Where did the humour go?

[Brickie]

To Neil and all the Admins and Mods.

I have always greatly admired the Woodworking forums and all who donate their time to help keep the forums running smoothly.
Its a thankless job, I know.

I realise how hard it is to keep the general hoard in place and to stop any bickering, fighting, etc.

But.
There is always a but isnt there?

Please dont lose the sense of humour from the forums.
These days, anyone who has a post that is considered even remotely humorous has the post deleted.

The forums were created on humour, I have read the very first few posts, yes, the very first ones.

There has been a lot of effort expended by those that helped to make the forums as great as what they are today, and most of the posts contained humour of some sort.

Now, if a post contains any sort of humour that is considered "off", its deleted.

Drivel, I can understand being deleted, it is mind numbing to say the least and lacks humour?

Im the 3 months that I have been away from the forums, there seems to have been a mind set of, if its funny delete it. Why?

Please dont let the humour die.

Al

[Carry Pine]

Allan at Whalan and Mon Reuben come out of hiding.

CP

[Brickie]

Im not talking of the "jokes section" Im talking about the forum as a whole.

[mic-d]

[dazzler]

Hi brickie

My 2c....

The forum has grown up maybe and become more focused on the technical side rather than a bunch of mates interested in woodwork (male and female) just yarning so to speak.

The other is the fact that this is owned by a single person who puts thier particular "brand" on how they think it should go which is fair enough seeing as they's payin the bills.
EDIT: I gutted out there. I actually dont think its a healthy thing in the long run. The child needs its space sometimes.

I also think the mods have slowly but surely had a gutful of the whingers on the forum whining about every possible anticipated and imagined slight against thier painfully thin skins and sorting out the squabbles between those with no spines but a very tall horse on which to gaze down from.

But its still fun living on the boundaries and stickin to the wowsers now and then .

Yeah you, over the back, Im lookin at you sooky bub

[glock40sw]

G'day.
I find the Forums funny as all buggery.

Hell...Even Al laughed so hard he pizzed himself so I'm told.

Humor is everwhere. Either that or I take too many uppers..

I have only ever had 2 posts deleted.
One was a goat joke for Al.
The other was taking the Pizz out of Cliff

[Cliff Rogers]

....The other was taking the Pizz out of Cliff

I must have missed that one, you better post it again.

[dazzler]

I must have missed that one, you better post it again.

I didnt think anyone would have been into the stuff he suggested you were into.....made me blush

[pawnhead]

Well I've had a few deleted, but I'm not complaining (too much).
I'll just keep living on the boundaries and sticking it to the wowsers now and then.

I hope you stick around. This place could do with the worlds best bricklayer.

[Cliff Rogers]

I didnt think anyone would have been into the stuff he suggested you were into.....made me blush

Struth.... now I really want to know.

[Allan at Wallan]

Life was never meant to be easy ... so they say.

I had things pretty rough as a youngster, my family broke
up when I was 14. I have never lived with either of my
parents since then as I was "in hiding". One thing that
got me through those years was HUMOUR as I read joke
books whenever I could afford one.

I joined the postal service and rose to the top with a staff
of 41 at my Post Office. My dedication to the job and my
success in managing people can partly be attributed to a
necessary component called HUMOUR.

I have a successful marriage of 46 years and anyone who
is still married after that time will recognize that HUMOUR
contributes something into a marriage.

Now in retirement I am tackling woodturning with the same
determination that has helped me succeed in life. I belong
to two woodturning clubs and thoroughly enjoy the sense
of belonging and sharing with others. Similarly I joined the
Woodworking Forum and just love the atmosphere. The
spirit within the group is great, the knowledge shared is
invaluable, generosity abounds in many ways, friendships
are formed and HUMOUR can be found in many of the threads.

I avoid hurtful comments, foul language or jokes that
offend. On the rare occasion that one of my jokes is
"moved" it is because replies sometimes snowball and the
Moderator chooses to put an end to it. I accept such a
decision gracefully.

