Again, judgement call. Most first signature infractions get warnings.

4) Why are menstral flow, pubic hair, etc threads allowed?

I *hate* these, and we delete many of them. I'll never understand why some people insist on making "TMI" posts. We really, really, really don't need or want to see these. Maybe there should be a special infraction category just for them!

5) How do you make sure the person doing the reporting of a post is not out to get the poster?

Not sure exactly what you're asking here, but you can always send an email to the webmasters at admin@wdwinfo.com if you have concerns or questions. We do take these very seriously, and consider what's in the best interest of fairness for all.

 

[KathyTX]

Kathy-

Kudos for this thread; I like the idea of being able to ask questions in an open forum like this.

Personally, I was hoping for a little more detail beyond "Heck, no!" concerning the resurrection of the debate thread, so I'll start with that plea.

Second, I'm very curious, in the interests of learning what is acceptable and what isn't, why posts that earn penalty points aren't labeled as such. If those posts are deleted, is there a way of letting the thread now that an infraction is occured?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

The Debate Board was truly a nightmare to moderate. While there were a few true "debaters" who could discuss varying viewpoints respectfully and thoughfully, the threads much more often deteriorated into fights and mudslinging. It was a huge emotional and mental drain on the moderators who tried to keep peace there, and the ugliness from some of those threads spilled out onto other forums, too.

The mission and purpose of the DISboards is to provide a forum for trip planning for WDW and related destinations. As such, it should be a wholesome and family friendly site in keeping with that target audience and those destinations.

In the end, the owner of the DISboards, with the full support of the moderators and webmasters, determined that Debate Board really didn't add anything toward the purpose of DISboards and that the trouble and the chaos emanating from there were distractions that we did not need.

Honestly, the question of shutting down the Community Board gets batted around now and then when things there get ugly, for the same reasons. I don't see us shutting down the CB (as tempting as that may be on days when tensions are high), but there's no support at all among the DIS mods and webmasters to reopen the Debate Board.

The infraction question- you do have some good points about sharing information about posts that have earned points as educational examples if nothing else. We have to balance this with our desire to not openly share information about one poster with the rest of the world. This can lead to a lot of unnecessary public shame and ridicule... It's a difficult issue, but for now the right of individual posters to not have their business displayed for all wins out.

I will say that there are a LOT more warnings issued with no points than infractions that carry points.

 

[The Mayor]

Do you ever (or is there a way) check the IP addresses of new posters to see if they are alias screen names started merely to stir the pot so to speak...and if you do, are the aliases or the original screen names banned.

Sometimes, especially if the post seems to be an attempt at pot-stirring. If the poster has been banned, the new alias is banned. If the alias is not banned, all of the users names will earn points for any infractions made under any of that poster's names.

We really don't have a rule against multiple user names, but people need to realize that problems and infractions affect a person and all their aliases. We've had some real doozies protest that "I didn't misbehave under THIS username!" (Insert innocent "who, me?" face here.)

 

[KathyTX]

Have you guys ever figured out what the average age of the people who post on the CB is?

Ditto only where most of the posters live?

I've got a no points warning for posting a picture with a big file in my signature. I was having a blond moment. Will it ever go away?

Will we ever get some new smilies?

Can we please have a sub board for talking about TV shows. PLEASE! Sometimes it's really hard to find the threads.

Are you a Yankee or a Red Sox fan?

I don't know what the average Community Board age is, but I'd guess late thirties. Sounds like a good poll!

And I know our posters come from all over. I seem to notice a lot from Massachusetts, Florida, Texas and California. But we have lots from the UK, too.

When you get an infraction, it does have a time frame when it expires and those points will no longer be active. But the record of that infraction (or of warnings) will always be visible to you in your profile. That info is only available to you and the moderators/webmasters.

I don't know about the smilies- WebmasterCorey is our web design guru who makes that happen (along with many, many other duties.) If you have a special request for fun smilie or a suggestion for making that more useful or fun for other posters, drop him a PM!

A TV show thread sub forum... hmmm... an interesting idea!

I don't really have a passion for baseball at all. In Texas, it's all about football!

 

[KathyTX]

I am wondering the name your beagle and if he/she is involved? I have a lovely boy with a good personality that is looking to hook up

That's Jessie, and she's single. Her wants in a man: mellow, very low-key, loves to take long naps, long walks, bask in the sunshine, and willing to share his treats.

 

[darlak]

Why are some threads removed altogether, rather than closed? Can we get points for talking about a removed or magically disappeared thread, the same way we can for discussing a closed thread?

Kathy says:

If a thread is really ugly and shouldn't be read (profanity, outrageous fighting, etc.), then it's best for it to disappear. If a thread had some redeeming value but ran it's course and there's no real offensive content, a lock is sufficient.

We don't allow posters to restart a thread that's been closed, that's where the fine line is. When a thread's been closed or deleted, there's really no good reason that comes to mind right now to continue discussing it, unless the poster's trying to resurrect it.

Do you take action in the form of either points or a warning for the infraction of sarcastic/argumentative whenever someone complains, even if you don't personally find the post in question to be sarcastic or argumentative?

