Honest Question to the Admins!

[Ripley]

GD is moving at Warp 10 and LOTS of good info is getting drowned out by the most inane posts. Yes, we are all upset and everyone wants to say something, but dammit this is ridiculous!

Is there some way to create another Hurricane Katrina News Forum quickly that could be used for vanity posts (as such - folks not unlike me (!) could post the whines and scares and future premonitions?) and let GD slow down some?

And crap with everyone posting separate threads about what CNN is saying right now! Shit, we don't need 10 threads repeating the MSM here!

Can this happen?

[fooj]

1. Sounds like a reasonable request...

Peace.

[Fleshdancer]

2. good idea Ripley n/t

[babylonsister]

3. RECOMMEND for visibility. nt

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. And maybe we coudl try to restrain ourselves

from posting a dozen threads about the same thing. I really want the 'My Posts' function back. I don't care if things go a little slower.

[wildflower]

16. Tip to get around loss of 'My Posts' feature at Level 3:

Here's a tip I figured out; not sure if it's been posted already.

Bookmark any thread you start or post in. Then you can easily go back to your posts later, by going to your bookmarks.

I hope that helps!

wildflower

[crispini]

5. it will slow down, they probably don't need a new forum

but WORD about the zillions of live threads about what's on CNN now. this problem would go away very quickly if people would just fucking check for duplicates before they post stuff.

[mom cat]

10. That is difficult with the search functions down. I think that a Katrina

Research Forum would give a more stable posce to add and retrieve info.

[crispini]

31. a lot of people aren't even bothering to read the same PAGE

let alone check a page or two back. i don't even care about the search forum, but usually when there is something on CNN there are about 8 threads on the same thing. is it too much to ask to ask someone to take five seconds to scan the page, maybe press 'refresh' just once before they go off on whatever the heck they saw on cnn?

[napi21]

12. Is there a way to do that when we're at level 3?

I always try to read what's on the latest page, and at least at the top of the forum where I wish to post, but the search option is turned off. Is there something else I can do to find it would be a dupe?

[wildflower]

18. The best thing I've found so far is using 'Find'

Under the edit menu in most browsers.

It's not perfect, and it means subject lines have to be descriptive. But what I do is type a keyword into 'Find' and quickly scan the first couple of pages of GD (or LBN).

For example, if I wanted to post that Nagin was coming up on CNN, I could first type in 'Nagin' into 'Find' and quickly see that three other people already posted it on the first page of GD.

Hope that helps a little.

wildflower

[expatriot]

6. The Katrina Ranting and Lamenting Forum, I'd use it a lot ! nt

[Ripley]

7. Skinner I am pleading with you!

Please create a separate forum!

General Discussion has now become irrelevant and useless for thousands of us DUers as we watch it descending into chaos like New Orleans!

HELP US!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. I don't know the reason, but it seems that increasing numbers of

people are not following the simple rule of reading the titles of existing posts before breathlessly posting something that twelve other people have posted.

I don't remember this problem being so severe until a coupple of months ago.

[Ripley]

11. I know what you mean Lydia...

DU GD is under assault and not responding. I am not going to blame the poor moderators who are on this shift, but the admins should be working on this Labor Day to calm it down.

[charlie]

13. Got that right

And too many vanity posts.

[MADem]

30. Yep--too much broadcasting, not enough receiving

And it's not like the titles of the posts aren't fairly clear, for the most part....

[miss_kitty]

9. GD needs its own server

you're wrecking it for the Lounge.:evilfrown:

[Ripley]

14. Is that a Lounge Joke or what?

never mind

[Ripley]

15. Kick for this kind of GARBAGE!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4650815

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4650958

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4650424

I mean come on people. This is CRAP.

[mom cat]

17. This goes bevond dupes and vanity posts. This is about having data

available., good data that is now circulating on so many disparate threads. If there wewe a central forun to organize this data we could have ready access, even when the "Search" and "My Posts" functions are off line.

[wildflower]

19. Maybe we could put some in Demopedia?

Would that help?

There's also the hurricane resources thread that's pinned at the top of the forums.

wildflower

[mom cat]

24. That is really for disaster relief info. We need a central place for info

about the disaster:
prior knowledge of the danger
the failure in planning
the early warnings
Gov. Blanco's orders
When the fed knew and what they didn't do
FEMA inaction
Northcom inaction
FEMA blocking rescue efforts
Bush lies
blocking of the evacuation
photo-op staging
racism
over hyping of looting as an issue

Etc.
these are just suggested categories.

[mom cat]

25. That is really for disaster relief info. We need a central place for info

about the disaster:
prior knowledge of the danger
the failure in planning
the early warnings
Gov. Blanco's orders
When the fed knew and what they didn't do
FEMA inaction
Northcom inaction
FEMA blocking rescue efforts
Bush lies
blocking of the evacuation
photo-op staging
racism
over hyping of looting as an issue

Etc.
these are just suggested categories.
Threads could be set up in a Katrina Research Forun to make finding and saving things easier. Perhaps the demopedia would work. I do not know how to use it and I do not know if it is arranger in usable categories.

