That would require edits, and we have mods on almost 24/7 already.

People are called stupid for not reading stickies about modding.

Nobody uses the report button. Besides me.

I agree with Control. WizardJames, you should be nothing but a technical admin, but with all power, it appears that you have been corrupted into a "Lord James" (to cite your avatar). Your job is NOT to moderate the forums, but to make sure that PHPBB3 isn't acting up and that everything works in the forums.

I may not be a extremely active member, but I think the decisions suggested within this topic should be voted on by users and for users, and not just lackadaisically implemented into the forums to give one person "what he wants". After all, every suggestion and decision made here has the potential to affect users like me and I should be able to decide on what things I do and do not want to be implemented, or at least be some part of the decision making process.

But also like ProjektTHOR said (apparently not in this post), we need a sort of constitution. A document that clearly states what the powers of admins and other administrative users are, thereby clearly defining their privileges and limitations so we no longer have problems with "unfair admins". It's not that they're being unfair, it's that no user can find a clear base for what admins can or cannot do. With a constitution, you can say "No, it is clearly defined here in these rules that I can do this because of rule x and you agreed to this when you joined the forums." I also think that once such a constitution is drawn up that we force all users to agree to the document so that there are no conflicts in the future. Finally, this forum should not become a socialistic forum, where admins threaten users with their administrative powers for their social behavior. Believe me, I love good spelling and grammar as much as any other forum user, but I believe that the only purpose of the administration should be to protect the rights of its users and maintain the forums, specifically fixing technical problems. This is not to say that we cannot promote good habits, such as not flaming users and good English, but that we should not back up our promotions with threats of banning and thread locking. I cannot come up with the exact language in which to define bannable social offenses, but I think something along the lines of "If another user (or users) is attacking or limiting the rights of another user, then they may be banned." should work.

I agree with Daman as well, in that we do not need more administrative figures. There really is nothing wrong with the forums right now and the last thing we need is loons with power. If anything, this should be a democratic process at the least and a republic process at the most (ie: Admins will elect a new admin if they receive enough complaints and if they feel a new one is needed.) In other words, I hate the "LOL GIVE ME ADMIN" people and I think I should be able to decide on who administrates my posts and threads.

There is nothing wrong with the forums at this moment, only with the politics ruling them. When we're banning people like ProjektTHOR, who in my opinion was one of the most fair and intelligent moderators I've seen, because people like purple moan to Data about how "horribly" THOR was treating him, I think "What the hell is wrong with the administrative body here?" To sum it up: Make the forum better by allowing the people to make the decisions that affect them, and not putting such a power in the hands of a select few.

Power will always be held by the few, due to certain things the forum is best run in a rather undemocratic manner.

Most notably that the agenda here is clear and not going to change.

it seems to me that that is the problem. i've been lurking in this forum for ages for mods, but i recently decided to join and post my two cents about all this hubbub.

i hate to ask the staff: "why arent you all willing to change?" you seem to notice the inherent corruption issue but are unwilling to fix it because it would create a minor power vacuum.

the agenda only appears concrete because the people in control have no means or motivation to change it. it seems that the staff here likes the current political status (i hate to think of it that way--political) and the power balance.

i dont see why steps cant be taken to democratize the community a bit.

Well, right now I'm seeing the foundations of another forum revolution... those are always fun.

Basically, I don't post much. I don't mod anymore. I'll probably get the next build as soon as it comes up and I might become more active, but i doubt it. Forum politics have been quite interesting for a while now, and all I can really say anymore is that the forum members tend to fail at forcing change and the administration tends to be rather harshly regulated from the top down. I don't see much reason for a change in policy. The only thing that I think would definitely help right now is a simple announcement with a list of bans and such and the REASON why it was given. The main problem these days is a lack of info, and people tend to speculate and things run out of control that way. So long as we have a list of bans and reasons, we'll have a much clearer idea of what will get you banned and why those people deserved the ban. They're not posted to be debated, they're posted to inform. I see NO reason to discontinue the current hierarchy as it is, but I do think that the general user should be better informed of the what, who, and why when it comes to disciplinary action. There's no point in suggesting change until we know how things currently are and, thus, how they should improve.

