Running this blog is a lot of work. The comment moderation is the biggest portion of it and it is becoming oppressive. A lot of our volunteer moderators simply don’t have the time to keep up with it all. I find I keep running into the same things over and over again, answering the same questions over and over again. So….I’ve decided to make a post in hopes that I can reach enough people with some do’s and don’ts to make a difference in the moderation workload.
Here’s a few things I hope you’ll read and heed:
1. No, for the ten gazillionth time, I cannot install wordpress plugins on this blog to get feature “X” that somebody wants.
The reason: This blog is hosted on wordpress.com for free, and they don’t allow plugins like you can get on self hosted wordpress installs. Why free? see item #10
Here’s why I use wordpress.com instead of running my own private server:
“We run hundreds of servers in three datacenters (Chicago, Dallas, San Antonio) with instant copies of all your data and uploads in each. This allows us to serve your blog very quickly, and also if something catastrophic were to happen, like Chicago falling into Lake Michigan or Dallas being hit by a meteor, your blog would be okay.”
Longtime readers may recall that when Climategate broke in late November 2009, so did Climate Audit, who was on a single server box that simply could not handle the load. WUWT stayed running, thanks to wordpress.com “hundreds of servers” and distributed processing. After ClimateGate, Mr. Pete, JohnA, and I got CA migrated to wordpress.com so this won’t ever happen again. I’ll take uptime and reliability over features any day.
If you want comment preview/editing, see this post on how to do so. Use the Test page to practice.
2. Lucia has a great self hosted wordpress blog install -and has all sorts of nifty plugins, but:
Blog out last night. ’nuff said
3. When writing a comment, you do NOT need to use HTML tags, just put in the URL and WordPress will auto-link it for you – like this http://wattsupwiththat.com
4. If you are writing sarcasm, end it with /sarc so that everybody KNOWS it is sarcasm. Don’t make extra work for moderators by making a flame up.
5. Please, don’t think that declaring “Off topic but…see this” will make your comment OK. I’m going to start wholesale deleting these because they end up steering threads all over the place.
6. Pursuant to #5 we have a Tips and Notes page for things you want to bring to attention…yes we see them all.
7. Pursuant to #6 Please don’t leave blind links, tell us WHY we should click on it. Otherwise each moderator has to look at it to decide if it takes you someplace we don’t want to promote or is a link that goes someplace bad. Please add a short description as to why you think this link is worth visiting.
8. If you are leaving a tip, be sure to check the front page of WUWT first and use the SCROLL BAR to look at previous stories. About a third of our Tips and Notes are things we’ve already covered.
9. Please don’t ask WUWT to research things for you. Do it yourself, add to the conversation. If you can’t use Google you don’t belong here.
10. Why free hosting? Simply put, I like my freedom. Freedom works best for this venue. Unlike Joe Romm at Climate Progress (Sponsor – Center for American Progress $28 million income declaration here) and Marc Morano Climate Depot (Sponsor – CFACT $3 million income declaration here) this blog isn’t paid for by any organization, nor sponsored, nor under anyone’s external control. There’s no data quotas to watch, no demands to carry diktats, no steering committee, no server maintenance. It’s all done by wordpress.com free hosting, volunteers who moderate and contribute essays, and bit of occasional help from the Google ad clicks and some kind folks that find the donation button. Compared to the organizations above, it isn’t even chump change. “Big Oil” doesn’t shop here.
And yet we still beat the pants off the whole sponsored climate blog pack:
Stats from Alexa.com Learn more about Alexa Traffic Stats
So please, read and heed, help our moderation team, and be thankful I’m not burned out yet like poor Jeff Id who recently closed The Air Vent.
Thanks for your consideration – Anthony
[ADDENDUM] I trust that Anthony will allow me to add a few more items, as some one who endures this stuff daily.
11. Quote the exact words of the person with whom you are disagreeing. I write as clearly as I know how, and yet I am often misunderstood. That’s life, we have to live with that. But if you quote what I said, then I know where the misunderstanding may lie. And if there is no misunderstanding, I know exactly what you are referring to.
