Make the server list forum approval-only

[Stelios]

Seeing how there's more server threads (and other irrelevant threads) in the server list forum than actual server lists, and considering new server lists don't just pop up every day but rather maybe once a month, maybe it would make more sense to only allow new threads on that forum with moderator approval?
Last time I logged in I went ahead and reported like 15 or so threads just from the first page, every single one of them was deleted by the mods, now it's full with irrelevant threads again.
I'm not sure how moderators are supposed to keep up with this amount of spam, let alone users to report it for them to see it.

 

[Unavailable]

I think this applies to all of the sub-forums and not just the server list. I've had my fair shares of reporting threads (selling MC accounts, violating MC-M rules, etc.) as I regularly visit this site everyday. I've seen tons of irrelevant threads on this site that I need to report or comment that they're in the wrong sub-forum. Honestly, it's annoying to see threads that either don't make sense to the sub-forum or simply breaking the site rules.

Though, I have three reasons why I partially disagree with this suggestion. First, other sub-forums don't have moderator approvals, so why is the server list sub-forum special? Imo, A certain sub-forum being dry / having less visitors is not enough reason for it to become approval-only as it makes the site inconsistent (that sub-forum has approval-only, why don't this sub-forum have it too?) Second, making the sub-forums approval-only would deter and annoy people from posting threads they want to post immediately since not all users would post irrelevant threads. Third, it would be a monumental work for the staff to keep up with approving threads. Approving resources and responding to scam reports have already taken a huge toll on the staffing team. Adding approval-only to sub-forums (even only for server list) would not be a fun ride for them.

As much as I want this to work (since I also dislike irrelevant/rule-breaking threads), I don't see this being implemented anytime soon as this would burden the staff team a lot. The best we can do as users right now is to let them know that they're in the wrong sub-forums or report them.

A suggestion of mine regarding this situation would be attaching threads on sub-forums that explain what the sub-forums are for, similar to those in General Discussion and Contests & Giveaways with the title Read Before Posting or something like that. Though, that would also take time for the staff team to write.

 

[Geek]

A suggestion of mine regarding this situation would be attaching threads on sub-forums that explain what the sub-forums are for, similar to those in General Discussion and Contests & Giveaways with the title Read Before Posting or something like that. Though, that would also take time for the staff team to write.

Half of the people don't read the big announcements we publish which usually notifies most members that a thread has been published, we can't expect people to genuinely read threads that are pinned at the top of the section. Most sections have a description under the title of the section when you click into it, people just don't read.

I'm not sure how moderators are supposed to keep up with this amount of spam, let alone users to report it for them to see it.

Spam like this is easy to deal with because we can mass move it. If you'd like to go through the section and make a list of all the threads needing moved to server showcase, feel free to send me it in a conversation.

Additionally, we can start enforcing 1.21 more strictly. As it stands now, I almost never warn for 1.21 unless I've moved a similar thread by the OP before.

 

[Mick]

This is something that I have been thinking about recently, and while I don't agree with the proposed solution I do think that there is a problem with people posting their servers in the server lists forum.

I actually remember when I added the Server Lists forum. Back then it was called Server Slots because the point of the forum was for people to be selling time on their .org slots and other server list slot time. Since then, three things have happened:

1. People have stopped selling time on their server list slots
2. We've grown considerably and so server list owners want to advertise here more than ever
3. There are far more server lists that exist today than ever, and new ones are cropping up every week

In light of these facts, how does everyone feel about us moving Server Lists from being a subforum of Advertising to its own proper forum? We'd only allow threads to be created by server list owners and anyone selling time on their slots will be able to sell that in Other Advertising. We'll also put a big notice at the top of the forum explaining to server owners that they can't be promoting their servers in the forum.