Ask the Moderators

[Jason]

The other mods and I have decided to open a new sticky thread here.

It is intended for members who wish to have an open forum with each other and the mods about the workings of the board. From a personal standpoint I believe the moderators should be a bit more accountable to everyone on here, within reason of course. I would like to stress that we are not unapproachable individually; we'll gladly accept PMs if you don't want to speak publicly on this thread.

[Dunderhead]

You guys do a damn good job. I really don't want to see this site become heavily moderated, maybe some clearer rules could be put up, and I think the various subfourms could be better consolidated, but this is still my favorite website on the internet.

[Aegir]

people complain the mods are too lenient, if anything I think they're too strict!

AUTONOMY FOREVER

[Jason]

You guys do a damn good job. I really don't want to see this site become heavily moderated, maybe some clearer rules could be put up, and I think the various subfourms could be better consolidated, but this is still my favorite website on the internet.

We're open to suggestions. Bounce some ideas off of us. I think the forums could be a bit better organized too.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Yes, please...we're here for *you* folks. Let us know how we can help ^_^

[SMiLE Brian]

What happened to the mods Jonas and Tayhoshe?

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

'Tayoshe' is also 'Comic List' aka board owner Charles LePage. He owns the site, but the four of us actually run the board.

Jonas is still around, but I think he's been busy. I was for a long while, but I have a new job that has very flexible hours.

[Dunderhead]

You guys do a damn good job. I really don't want to see this site become heavily moderated, maybe some clearer rules could be put up, and I think the various subfourms could be better consolidated, but this is still my favorite website on the internet.

We're open to suggestions. Bounce some ideas off of us. I think the forums could be a bit better organized too.

I think the subforums are poorly organized. 99% of discussion seems to happen in "General On Topic Discussion" section, and the other portions of the board are, in comparison, very seldom used. A lot of the bad feelings that arise in the General Discussion forum could be mitigated by better structuring discussion. That's really the point of having subforums isn't it? So that people looking to talk about a particular category of thing that interests them don't have to wade through an overabundance of what doesn't.
The Smile Sessions subforum isn't used a whole lot and a lot of Smile discussion still ends up in the General Discussion section. The sandbox is where joke threads and off-topic things are supposed to be posted but many posters don't even check there.

I think things should be organized as:

1. News, Rumors, and Future Releases: Reunion stuff, remaster stuff, box set stuff, press releases, television appearances etc

2. Music Discussion: Any discussion about past Beach Boys releases, compilations, singles, LPs whatever should go here. The "General Music Discussion" should be made a subforum of this forum

3. Smile Shop/Sandbox whatever: Any joke threads, photoshop threads, personal introductions, offtopic threads or media heavy posts should go here. We have a forum for pictures/youtube videos but it can be kind of dead, so I think you could round up a lot of this board's potpourri into a sandbox type subforum.

[runnersdialzero]

1. News, Rumors, and Future Releases: Reunion stuff, remaster stuff, box set stuff, press releases, television appearances etc

2. Music Discussion: Any discussion about past Beach Boys releases, compilations, singles, LPs whatever should go here. The "General Music Discussion" should be made a subforum of this forum

Forum 2 will be dead within a few months. I've seen this format employed before and it never works.

[Dunderhead]

1. News, Rumors, and Future Releases: Reunion stuff, remaster stuff, box set stuff, press releases, television appearances etc

2. Music Discussion: Any discussion about past Beach Boys releases, compilations, singles, LPs whatever should go here. The "General Music Discussion" should be made a subforum of this forum

Forum 2 will be dead within a few months. I've seen this format employed before and it never works.

You're right runners, posters left to their own devices will probably not have the self control to keep to that scheme. A lot of the regulars would adjust but a lot of the newer posters and trolls would just continue posting their random crap wherever the mood struck them. That's what the moderators are for, to move threads and enforce the new policy, and in time I think everyone would adjust.

[Aegir]

I think the subforums are fine the way they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[Dunderhead]

I think the subforums are fine the way they are. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

It is broke though...

