YOu have to send alexandra an email. But closing of threads can only be done by admins, not by moderators :-)

fcrochik wrote:

I would like to moderate some forums so I can help out, closing threads, moving threads, …

Do I need to request authorization or do I wait to eventually be invited?

I’m happy to hear that! :)

Just let me know if you have any preferences when it comes to which forums you want to moderate and I can give you the rights.

Gerolf wrote:

YOu have to send alexandra an email. But closing of threads can only be done by admins, not by moderators :-)

Really? That probably explains why so few threads get closed… I think closing threads is not as harmful as some think. It helps getting threads to stay on topic and consequentially better results on searches.

So, we have some admins (volker, Denis, chetankjain, …) and also the trolls. If a thread should be closed, it can be send to the admins.

fcrochik wrote:

Gerolf wrote:

YOu have to send alexandra an email. But closing of threads can only be done by admins, not by moderators :-)

Really? That probably explains why so few threads get closed… I think closing threads is not as harmful as some think. It helps getting threads to stay on topic and consequentially better results on searches.

I also think that offtopic isn’t as bad thing as most thinks :)

We are very conservative with closing of threads. Most times it just helps to leave a note to the users. Very often, it’s just that discussion moves away slowly. Closing a thread should only be the last resort, IMHO.

Gerolf: Not all trolls are moderators. We have to go through the same process as everybody else to get that privikedge,

My main concern is making the threads better for future reference. I don’t see any problems for the people involved on a discussion to keep going because they will “follow” the subject changing.

A long thread with multiple “subjects” will not be very useful later on when someone run a search.

I guess you could split the threads in, at least, two types: “discussion” and “question”. For a discussion there is no point on closing the thread or even to force staying on topic. For a question, on the other hand, ideally as soon as we get the “answer” we should be done.

Volker wrote:

We are very conservative with closing of threads. Most times it just helps to leave a note to the users. Very often, it’s just that discussion moves away slowly. Closing a thread should only be the last resort, IMHO.

I would agree with Volker on this: closing a thread should be a last resort.

Tobias Hunger wrote:

Gerolf: Not all trolls are moderators. We have to go through the same process as everybody else to get that privikedge,

Ok, sorry, But at least Alexandra and Marius are asmins :-)

fcrochik wrote:

My main concern is making the threads better for future reference. I don’t see any problems for the people involved on a discussion to keep going because they will “follow” the subject changing.

A long thread with multiple “subjects” will not be very useful later on when someone run a search.

I guess you could split the threads in, at least, two types: “discussion” and “question”. For a discussion there is no point on closing the thread or even to force staying on topic. For a question, on the other hand, ideally as soon as we get the “answer” we should be done.

This is actually under discussion, http://bugreports.qt.nokia.com/browse/QTWEBSITE-160