Closing duplicate threads.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by tompe

I have never understood how people see the frontpage. I never see it. I go directly to the forums and if I google I never end up on the front page. So how does new people see the front page?

Goto https://www.mobileread.com/ or from the top of the forum page click HOME or from the wiki click FrontNews on the left side.

Dale

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by tompe

Yes, I know. Are you saying that people do that? Why would they want to do that?

Or maybe a lot of people are following the front page as an rss feed?

I'm sure there are a lot of folks following the front page on the RSS Feed, as for whether folks visit it ... I don't think that it would be discussed much if nobody ever went there. In any case, I know that when I direct folks to visit the forum, I always point them to the root URL, which happens to be the front page. We'd probably have to ask Alex to get a meaningful answer as to how much direct traffic the Front Page gets, but I know he's ... interested in how it's maintained, so I don't feel too wild and crazy in guessing that it's probably a fair bit.

When I first found MobileRead (nearly four years ago now), I had no idea there even was a front page for the longest time. However, I've seen enough comments and other indications over the years to be pretty confident that not everyone happens across MobileRead the same way I did.

[JSWolf]

In any case, no matter what the solution is going to be, Nate's post is the duplicate post.

[NatCh]

Yes, thank you, Jon, you may mark that particular hair officially and thoroughly split.

[jinlo]

I don't have a pony in this race as I rarely start threads, but I have to say if I was the first poster of some information I thought was useful to this group and then had my thread closed by a mod who thought his post was 'better', I'd think twice about bothering to post information in the future.

Why take the time and make the effort to start a thread if it's going to drop off into oblivion? If the posting is duplicated information, then it's understandable, but writing off someones contributions should never be done lightly.

[Madam Broshkina]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I hope you folks notice that Jon and I are actually on the same side, which means a certain place south of here is getting very chilly. If two people with normally diverse opinions are seeing the same thing, its probably an issue that needs a policy that all can understand and adhere to.

I would start to worry if you install an alarm system in your house that goes off anytime someone uses the term "eReader" generically.

[NatCh]

As promised, here is the outcome of the Moderation Team's discussion of what do do with this situation.

First, here's our "Rule of Thumb" going forward:

When creating a Front Page item from a topic that has already been posted on in the forums, where that preexisting post does not seem well suited to the Front Page, include in the Front Page item an acknowledgement, link to the earlier thread on the topic, and add a suggestion that discussion continue in the original thread as appropriate. Leave both the Front Page thread and the "earlier" one open for continued comments, this is to allow the ongoing discussion to continue in place, and also avoids having closed threads on the front page.

This is, of course, a general policy, it's assumed that sometimes specific reasons will exist not to follow it exactly.

Whether or not a new thread is started for posting on the Front Page will continue to be decided at the discretion of the Editor/Moderator handling the Front Page posting, and will take into account a number of factors, including research done by the Editor/Moderator, the formatting and layout of the "original" post, etc. In general, Front Page items need to be developed enough that they present a good "face" to the rest of the world.


Turning to the particular case we've been discussing, I have added to the original Front Page item a link acknowledging the original post of the information, and re-opened the original thread.

The Moderation Team depends a great deal on MobileRead's members to bring things to our attention, as we simply can't follow everything that goes on. Because we're aware of that, we want to properly acknowledge these efforts of our members.

We appreciate your patience while we worked out how best to deal with this.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by NatCh

As promised, here is the outcome of the Moderation Team's discussion of what do do with this situation.

First, here's our "Rule of Thumb" going forward:
This is, of course, a general policy, it's assumed that sometimes specific reasons will exist not to follow it exactly.

Whether or not a new thread is started for posting on the Front Page will continue to be decided at the discretion of the Editor/Moderator handling the Front Page posting, and will take into account a number of factors, including research done by the Editor/Moderator, the formatting and layout of the "original" post, etc. In general, Front Page items need to be developed enough that they present a good "face" to the rest of the world.


Turning to the particular case we've been discussing, I have added to the original Front Page item a link acknowledging the original post of the information, and re-opened the original thread.

The Moderation Team depends a great deal on MobileRead's members to bring things to our attention, as we simply can't follow everything that goes on. Because we're aware of that, we want to properly acknowledge these efforts of our members.

We appreciate your patience while we worked out how best to deal with this.

Thank you all very much for a well considered and fair solution. I don't envy your positions as mods so I very much appreciate the effort you put into your duties here (for free no less).

Good job all!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Thank you all very much for a well considered and fair solution. I don't envy your positions as mods so I very much appreciate the effort you put into your duties here (for free no less).

Actually, Alex told me that starting the first of the year, as a moderator I would be able to download any ebook that is in the Mobileread ebook library for free. So, that's gonna be a great perk.

BOb

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Actually, Alex told me that starting the first of the year, as a moderator I would be able to download any ebook that is in the Mobileread ebook library for free. So, that's gonna be a great perk.

BOb

Okay, now I'm envious.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by NatCh

As promised, here is the outcome of the Moderation Team's discussion of what do do with this situation.

First, here's our "Rule of Thumb" going forward:
This is, of course, a general policy, it's assumed that sometimes specific reasons will exist not to follow it exactly.

Whether or not a new thread is started for posting on the Front Page will continue to be decided at the discretion of the Editor/Moderator handling the Front Page posting, and will take into account a number of factors, including research done by the Editor/Moderator, the formatting and layout of the "original" post, etc. In general, Front Page items need to be developed enough that they present a good "face" to the rest of the world.


Turning to the particular case we've been discussing, I have added to the original Front Page item a link acknowledging the original post of the information, and re-opened the original thread.

The Moderation Team depends a great deal on MobileRead's members to bring things to our attention, as we simply can't follow everything that goes on. Because we're aware of that, we want to properly acknowledge these efforts of our members.

We appreciate your patience while we worked out how best to deal with this.

In this particular case, the original post would have made a better front page post. So really, there was no need for yet another thread. The original post actually gave more information then did the duplicate post.

[NatCh]

In the three-plus years I've been a Moderator in this forum, a sentence and a half intro and a quotation has never been acceptable as a Front Page post, particularly when most of the intro is something along the lines of "I didn't see this posted already."

Your opinion on this point is well understood by all concerned, however, you seem to be the only one who holds it. Nate's Front Page item will not be replaced with this post. Will you please move along to something else? This is becoming tiresome.