11 replies to this topic

[saulman]

Hi,
Okay, here's one to ponder. My company is interested in setting up a little on-line community that would include a bboard/forum section. However, I think they think it can be done on the cheap.
Now, I love this forum that everyone here has set up, yet am nervous that they are going to want to go forward with me as their point person (and probably only person) to put the project together. The real issue is they (the bosspeople) want the ability to review EVERY posting before it goes live. This seems like a logistical nightmare and neigh on impossible.
Any thoughts as to how I can convince them that this is a BAD (very bad) idea. And I'd like to provide an alternative solution for them as well.

[Jill]

This software is Invision Board Software and I believe it can do what you're asking (moderate all posts before they go live). It's free from http://www.invisionboard.com

Good luck!

Jill

[Bill Slawski]

Pre-moderation can be a lot of work, but you do have to consider that you are likely going to have to review every submission that gets made anyway.

It's probably easier to review a submission before hand than after the fact. If the board gets busy, you may find that you need some help...

But, another thing to consider is that that type of premoderation may limit the number of members that you attract. Most people like to see their posts upon a forum or board at the time that they submit it.

[dragonlady7]

My own company went through this phase recently, as well. One muckety-muck said we couldn't do it without premoderation, and another raised the point that if we premoderate, no one will use the board.
So that's a tapdance you'll have to do as well. I've only seen premoderation work in forums that were so massively busy anyway that people wanted to post despite the delay. It could probably work as well in a place that was small and very niche-focused as well, but I don't know. It wouldn't work for us-- our members would just go back to the Yahoo! group they founded and didn't invite us to. (That strikes me as bad, for a company. Somehow. That all the users of its software have founded a group it's not invited to? Hmm.) So if we want to compete with that, I think premoderation is out.
But people who don't use forums don't understand, at all, how much is involved in their maintenance.

[saulman]

It wouldn't work for us-- our members would just go back to the Yahoo! group they founded and didn't invite us to. (That strikes me as bad, for a company. Somehow. That all the users of its software have founded a group it's not invited to? Hmm.) So if we want to compete with that, I think premoderation is out.
But people who don't use forums don't understand, at all, how much is involved in their maintenance.

i looked at the specs and such for invissionboard, and i guess i could get it up and running.
the issue is the one noted by dragonlady7. i do our webstuff 'cuz it's fun and i don't have to supervise anybody but me. i also have a staff of pr and tech writers that do other stuff, and i need to keep a couple of fingers (and the occassional toe) involved in what they're doin'.
the other is if they have to wait our intended users will go back to the google or yahoo! clubs they formed and don't want us involved with. if the individual has to wait to see their post, why use us?

[Vertster]

Jill-

Is this board pre-moderated? Just curious, since I never really though about it.

[dragonlady7]

It can't possibly be-- not even Jill and Scottie would be that fast. I make a post, it goes right up. If there were premoderation, it would be delayed two, five, ten, fifteen minutes, an hour even. Jill can't read every post in the two seconds it takes the page to reload. No, this forum's post-moderated.

[Jill]

Yeah, what DL said. We're fast, but not that fast!

J

[Scottie]

Actually, saulman, I was thinking of a joke (along the lines of Jill pre-moderating the board like a wildwoman) and I realized that actually may be the answer.

Jill kind of does pre-mod... she gets every single post (just about) sent to her via e-mail as it is posted. Think about that as a solution- have the posts sent to the appropriate person and if they need to come in and delete or edit- it's up to them to stay up-to-date on their e-mail notification.

[dragonlady7]

So... sort of realtime mod. Not quite pre, but not very post.

[Vertster]

Thats kind of what I thought was probably happening. That is like a "semi" form of moderation, although I have no idea how Jill gets *any* work done at all.

I thought maybe each email had a "YAY" or "NAY" button. Just because you can see your post, doesn't mean others can. Unless of course, they respond to it

[Scottie]

No- she doesn't really pre-mod. When you hit submit, it's a live post.

But if she's checking her e-mail (and she does) she can see pretty quickly if a spam post comes through and jump over here and deal with it. People can post things against the TOS but the post won't last for long!