Potential changes to the forum to prioritise good content, suggestions welcome...

[jcs]

As other have suggested or implied, and has been done on many other sites- recruit moderators to help you (I was, and apparently still am, a moderator at Cinema5D, however I don't have time to be an active moderator). Perhaps from your selected helpful contributor list, ask those folks to also be moderators, and give them the authority to warn users and delete/edit posts. I believe that's all you'll need to clean up the forums.

[noa]

One thing that needs to be said is that Andrew is often the one to lose it and resort to name calling and belittling people with different opinions. Whether justified or not, this behavior opens precedents and passes the message that it's fine to act like that around here.

Been following this blog for some time and also have seen the site owner being very rude towards some posters which ofcourse sets the tone for others to follow, you can't expect people to take you seriously then if you ask for "good attitude towards other members" :) 

 

Closing the forum and only allowing a handful of good proven users to contribute will also close the doors for any new users that might be providing any useful information, you might have contributors providing wrong information, but ofcourse no-one to contradict as you would rely solely on the knowledge of who you allow to speak up. 

 

I also think that the people you choose that will be able to contribute won't necessarily be the ones that provide the most useful information but the ones that don't disagree with you, it would be much better having other people help to moderate but be careful with moderation, I"d only delete content that has no added value, like personal attacks, but I'd leave every personal opinion in here, even if it's not your own. 

 

I think Bruno summarized it best with 

this is my blog I can do whatever I want" attitude needs to end for things to improve, or it will only snowball and get worse""

 

[etidona]

Not a bad idea Andrew, i second what SleepyWill wrote:

 

 I ask is that there is some public section, even if you never go there yourself to allow us newbies to prove ourselves and if some few of us prove to be the type of people you want, that we can be highlighted to you somehow and get access!

Maybe one can become a 1° class user with a certain amount of likes or with you direct approval.

Maybe the reader could choose if hide or show the 2° class posts/comments, or there could be 2 sections of the forum: one where only 1°class users can post, and one open to all. 

 

I think the moderator thing is not effective because the moderator can filter the rough, off topic or offensive posts, but cannot make a selection based on the interestingness.

[Bioskop.Inc]

You need some level headed moderators to help you out, as its obvious that you aren't really coping.

 

However, there does seem to be a rise in trolling, either for the fun of it or by arrogance or by accident!

Not just here but everywhere - loads of forums seem to have become very very angry places.

By trolling i mean derailing interesting posts (on purpose or not)  & disrespectful replies which are normally done by people who are know-it-alls or just want to be right all the time or just want an arguement. And this can & has come from a variety of posters new & old (or should i say respected?).

 

Also it would be nice to have a few extra stickies e.g. Andy Lee's Most useful lenses etc... or Lighting options on a budget (with examples of work done) etc...This could cut down on the repeated posts asking the same questions over & over & over again...

 

No more selling, but that's been tried before.

[dafreaking]

+1 for an ask Andy Lee sticky about lenses. 

[Andrew Reid]

I think I do need to take a bit of a break from the moderating. Anyone like to be nominated as a mod?

[Andrew Reid]

I subscribe to the 'evolution' theory above.

There are so many changes in the video market, one just can't google everything. I receive newsletters from Adobe, Avid, BMD, Apple, Panasonic, Sony, CreativeCow, NoFilmSchool, Wolfcrow and a bunch of german sites, but I learn faster and more from EOSHD.

Here is how it works: Andrew shovels in articles. People leave their comments, many in the way of dogs who set their marks on new trees. But very quickly you have a broad scope of opinions, of aspects. They aren't reliable, many aren't even on topic, but in the end, one knows more.

 

I subscribe to this to. I think I will leave the forum open to all but find ways to stop it going over the top, I think there's a balance between nature and nurture :)

[JohnBarlow]

I think I do need to take a bit of a break from the moderating. Anyone like to be nominated as a mod?

Andrew,

 

If it helps you with the load, I can offer my time and experience to moderate the Anamorphic Forum.

