Hi Jim

QQ about the Moderator Actions.

I understand the Hold/Unhold actions, and from the URL I can guess that Administrate Topic means change the Topic title (please correct me if I have missed the boat on these :-) ).
What do Sticky & Unsticky topic do? Sorry, but don't want to screw around and just end up screwing up :-)

Also, are there any general guidelines moderators should follow?

Rudi

Sticky topic makes the topic stick to the top of the list in the forum it resides in. Unsticky topic releases it to "fall" back into place according to when the last reply was.

Administrate topic also has a function where you can move the topic to a more proper forum. For instance if someone posted a Jeep topic in warships, the warship moderator could move it to softskins or to Armor/AFV. However, once the topic is moved from your forum, you will no longer have any ability to do anything to it. (unless you moved it to another forum you moderate).

If it is a controversial topic, we normally move it to the Support Staff forum so only moderators can see it. Then Jim makes a decision to either edit the offensive posts, delete the entire thread or do nothing and send it back to the original forum.

Usually when I use the administrate function, it is to fix a spelling error or change an ALL CAPS title to sentence case. Perhaps adjust the wording of a subject, i.e. instead of a title "Look Here" or "Check this out", I'll change it to what the post is actually about.

Once in a while you will have to delete posts. Normally this is done as a housekeeping measure. Sometimes a new user will post the same message in multiple forums. This is considered "cross posting" and is bad form. Usually one will be left in the most proper forum and the others will be deleted. Also a double post will occur. Someone accidentily posts the same message twice. These are OK to delete.

#1 Rule as a moderator is common sense. You are the adult supervision in your forum but that does not mean you have to be a hardass. Moderate in moderation. If you do your duties promptly and properly no one will ever really notice.

Thanks for the quick reply, Rob.

Stupid question, but why would you want to make a topic stick?

Thanks for the advice.

Rudi

It is usually done so a post with instructions on how to use that forum are left at the top. For instance, I believe Jim has made the instructions for the Rivet Review Board a sticky topic. The first post basically told users that plain congratulatory posts "Great Job", "Looks Good" will be deleted since that forum is for the constructive criticism of the built model.

It is also all right to ask how the person did a particular procedure during the build.