Journal posts delay: a possible answer?
 

I know I bust people's balls here about the length of time it takes to approve journal posts, but it really hasn't got any better. I also know I've been submitting more entries at once and so that makes the work that much harder, but as I mentioned, my policy of submitting, waiting for approval then submitting does not seem to be working as even one post is taking up to three days to be posted. As a result my journal now has, today, three posts saying, in order, "five/four/three days to Metal Month", which looks silly.

Annnyhooo...

My possible solution. Is it at all doable to make certain people "semi-mods", or even mods, simply and solely for the purpose of allowing us to approve our own journal posts? I know this was brought up in another form in another thread, discussed very briefly and dropped, the contention being that it would have to go through the admins, who never allow any changes. But if certain people were allowed the "powers" or "power" of mods, to only approve their own journal requests, would this not alleviate the workload and also stop annoying bastards like me hassling yiz all the time?

Is this possible? Acceptable? Off the wall? Out of my tree? Any comments?

My post count is only going to get more regular from next week as I plough into "Metal Month" and I really don't want to break the flow, so if it's possible to set this up by then it would be great. Other than that, it's back to asking whoever has taken on this responsibility to please try to ensure journal posts are approved in a timely manner, say 24 hours after being submitted.

See, you can say "why don't you do this and see how hard it is?" but I'm actually saying I will, or would, if given the powers. I don't want to be a mod --- and I know a lot of people would prefer I wasn't one --- but if I, and others who need the authority, could do this, would it not be worth looking at?

Thanks for listening; hope to hear some replies back.
And now, I go back to whatever it is I do!
TH

I'm not sure if that's possible or not, but we can look into it.

Sorry you've had delays that long. I can't speak for other mods, but I'll personally try to make an effort to check the approval queue on a daily basis moving forward.

Thanks Jansz! Appreciate it.
It wasn't just me though: a whole slew of entries just appeared there about two hours ago, with nothing prior to that since about three days ago. I know it's tough and everyone has their priorities, I'd just like to see my entries come up a little sooner.
Thanks again
TH

I'm sure someone checked the queue and approved them all at the same. That's why they appeared all at once. If I'm checking once a day everything should at least be approved with 24 hours of being submitted.

Oh yeah, I understand that. I'm just saying it wasn't just mine that weren't being approved, there was a list of them. I guess others aren't so anal about their journals, but I'm a little obssessive about mine! ;)

The easiest solution would be to make Trollheart a mod just for the journals. He lives in the journal section and is there all the time. So it seems logical that he should be the one to approve the entries, which would be done asap.

I agree with what he's said regarding journal entry delays. There have been times where I've posted a journal post and then a few days later have prepared to submit another, only to delay it as the previous entry still hadn't be approved.

That was me, lol. I don't normally check on Fridays because I'm at work and not supposed to be lingering around here, and I was in class the previous two days. I don't worry about it because I know there are other mods who can check the queue, but evidently not...

I'm on my phone most of the time but whenever I'm on my computer I will make sure to check bb!

Why is it not possible to create a new usergroup, edit the permissions for the usergroup (so for example here, your posts wouldn't need to be approved) then just put members over a certain post count into it? Trusted posters go in to it. Don't see the problem tbh.

I'm not really arsed but it seems like a proper ballache for TH and I know creating usergroups with specific permissions is possible, I'm just unsure if it's possible on this forum.

You don't need to make anyone a mod and users can't abuse any power by being put into the new usergroup.

Win-win imo.

I don't think it's hard to do, like we could make a new user group for people who have 500+ posts or something. It's a suggestion we would have to submit to the admins as that is their domain.

Cheers BD.

I would prefer this but anything involving admin is usually a no go

Just to pass on a note of thanks, as all my recent entries have been approved very quickly. Thanks to all and hopefully I won't have to moan again.

Thanks!
TH

It's nice to see that bitching can enact real change.

After I stepped down as mod (where my journal entries did not require any approval) this was the first thing I really noticed. The queue doesn't get checked often. I feel as though I checked it quite frequently, but to be honest this could easily be inaccurate. Chances are I was just as guilty as other mods.