 

Having worked in the glass industry with three majors (including Pilkington Bros) and have offered good content in this area (about one in three of my posts get a like); my offer is on the table.

[HurtinMinorKey]

I think I do need to take a bit of a break from the moderating. Anyone like to be nominated as a mod?

 

I'd take a crack at it. 

[andy lee]

Im up for moderating a section on lenses and lighting ,

I'll even film examples to post on intersting topics people can do ,

if anyone is interested?

[JohnBarlow]

I would definitely support Andy Lees proposal as moderator on Lenses and Lighting, not only because he's a Northener like myself, but this forum needs this topic discussed.

[Flynn]

Im up for moderating a section on lenses and lighting ,

I'll even film examples to post on intersting topics people can do ,

if anyone is interested?

 

Yes please. And if there's someway to have two fairly comprehensive first posts on lenses and lighting pinned to the top of your section, as a sort of primer, that would be great. And I hope there will continue to be room for disagreement on the forum, as long as people don't act like jerks.

[andy lee]

and I do think John Barlow would be very good to moderate the anamorphic forum , ........ he is from Liverpool and I'm from Manchester.....(the North West lens Mafia) - hell we might even film something together !!- he's only 30 miles away!!!

[andy lee]

Sean Cunningham has alot of experience - one of the few people on this forum who has actually made an entire film from start to finish.....90 minuites is a very along time to fill!!!

Sean we need you too!

[JohnBarlow]

and I do think John Barlow would be very good to moderate the anamorphic forum , ........ he is from Liverpool and I'm from Manchester.....(the North West lens Mafia) - hell we might even film something together !!- he's only 30 miles away!!!

I am up for some shooting. ;)

 

North West Mafia, ha ha, don't forget the Triad connection :)

 

 

The arch is the largest outside of China and Liverpool’s Chinatown is the oldest in Europe.

 

[Sean Cunningham]

I appreciate it Andy.  I'm all for continued contribution but I'm also acutely self-aware and know cooler heads like yourself and HurtinMinorKey would make for much better moderators.  Depending on who was picked by Andrew would influence future participation in any capacity.

[Andrew Reid]

Perhaps you should  change the 'architecture' of your website. As it is now, you have your blog posts, with the comments on your blog posts in the forum. If you put those comments at the bottom of the blog post page, rather than in the forum, it will be easier for you to follow them, while at the same time being more 'detached' from the posts in the forum. A bit like Philip Bloom does it. He has a blog+comments, and a separate forum. He seldom or never participates in forum posts, but has some great moderators. 

 

Believe it or not I used to have comments on the bottom of the articles and the trolling was MUCH worse in that format.

[Andrew Reid]

Im up for moderating a section on lenses and lighting ,

I'll even film examples to post on intersting topics people can do ,

if anyone is interested?

 

I'll consider this for sure! I think it's a good idea... Will let you know.

[Andrew Reid]

Andrew,

 

If it helps you with the load, I can offer my time and experience to moderate the Anamorphic Forum.

 

Having worked in the glass industry with three majors (including Pilkington Bros) and have offered good content in this area (about one in three of my posts get a like); my offer is on the table.

 

Thanks John. I'll get back to you on it :)

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

Agree with the above.
Make few a few sub-forums, like suggested before, Lenses & Lighting, Camera gear, Stories & Inspiration, Screening Room, Anamorphic... only a few branches not crazy like dvxuser: it's a mess how many sub-forums are there! 

Each sub-forum would have a moderator that Andrew chooses that will have the option to delete comments and/or ban members who get involved in personal attacks and unacceptable behaviour. 

And a side idea: concerning the screening room, how about shifting attention to this section by adopting some sort of a little competition, like, each member can post something once every month, and each month Andrew chooses what he thinks is the best one, pushes it to the front page accompanied by his honest critique of the project. I think this small idea would help many small filmmakers get the exposure they deserve, and will even make people actually go out and make films and develop talent, which is all what this blog is about.