New to ScubaBoard and xenForo? Here's The Chairman's user guide...

[The Chairman]

Moderation in all things, including moderation...

ScubaBoard moderation is predicated as a response system. We encourage users to report problematic areas, rather than us actively seeking them out. That's right: users are an integral part of the mod team and set the tone for the Board. If no user feels obliged to complain about a post, then it's probably just not that important and there's no need to spend much time on it. We are reactive more than we are proactive depending on the Zone. We have at least five public zones: Learning, Normal, Normal with Marketplace, Surface Interval, and Guest.

• New Divers and Basic Scuba (aka Learning or "Green" Forums):
  • Proactively civil.
  • We will respond quickly to any reports.
  • Always on topic.
  • No Ad threads.
    • Responses to questions allowed but must be precisely on topic.
• Normal Forums:
  • Moderation is reactive and not proactive.
  • Mostly on topic, but discussions are allowed to evolve.
  • Ad threads are allowed in the forum within reason.
    • Responses to questions are allowed with a bit of latitude.
• Normal Forums with marketplaces:
  • Moderation is reactive and not proactive.
  • Ad threads are confined to the marketplace only.
    • Responses to questions are allowed with a bit of latitude.
    • Competing offers within a thread are strictly forbidden.
• Surface Interval and child forums:
  • Moderation is almost exclusively reactive.
  • Threats and bigotry are still not allowed.
• Guest (Manufacturer's Q&A and Group) Forums:
  • These forums are sponsored (owned) by the manufacturer or group and hosted by ScubaBoard.
  • Theyprovide mods and SB mods assist them.
    • Their rules apply in addition to ours.
    • These may be inconsistent with how SB mods do their jobs.
  • Moderation is a mix of reactive and proactive.
  • No competing manufacturers allowed.
    • Or comparisons to competing products.
  • No trolling of the manufacturer or group is allowed.
    • Please treat our guests respectfully!

So, how can you help? First of all: be nice. No one ever complains about nice posts. Also, use the report button judiciously. No, don't hit it just because you think someone is wrong or you don't like them. Use it when you see someone make a threat, be a jerk or try to derail a discussion. In other words, when they're not being nice. We've hidden this magical "Report Button" right out in the open too at the bottom of every post. Looky:

If you're not sure, go ahead and hit it. It will open a dialog box like this:

This starts a thread in the Mod Zone where all the mods get to see it and possibly discuss it. One mod will claim it and then gets to make the final decision on what will happen. You should be notified one way or the other. The sooner you report the post, the quicker we can respond and put the thread in question back on track.

If you're moderated we have several different ways of letting you know. A mod post in the thread, an explanation only you can see on the deleted post or even a conversation if the mod feels it is merited. If you don't like the moderation you can always report the conversation or send an email to Support@ScubaBoard.com with a link (don't forget this) and a detailed explanation. Help me to see the problem from your perspective.

FWIW, Moderators were selected to be leaders and not the Scuba police. If you feel one is being overly aggressive to you or even stalking you, report that to Support@ScubaBoard.com where I and only I will be viewing it. Please be patient as I usually check this only once a day in the morning... less during Invasions, Surges or other diving intensive events. You can also start a thread in support, but why turn up the drama? These kinds of things are best handled privately. Most complaints are spurious, but a few have resulted in a mod being demoted. We don't want mean or aggressive moderators any more than you do. In this respect, I retain final veto power on just about everything here on ScubaBoard. I worry about the community and will do whatever I have to in order to protect the community.

 

[The Chairman]

WHY CAN'T I POST???

This is one of the most asked questions we get at Support@ScubaBoard.com and there are many reasons.

• You're not registered or logged in.
  • See the very first post in this thread!
• There's a problem with your account.
  • You haven't finished registration (make sure the follow up e-mail is not in your spam folder]
  • Your e-mail is incorrect
  • Contact support@ScubaBoard.com for assistance.
• The Thread is closed to additional posts
  • Red shaded box at the top and bottom of the page will indicate "Not open for further replies."
  • This thread is just such an example!
• You've been thread banned!
  • Follow the rules to avoid this!
• You're in a restricted forum
  • Any limitations are spelled out in the special rules for that forum.
  • You can't post in "Hot Deals" unless you're an advertiser or Business Sponsor
  • You can't post in any classifieds forum until you have at least five posts
    • These were created to benefit active members of our community
    • This rule prevents scammers and spammers from inundating our forum
    • If all you want to do is sell, then maybe eBay and/or Craigs List is better for you and us

 

[The Chairman]

Going Red: Becoming a Supporting Member...

Running the world's largest website for diving takes time. A lot of time. A lot of effort. A lot of money. If you find value here, please consider "Going Red" and supporting our passion. No, you don't get to act up and troll with impunity as our ToS still applies to you. But, you'll get more picture space, a "you"@scubaboard.com email account if you want it and a banner telling everyone that you care. You'll also get my appreciation and a feeling that you're helping to keep the site running. We have three levels: $39.95/year for becoming a Supporter, $99.95 to become a Sponsor and $300 to become a Business Sponsor (which also includes some banner ad impressions). Simply click here: Go Red!. If you don't want to go red, but still want to donate, please send what you can to PayPal@ScubaBoard.com. Again, thanks!

However, our connection between PayPal and our database is a bit tenuous. If you don't show up red, simply send a request to support@ScubaBoard.com and it should be taken care of pretty darn quick.

Should want to stop donating, just sign on to your PayPal account click here and deactivate your subscription: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_manage-paylist][B]My Preapproved Payments[/B] No harm, no foul as far as we're concerned and we still appreciate your past support!

 

[The Chairman]

It's not in English!!!

I'm glad we are an international diving forum. No, it doesn't all have to be in English. I use Chrome which includes Google Translate. Other browsers might also have it. Highlight a portion of the text, right click and select "Translate selection into English"

When you do that, it will open another window to allow you to translate the whole page. While I speak some Russian, I am not fluent, so this helps me a lot. A lot.

When you select Translate full page, it will do that in situ automagically. In fact, all posts in the language you've translated from, will be in the language of your choice.

 

[The Chairman]

Why can't I sell?

Due to lots of scammers and spammers, we have made it harder for people to sell on. Ergo, you need to read our Special Rules for the Marketplace to figure it out. I'm not copying and pasting it here since it often gets updated.