Poster of the Month

[on:]

[-mArc-], may we have a special subforum placed in the PEEL Vault for PotM with its own moderator(s)?

Please refer to the thread down below for discussion that the PEEL community has already generated when making a consideration on this request:

http://www.peelified.com/index.php?topic=20493.0

Thank you in advance.

[Reply #1 on:]

I second that motion, maRc.

[Reply #2 on:]

So far as I understand the variables of the situation, I am also in support of this.

[Reply #3 on:]

There, winna, Xanfor and I are POTM mods now. At least you can trust Xanfor.

[Reply #4 on:]

You don't even know how to spell [-mArc-]'s name

My opinion: There should at least be a limit on nominations. But "Poster of the Month" seems to me like it should be awarded to the best poster of that month. If Xanfor is awesome in February AND March he should get it both times. Otherwise, you're left nominating n00bs. Which I'm sure is how a lot of those n00bs won.

[Reply #5 on:]

There, winna, Xanfor and I are POTM mods now. At least you can trust Xanfor.

As you saw in the thread, there's a group of PEELers that we've discussed would be well-suited towards the duty of being a possible POTM Moderator. I iz on listz.

You don't even know how to spell [-mArc-]'s name

My opinion: There should at least be a limit on nominations. But "Poster of the Month" seems to me like it should be awarded to the best poster of that month. If Xanfor is awesome in February AND March he should get it both times. Otherwise, you're left nominating n00bs. Which I'm sure is how a lot of those n00bs won.

Noobs should have just as much of an opportunity. POTM isn't just about that month, but actually sometimes the combination of everything that person had done as a poster here. In ye olde days, people would deserve winning for years but then only win after everybody else who deserved it won. In fact, now it's even harder for somebody new to win.

[Reply #6 on:]

There are actually quite a few not noobs who still post around here who never won.
Just some examples:
amy20, El-Man, hobbitboy, Javier Lopez, JavieR, MrMayat,
to name just a few.

[Reply #7 on:]

I have never seen those last 2 posters ever post since I have been here. (that I remember)
El-Man and hobbitboy post all the time, JL from time to time.  amy20 rarely posts.

Thank you winna for starting this thread.
While I am afraid "poster of the month" will never be more than a general popularity contest, some set of rules need to be applied in order to allow new winners/people that really deserve to win.  Just a few months ago, Nutty and SoS removed themselves from consideration due to them winning a few times in the preceding months.  It seems to me there should be a timeline on how quickly you can win a 2nd+ time...many posters don't seem to really care after they win for the 1st time, so I don't see how they would be opposed to this.

EDIT: I think 3 nominations is a fine amount.  However, if you really want to make it 5 (just like the PEELies), that would still be exceptable.  But not more than that.

Also to reiterate, just like I stated in the other thread winna is referencing, I would be willing to help out if desired.  However, everyone on the list would be a fine choice as well.

[Reply #8 on:]

I don't think I threw myself in to help...if it just requires monitoring the one board, I'd be open to it, if you were thinking about another nominee...but I'm down with whoever/whatever so long as the people chosen have been standard regulars for a while.

Half my nominees for march were "n00bs". I think it all depends on the influx of people joining PEEL. It just so happened we got some really decent ones in recent months, some months there may be no new ones so you never know.

My only concern again, is the advertisement for the subboard. With the PEELies it was a long process, and the polls were open for two weeks was it? That coupled with it being open for nominations for a week or so...we simply do not have that much time in a month. What time limit are you guys looking at here? Sorry if you mentioned all this before.

edit to the mods: Is it possible to merge that previous discussion into this thread, or not? I saw Faze do it in TV forum, not sure if you guys can do it between forums.

