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General discussion

Quick question for the experienced/moderators

Feb 13, 2005 8:10AM PST

Dear reader,

I have recently discovered the fabulous community of the CNET forums. I myself am a fairly advanced computer user/technician, and I enjoy browsing the forums and try to help those which I can.

Recently, I have been very troubled. I notice posts that I have already answered, yet when I go in, my post is missing. I completely remember already answering this post, yet... It's not there. Is there something wrong with my head? Or is someone deleting my posts? I have not posted anything obscene or inappropriate at all.

Is it because someone is deleting my posts for some reason? Or could it be because somebody posted their problem on more than one forum? Or am I just plain stupid, with my frequent feeling of deja-vu?

Could a moderator, or someone with previous experience let me know what the heck is wrong?

Please reply here, or send me a mail by clicking on my name right after this message.

-AInTeL

Discussion is locked

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Posts
Feb 13, 2005 11:49AM PST

Aln Tel, I'm a frequent user of this forum, not a moderator, but about the only time a post is deleted is if its either obscene or considered to be spam.
Its likely that you've replied to a post that was duplicated in more than one forum. That is discouraged, but happens on a daily basis.
Keep posting.

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I'm not a MOD either but
Feb 13, 2005 10:37PM PST

I have seen some of mine not show but I really think it was something I did not do correctly. Strange things happen if you use the back arrow at the wrong time, have multiple instances of your browser open, etc. Remember that your typing is not done in real time on the remote end. It's cached in memory for a time and needs to be released. This could be a timing issue, an issue with your PC, or just lost during the send process for some reason.

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Try searching with your user name. Some posts look similar.
Feb 13, 2005 10:38PM PST

and a post removed by a moderator will be so indicated.

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Is it possible, Aln,
Feb 14, 2005 8:32AM PST

that you didn't actually complete the posting? There are "back to forum" and "back to main forums page" links at the top of the page you get after hitting "preview message." I sometimes realize that I used that instead of hitting the "post" button on that second screen. Another possibility is that you accidentally hit the "cancel" button instead of "preview message" on the first screen of the reply process.

As far as active Moderator deletion, the only messages we'll delete for multiple postings across forums are those that are clearly SPAM ("get your free ipod here,") etc., and even within the same forum we won't usually delete a duplicate message if it already has a reply. Of course, once in a while you could be working on a reply to a duplicate message that was deleted after you began to reply, but that should be a very rare event.

Hope these thoughts help some, and welcome to CNet!
-- Dave K.

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reply
Feb 14, 2005 11:41AM PST

Yeah, I was wondering if maybe I pressed the cancel button, rather than the "Go back and edit"...

lol either way, it's not too much of a problem, I was just hoping I haven't posted something that was unacceptable, and wouldn't want to do it again.

Anyway, I was also wondering if it's possible to become a moderator myself? I visit this site several times daily, and observe/help on approximately 5-10 different forums. I would like to help CNET by observing all the posts and doing whatever you moderators do while I'm at it.

Of course I know it's a voluntary position, and I'm completely motivated. I attempted mailing Lee Koo, but I assume he's a very busy person, which is why he didn't reply... Any suggestions from moderators?

-AInTeL

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Hi, Aln.
Feb 15, 2005 2:41AM PST

There's a short thread about becoming a Moderator here.
There's more to it than just being knowledgeable and answering questions -- you also have to be friendly, treat everyone with respect, and have good "people skills." Those aspects are generally learned by observation, so unless someone has an established record as a Moderator on similar forums elsewehere, it would be very unusual for someone to become a Moderator soon after joining the forums -- probably if you ask again in another six months or so, you'd get a more interested response. But you can do many of the things moderators do (in terms of helpfully answering questions, or even alerting to offensive messages) without the official "M" flag -- that's how many of the current Moderators came to be tapped. Being codependent helps! Wink

-- Dave K, Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

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funny
Feb 15, 2005 9:05AM PST

Dear Dave,

I don't know if it will still be here when you come to check on this thread again, but someone posted an advertisement in reply to your post, and for the first time I noticed--and reported a post - hehe.

Well, thanks for the advice, Dave.

-AInTeL

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Thank you AInTeL
Feb 15, 2005 9:13AM PST

I saw your report and deleted the Spam.

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reply
Feb 15, 2005 11:28AM PST

My pleasure. Just one step closer Silly

-AInTeL