Absolutely not! We get lots of reports that we, as moderators, determine do not cross any line that deserves points. Sometimes posters report other posters just because they do not like them, or because they disagree with their views. We also get a lot of reports along the lines of "You might want to keep an eye on this thread in case it gets ugly."

We do investigate every post that gets reported, but I'd guess that we decide to take action on only about half of the reports.

How does rafiki, rafiki, rafiki know so much?

Ah. Ms. Rafiki is a wise and mysterious one!


ETA: I know I have a rather high post count to have only been here since March, but it's not because I just try to rack up my count with one word posts. I just happen to have an opinion on lots of topics.

LOL! Point taken!

 

[The Mayor]

Next time you come to a Mass Dis meet would you be scared if I showed up and bought a round of drinks

Actually, I might rather have you buy me a Guinness!

 

[KathyTX]

Also we had a thread on the DIS Meets board that was moved to the CB for basically being "too chatty/social and not enough planning". But since then I have noticed several threads that are chat threads on other boards. So I'm wondering why we were moved, and other chatty/social threads are allowed to remain on those boards?

We just try to do the best we can to put threads on the boards where they make the most sense and/or the least disruptive. Again, as a relatively small team of volunteers on a very large forum, we don't always see every issue.

Also, some forums are more suited to Community Board type threads than others. Some forums have very specific trip planning topics, and we want to be sure that the visitors who come to our boards for trip planning information can find that easily.

 

[MsDisney23]

Am I allowed to ask other folks on the boards to join me in TP Pop Daddy place???


ROFL!!! Be sure to post photos!

 

[mickeyfan2]

If a person reports a post that is months old, why would the mods give points. Seems there should be a time limit on violating posts.

There's really not a time limit, but we don't get a lot of reports on old posts.

 

[darlak]

The infraction question- you do have some good points about sharing information about posts that have earned points as educational examples if nothing else. We have to balance this with our desire to not openly share information about one poster with the rest of the world. This can lead to a lot of unnecessary public shame and ridicule... It's a difficult issue, but for now the right of individual posters to not have their business displayed for all wins out.

I will say that there are a LOT more warnings issued with no points than infractions that carry points.

Feel free to use me as an example, even though I only have a couple of warnings. Heck, I'm in the full throes of menopause, so there's no way you can begin to publicly "shame and ridicule" me as much as I publicly shame and ridicule myself at least weekly.

BTW...I know I've sometimes been sarcastic/argumentative when I didn't get a warning for it. Does that mean you just didn't see it, or were ya just being nice?

Could be either, or both!

 

[slk537]

Is there a significance to the colors of our tags or are they random?

Completely random, at the whim of the Tag Fairy that day!

Yup -- totally random

 

[KathyTX]

I just have one question about the history of the DIS boards. It seems that when I started, the DIS was just one big board without categories. Then at some point, the separate boards happened (theme parks, resturants, etc.) Am I imagining this? Or if it really did happen, when was that switch?

Nope, you're not imagining! The DIS has gone through lots of changes since Pete started it. For the best details and a very entertaining trip down memory lane, grab your headphones and let Pete tell you the story in his own words!

Go to this page for a list of Podcast broadcasts: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-podcast/archives.htm

Start with the April 3 Podcast, and then listen to the May 1 Podcast. Pete talks about the History of the DIS on these days. You don't need any special software or to download anything, just click the "Listen Now" buttons.

You'll enjoy this- I promise!

 

[L107ANGEL]

Am I allowed to ask other folks on the boards to join me in TP Pop Daddy place???

NOW you ask

 

[lovetoscrap]

Sorry, I can't help much with Search.

My PM's also show up in my email box, and I often see and read them there instead of in my PM box.

I do this too

Sorry about that- overworked and overwhelmed is my only excuse! I'll go back and check those.

I just checked the count in my PM box. It's currently over 7300. Sometimes, I just scan for the ones that are really easy to take care of and leave the ones that require thought or action for later...

Thanks. I was getting a complex and thinking you just hated me and had me on ignore. In fact the last message I sent asked if you were ticked off at me!

 

[lovetoscrap]

Maybe I will change my siggy to 'Dont Drink And POST...EVER" in your honor!

Yeah, cause you never know when things you post under the influence of drink or REALLY good pain killers might end up in your tag.
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[pfishgirl]

I sorta skimmed through the questions so I hope this wasn't already answered..


Do you know the Disname of the person who has the most Posts?

Right now it appears to be "David Letterman" with over 700,000. I'm suspecting a Post Count Fairy might have been tampering with that a bit.

I do know that there have been some software crashes over the years that reset everyone's post counts.

 

[Toot Sweet]

This thread is most informative!


1) Are there pictures anywhere of the mods? Just curious.

Kathy says:

Hmmm... not very many. It might not be pretty.

2) When you do need new mods, would you consider holding and election of sorts on the appropriate board?

We haven't done this before. The selection of new mods is entirely up to the existing moderators and webmasters.

3) Does Webmaster Pete ever respond to threads and give his opinion like a regular poster? I don't think I have ever seen him around the boards.

He does! Check out the DIS UnPlugged Podcast Forum. Pete's posted quite a bit lately on that forum.

4) Do the mods ever have WDW meets?

Whenever a few of us happen to be there at the same time!

Thanks!