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KylerThatch literary masochist Since: Jan, 2001
literary masochist
#976: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:37:11 PM

I like the mod-hat mode. Helps me sort out which posts have a more casual tone that I can read as just a post from any other troper. In a way, it helps me reinforce the idea that those with moderator positions are just people, too, they just have an extra job to fill. That they're not always posting as someone waving a big stick in their hands.

If that makes sense.

That said, the red-tinted posts can be kind of intimidating. Perhaps a bit too intimidating. I liked it when Madrugada just surrounded her posts with a "<Mod Hat ON>" tag, and nothing more. It was sufficient for me (though I can only speak for myself).

Maybe yellow would work better? Yellow grabs attention without adding too much force behind it, I'd think. Especially if it's going to be the color of an entire post's background.

edited 7th Jan '12 5:39:23 PM by KylerThatch

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...
juancarlos Faith in the self. Since: Mar, 2012
Faith in the self.
#977: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:38:59 PM

Generally, but sometimes we just have to make a ruling because a post is disruptive or a discussion is circular or something like that.

I've found on my own experience that most of the time, addressing them as a user and being a voice of reason works before swinging in the mod powers.

I can't propose that, of course, because that's hardly what you're looking for, but...well, I guess I can't think of anything else, then.

"My life is my own" | If you want to contact me privately, please ask first on the forum.
TParadox Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: The captain of her heart
#978: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:41:35 PM

I think the intimidation of modhats is because of the look. I have no problem with flagging official posts in some way.

Fresh-eyed movie blog
BobbyG vigilantly taxonomish from England Since: Jan, 2001
vigilantly taxonomish
#979: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:43:11 PM

@ Kyler: I dunno, I never thought of yellow as an especially attention-grabbing colour. Would that be distinct on all displays from all angles?

@ Juan: No, I get what you're saying and it sounds fair enough, I'm just not sure if it would hold true in all possible circumstances.

By which I mean, sometimes it might be necessary to simply go "Oi, stop doing that".

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juancarlos Faith in the self. Since: Mar, 2012
Faith in the self.
#980: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:44:19 PM

By which I mean, sometimes it might be necessary to simply go "Oi, stop doing that".

And there's nothing wrong with that. All I'm saying is that you don't need to make your posts look different, in my honest opinion.

"My life is my own" | If you want to contact me privately, please ask first on the forum.
BobbyG vigilantly taxonomish from England Since: Jan, 2001
vigilantly taxonomish
#981: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:46:29 PM

In that case, we probably would need some other way of indicating to newbies that we were moderators.

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JapaneseTeeth Existence Weighed Against Nonbeing from Meinong's jungle Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Mu
Existence Weighed Against Nonbeing
#982: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:46:45 PM

Again, I think it helps to differentiate the "official" posts, especially ones that result in threads being locked and whatnot. I'm all for making them look like confrontational, though. I still think changing the colors to something other than reddish would help a lot.

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juancarlos Faith in the self. Since: Mar, 2012
Faith in the self.
#983: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:49:37 PM

At this stage, I think we're simply at an ideological stalemate and there's no point in continuing this discussion from here.

So, whatever works for you and wish you good luck with that.

edited 7th Jan '12 5:50:00 PM by juancarlos

"My life is my own" | If you want to contact me privately, please ask first on the forum.
Hydronix I'm an Irene! from TV Tropes Since: Apr, 2010
I'm an Irene!
#984: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:53:22 PM

For me, I prefer the mod hats themselves. Honestly, if the mod hat is on, we're meant to take it as them asserting their authority. If it's not, then they're simply conversing like normal.

I agree with a color change though. Perhaps a lighter pink? I don't think the Badge is noticeable enough either, so I wouldn't bother with that, imo.

Quest 64 thread
inane242 Anwalt der Verdammten from A B-Movie Bildungsroman Since: Nov, 2010
Anwalt der Verdammten
#985: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:55:34 PM

Blue is a soothing calm color, that might work.

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.
KylerThatch literary masochist Since: Jan, 2001
literary masochist
#986: Jan 7th 2012 at 5:59:34 PM

I dunno, I never thought of yellow as an especially attention-grabbing colour. Would that be distinct on all displays from all angles?
Well, maybe "attention-grabbing" isn't the best choice of word. Highlighting? I know there was a reason highlighters were traditionally yellow.*

And I actually don't know about the display angle thing. Hadn't thought of that.

Anyway, on other forums, I've seen moderators use a different color of text, instead. Or some way of making the text (rather than the background) look different from normal. Not sure about this myself, but it may be another option to consider.

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...
BobbyG vigilantly taxonomish from England Since: Jan, 2001
vigilantly taxonomish
#987: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:05:13 PM

Troper 1 and Troper 2, I am appalled. What on Earth gave you the impression that it would be acceptable to bring a Hatzegopteryx in here? Even if we pretend that there's the slightest possibility that you didn't know the rule against exotic pets, you don't let it out in the Forum Games section. It has eaten four newbies already! This is seriously, seriously unacceptable, and you are both suspended from the forum until further notice.