[Reply #9 on:]

The help that would be required from PEELers would manifest itself in these various ways:

• One or two people would be moderators over the board, merely to facilitate overseeing the activities.  I proposed that if we were to obtain a sub-forum, their first official duties might be retroactively seeking out all old PotM thread in Offtopic and move them to the new sub-forum.  This would seek to preserve the history of PotM and have all relevant information handily available, presumably in a descending order all the way to its origination.
• The subforum would allow anyone to make a topic.  The only topics allowed in the sub-forum would be PotM topics, one each month.  Anybody can open the new topic, so this might be a form of help.
• Someone would have to tally up the nominations each month to help create the polls.  This could be considered help.
• Some would edit the results into the wikiPEELia, and this would constitute a form of help.
• The one or two moderators of the board would enforce the social customs we set up as guidelines, and the general rules of PEEL at large.  Whomever tallies the votes would also keep the social norms (like discarding too many nominations or nominations we deem not countable) when figuring up the poll.  I've already named these aspects, but to expound further, the moderator(s) would close the poll when it is finished, unless a deadline were set on the poll each month.

In this fashion, PotM would have its own niche to operate within and not clutter up Offtopic.  It would run smoothly and efficiently, as well as, hopefully adding a new spark of rejuvenation into this tradition.  I think ultimately, if we are to get a sub-forum for PotM then we need to clearly define the guidelines of PotM that we will adhere ourselves to. 

As far as getting people to recognize that the sub-forum exists, as futurefreak has brought up, we will advertise it in other semi-obvious places.  Eventually, the collective of PEEL will realize that PotM resides there and will look more frequently.  This will also encourage PEELers to check out different forums on PEEL and to more frequent the wikiPEELia.  I see these as good methods to increase morale and promote camaraderie  throughout PEEL as a whole.

Lastly, I suggest that everyone continue discussion in the other thread on these matters rather than this one.  This one should be more reserved on the possibility of actually obtaining a sub-forum.

[Reply #10 on:]

Yes, PotM is what is cluttering up OffTopic and not your stupid threads.

[Reply #11 on:]

 Yes, I wouldn't define one thread per month as clutter, myself.

[Reply #12 on:]

That's not really the point I was attempting to convey and discussing this actually is just cluttering up this thread.  It's not really the clutter aspect, as much as it is an ocd tendency to place things in neat, tiny packages.  PotM is a PEEL related tradition.  Offtopic is not in a section for PEEL related stuffs as the Vault is.  So in a way, moving all PotM threads out of Offtopic would be small cleaning up benefit (a small one, but one none the least).

Thanks for spitefully nitpicking details in my posts and twisting them wildly from their original intentions, so as to derail the real conversation we were supposed to be having.

[Reply #13 on:]

Hey, that's what I bring to the table.

Also, you're welcome.

[Reply #14 on:]

I'm considering it. However, the way subboards work around here, they are easily ignored. It might not be worth it if the removed clutter (one somewhat misplaced thread per month) results in added clutter ("advertisements" for the POTM board left and right)...

[Reply #15 on:]

Thank you for responding to this mArc, even if we don't end up getting the subforum.

I've thought about the situation you've just described.  I think as examples of this type of behavior, we might look to how the PEELies have been advertised and how Xanfor advertises wikiPEELia recently as examples.  It seemed to me that for the PEELies, a lot of the directing toward the subforum was made in posts that already had a purpose in the thread to begin with.  This is similar to Xanfor, in that he links people through the usage of his signature.  I don't think he overuses this tool, and I've noticed it enough to consider that it has some opportunity to achieve its goal.  Furthermore, I'm of the belief that once most of the community knows for a fact that PotM is held there, the advertising will go down because will just drift in that direction to begin with.

On a technical note, arguably if it were possible to make the Vault indicator work properly, this would itself be an advertisement that activity was occuring there.  I'm not sure about the details on why that indicator doesn't work and what might be possible in order to fix it.  I also realize that fixing it would require extra work, probably hacking the forum code, which can be tedious and irritating.  I presume that the reason it doesn't work is because the subforums are themselves forums and do flag off their own indicators, but this flagging does set off the higher scope indicator.

Anyways, thanks for the response again; much appreciated.

[Reply #16 on:]

I have a suggestion I just thought of...bear with me...

How about each month we make a POTM, a surveying mod stickifies the thread in Offtopic. It stays there until the poll is open, then closed. After the thread is closed, it gets moved to a POTM subboard in the PEELie Vault that is to be remained locked from posting, but exists to retain a collective of past POTM threads (since we started the POTM threads in 2001). We get to preserve the POTM culture/history (which I think is what we are all trying to get at here with the suggestions), but at the same time don't lose the viewer participation or have to clutter up Offtopic with a bunch of unnecessary advertisements like we did for the PEELies.

