Nothing in the spam queue

Irv:

We went back 4 weeks and checked the spam queue and there's nothing in there from you. Most often a post gets accidentally marked as spam, but we find no indication this has been happening to any of your posts.

More likely you thought you posted and it didn't take for some reason. That happens too now and then, especially if you have an internet connection that's prone to slow moments.

Rest assured there's no malicious intent going on here unless one of our deputized moderators has gone over to the dark side and is deleting posts outright. That's not what we ask them to do - they're supposed to mark a suspicious post as spam so the staff can review them and either agree they should be spam or resurrect the post as appropriate.

Do you have a specific post or posts you are thinking of?

The other button

Irv,

I bet you're doing what I've been doing:  write a nice well-thought out post or response, then find that it's not there.  Because........, I hit the "post index" button (rather automatically) rather than the "Submit" button, that's right above it.

Seeing that I now carry a medicare card, I can blame it on that!!

It's time to go stare at what's on my workbench.

Been there - done that!

I know I have hit the right keys because I've seen tlhose posts.

I know I hit the right key because I have seen the posts on later inspections, but they're gone a day pr two later. One example was in the thread on the Bank. I added a comment about using bank buildings for something else and provided examples of two such buildings that we have here in Queens, NY on Queens Blvd. One is used as diner and another has become a retail outlet.

The same can be said of former bowling alleys. Again conversion possibilities abound.

Irv

Me too

So many of my posts have been "marked as spam" I lost count.

I don't believe that someone checks them all then reposts them, because there was nothing wrong with them. You guys have let this fall by the wayside more than once, and to many more people than just me and Irv.

Checked ... not that many

Jeff:

We checked and there's 4 comment posts from you that were marked as spam since 2010 in the current spam queue (out of over 120 posts you've made in that same time). One of them we just now resurrected, the others are from long dead threads with heated exchanges we'd rather just leave alone and let bygones be bygones - so we left them as spam - along with several other posters that also got spammed in the same exchange.

If you find a post disappears, please let us know immediately and we can go look.

However, we reserve the right to decide if a legitimate post should remain spam or not. More often than not we'll resurrect legitimate posts. The rest of the time we prefer to just leave it be, especially when an entire series of posts get marked as spam by readers. We try to honor their preference to not get dragged through lengthy negative diatribes (at least once in a while)

Thread Disappeared, Then Reappeared

Something weird happened to the thread entitled "Why Trains?", which was started on June 9th. About a week ago it disappeared completely off the site. I looked for it on three computers but it was gone. Then today it just reappeared and there are a few new posts. So where did it go?

I suspect that someone mistakenly hit the "spam" button.

Then when the staff looked at the "spam" cue, they saw that it wasn't spam and put it back up.  It is relatively easy to hit the spam button by mistake.  If you notify the staff that you made a mistake, they can restore the post relatively quickly.  If someone hits the spam button by mistakes and doesn't tell anyone, it may take longer for the staff to check out the spam cue and restore it.

We checked the spam queue

We checked the spam queue and saw this thread and asked "why is this here?" and saw no reason for it, so we restored it. Mistakes do happen - I've hit the spam link by accident myself more than once.

This mark as spam link brings up the question of why we have it and if it's a good idea to let anyone mark something as spam?

The answer is a resounding YES. If you could see the thousands of spam messages that have ended up getting marked as spam that most of you never see, you will understand how useful this mark as spam option is. We can get dozens of spam messages a day - and most of you never see it because of this link.

If we removed the mark as spam link, you'd all be screaming for us to bring it back within a week.

Good idea

I think the spam button is a good thing. I marked 4 spam messages last night. They had nothing to do with model railroading. I think the longest one that was on was a couple of minutes and I zapped it.

If I'm not sure if it is spam I'll put the question in the reply "Spam?" and leave it to the staff to check.

Bernd

Affirmation May Help

Perhaps a confirmation box after hitting the "mark as spam" button would prevent accidentally sending posts and threads into the spam dumpster.

