QUESTION FOR WEBMASTER

Author Subject: QUESTION FOR WEBMASTER
Andrew Shaun Gulliford Posted At 00:22:09 05/17/2001
Sorry to post this here, but i was wondering why my posts keep vanishing? I understand that noone needs to make anymore comments on Jerry Tubbs, even though mine was an inquiry, I should have run a search, and I do apologize. But yesterday I noticed a person I sold a snake to posted a positive comment about doing business with me, now today it's gone. Why? Im sorry if i come off as having an attitude, but I've had a post dissappear from the want ads, and now the 2 from here, I'll gladly correct anything I may be doing wrong, if you tell me what it is. thank you for your time, and pleae remember, I have no intention to start trouble. -Andy
Webmaster Re: QUESTION FOR WEBMASTER
3416.html Posted At 07:39:29 05/17/2001

Andy,

I periodically check the messages in here, and any that violate the rules about not using a FULL NAME and
valid email address are deleted. There is another rule about people posting messages as new threads when
an existing thread exists about a dozen lines down the page that I tend to enforce.

Sorry to seem so heavy handed, but each rule was made up in response to perceived abuses in an attempt
to limit them as much as possible. There are no perfect solutions for running a message board like this
one, and certainly everything I do is going to be disliked or misinterpreted by someone, but I'm doing the
best I can with the time I have available.

I do not take your message as having an attitude at all. I used to send emails to people or post a message
on their thread asking them to add their full name in a new message, but that was only contributing to the amount
of time I needed to maintain this site. At this time of year, I just don't have the time available.

People can post threads about anyone they want, but need to add them to existing threads if they are within 100 lines
or so from the top. Perhaps my choice of the format of this message board wasn't the best, but the idea was to have
threads pertaining to people or businesses and people would just add messages to an existing thread rather than create
a new thread with every comment they may want to make. This is probably not the way most people are used to thinking
of message boards, and I should have realized the difficulty of getting that concept across.

The problem is file size. With everyone creating a new thread each time they have something to say about someone, the
file size of this main file will quickly get HUGE. The old threads are just as valid as newer ones, so I don't feel
comfortable deleting them based on date like I do for the FOR SALE and WANTED message boards on this site.

As for the full name and valid email address rule, this was done to try to combat bogus posts people will make anonymously.
The requirement is that if a post is made either in favor of or as a negative comment against someone, it MUST have the
person's full name and email address attached to it. Periodically I will spot check messages by sending an email to the
sender, and if it bounces as being invalid or a response is not received in a couple of days, it is considered to be a bogus
posting and deleted.

I hope this all explains the logic behind the rules here and gives you an indication of why your posts were deleted. I do
seem to recall one or more messages that were only signed as 'Andy', and this did not comply with the FULL NAME rule.

As always, I am open for suggestions on how to do this in a better way.
Andrew Gulliford Re: QUESTION FOR WEBMASTER
3418.html Posted At 11:05:44 05/17/2001

Well, thank you for the explanation, that helps. I had the impression I was being personally targeted for some reason, because even my for sale ads were vanishing. In the future, I will use your format, it's not that your system is bad, in my opinion, it just takes a little time to get the rules straight, in any situation. Well, my questions have been answered, so I won't take up anymore space here, thanks for your time, please feel free to delete this thread at your discretion - Andrew Gulliford
Webmaster Re: QUESTION FOR WEBMASTER
3423.html Posted At 14:54:02 05/17/2001

Andy - if I deleted any of your sale ads, then that means you had them in the wrong message
board. Ads of herps for sale need to go into the FOR SALE board and herps wanted need to go
into the HERPS WANTED board. Those boards are getting enough traffic that I had to start
enforcing a previously unspoken rule there. I did post a warning to that effect on both
boards right above the area where you would type in the message, but I figure it will take a
person a number of times of having their messages deleted before they start looking for a reason
why this is happening.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]