It is a lot of work moving all the POTM threads to another board, no question, and I understand if you guys are not able to do that at this time. If there's anything I can do like find all the threads and what not, I'd be more than willing to help.

What do ya think, [-mArc-]? I'm just throwing out a suggestion to see what you think

[Reply #17 on:]

I like Randi's suggestion, and also points winna made.  Pinning the current PotM thread for 2 weeks each month will definitely get it noticed, and probably a lot more active.  A few people could do the signature advertisements as well, if they feel strongly enough for it.  I don't know if there's a way to agree on the rules/suggestions for nominating and all that, but it would be nice for the thread opener to have a template to post stating rules or winners or whatever.  (pretty sure they used to post all the past winners, but with multiple wins now that's kinda moot.) 

[Reply #18 on:]

It's actually not a lot of work to move all the thread, in my opinion. You just have to do a  search of Off-Topic for "POTM", "Poster of the Month", "PEELer of the Month", and all other possible variants to find all the threads and then move them. If you gave somebody moderator powers for both Off-Topic and this sub-board, then they can do that and move the POTM threads once they're locked. This would mean either making sure all the Ubers and Faze are active or granting somebody else moderating powers who would be up to the task.

Incidentally (and off-topic), it is odd how we suddenly have little staff again. Would it behoove us to upgrade somebody before June so we have staff ready for the rush of posts with new episodes?

[Reply #19 on:]

If that's happening, I have a request.

Please don't upgrade a total ass. Please, please, please. Give teh powah to somebody like Xanfor, Nutmeg, SoS, weiner or even SpaceMaN. Y'know, somebody who can moderate with actual... moderation.

But on the topic of POTM, I think whacking it in its own sub-board within the vault and making the damn indicator work wouldn't actually result in that much advertising being needed... if the Vault were moved to between On-Topic and Off-Topic as they sit on the main page. It'd be a nice little spot for it to be noticed.

[Reply #20 on:]

The Vault is PEEL related, and so its relative position on PEEL is correct the way it is.

[Reply #21 on:]

Yes, please don't change the order in which the boards are in, that would be too confusing.

[Reply #22 on:]

They could be randomised with each refresh. That'd be.... refreshing.

[Reply #23 on:]

I'm considering it. However, the way subboards work around here, they are easily ignored. It might not be worth it if the removed clutter (one somewhat misplaced thread per month) results in added clutter ("advertisements" for the POTM board left and right)...

-BUMP-

So, I've given this a little more thought, personally, and I believe that I've come up with an acceptable solution. Might require a little work though, so I'm not sure if mArc's going to like it. But here it is. The entire "PEEL Stuff" section could be moved up to between on and off topic, with the indicators fixed so it correctly "lights up" for new posts.

The PEEL Vault's description gets updated to show that POTM is in there, and on-topic gets a stickied, locked thread in General Disscussion in which mArc points out that there is a Poster of the Month competition, that he will not tolerate spam regarding such, and that at the end/beginning of the month, people ought to follow the link to the sub-board, and also to Off topic's test thread... (see below).

Off topic gets a clone of this stickied thread.

The moderators of the sub-board, whoever they may be, are then the only people authorised to "advertise" POTM, and do so by mentioning it at the end of the month in the test thread.

People then go visit the POTM board, and depending on how the moderators are running it, there might be a few days of nominating, or they may have selected a pool of candidates themselves, in which case it would be straight to voting. Nominating could be done throughout the month even, by PMing a POTM mod with a quote from a PEELer that's just brilliant, and saying that you'd like them to be in the POTM competition for that post. The actual rules once decided upon could be put in a locked sticky thread at the top of the sub-board, and linked to from the locked stickies in GD and OT.

Aside from the effort involved in the initial setup, I believe that this would remove all "clutter" and spam that might otherwise crop up, and would then be run with minimal effort. It'd also encourage people to dip into Off topic more often.

Any thoughts? Particularly from mArc?