The only "inherent corruption" left is/was just the misguided attempts by WJ, all of the mods that were "corrupt" have been de-modded. The circumstances of their demodding isn't important now.
As for the democracy bit, direct democratic practices only tend to work in smaller communities, and this forum has become far from small. Perhaps for some big decisions there could be a vote, but to vote on everything isn't practical.

As of now, here's what I think we need done:

-Give users the ability to lock (but not unlock) their own topics.
-Up all current lower mods to global. We've got three global right now, and none of them are online much.
-Give users back control over their signatures.
-Write clear rules regarding what can/can't be done in every section.
-Set up guidelines as to what flaming, necroing, etc. are.
-A necro rule that discerns what a "good" and "bad" necro are. "Good" being constructive criticism, "bad" being "hay nice mod." If bad, topic is locked, lest the owner requests opening only if they have something to contribute. An update, for example.
-Enforcement of a warning-to-permaban system, like warning, 1 day ban, 2 day ban, 3 day ban, permaban.
-What FF said, a thread showing banned users and why. A locked thread.
-An understanding among users that even though rules are strict guidelines, they can be subject to change depending on the nature of the situation.
-More people learning to report instead of re-flame.

But, most of all:

We need to do it now. Weekend is here, new build isn't so there's no distractions. If we're gonna do this, it should be done NOW.

Sounds to me like Control hit it right on the head. But I think the most important thing on that list is the item about not re-flaming. Just suck it up, shut yer yapper, and hit that report button.

-Give users the ability to lock (but not unlock) their own topics. // By default, not possable, Making a mod to do such, wouldnt be that hard, just time consuming
-Up all current lower mods to global. We've got three global right now, and none of them are online much. // If i were to do that, I would have to change what access global mods have, Right now, theres little change from admin and global mod.
-Give users back control over their signatures. // I did this like.. 2 weeks ago?
-Write clear rules regarding what can/can't be done in every section.// Sure, Get someone to do it.
-Set up guidelines as to what flaming, necroing, etc. are.// Fair enough, and a harsh punshment when breaking the rules for those
-A necro rule that discerns what a "good" and "bad" necro are. "Good" being constructive criticism, "bad" being "hay nice mod." If bad, topic is locked, lest the owner requests opening only if they have something to contribute. An update, for example.
-Enforcement of a warning-to-permaban system, like warning, 1 day ban, 2 day ban, 3 day ban, permaban.// Could do that, by people who are able to ban. after writin up. in how many warnings you get.
-What FF said, a thread showing banned users and why. A locked thread. \\ Sounds fair, we got something like that in the moderters forum , a public one isnt all that bad, and i did that once in another site i used to admin
-An understanding among users that even though rules are strict guidelines, they can be subject to change depending on the nature of the situation.
-More people learning to report instead of re-flame. Duh

Also need to be more harsh on people who break the rule when banned, people who make a new account. I am sick of that, and next time someone does that, they are going to get a mail to there ISP.

Sounds good. Now who's going to make that list of rules, and will it get voted on and if so, but who?

