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Setting to disallow members from viewing warn points


Rimi

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Posted

That was our first reaction too. Our membership (even the members who never cause any issues) have reacted negatively to this.
However, I have found that you cannot hide it because with the new IP board, moderator warnings are no longer delivered via pm.
All warnings display in the warn points section and members can no longer reply to the pm asking questions or giving opinion.
They are notified via the notification section and email (if you have it configured this way, if you don't they may not be aware that they have received a communication from moderation)
So, the choice is either use the warn panel or do not use it at all, in which case you can hide the link........but you will then be without any kind of a log of actions taken by moderation
In addition, moderators no longer have the ability to log 'notes'. We used this quite a lot

Overall, we find the new warn point system very heavy handed and it has caused an escalation in paranoia among the members and has made moderators jobs more difficult

What would have been far more helpful would have been an integration between reports and member notes/warns

I really don't know how we are going to make the best of this new system. Feels very heavy handed to both moderators and members

Posted

While I have no problem with allowing the warning points to be displayed, I'd like to see something where members cannot view the "warning explanations" from which the warning was given.

Posted

That was our first reaction too. Our membership (even the members who never cause any issues) have reacted negatively to this.


However, I have found that you cannot hide it because with the new IP board, moderator warnings are no longer delivered via pm.


All warnings display in the warn points section and members can no longer reply to the pm asking questions or giving opinion.


They are notified via the notification section and email (if you have it configured this way, if you don't they may not be aware that they have received a communication from moderation)


So, the choice is either use the warn panel or do not use it at all, in which case you can hide the link........but you will then be without any kind of a log of actions taken by moderation


In addition, moderators no longer have the ability to log 'notes'. We used this quite a lot



Overall, we find the new warn point system very heavy handed and it has caused an escalation in paranoia among the members and has made moderators jobs more difficult



What would have been far more helpful would have been an integration between reports and member notes/warns



I really don't know how we are going to make the best of this new system. Feels very heavy handed to both moderators and members


Oh..it doesn't send PMs anymore.

Well then I guess it's necessary. What I did was I removed it from the topic view for regular users, but kept it in the profiles. Users were saying that the constant reminder of their warn points made them feel like bad people or something...

PMs were nice though. It allows for more communication between staff and user.
Posted

That's exactly what i asked about when i first installed IPB. The "0 warning points" is quite frankly completely unnecessary. It's like wearing a white shirt with big black writing "I have not yet committed any crimes". You could have just been wearing normal clothes unlike convicted criminals with the orange suits, if you get my meaning? Unless a member is convicted of violating the forum rules, there should be no such display of "0 warning points".

The only reason i can think of, why IPS made the warning system as it is, could be to reduce serve resource usage. Maybe using a simpler, more compact warning system lightens the load?? But it's still a step backward in terms of functionality and user-friendliness IMO.

Posted

Well keep in mind that only the user can see their own warning points so your analogy isn't exactly correct. But I understand your point.

Actually the new warn system is much more advanced and effecient than the old one...the only step backwards is the removal of the PM. If that is put back then I think the majority of the issue is solved.

Posted

I just sent a verbal warn to a member. I know that forcing members to acknowledge warnings before they're able to post is a good way of ensuring they know they've received the verbal warn, but a PM is so much...nicer(?). But if I want to send a PM then it doesn't go into the warn log...I suppose I could add it myself, but the suggestion for reimplementing PMs is much easier.

Posted

I would like to have the choice if the members can read the warning logs or not or if the link is even displayed to others than mods or admins.

We use this more to be aware what other mods aer thinking about this user and what to watch out for. The way it is now this is totally useless for us.

Posted

I would like to have the choice if the members can read the warning logs or not or if the link is even displayed to others than mods or admins.



We use this more to be aware what other mods aer thinking about this user and what to watch out for. The way it is now this is totally useless for us.


Not necessarily. You can make notes and hide them from members.
Posted

Whole I sympathize with wanting to let members know about other members, I think that the warning system would become similar to a scarlet letter. I don't know about everyone else, but I prefer that normal members not know the reason why someone was issued a warning strike. Because usually, it's going to involve new members who might not have been aware of the forum rules in the first place and may have unknowingly violated the rules without realizing it. The first warning strike is usually enough to let that member know not to do that again.

Besides, what does it help in having other members know the reason someone was given a warning strike? They wouldn't be able to hand out another warning strike or "moderate" that person, it just causes a problem for your moderators because then they get bombarded by a lot of PM's which drag them down from either posting/contributing to the forum topics or from their duties in maintaining the forums that they are watching.

I just think it creates an additional burden on the moderators and that's the reason why you have moderators in the first place. Because you end up having regular members "stalk" those members who violated the forum policy. It's already a visible indicator if someone has a warning strike but that members should not know the reason why someone was given a warning in the first place. I don't know, it just becomes too burdensome if everyone knows why a warning strike was handed out. Only the Admin and Moderators should have access to that information.

Posted

I believe you're misunderstanding. Other members can not see the warn points...the thing is my members don't want to see their own warn points and I don't want them to see it either.

Posted

Oh. Well, that becomes another problem because if the member who was given the warning isn't aware of the warning, then they're bound to keep breaking the forum rules. It simply stands as a reminder to follow the rules. I understand what you're saying but if you hand out a warning strike and the member isn't aware of it, or he discovers it, he's bound to forget about it and make that rule violation again.

