Softbans

I dunno. I’m just trying to think of constructive ways to ask for a lighter touch on the moderation front. If that’s verboten then it’ll inform my opinion on BoingBoing

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Discourse does save a draft of your currently composed reply, once it is above a minimum length. You can see this via the “saved” indicator at the bottom right of the editor. There is one reply draft per user per topic.

These are saved server side. To re-load the draft, close your browser (or go to a different device) and re-enter the topic. You can also cancel a draft, minimize the composer and there’s an X there at the bottom right.

(The primary use case is switching devices, or composing on a different topic to come back to “later”.)

So if you were writing a reply and the topic got closed, that reply draft would be saved for you on that topic only. But you’d have no place to put the reply, either. Old drafts eventually get auto-deleted, so no worries.

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If the topic is locked, could this be getting mixed up with the “new topic” draft?

I know that when I’ve tried starting a new topic in one window, that quotes an old (locked) topic that I have open in another windows (or multiple locked topics), the attempt to quote the old topic ends up causing trouble, to the point where, in the scenario where I’m quoting locked topics, I now generally prefer to just construct the quote tag manually.

New topics have their own draft, exactly one, ever. There is only one New Topic draft per user for all time.

I’m beginning to suspect it’s a rave of some kind.

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draft 2, go:

Yeah. It sucks to look and see that pillars of community are disposable. I once was a pillar at a forum. And now, I am nothing. Like the one above me on the scoreboards. Depressing. But at least I have the words I’ve written. (And also, root control over the domain that forum uses - if I wanted to, I could redirect it to mine and go full Kaz Miller)

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To danegeld -

Does your Softbans post exist due to the banning of M-O? Is your post here related in some way to yesterday’s discussion regarding that ban, titled ‘Banning of modusoperandi’? Thank you.

The issue is that four decidedly/typically ‘non-troll’ people including ModusOperandi got banned yesterday. It’d be cool if the editors here had a way of telling someone ‘leave my thread alone’ without also needing to ban whoever’s annoyed them outright. It would preserve the community and allow de-escalation, was my thought.

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They did just that.

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I tend to agree. This applies to other members as much as the Authors, in fact, as we’ve mediated more than a few discussions between BBS members where the mutual decision of “don’t post in my topics” had been agreed to. I can see a definite use case for preventing certain replies in certain topics.

I’d also advocate for a “block” option where you simply do not see replies from those on your list, though that’s probably a thorny issue (what about direct replies? Or quoted ones?)

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Guys, let’s not …

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I assumed “Softbans” were some kind of padded sunglasses.

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Yup. Except the discussion here is obviously about degrees of freedom to operate under that aegis. Which is most welcome.


That’s not fair. He’s obviously interjecting with some humour in an attempt to soften the rhetoric here and remind everyone we are friends attempting to design and build a community from inside itself.

The spirit of cooperation can’t be rules-lawyered into existence.

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Just sarcasm, boys!

Sarcasm.

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Right back at you. It’s my only mode of existence right now.

(I meant what I said, I was just pretending not to understand your motivation so I could say it).

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They can and they did, but the problem is what happens when the mod is ignored? If the only escalation is the outright ban then we still end up with a diminished community when someone oversteps the line once, despite them having plenty of track record of navigating it properly in the past.

I think the number of people with white disc avatars this evening indicates that there’s a general feeling that banning for derailing is too harsh, given that part of the fun of the BBS is everyone riffing on ideas and eventually derailing threads in an amusing manner anyway. It’d be good to create some middle ground. Just my 2c.

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I was wondering about all the white discs.

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I often have a similar though about society in general, just without that first ‘s’ and an extra ‘k’ in the last word

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Maybe… don’t ignore the mod next time?

If the suspensions are reasonably short perhaps just wait a bit, and try again?

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