Mods can handle the queue without having to create any other usergroups, it just requires more consideration for how annoying it is to require moderation, and getting into the habit of checking it frequently. I'm sure our mods are more than happy to accept the feedback and act on it, and given their responses so far this certainly seems the case.

However if it is possible to give Trollheart those permissions on the Journal forum, I personally think he's the perfect man for the job. He cares about it more than anyone else.

I know that not everyone is familiar with the mod panel, but that thing is awesome and makes this particular task hella easy.

Yep, I go in there and just select them all in one click. I just skim over the posts (we can see sneak peeks in the control panel) so the crap can be weeded out. And voila.

Trollheart, have things improved in terms of frequency of approved journal entries? I have approved a whole lot today, I'm really not sure how often the list is checked by mods. Most of our work doesn't require us to enter the system separate from the forum itself.

Hiya Jess! :)
To be honest, in the last few days things have slowed down considerably, though of course I understand that has a lot to do with my posting more this month than others. Thanks for approving those you already have done.

I still feel a little reticent (Hopefully that reticent won't put in a complaint against me: it was just a little touch!) about updating too frequently, as I feel I'm putting mods under pressure, and keep expecting to get a PM saying "For the love of all that's holy, stop updating!!!"

I'd love to be able to approve posts (just mine, or all those making journals) if that were possible. I just feel I'm either being a nuisance with too many updates or else not updating as much in case I become a nuisance. Bit of a catch 22...

But to answer your original question, initially posts were being approved quite quickly but I have noticed a few being delayed. Nothing major --- 24 hours or so --- but when I have so much to post it kind of holds me back a little. I know: poor me! :rolleyes:

Thanks for checking in though, and if there's anything that can be done to give me the option of approving my own posts I'd really appreciate it.

Hope to talk to you again soon; videos of my cats on the way! ;)
TH

I will come on more often and make sure it's getting approved. I know a lot of mods are really busy with their lives and I'm studying only so have a bit more free time. I just spent an hour correcting ten pages of new threads and posts to ensure they are in the right places or are deleted for uselessness.

P.s. I will PM you tomorrow, I'm just off to sleep, it'd 3.30am!

Very much appreciated Jess, though I don't want to be giving you another thing to worry about. Hope you're not studying too hard; I did think wow that's late for her to be up!

Thanks again.
TH
:)

This isn't in response to journal posts delaying, but why is spam getting through?

For example, TH's psychic albums thread: http://i40.tinypic.com/1621e6r.png

It's good to be quick, but at least LOOK if it's spam or not. It's not the first time it's happened.

I think trollheart should just be a god damned mod. The guy is like a forum superhero with perfect grammar anyways, and put 110% effort int all his posts.

I totally agree with you. He puts in more effort than any mod I've seen in the the past week.

I'm pretty sure he has said he doesn't want to be one but appreciates that people think he'd make a good mod.

A lot of our work is behind the scenes. Deleting massive amounts of spam before it clogs the forums, mostly.

If th was mod he could just worry about journals and no other mod responsibilitie


Much kudos to mods tho my journal has been updated very quickly

TH isn't going to be a mod give it a rest guys.

I agree. He is admired by many and would a good mod for that reason, if situation presented itself for him to be a mod.

Thanks again guys but as I mentioned once or twice, honoured though I am to be thought of, I simply wouldn't be able to devote the same amount of time to my various journals, to say nothing of looking after my sis, if I were to shoulder the extra responsibility of becoming a mod. Add to that the fact that there are at present no vacancies and it's just wasted (though certainly appreciated) effort on your part.

I am not someone who would take on a job and give it less than 100%, so unless I were able to do that, should the opportunity present itself and should I be asked, I would not want to be a mod. Mind you, I'd love to know what goes on in that mod cave of theirs? Ungodly, secret rites perhaps? Mass orgies? Ping-pong tournaments, even? I could be the "spy in the huddle"... :shycouch:

Seriously thanks guys but the mods here do a great job and I don't think they're looking for any staff as it were. If they were, there are I'm sure plenty of other people who would both be good in the job and able to devote the time required to such a post.

Except DJ. Don't ever make him a mod. Seriously. ;)