Suggestion box item

[MUEng92]

Mods, can you come up with an icon similar to the little face that appears next to a thread after you have posted on it that can identify threads that no longer have anything to do with the title of the thread.  Maybe something like a highway exit ahead symbol with the arrow pointing off the main road.

And if somehow a thread gets back on topic, make the symbol go away to show it is safe to look at the thread again.

Would be a huge time saver.

[HoopsMalone]

Mods, can you come up with an icon similar to the little face that appears next to a thread after you have posted on it that can identify threads that no longer have anything to do with the title of the thread.  Maybe something like a highway exit ahead symbol with the arrow pointing off the main road.

And if somehow a thread gets back on topic, make the symbol go away to show it is safe to look at the thread again.

Would be a huge time saver.

I love the idea.  I would not want to be the judge of when a thread is derailed and would not really know how one would set the standards for that. So, I could see why the mods wouldn't want to do something like this and just let the non-political free speech flow.  But great idea. 

[MUEng92]

I am taking the political approach to this.  I don't actually have to come up with a feasible plan, just a vague idea!  Then I can blame it on someone else for not coming up with a plan or take full credit for the idea if it becomes reality.

[Jay Bee]

Mods, can you come up with an icon similar to the little face that appears next to a thread after you have posted on it that can identify threads that no longer have anything to do with the title of the thread.  Maybe something like a highway exit ahead symbol with the arrow pointing off the main road.

Would be a huge time saver.

I think an exception flag type of icon is an excellent idea.  However, if we want to highlight exceptions to the norm, the icon should probably instead be one that indicates a post is still on topic.

[ATWizJr]

Sure, the mods have plenty of extra time to read all the posts and make a decision about what is and is not on point.  And that's why they make the big bucks running the blog.

[GGGG]

Seriously, what a bunch of lazy asses.  Just go into the thread, and if it if off-topic and doesn't interest you any longer, back out of it.  What makes you think that your time is so much more valuable than the mods?

[PBRme]

Another solution would be to have an ignore thread option once you see that it is hijacked add it to ignore

[StillAWarrior]

Another solution would be to have an ignore thread option once you see that it is hijacked add it to ignore

I would also suggest using the "manual" ignore thread option.  It's not as high tech as some of the other suggestions, but it works great for me and doesn't require our moderators to change any settings.

[thanooj]

just goes to show how Tanned Tommy would do things.  Ah for the days of Mike Deane.  Acker is not BE material.

The comic in me hated putting that in teal.

[Aughnanure]

Can we atleast keep a separate saved thread for all Crean-related debates. That should solve about 90% of all hijacked threads.

[MUCam]

just goes to show how Tanned Tommy would do things.  Ah for the days of Mike Deane.  Acker is not BE material.

The comic in me hated putting that in teal.

I presume the comic in you still only performing on open mic nights?

NOTE: Mods, following my completely irrelevant post, please place the detour / hijacked thread icon on this thread.

NOTE 2: Now that I have a partial on-topic post, do we put a partially hijacked thread icon up?

[Lennys Tap]

One of the things I love about this site is that the mods give posters a great deal of leeway - the "rulebook" is short and simple. The tone is conversational and the free flow of ideas is encouraged. By their very nature "conversations" take twists and turns and don't always stay "on topic". This annoys some people, but I prefer the sloppiness that results from this freedom to the tidiness that might be a byproduct of over-tinkering with a good thing. The less one notices the umpires (moderators) it's likely the better job they are doing. Ours are doing very well, thank you.

[HoopsMalone]

One of the things I love about this site is that the mods give posters a great deal of leeway - the "rulebook" is short and simple. The tone is conversational and the free flow of ideas is encouraged. By their very nature "conversations" take twists and turns and don't always stay "on topic". This annoys some people, but I prefer the sloppiness that results from this freedom to the tidiness that might be a byproduct of over-tinkering with a good thing. The less one notices the umpires (moderators) it's likely the better job they are doing. Ours are doing very well, thank you.

I agree.  Mods are great here and the more open the forum the better.  There are probably always creative ways to make things better, but things are not that bad right now.  I think that some people come on here to bust chops and they know who they are.  These people also should know the posters who find this annoying and exclude them from it. 

Basically, there is a difference between critizing a person's logic (i.e. I think you are wrong about Jimmy's mid-range game for XYZ reason) and criticizing the person (i.e. you are a complete moron for saying XYZ about Jimmy's midrange game).  Calling someone a moron or something like that is much different than good natured poking fun.  I think we all know the difference.  The poking fun is great for the board, the personal insults derail threads and ruin it for a lot of people. 

Personal attacks derail threads when a poster could accomplish the same exact thing by avoiding the personal attack.  Personal attacks shift the scope of the conversation from basketball to whether or not what was said makes the poster a moron. 

The burden is much less on people to brush off personal attacks.  It should be all on people not do it.  If you want to save threads, there is some personal responsibility on us all to tweak our posts into either good natured joking or reasoned arguments.  Shouldn't be hard.

What did we learn in Kindergarten.

[brewcity77]

The fact that the first post isn't in teal is a clear description that the poster has no clue how difficult it is to moderate a message board. The mods here do a great job. How about quitting being a lazy ass and hitting the monumentally innovate "back" tab on your browser when you happen to click into a thread that has gone off topic?

[MUEng92]

The fact that the first post isn't in teal is a clear description that the poster has no clue how difficult it is to moderate a message board. The mods here do a great job. How about quitting being a lazy ass and hitting the monumentally innovate "back" tab on your browser when you happen to click into a thread that has gone off topic?

Unbelievable.  Difficult to form coherent response. Even if I could, it is difficult to type it due to melted chocolate from bon-bons smudging my Itouch screen.

 I must just be too lazy to find teal font function. If I have the energy, maybe I'll try harder next time.  Anyway, how does one turn my post into an attack on the mods?  If you need a translation, it was meant to address posters not the mods.  Maybe what I should have suggested was, if a thread strays from the titled topic everyone should agree to keep it off topic so us lazyasses don't have to waste what little energy we have and still not miss any actually relevant information.

There.  Now I have to go take a nap. I'm exhausted.

[mu_hilltopper]

Ohhh, this isn't a big deal.  I've hated MUEng92 since the 1989 ASMU Book Exchange.