Addressed To Joe Fugate "A confirmation Button"

Joe, Al may have a good Idea of using a Mark as Spam Confirmation button, I have found when members double post their same statement twice and request their 2nd post deleted that when the delete button is pressed you get a second page asking if you want the post deleted so that you don't delete a post by accident.

Also adding A sign in to the Mark as spam button so that members that tag another members post should at least sign their name so as to be know to admin so vindictive people don't just mark posts as spam because they don't agree with the post.

Joe I understood that when someone posts a Blog as long as the blog doesn't offend any one that the blog doesn't have to be only about Model Railroading is this True?  I see some blogs being marked as spam at times because of content not being 100% Railroad related.

Thanks

Dan

Blogs

Yes, Dan, one distinction for blogs is they're commentary or a personal diary - which means they should have more latitude. Still, posting about your pets or your kids, with no apparent tie to model railroading is out of place on this site. There needs to be a railroading tie somewhere.

I recall one of the most enjoyable editorials I ever read was Tony Koester's "Snakes!" editorial in RMC back in the 1970s. The editorial was about railfanning in the sticks and the hyjinks of slithery critter encounters - which made for a delightfuly fun read. Did it have much to do with trains - only remotely - was it a fun read? You bet!

Forum posts, on the other hand, need to stay on topic. Keep it about trains, please.

Because blog posts intertwine with forum posts and look a lot alike, this distinction may get blurred. But we should call it out and all keep it in mind. Blogs can wander, forum posts need to stay more on topic.

Replying to posts

I did just the opposite of Don and Rick, when the new "post new comment" box started appearing (which has been really handy and a definite improvement) at the end of the thread,  I would hit the submit button rather than the post index button.   Since there was nothing entered into the box - nothing happened.   It took me a while to get the habit fixed.

Irv and staff

Here is something I noticed last year and it still may be in the system.  If I clicked on the "reply" button to a post (not the original post) and entered a message, then later the post was deleted for what ever reason my "reply" would also disappear because it was linked to the post.  So I just started going up to the top and clicked the "post new comment" and entered my reply post.  I quit using the "reply" button.

I don't know if this is what was happening to Irv, but it may be a possibility.

With the post new comment box in its handy new location the "reply button may be obsolete now.  Just a thought for better minds to ponder.

Posts should be unthreaded

Reply posts should be unthreaded - in other words not linked to the post on which reply was clicked. So deleting a post should not affect any replies. They're supposed to be flat - with all replies being of equal standing off the original thread post.

We'll give consideration to removing the reply link. The new comment box at the bottom was added because we got complaints from infrequent users of the site that it was not obvious how to post a comment.

By adding the comment box at the bottom of the thread, you don't have to click anything to see how to post a reply. You can just type away and click submit. Much more obvious.

You haven't checked with the MR Whiteheads about this

As the the Kalmbach whiteheads will tell you, during World War II, train orders for certain strategic shipments, or for movements near the field of battle, were instructed to be written in invisible ink, with no copies.  Whoever in the chain of communication, tower operator to hoopman, noticed an enemy combatant bearing down on them, was permitted, nay required, to crumple up their Form and swallow it henceforth.

Some of the descendants of these valorous men, the legend of service above and beyond having been handed down father to son, father to son, have made a fetish of this.  Now they use Premium 1800 Tequila instead of squeeze o lemon juice, which causes them to not just press the Post Index key by mistake, but also to stop in the middle of a sentence, go check a fact, and then never finish the post they so gravely prepared to a state of near-perfection.

I are one of such.  We band of 12, good men and true, are called the ADDers.  And we are proud of what we never finish.  We are the noble lads you call upon to move cars off-layout and onto the near-invisible staging tracks out the back basement window and down along by the dog runs.

RE THE DARK SIDE

I AM YOURE FATHER LUKE.  LOL. Had to have a little laugh. you all know how computers can be.