12. Speculations and personal attacks as to someone’s motives, honesty, credibility, education, publishing record, and ancestry all have negative weight in a scientific discussion. In other words, doing any of those will detract from your argument, and make it less likely to be believed, despite the fact that it may be valid. Those kinds of attacks are simultaneously bad tactics, bad strategy, and give the attacker a bad odor of desperation. Please avoid them. Me, I bite back at that kind of stuff, so definitely avoid them on my threads. I’m human, and like anyone else, I make mistakes, but I’m doing my honest best.
13. Be as specific as you can. Numbers are preferable to words. Code is preferable to a description of the method. Observations are infinitely preferable to model results. If you are using data, link to either your data or where the data was obtained. Details are often vital. Citations should indicate page numbers and paragraphs; waving the IPCC Report like a demented fundamentalist preacher and saying “the answer’s in there” doesn’t help anyone.
14. Civility roolz. Like the song says, “I’m just a fool whose intentions are good”, and I assume the same about others. The less aggro the tone is, the more people will participate.
PS – way cool photo, Anthony, and many thanks for the blog.
w.
are flame on / flame off tags allowed?
Just asking. Not that I would ever be involved in naughty non kool blog manner stuff or get warned.
I’m a nice pirate.
Thanks Anthony.
$100 in the tip jar.
A very timely post, Anthony. I have bookmarked it for referral before commenting again, and I urge other readers to do the same.
Over on Damian Carrington’s blog, dealing in the usual way with the Oz cyclones, someone posted a link to Watts. Another poster said if you link to Watts you will not be taken seriously here.
The above post and output generally on this blog is superb.
Did I argue with them, no.
Where ignorance is bliss ’tis a folly to be wise.
Anthony I always smile when a poster tries to delegate a task to you but not as much as when they try it on with Steve McIntyre. 🙂
[Reply: Linking to WUWT on oother blogs is one of the most effective means of raising Alexa traffic stats. ~dbs, mod.]
TomT says:
February 2, 2011 at 7:53 pm
“I think that is a Welsh Corgi.”
No way, Shih Tzu or some bastardized version thereof.
The articles here tend to roll round in a 7/10 day cycle. Can I suggest that this article is fed into the cycle for a couple of months so everyone sees it pop back up to the top again regularly even if they didn’t see the original.
By the way your blog is much appreciated which has reminded me it is time to hit the funds button again.
All the best to you and your family
Tonyb
John Whitman xsaid;
#15 – Troll Feeding Is Not Recommended
Definition of troll John? Such people as R Gates may appear to be a troll at first but his views are always well thought out even if I may not agree with them.
tonyb
Antony and free timer’s that Mod the site deserve as much praise as me and we can give them, please keep up the good work and please realise that it may seem like tireless work but you do make a difference on a global scale.
Your server sounds very sophistimacated… I always pictured it being something like this one:
http://thereifixedit.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/129027324616733325.jpg
Must be the romantic in me…
If I were a moderator, I would make item 7 finish by saying “The whole post will be removed if you post a blind link” – saying please never seems to work these days.
[Reply: Good suggestion. ~dbs]
A very impressive web traffic graph, but……
Have the data been “adjusted” ?
Have the readings been affected by alcohol or mind-altering substances ?
Have the data been fabricated to prove a pre-conceived outcome ?
Is thesre a consensus ?
Is the science settled ?
Now, what was that sarc comment again ?
Thanks Anthony and the mods for the this brilliant blog, which is my major daily information fix.
I am a natural iconoclast, but I follow the rules laid down on WUWT to the best of my ability as I really enjoy and apreciate the thoroughly civil tone that is maintained here and respect that. I do not see the need for any plug-ins and really do understand the freedom of free!
This is the best blog I read…an absolute mine of information and an encouragement to all those of us who disbelieve the AGW/CC/GCD scam.
A big thankyou to you Anthony, and your moderators. We owe you so much.
Paul Vaughan says: February 2, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Suggestions Anthony:
(1) add this page to somewhere along your top bar
(2) clump some more of your stuff together eg “Resources” “Glossary” “Posting Tips”
(3) put a page up there for “Blog Improvement Suggestions” with of course the caveat to read this page etc first.
Anthony I often think about you and the extraordinary service you are rendering for us all and humankind. What would happen if you were not here. Think in terms of moving towards being able to make yourself redundant, if you chose or if circumstances forced. Like Moses needed to delegate eventually (when even having his arms propped up by two volunteers was not enough).
