I've always been suprised at how well these forums have operated in terms of self-moderation. In general it seems to be a civil and reasonable community but i've been noticing a decline in general etiquette recently.

Do you think we need more moderation? Possibly with warnings or temporary bans?

Membership continues to grow, and with it come more people who may be used to the "wild west" approach that is tolerated on some other forums.

My approach is to be as hands-off as possible. I assume that the people here are intelligent adults and try and treat them that way. We all get carried away sometimes, and I have no desire to be a policeman, and sometimes things which likely shouldn't have been said in print, are.

But good manners are expected, and anyone that continuously abuses the freedom of this board will be summarily banned.

Michael

Michael,

One method used on some other sites is for the web site owner to delegate moderation to a set of 'trusted' members. Uwe does this on his DOP forums. That seems like a good way to un-burden yourself from watching the day-to-day cut and thrust of forum posts. Just an idea.

Anyway, this is a very high quality site, and thanks for keeping it running.

Regards,

Alan

Nope. Short of someone yelling fire in the preverbal theater, there's no reason.

Moderation is what killed or ruined so many forums. Michael's method is what has made this IMHO, the best forums for photo and imaging on the web. If it ain't broken...

Some days it's come very close to being broken.

You're of course welcome to that opinion. Obviously most don't find that to be the case or they leave and move on.

Some like to use the term moderation, others prefer to use the term censorship. Its a fine line. That line here seems to be well defined.

Couldn´t agree with you more; not only is it nice to be treated as capable adults, it is also pleasant, now and then, to be able to wander off topic and follow the call of serendipity and go where it might lead. Can´t enjoy those interesting little meanders if a Mr Censor keeps waving his roadmap...

Rob C

To underline my point: Michael has just closed the debate on Heathrow; although being part of that debate, I see perfectly clearly why he has acted to say STOP.

That should prove to anyone with doubts that we already have a perfectly functioning system of checks and balances.

Ciao - Rob C

Add my vote with Rob's. Keep it as it is. Yes, there are times when it gets overheated but most of the time, it settles itself out and people get on with their life.

An absence of moderation, or an absence of people behaving like adults made i.e. dpreview's forums a complete waste of time.

I hope this doesn't happen here.

My VOTE goes to keep it as it is!