As for the rest of you, I can't say I'm surprised that Yack Fest turned out to be a front for a drug cartel, but that doesn't mean I'm not extremely disappointed in all of you, and especially you, Juan.

Like that?

edited 7th Jan '12 6:12:39 PM by BobbyG

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KylerThatch literary masochist Since: Jan, 2001
literary masochist
#988: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:11:06 PM

Rather like that, yes.

Of course, it also comes with a "no impersonating a mod" rule, which would mean that posting like that (differently formatted text) when you're not a mod is a bannable offense.

edited 7th Jan '12 6:12:04 PM by KylerThatch

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...
joeyjojojuniorshabadoo Since: Nov, 2010
#989: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:14:06 PM

I'd say that official moderator stuff being in a format that looks anything like something that normal users can do should be avoided, not for fear of impersonators per se but because people start imitating it as a joke and it loses its impact, like with the old, non-cinnamon thumps.

BobbyG vigilantly taxonomish from England Since: Jan, 2001
vigilantly taxonomish
#990: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:14:41 PM

Perhaps the formatting or font of the mod text could be made to look somewhat different.

I'm not convinced this would solve the problem of people finding the text intimidating, though.

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Loid from Eastern Standard Time Since: Jun, 2011
#991: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:15:54 PM

@Bobby, last page

What's so hard about distinguishing between opinions and orders?

"Dr. Strangeloid, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Cleanlink" - thespacephantom
KylerThatch literary masochist Since: Jan, 2001
literary masochist
#992: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:16:39 PM

[up][up][up] Hence, the "no impersonating a mod" rule. Even in jest.

This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...
Firebert That One Guy from Somewhere in Illinois Since: Jan, 2001
Lock Space Wizard from Germany Since: Sep, 2010
Space Wizard
#994: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:21:40 PM

Just make the color markup mod-only, problem solved. It's purely luxus on the forums and distracting anyway.

*In before half of Yack Fest throwing fits*

Programming and surgery have a lot of things in common: Don't start removing colons until you know what you're doing.
BobbyG vigilantly taxonomish from England Since: Jan, 2001
vigilantly taxonomish
#995: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:23:04 PM

@ Loid: When they're neither, but matter-of-fact statements informed by policy, or conversely, suggestions that aren't made in any official capacity?

[up] I see your point, but I'd rather we didn't, all the same; I think the colour markup is fun, and the removal of features like that which give tropers a certain level of freedom in how they choose to express themselves beyond the words themselves feels like a backwards step to me.

[down] I deny everything!

edited 7th Jan '12 6:27:01 PM by BobbyG

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juancarlos Faith in the self. Since: Mar, 2012
Faith in the self.
#996: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:24:08 PM

As for the rest of you, I can't say I'm surprised that Yack Fest turned out to be a front for a drug cartel, but that doesn't mean I'm not extremely disappointed in all of you, and especially you, Juan.

You were my second in command! How could you rat me out like so!

edited 7th Jan '12 6:24:19 PM by juancarlos

"My life is my own" | If you want to contact me privately, please ask first on the forum.
Nocturna Since: May, 2011
#997: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:30:57 PM

My two cents:

I, too, like the mod hats as an idea; it helps make it very clear when the mods need to be heeded as an authority voice and when they are simply participating in the everyday work of the wiki.

I also agree that a color change (I would support a pale blue, green, or purple) would probably help the posts seems less threatening. Red—which is what the current color comes off as, even if it's technically pink—is often considered an intimidating, aggressive color,*

which makes the posts seem more threatening than they are in themselves, or than they need to be.

The alt-text-format version could possibly work, but I like the elegance of changing the post background.

SilentReverence adopting kitteh from 3 tiles right 1 tile up Since: Jan, 2010
adopting kitteh
#998: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:45:10 PM

@Lock & @Bobby: Wouldn't it be easier to simply keep the current colors and also a color tag that can specifically be used only by mods? "[[mod:text]]" or something... No need to actually remove anything.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?
ThatHuman someone from someplace Since: Jun, 2010
someone
#999: Jan 7th 2012 at 6:51:05 PM

@Bobby: That text color against a white background is not easy on the eyes. I prefer the usual Mod hat icons. Although I'm not sure how either would help if the person reading was colorblind...

something
shimaspawn from Here and Now Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: In your bunk
#1000: Jan 7th 2012 at 7:01:50 PM

Yeah, gold caps aren't the best for large chunks of dialogue. It's not the easiest colour to read, and the bold made it seem more shouty than usual.

edited 7th Jan '12 7:02:25 PM by shimaspawn

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick

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