[Reply #24 on:]

Is there no POTY yet?

[Reply #25 on:]

Well, I really hope the main rules:

PEELers nominate (however many) and the vote... please not the mods nominating all, that's suck and destroy the purpose of POTM.


But else I do like you idea, tnuk.





Danny: we do, it's called PEELies.

[Reply #26 on:]

So that's what PEELies are...

[Reply #27 on:]

That and much much more.

[Reply #28 on:]

I'm OK with setting up a sub-board. The main-index indicator should be fixed now and should show that something new has been posted in a sub board.

I'm also thinking about adding links to active sub-boards (POTM and whatever special board is in there). These links would go inside the Vault description.

What I don't think will happen is adding stickied advertisements/reminders to the other boards. Then we could just leave the POTM stuff in offtopic. Posting to the test thread is fine though as far as I'm concerned.

Regarding running the POTM: My aim is not to be involved (or needed to be involved) with this on a monthly basis. So I need 2 reliable POTM mods. However, I'm not sure who that should be.

Regarding POTM rules: I don't really want to decide this myself, but personally I think that the nominations should be open for all throughout most of the month the first week of the new month (within a new monthly thread opened by a POTM mod).

[Reply #29 on:]

I volunteer. If people trust me, that is.

[Reply #30 on:]

I'd go for it, I'm around a lot anyway.


[edit]
BTW, mArc: it says Poster of the Month." /> at the top of the Vault page.

[edit2]
Clicking the link you set results in The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you.

[Reply #31 on:]

What link are you clicking (URL? Placement on PEEL?)

I see an empty forum both being logged in and not logged in.

The error at the top I see... Requires some tweaking.

[Reply #32 on:]

The link in your above post to http://www.peelified.com/cgi-bin/out.cgi?u=http://www.peelified.com/index.php?topic=20756.msg2147483647#end

[Reply #33 on:]

Oh, OK, that's been dealt with (i.e., moved to The Dumpster, which you don't have access to).

The other problem should be gone now, too.


I suggest people who are willing to organize the POTMs send me a private message and I will pick two or so.

[Reply #34 on:]

Still getting the same message here.

[Reply #35 on:]

Thanks mArc.  I'm glad stickies are retarded.

A) Does the moderator have to be the one to open the threads each month?  I think it would be easier if anybody could create a thread in said forum and then moderators don't have to bother with <insert LOST reference> pushing the button every month; then they could just moderate the sub-forum.

B) Would it be possible for this/these moderator(s) to move threads from another forum to this forum?  If not, are we allowed to trick FazeShift into doing it for us?

I think PEEL can socially evolve itself enough to set up its own set of guidelines for PEEL, and I figured you didn't want to be involved with it as much as you could be; hell, letting us have a specific board for it is more than enough.

Also, thanks for fixing the indicator there.

[Reply #36 on:]

People then go visit the POTM board, and depending on how the moderators are running it, there might be a few days of nominating, or they may have selected a pool of candidates themselves, in which case it would be straight to voting. Nominating could be done throughout the month even, by PMing a POTM mod with a quote from a PEELer that's just brilliant, and saying that you'd like them to be in the POTM competition for that post. The actual rules once decided upon could be put in a locked

I don't think anyone actually has the patience for a "Post" of the Month type thing.  I have tried before.

[Reply #37 on:]

A) We could try that. I'll let the POTM mods decide how they want to do this.

B) Only works if they are moderators on both boards. Fazeshift can do it if he wants to.

[Reply #38 on:]

Yeah, Post of the Month itself would probably only find 3 or 4 people doing so, especially later on when it isn't new anymore.

A) I agree, no harm in letting users create the threads as long as no unnecessary ones are created all the time for spam.

B) Moving the old POTM threads over would be nice, but tedious work and only people who are global mods or higher could probably do that. [edit] I see mArc was quicker...


And about the rules I think there should be a vote for PEEL which version people want out of a few  that the mods offer.

[Reply #39 on:]

Personally, I feel that the only advertising going on should take place in the test thread, or perhaps in the signatures of a few volunteers. Any more than that, such as moving a sticky thread every month, sort of defeats the purpose of having a sub-board.