May HUMOUR, HUMOUR, and more HUMOUR continue.

Allan

____________________________________________

I am not at all worried about dying
... but just hope that I am not there at the time.

[watson]

G'day Allan,
You're right on there.......life wasn't meant to be easy....but it's easier with a humorous slant.
I'm also glad that your posted humour is being improved by the donated joke book left for you at the forum stand at the Melbourne WWW show.
That's funny in itself.

[ubeaut]

Sorry to disappoint you but the sense of humor is still here. The forums are still fun and always will be.

It's just that those genuinely seeking help and giving it, now far outweighing the jokers, hijackers, drivellers and those who thought they were funny. Thankfully for the us they've found another place to go and spread their humor until they sicken themselves and their fellow members of it.

_________________________________

Contrary to popular belief I have virtually nothing at all to do with what is moderated, and far from putting my own "brand" on how anyone thinks I actually encourage all mods and admin to be their own person and do what they think is right. If there's a problem it's discussed with others. I pay the bills and let the mods do their own thing.

Nowadays the forums are about 85% self moderating with most posts and threads being moderated by the posters themselves. The bulk of the moderating done by the mods and admin is deleting spam, and other unsavory garbage.

The Mods and Admins are not prudes, fun nazi's or anything else. They are hand picked for their fairness, levelheadedness and good sense of judgment among other special attributes. Apart from spammers and the like, most posts dealt with by mods are done so because they have been reported by other members.

I have only ever had 2 posts deleted.
One was a goat joke for Al.
The other was taking the Pizz out of Cliff

Funny enough probably both deleted by...... Yep you guessed it, AL. Who also was one of the main ones responsible for the clamp down on drivel. Which as you would have seen in a couple of posts see above was still alive until deleted during the typing of this post.

_________________________________

For those of you don't know the Super Moderators and Administrators here is a list. These are the ones with the power to delete posts, ban members and everything to ensure the smooth running or the forums and the protection of members rights, etc.

Administrators:

• ubeaut, Neil, Neil Ellis - All me, each has a different function, 1 has the ability to shut down the forums.

• Steven - Responsible for keeping the forums running - Computer and programming guru. The only other person with the ability to shut down the forums.
• - The axe wielding mongrel - mostly on holiday
• Wood Butcher - New to administration and filling the shoes admirably

Super Moderators

• Groggy
• RufflyRustic
• Stuart
• Scooter
• Jim Carroll
• jow104
• DJ's Timber
• Watson

Please feel free to contact any of us with your problems or concerns re the forums. We will be only too happy to do whatever we can to help in any way.

Cheers - Neil

PS The stats speak for themselves. Since a hand full of members went to another place for their blokey release we have had record membership sign ups, record numbers of unique visitors, record numbers of page views. Our number of hits has dropped to 14.5 million per month

The above all reflect a more discerning membership, more quality posts, and less garbage leading to less hits.

Are we happy about this..... NO! We're bloody ecstatics.

Personally I'd like to thank those of you who frequent TheBlokeyShed for going there to do your thing instead of here. You have what you want and in getting it you've finally given us what we want.

To those who stick around here and help but got there for their fun I say, "Thank you." To those who stay at the other place and don't come back I say, "In most instances, you will be missed, but others will come and take your place."

To those who go to the other place to whinge, moan, complain about these forums the mods, members and admin, I say "Who the hell cares. If you don't like it the answer's simple. Don't come back. It's no big deal. There will be no gnashing of teeth, wailing or lamenting your departure. "

[glock40sw]

Well bloody put.

I had a look at the other forum. But it doesn't have the technical flavour of this one.
Keep up the great work.

[glock40sw]

Struth.... now I really want to know.

Got ya worried now...Eh....

Can almost hear the cogs turning over in your head from down here..
( Cliff thinks to self " What sick schit did I do while Pizzed last time")