My thoughts go always towards DISTILLING and ORGANIZING the extraordinary material we have, and making always accessible beginner’s study material. That was the original objective of my own “Primer” but I stand on giants’ shoulders. It is still in my “Climate Wiki” vision – but I am still struggling to manage what I already do, let alone take on more – yet I want to see a building-up of prime resource material like Smokey and you always have to hand. A “permanent” page of yours devoted to “education” would be great. Start perhaps with Bob Carter’s classic piece (4 parts U-tube) “Climate Change – is CO2 the cause?“
You should put a limit on the number words in a comment. Some comments ramble on, don’t say much of anyting new, and are too time consumming to read.
This would make the mods’ work much less tedious and mind numbing.
Please be encouraged to keep up your excellent work Anthony. This is probably one of the worlds top blogs and much appreciated. I ran my own blog for a few months but had to give in – I know just how difficult it is to find time to make daily postings and check what others have written – I can’t imagine how you do this on WattsUp with so many postings and so many commenters.
You’re a hero dude!
Duly noted. The British sense of humour is often based on sarcasm, & one tends to rather arrogantly forget that sarcasm is not always noted by others!
BTW awesome blog, moderators, I salute you all, you are fair & we all err from time to time. Well done to you all.
Does this mean I can not castigate and or otherwise mock openly the Algorites.. If so I am gonna hold my breath till Anthony recants ..(whilst lowering my carbon footprint in the short term).?
On a serious note, this iwswhere I send many people to see that science .. true science.. can be passionately presented .. with the gravitas of it in the FACTS.. not in the bias to support cause or ideal(political)
Many of the points being made are in line with established “Netiquette” – RFC-1855
These things don’t need re-invention. Perhaps a little re-interpretation.
Section 3 applies for one-to-many communications; 3.1.1 General Guidelines for mailing lists and NetNews is a reasonable fit for weblogs with open comments. And 3.1.3 NetNews Guidelines follows.
Because it’s people poking their fingers into and at the machines, the nature of the machinery doesn’t matter. People adapt their (mis)behaviour to new technologies.
disagreeing you are with whom the exact words Quote
but we can change the order?
But seriously, well done all of you!
Firstly, I join my thanks to all the others, to you, Anthony, and to all you tireless mods.
Secondly, thanks for the reminder – even if one thinks one’s above all that, some of the points made will still catch one out. It’s similar to not engaging brain before speaking.
Thirdly – it looks as if there’s still one bit of space on the masthead, on the far right. Perhaps this post could go there, under ‘RULES’.
Then the mods only need to delete the offending posts, with the tag ‘rule offense’
Finally – I will be a good girl and keep the rules!
I couldn’t bear to lose this outstanding blog which has evolved into a private university course, certainly for me, perhaps for many others as well.
On /sarc – any chance you can specify /sarc at the beginning instead of at the end? /please!
Then we don’t have to waste time reading most of it before we find out it’s largely pointless! Life is too short for most of it…
God Bless You, Anthony. And God Bless all of you for not succumbing to corrupted government lies and propaganda. Sempre Avanti!!
tonyb says:
February 3, 2011 at 12:30 am
Definition of troll John? Such people as R Gates may appear to be a troll at first but his views are always well thought out even if I may not agree with them.
tonyb
————–
tonyb,
Thanks for you comment.
I have observed there are some commentors whose behavior after a quite a few comments on a thread indicates clear evidence they purposely disrupt civil discourse on the subject of thread. It is those I would start to consider as troll-like. Trollness does NOT apply, in my view, to a commentor who is in radical vehement disagreement with virtually everyone else (including the blog host) on a thread but who is nominally civil and not aggressively disruptive.
It is not so effective to define troll as it is to go back to some old WUWT posts and pick an individual behavior of a commentor as a clear example of trollness. If I have time when I get back to my desktop computer (on my BB right now) maybe I can find a good example to post here. I am sure the moderators have some salient examples fresh in their memories. : )
I do not understand why you mentioned R Gates? Is there some previous discussion involving him/her? Sorry I am unaware.
John
Anthony,
I suppose this means that freehosting allows you the report the truly important things in life, such as how to get a Pokeman character into a Pinewood Derby car, or something like that…
Oh yeah – you done that. Second place in a car’s first race is an accomplishment.
Feel free to do it again. Some of us enjoy the ‘real life’ stories that provide leavening to the hard work and reporting of you and your trusty moderators.