Keeping the board friendly for new members

[Len Silva]

I really don't think there is a problem at all with new members.  The vast majority of newbys, even if they are busless dreamers, are treated with respect.  Their questions are answered by the same people who have answered the same questions a hundred times before.

The problem comes up when someone who has no real experience comes here and tries to tell everyone else how it's done. They are not willing to listen to the vast expertise presented here by those who have actually done it.

Remember the guy who was going to do a "frame up" restoration on some junk transit?  He had done (or at least watched) someone do it with a Volkswagen, what's the difference, just a little bigger, right?

There have been a few others. For the most part, they deserve the scorn they receive.  I don't think we are driving away any new blood at all, just a little cultivating.

[edroelle]

HighTechRedneck,

Excellent council.

Ed Roelle

[bobofthenorth]

HighTechRedneck,
Excellent council.

Ditto. 

Although to be perfectly nitpicky, I believe the correct word is "counsel".

[zubzub]

HighTechRedneck,
Excellent council.

Ditto. 

Although to be perfectly nitpicky, I believe the correct word is "counsel".

I can  top that. I believe the word is persnickety. 

[Sojourner]

If a new member has a problematic history in other forums or elsewhere that you are aware of and have concerns about, the right thing to do is notify the moderating team by clicking the "report to moderator" link in the bottom right corner of the post.  Please don't flame or ridicule new members in public.

Thank you from your friendly moderating team.

This is the key to the whole situation when dealing with any member! It should never be done in public, that's the job of the Moderators! All comments should be off line and let the Moderators make it available to the membership if they deem so appropriate.

I'm kind of getting sick of hearing about it myself, it ruins my desire to even read or post!

~Paul~

I totally agree with Dreamscape view...in order to have good clean posts on board is to have full time moderators who is quick to point out the rule before it went too far. Until this is done...it only good as it can be. I know this board lack of an income to pay for full time moderators. So what can we expect from anyone who can put down anyone wrongly without reporting to the moderator.

As what HTRN posted...beware anyone want to post negative remark...you better think twice before you post it.

This is uncalled for to put down anyone without the proof.

In other words, if don't clearly read it well and don't understand it...ask a question or two without the negative remark.

I miss my new friend to learn more what has been done with the modeling or whatever.

Hope he come back to share with us knowledgeable BB nuts in his field of study.

If you personally don't like the poster or don't care about the subject...move on to the next one or whatever.

Sojourn for Christ, Gerald

BTW...there is many bus nuts read this MAK BB and fear to post their comment or answer or question because of the negative feedback from the very few.

[jjrbus]

Thanks Cody!  When a predator shows up amongst my friends, I want them to know. IF you do it undercover or discretly you are sure to miss a potential victim.   JIm

[luvrbus]

Lock one thread and start another about the same subject way to go guys.
Gerald you are a 100% about guys not posting I have friends that just read only and most don't even do that any longer.
I was guilty Sat of coming across the wrong way to a new member and for that I am sorry.
The new guy Tovinman was hammered by some for what ever reason also.   
good luck and you guys have a great day

[Chopper Scott]

How about a comment from a newbie? I lurked for awhile as many also do and when I finally had some questions I wanted to ask I joined up. As with many forums when you post a question you get a lot of answers to your questions as you all know. But eventually the correct one appears. I am a very mechanically inclined individual but would be up a certain creek without a paddle if not for all the help I have received from this forum. Of the few forums I have been a part of this one seems to have the least issues and flame wars (now that the elections are over). I think it's because of a more mature group of members  . I just haven't seen a lot of things going on that would scare a lurker away from joining. This is a pretty well behaved bunch. Later

[cody]

I feel that the board is friendly to new members, but even with the new screening procedure sometimes a questionable person will slip thru and thats bound to happen, one such person I exposed (when asked too I might add) a few days ago, another was exposed by another poster, I don't feel thats a bad record when a person takes into account the new people that have joined lately and seem quite happy here. If I acted in such a way as to color the board in a bad light then I apologize to the many members here, quite possibly we should also rethink the position extended to Sam Walker, I'm sure he has something that could be considered an asset to contribute as he also has some knowledge of busses and particularily of business.

[JackConrad]

     I think one of the FLAGS that upsets some of our members is when a new member starts right out in their first post telling everyone how to do something and questions anyone that disagrees with them.
    Most of our memebrs start out by asking questions and as they gasin knowledge, thay start answering questions for other memebrs (kinda paying back for the help they received).  Jack

[luvrbus]

Guys, talking to friends of mine on the board several are upset about the whole deal of running a check on a member and feel like when the word gets on other boards we are going to pay a price it doesn't bother me, it should because this is the way our government works .


good luck

[bobofthenorth]

I've probably said enough on this matter already but that has never stopped me before.

I went back and reread Jim's very first post that ignited the first storm.  There was a lot of good information and work went into that post.  You can argue with some of the assumptions but that wasn't the first objection to it.  The first objection was nitpicking over a transposed decimal point (71.5 c/w 7.15) in the text of the message.  The screenshots of the worksheet clearly showed that the correct figure had been used in the model. 

That thread is now being portrayed as somehow protecting us from predators but all I see in the early going is a new poster getting attacked for the kind of silly typing mistake that all of us make.  And I won't let this degenerate to a comment about how many of that kind of mistakes some particular posters make.

I have to respectfully disagree with Jack's comments about posters needing to ask questions first.  We have no way of telling how many months or years a poster has been reading the board prior to making that first post.  If any post has standalone merit we need to respect that, regardless of whether it is the first or the 1000 and first post for that particular member.  In my opinion Jim's first post had standalone merit and nothing in it warranted the witch hunt that he was immediately subject to.

[usbusin]

bobofthenorth, you said it very well.  I agree.  Thank you.

[cody]

After much thought, I have come to the realization that your right, and in the light of fair play, I'm requesting that Sam Walker be given membership if he wishes here.

[rv_safetyman]

I have been trying to keep my mouth shut on this one, but I can no longer do that.  I agree 100% with Bob Evans on this.

Moderators, I hope you let this tread keep going, since we need to address why we ran what appears to be a legitimate poster off the board.  Yes, his thinking was a bit out of the norm, but we need that kind of thinking.  As an engineer, I looked forward to his work.  

Cody posted some very strong comments about criminal conviction. I am reasonably certain that those comment pertained to Sam Walker and not the poster.  However, if you read the post it would suggest that the poster had a criminal background.  I really don't care if a person has served some time, UNLESS is it is for fraud and they are trying to cheat the members of this (or any other related) group.  

If a person is going to be labeled a criminal, I want to see a link to verifiable information.  Anything less is grounds for a lawsuit.  In the case, of Sam Walker, his track record has been well documented with actual court records.

I am personally very offended by the label we put on this poster.

A very sad time for this board.

UPDATE

OK, Cody posted when I was typing my reply.  It now appears obvious that his criminal comments were about Sam Walker.  He now has come back with a rather sarcastic comment about letting Sam become a member.  THAT IS UNCALLED FOR (even if it is sarcasm).  Cody has put the poster and Sam in the same jail cell by the way that he wrote the comments.

I will stop now, because my blood pressure is way off the chart.

Jim