lockage epidemic

I suggest the peoblem with problem posts and problem posters could largely be eradicated by requiring registration.

Another solution might be to list ips, or even block problem ips from posting?

I for one think no subject should be off limits unless it violates some fundamental of the site (like stock tipping or advertising).
A better solution would be quality control enforced through deletion and sanctions as above.

Then again, it's not my site and I don't do any of the work.

I'd be more concerned with deleting entire posts to be honest. This seems a little OTT to me.

IP addresses can only be tracked if your ip doesn't change.
Forcing people to register has come up before and I believe that it's not Brendan's wish to force people to register for various reasons. Seems fair.

Editing (not deleting) offensive posts would seem to be the logical way forward.

Fair points and constructive feedback is always welcome. Mandatory registration has been considered in the past but was collectively rejected by the moderators. This does not mean that it might not be considered or even adopted as policy in the future. I don't remember IP address disclosure ever being discussed by I personally would be wary of introducing this due to the eroding effects it would have on anonymity for those people who value it (a large and increasing number of contributors are posting through fixed and traceable IP addesses). In relation to what is or is not acceptable material this has always been a bit contentious and the posting guidelines and editorial policy reflect the current thinking although they don't explictly list "religious" discussions even though some of these were deemed unsuitable recently. I don't by any means speak for Brendan or the moderators collectively but hopefully this post will give you some insight into how we have tried to keep AAM on some sort of even keel over the years...

Editing (not deleting) offensive posts would seem to be the logical way forward.

Yes - but sometimes the problem is that a particularly prolific and/or nefarious contributor crops up and reviewing and moderating individual posts would simply take up too much of the moderators' (voluntary) time and effort so the easiest thing to do is to delete or lock the whole topic. It's not ideal and thankfully it usually happens rarely (it's just coincidental that there seem to have been a larger number of incidents than usual recently) but it's the best approach that we've been able to come up with to date.

BTW, I was amazed that the 'War On Terror' post ran for so long considering some of the things that were being posted there.

Personally, that's the type of thing AAM needs moderators for (ie...to delete offensive remarks in people's posts).

BTW, I was amazed that the 'War On Terror' post ran for so long considering some of the things that were being posted there.

Speaking personally again, I wasn't following that "discussion", and only dropped in around page eight to discover that it had gone to (or maybe started with?) the dogs and that a small number of contributors seemed to be using many different aliases for no good reason at which point I decided that it was best to close it. Perhaps the other moderators weren't keeping tabs on it either?

I wonder how long 'til this post gets locked?

Brendan's comments from post..."they resulted in blasphemous, offensie and nonsense responses" would seem to suggest that if you have people making offensive remarks about a subject, ban the subject instead of delete the remarks.

Seems crazy to me...but then that's just my opinion. I don't own the site and I fully understand the voluntary nature of moderators and (on the whole) what a good job they do.

But, just to re-iterate, it would seem that the simple solution is to delete a post (not a topic) where offensive remarks are being made, thus allowing a proper debate to continue.

?????

Yes - one of those who hasn't registered



Have I missed something???? ClubMan's back?

Re: ?????

Yes - one of those who hasn't registered

I presume you mean that you're one of the contributors who prefers not to register and/or values anonymity?

Have I missed something???? ClubMan's back

Careful now or I might have to employ my moderator powers!