[Aegir]

well, clearly we have differing opinions on the subject.

[Jay]

I think it would be nice if the "South Park style" cartoon image of the group could be updated to include Dave, Bruce, Blondie, and Ricky. Or at least Dave and Bruce at bare minimum. Or maybe the cartoon could be done away with, in favor of a collage of pictures of the group of people I just named, along with the "extended family" that could include Billy Hinsche(sp?), Ed Carter, Bobby Figueroa, etc.

[runnersdialzero]

Any way to have rotating images instead of just the South Park one? That might be the best idear, if it can be done. Not necessarily rotating South Park lineups, but anything Beach Boys related.

[Aegir]

that South Park picture is so dumb.

[MBE]

I like the board the way it is. I don't think it's up to anyone to entice people to check out the other areas. They are there for all who want to see them. I like that I can be upfront about things on here, and I feel like the environment on here is overall good. Some people are going to argue, that's a part of any board, but I think a good job is being done of keeping it from going off the rails. Really I like 95 percent of the people here and that's a great percentage.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I would like to stress that we are not unapproachable individually; we'll gladly accept PMs if you don't want to speak publicly on this thread.

Alas, not entirely true - in the past one current mod has stated publicly that he ignores any PMs with my name attached.

[Jason]

You can always PM another mod.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I always respond to my PMs, even if it might take a minute.

[Andrew G. Doe]

You can always PM another mod.

Oh, I have, with entirely satisfactory results every time... but my point is, I shouldn't have to. Mods, by their very nature, should be above such petty behavior.

[Jonas]

You get what you give.

[Surfs Down]

I see that this is an old forum at this point, but as someone that very rarely posts, I thought I'd make some suggestions for potentially making this a more appealing/inclusive place.  In terms of Beach Boys internet communities I think this place is fantastic, and collectively we make up an incredibly knowledgable base with some legit insiders.  One of the things I like best about the Beach Boys is that there are so many obscure gems to mine for; whether that be unreleased songs, unusual stories, and interviews.  The fact that more and more incredible music and information continues to surface, a lot of it from the 60s-80s, is a very big reason why I keep returning to this site.  That said, I think there could be a lot more done to organize the board in such a way that this aspect of the board is given more weight.  It seems like most activity is relegated to the "General On Topic Discussions", and it can be frustrating to navigate this place.  Among other threads, I often feel like I have to sift through permanent threads listed at the top, best of lists/ favorite album/songs, and repetitive/rehashed topics.  My questions is this:

1)  Can we have a thread or multiple threads dedicated to surfacing new information/music/interview/news?  Can we do this without running the risk of copyright/legal trouble?  How can we clearly establish a guideline for surfacing rare/new material without pushing any buttons?  IMO, it has been great to discover all the new/rare beach boys media available in the Youtube thread, and something like this could maybe get more attention?

2)  Can the permanent threads have their own space outside of general topic?  Maybe in something called "Important Info and Rules and Guidelines"?

3)  Can there be a separate thread for best of lists and favorite songs?

Maybe I'm alone on this, but i think a lot more people, including myself, would be drawn in, and might contribute more if this were addressed on some level.  Thanks, and I appreciate all this board has done for continuing to feed my insatiable beach boys apetite. 

-Sam

[Surfs Down]

I just noticed that many of the threads i'm suggesting could fit into the "Reviews" forum, but would there be a better way to encourage people to post their best of lists and such in this forum as opposed to General on topic?

[Jason]

I think the overemphasis on "best-of" lists and "rank the tracks" lists has become a bit much. I think it definitely needs to be cleaned up. For some reason, people post their "RIP" messages in the General forum, even when it's not related to the Beach Boys, although I make it a point to move them if I see them in time.

As far as having a thread for "new" stuff with regards to music and such, that thread in and of itself would become a mess. We can barely keep on the topic in a thread on one topic, let alone one which would be intended to grow and grow with each bit of news.

I did move over the sticky threads about "PMs" and "nonsense" to the Welcome board.