Update

[=============================Flaming & ban============================]

- constructive criticism is welcome

- Every one is subject to flaming, excessive flaming will result in a step up the ban scale. Please try to stick to constructive criticism

- Any racist, sexist, ect. comment is an auto step up the ban scale

- The ban scale is a 5 strikes-your-out system:
1. Warning
2. 1 Day ban
3. 2 Day ban
4. 3 Day ban
5. 1 Week ban
6. Permaban(i mean it)

- report, not re-flame

[===========================Signatures & avatars==========================]

- Signature is to have no more than 3-5 lines of text(normal size), 1-2 pictures(no more than 450 x 120 is allowed for the pictures)

- Any racist, sexist, ect. in a signatures or avatars is to be remove by an admin and the person will receive a step up the ban scale

- Avatars are to be no bigger than 120 x 120 and no larger than 10 kb

[==================================Mods===================================]

- Any mods that are 100% complete are to be posted in the mods section

- The mod help section is to post projects and help

- Please, if your situation pertains to it, post in the stickied topics

- Any direct copying or plagiarism is to be locked //this rule is open to discussion

[==================================Moderators============================]

- Do not ask to be a mod or you will never be one

- Moderators must fallow all rules, upon breaking a rule the will take a step up the MD later(Moderator Demote)

- Moderators can not get a ban, instead they have a 3 strike-your-out system

- The Moderator demote system:
1. moderator will have his/her privileges taken away for 1 Day
2. moderator will have his/her privileges taken away for 3 Day
3. moderator will be demoted

- If a moderators abuses his power he will take a step up on the MD system

Straight from 3 day ban to PermaBan seems a bit excessive, go from 3 days to 5 days to week, then PermaBan.

Update

[=============================Flaming & ban============================]

- constructive criticism is welcome

- Every one is subject to flaming, excessive flaming will result in a step up the ban scale. Please try to stick to constructive criticism

- Any racist, sexist, ect. comment is an auto step up the ban scale

- The ban scale is a 5 strikes-your-out system:
1. Warning
2. 1 Day ban
3. 2 Day ban
4. 3 Day ban
5. 1 Week ban
6. Permaban(i mean it)

- report, not re-flame

[===========================Signatures & avatars==========================]

- Signature is to have no more than 3-5 lines of text(normal size), 1-2 pictures(no more than 450 x 120 is allowed for the pictures)

- Any racist, sexist, ect. in a signatures or avatars is to be remove by an admin and the person will receive a step up the ban scale

- Avatars are to be no bigger than 120 x 120 and no larger than 10 kb

[==================================Mods===================================]

- Any mods that are 100% complete are to be posted in the mods section

- The mod help section is to post projects and help

- Please, if your situation pertains to it, post in the stickied topics

- Any direct copying or plagiarism is to be locked //this rule is open to discussion

[==================================Moderators============================]

- Do not ask to be a mod or you will never be one

- Moderators must fallow all rules, upon breaking a rule the will take a step up the MD later(Moderator Demote)

- Moderators can not get a ban, instead they have a 3 strike-your-out system

- The Moderator demote system:
1. moderator will have his/her privileges taken away for 1 Day
2. moderator will have his/her privileges taken away for 3 Day
3. moderator will be demoted

- If a moderators abuses his power he will take a step up on the MD system

-Give users the ability to lock (but not unlock) their own topics. // By default, not possable, Making a mod to do such, wouldnt be that hard, just time consuming //Oh well, nevermind that then.

-Up all current lower mods to global. We've got three global right now, and none of them are online much. // If i were to do that, I would have to change what access global mods have, Right now, theres little change from admin and global mod. //Guess you should go change that. Maybe it could be like, Global = Ban, edit/delete/move/lock in all sections, Admin = Global powers, but can alter users' status (avatar, sig, etc.), Tech Admin: All that, plus forumhax

-Give users back control over their signatures. // I did this like.. 2 weeks ago? //Orly? Nevermind then.

-Write clear rules regarding what can/can't be done in every section.// Sure, Get someone to do it. //On it, using a few of tosty's ideas (good call on those, tosty.)

-Enforcement of a warning-to-permaban system, like warning, 1 day ban, 2 day ban, 3 day ban, permaban.// Could do that, by people who are able to ban. after writin up. in how many warnings you get. //Needs to have more people able to ban for that to work, having to PM to someone every time a ban is needed isn't very efficient. This being the main reason for the second bullet's suggestion.

Thank you