Website Editorial

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post as Website Editor, you can be sure that there will be many more once Ive got fully to grips with the 16 (actually very helpful) pages of instructions I have been given for managing the site. As many of you will know, I have been a model boater all my life and regularly write for the magazine. I hope that this background will inform the way I tackle the job.

My first priority has been to address the complaints about missing posts. Referring to the most recent comments, I have discovered that Glynn Guest and Martyn Crowther have had their IDs tagged with a flag that makes their posts invisible to other members. Whether this was intentional or simply a by product of the change of software platform I do not know and in the circumstances have no way of finding out. I have looked at the posts of these two gentlemen and can see no obvious reason why they should have been moderated in this way. Glynn's comments on the use of glycol are robust but well within the standards of informed debate. I have therefore removed the invisibility tag and everyone can see their posts once more. I think we should now regard this as water under the bridge and draw a line under the issue. If anyone else suspects their posts have been similarly affected then please let me know and I will look into it.

Moderation is always necessary on an Internet forum but I believe that it should be as transparent as possible. It will not be my policy to delete posts without explanation, either to the member concerned or on the forum itself unless they are obviously spam postings. Where only partial moderation is required, such as the use of inappropriate language, I will consider directly editing the post so as to retain its sense but will make it clear on screen that this has been done. Depending upon the circumstances it may be appropriate for the original post to be deleted and for the poster to replace it with a more acceptable version.

I would however point out that I do not have unlimited time to devote to the moderation role and I do expect that members will conduct themselves in a civilised manner in discussing our shared hobby that we all enjoy. I want this forum to be a pleasant and enjoyable place to visit and one where only light touch moderation is occasionally required. Where it does take place I will not be drawn into extended arguments as to whether it was justified or not. On here as elsewhere, the umpire's decision will be final!

Once I have got my feet a little further under the table I will post more on the subject of rules and guidelines and on other matters too, but for the moment I've got a bit of reading up to do!

Happy Boating,

Colin