[wildflower]

20. A couple more tips for GD that I thought of:

1. When I go to GD, I see several subject lines I want to click on. Often, by the time I'm done looking at one thread, I go back to GD and those threads are gone. Here's what I do: copy the page of headlines into a Word file or e-mail. Then I can use 'Find' to find them later.

2. When I see any posts I think I might possibly want to reference later, I either (a) bookmark them or (b) copy the links into a draft e-mail or Word file.

wildflower

[Ripley]

23. Thanks for the tips wildflower!

But my request to the Admins stands! There are a lot of dedicated DUers who cannot get info because GD is a freaking cluster!

Once again...I am not blaming Mods or even Admins...this is an emergency of National proportions! But the Admins need to respond!

[mom cat]

26. We can request a new forum.. You have my vote!

[snot]

21. AGREED!!! NT

[snot]

22. AGREED!!! NT

[Hoping4Change]

27. I agree. Its very hard to find threads with important info. One is

doomed if one hasnt bookmarked them. There should be a forum that can be used as a resource for the tremendous amount of important information that DUers are posting.

[chimpymustgo]

29. During the primaries last year, we had the same problem. Tried this:

all posts had to be at least 5 sentences long or have a link. It was a pain in the ass, but it cut down a lot of the:

OMG - I can't believe this!!! n/t

threads.

[crispini]

36. THAT would be PERFECT!

I really think it's time to impose some standards on DU. things are far, far too incoherent around here when it's this fast and it's at least partly due to the phenomenon you describe.

[smartvoter]

28. Yes. We need a separate forum for this -- it is impossible to keep up. nt

[nonconformist]

32. We could also use a

"Refugee - A Semantics Debate Forum"

There is a new "refugee" thread every hour in here for the past several days.

[mom cat]

33. Here is how we make it happen:

How to start a new DU group: We Can do this!

How to Suggest a DU Group
Edited on Wed Apr-27-05 11:10 AM by Skinner

One of the best things about DU Groups is that members have the ability to suggest new groups to the Administrators of Democratic Underground. If you wish to suggest a group, please follow this procedure:

1. Start one discussion thread in the forum of your choice to tell people about your idea for a DU Group.

2. In that thread, you must get responses from at least ten DU members who agree to be active participants in the suggested DU Group. All ten members to respond must have donor stars.

3. In that thread, members must agree on a proposed mission statement for the DU Group.

4. When enough members have signed on to join the group and have agreed on a proposed mission statement, one member must officially suggest the DU Group to a DU Administrator (Skinner, EarlG, or Elad), by sending an email. Please be sure to include a link to the thread where members have discussed the proposed Group.

5. The Administrators will consider the request and make a decision. The Administrators will either 1) Accept the Group as it is proposed, 2) Deny the Group outright, or 3) Ask for changes to the Group or its mission statement which would be necessary for its approval.

6. Once the suggested Group has been accepted by the Administrators, the Administrators will create a new DU Group in the "DU Groups" Category forum, and pin the mission statement of that Group to the top of that Group's forum.

If you are considering a DU Group on a controversial topic, the Administrators would appreciate if you contacted us before collecting your ten members, so we may discuss any sensitive issues. This courtesy will increase the chance that your Group is approved. Also, please be aware that proposed Groups that are redundant with existing DU Forums are unlikely to be approved.

If you have any questions, please contact a forum Administrator.

Skinner
EarlG
Elad

Democratic Underground Administrators

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=206x10

[meganmonkey]

40. I'm in - I have a star....

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Agreed. We need a forum for Katrina. Here is an activism alert

I hope folks can use:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507


------------------------------------------------------
Save the Gulf, then save the nation!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[tyedyeto]

35. Mods should be able to combine threads

like they do in LBN. That would help tremendously.

[crispini]

37. I think they can, but choose not to.

Not sure why...

[lildreamer316]

38. Voting n/t

[Roland99]

39. I thought about that a few days ago.

[Slit Skirt]

41. more info...mass graves

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4660055

[zwielicht]

42. Agreed + Why was the "Stop calling Chertoff incompetent"-thread deleted?

Agreed, GD is definitely to fast atm.

And here was a thread here today titled "Please stop calling Chertoff incompetent", there seems to have been antisemitic comments, but why was the whole thread deleted??

[beetbox]

43. nominated n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

44. Thanks Ripley! Excellent idea! Nominated! nt

[DeepModem Mom]

45. The loss of the search function, beyond all our control --

is part of the problem. I post mostly in LBN, but was hesitant today because of fear of duping. Even in GD, however, I search before I post (reporting something on CNN, for example -- which I don't think is so bad, as this story itself moves very fast, and because the kind of coverage it's getting is very important). I can't search here now.

I agree there's a problem -- a problem, unfortunatly, that is so tragic that none of us can ignore it, and few of us can restrain from communicating our thoughts here.


On edit: We are also at the mercy of the MSM, some of whom are doing a pretty good job, because our government is telling us nothing we can trust.

[UTUSN]

46. What about the GD-Politics/Elections Forum for Current, Special, Events

Like the Primaries and Elections when THOSE are happening, and things like this at these other times? It seemed that plain old GD was originally identified as being for POLITICAL topics ONLY.