Posted

I believe you're misunderstanding. Other members can not see the warn points...the thing is my members don't want to see their own warn points and I don't want them to see it either.



What? :ike:
Posted

Yup... I had to turn off the warning system as I was getting too many message asking what the "0 warnings points" thing was.
Does not make much sense to me to tell someone they have zero warnings.

Posted

Rimi, I think you did. If your members don't want to see the warning then remind them not to violate your forum rules. I get inquiries about that indicator as well but I have to remind those who ask that if they didn't want to see that warning indicator then maybe they shouldn't have violated the rules. While I have a moderate sized community, I have disabled the whole system, but if there was more activity and heavy traffic from members, I would re-enable it.

Rimi, I wouldn't be worried about it. But, I would post an announcement on your community forums that if members don't want to see that warning indicator, then remind them not to violate your forum policy. While you may lose a few members, the majority of your community will stand by your side. Have I lost members because I refused to remove that warning indicator? Sure. But, they were mostly members who didn't respect the forum staff or who constantly tried to test the limits of the forum rules on my site.

Trust me on this, the majority of your members don't care about the warning indicator because they don't violate the forum rules. So what, if they don;t like seeing that indicator. Only they can see it anyway. I would just tell them, kindly, to deal with it. If they don;t violate your forum rules then they need to simply ignore it. It just sounds to me that they're trying to test your limits and how far you'll go. It also sounds like they're trying to get you to remove the system so they can violate the rules.

With me, the system was removed. But, if they violate the rules, they get one verbal warning and then temporary restrictions (which increase in length the more they violate the rules) to permanent restrictions or bans (depending on the violation). Extreme violations such as racism, harassment or threats get an immediate automatic ban ... you just have to judge each case under this kind of system.

Please note that my members respect that warning indicator and come to understand that it's like your avatar and signature. It's something that sits there that won't ever be used ... most of my members don't even worry about it.

Posted

Well, I just use it as a log on members. I've already removed it from member view myself.

I still think the PM being sent upon warning needs to be restored.

Posted

I thought that was still an option. I wasn't aware that it had been removed from the feature ... talk an ill-advised move. That feature allowed administrators to inform a member of their forum rule violation.

Posted

I thought that was still an option. I wasn't aware that it had been removed from the feature ... talk an ill-advised move. That feature allowed administrators to inform a member of their forum rule violation.




My members still get a PM on warn. Its a checkbox when your warning someone...
Posted

A simple hook to remove the "0 warning points" text IF the member has 0 warning points shouldn't be too hard to make, right?

I see exactly what's being said, I hate that members who don't have cause to even know or be concerned about the Warning system have the warning number showed to them.

If the member isn't staff, and they have 0 points, the text shouldn't be displayed to members as it's only there so mods can click it to warn them of specific content.

Conditional should be something like this in the correct template: (UNTESTED)


<if test="$this->memberData['warn_level'] != 0  and !$this->memberData['g_is_supmod'] and !$this->memberData['is_mod']">

{$this->memberData['warn_level']} Warning Points

</if>

Posted

My quick attempt to bash up a hook didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. :tongue:

A template edit to make this disappear for members is this:

Global Templates > userInfoTemplate

Find:



<a class='desc lighter blend_links' href='{parse url="app=members&amp;module=profile&amp;section=warnings&amp;member={$author['member_id']}&amp;from_app={$this->request['app']}&amp;from_id1={$contentid}&amp;from_id2={$options['id2']}" base="public"}' id='warn_link_{$contentid}_{$author['member_id']}' title='{$this->lang->words['warn_view_history']}'>{parse expression="sprintf( $this->lang->words['warn_status'], $author['warn_level'] )"}</a>

Replace with;



<if test="$author['warn_level'] != 0">

<a class='desc lighter blend_links' href='{parse url="app=members&amp;module=profile&amp;section=warnings&amp;member={$author['member_id']}&amp;from_app={$this->request['app']}&amp;from_id1={$contentid}&amp;from_id2={$options['id2']}" base="public"}' id='warn_link_{$contentid}_{$author['member_id']}' title='{$this->lang->words['warn_view_history']}'>{parse expression="sprintf( $this->lang->words['warn_status'], $author['warn_level'] )"}</a>

</if>


Posted

I already know how to edit the tempates and have already done so. But thing is I hate editing templates because of upgrades and try to avoid it. If it was a setting then that would be great. Besides we still need the ability to send a PM upon warning. I think that's a lot more important than viewing warn points, and that can't be achieved with a simple skin edit. Should that be a separate thread?

Posted

I already know how to edit the tempates and have already done so. But thing is I hate editing templates because of upgrades and try to avoid it. If it was a setting then that would be great. Besides we still need the ability to send a PM upon warning. I think that's a lot more important than viewing warn points, and that can't be achieved with a simple skin edit. Should that be a separate thread?




Agree, it would be nice if it would send a PM from the moderator who issued the warning informing the user. On our forum everyone has the right to question warnings they are given by moderators and we're now going to have to get our moderators to add a line to the bottom of the user viewable reason with something like "If you wish to discuss this warning please PM me.".
Posted



Agree, it would be nice if it would send a PM from the moderator who issued the warning informing the user. On our forum everyone has the right to question warnings they are given by moderators and we're now going to have to get our moderators to add a line to the bottom of the user viewable reason with something like "If you wish to discuss this warning please PM me.".


I suggest you just do a template edit on the warn page saying that same line.

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