TestMagic

**Erin** · 03-10-2005, 07:53 AM

TestMagic just keeps growing, faster and faster all the time, and I find that the forums will best continue their growth if we empower our already watchful eyes with some moderating powers. There are several of you who regularly PM me or use the button to notify me of posts (you know who you are!), and to you, I am thankful.

A few important things you should know:

What do moderators do? Well, the main thing is simply keeping an eye on things, such as spam, double posts, posts made in the wrong forum, etc., and taking the appropriate action--deleting the posts, moving threads, and so on. Pretty simple stuff, actually.
This would be a completely voluntary position, at least in the beginning. I very well may be able to offer a small bit of compensation in the future, but for the time being, I cannot commit to this simply because I have no idea of the kind of ROI (in terms of improvement to the quality of the forums) that the TestMagic forums could expect from the investment. However, as a moderator, you would have easier access to me to ask me questions, and I would try my best to help you if I can and if I have the time. I should point out, though, that the one thing I cannot do is edit papers or essays, as it’s just much too time-consuming. Just want to say that in case that’s a consideration.
I will give preference to regular visitors with a history of good, meaningful interaction. In the future, I would imagine only forum members of 1,000 posts or so would be considered, but I know there are some great members with fewer posts who could really make great contributions.
Moderators should visit fairly regularly (at least several times a week), although it’s quite common for people to leave for a short period (vacation, finals, etc.) and return. And I would ask you not to volunteer if you don’t think you’ll be around in another six months or so. For example, if you’re just going to be too busy come summer because of your upcoming round-the-world-before-your-Ph. D. trip, then I’d prefer to choose somebody else.
No hard feelings if you’re a regular contributor and just want to stay that way.
I envision two levels of moderators--a starting level and an advanced level; because you just never know how things may turn out, first-level moderators will have fewer “powers” than second-level moderators. All moderators will start out as first-level moderators (although I intend to change the name to something catchier) and will hopefully be promoted to the second level as warranted.
I’m thinking that some people will feel comfortable only in certain forums; for example, an FPGEE moderator may not ever venture into the GMAT forums and may not want to moderate there; or a grammar person may never visit the math forums. This is fine; I would hope that the coverage would work out in the end, though.
I would hope to start with a relatively small batch of moderators, say five or so, and see how it goes from there.
Moderators MUST be professional, tactful, helpful, and polite. I think most of you will agree that TestMagic is generally a very friendly and helpful place, and anybody who represents TestMagic in the forums must promote the spirit we have come to expect here.
No ppl, ur, u, l8r, plz, wrt, and the like. I don’t mean to denigrate anybody, or their Internet habits, but really, this is an academic forum. I fully realize that some people have learned to use a lot of abbreviations to speed up their communication, but for us, more complete sentences are better. And some abbreviations are acceptable--BTW, LOL, ROFL, IMHO, YMMV, etc. I’m not passing judgment on anybody, but anybody who represents TestMagic simply needs to write in educated English.
Moderators must engage in moral, ethical, and legal behavior on the forums. This means no uploading or “sharing” of copyrighted material, no foul language, no sexual harassment, discriminatory behavior, etc.
There are more guidelines, but I will go into greater detail for those who are interested and who I think may work out.

This is the first time I’ve ever made a public post about moderators, and to be honest, I hope it’s the last. No, not that this group will bring TestMagic into the great beyond, but I would expect to contact people privately in the future; it’s just that now the need is a bit more pressing than I think it will be in the future, and I need to get the word out fairly quickly.

Post general questions here; ask whatever you want. If you want to know what’s involved, how much time it will take, etc., I’ll try my best to answer here in this thread. To show your interest, please PM me.

gforce · 03-10-2005, 12:27 PM

This post was long overdue!

Quote:

This would be a completely voluntary position, at least in the beginning. I very well may be able to offer a small bit of compensation in the future, but for the time being, I cannot commit to this simply because I have no idea of the kind of ROI (in terms of improvement to the quality of the forums) that the TestMagic forums could expect from the investment.

What the heck...we owe that much to TM (at least). :o
A guy who asks for remuneration of any kind is an ***hole.

awhig · 03-10-2005, 01:20 PM

Great news.I want to contribute.

Erin: PMed you some questions after reading your post.

adonis · 03-10-2005, 05:00 PM

Quote:

What the heck...we owe that much to TM (at least). :o

amen to that

Quote:

A guy who asks for remuneration of any kind is an ***hole

Quote:

Moderators must engage in moral, ethical, and legal behavior on the forums. This means no uploading or “sharing” of copyrighted material, no foul language, no sexual harassment, discriminatory behavior, etc.

Dear G, are you telling us indirectly that you don't want to be a moderator?

Honestly thought you were the best option for The Admissions Forum.

Dear Erin

Though i am known to be a wee bit biased towards the fairer sex

, guess i will not be a bad option.

Cheers
adonis
PS- promise to take care of my spellings.

gforce · 03-10-2005, 05:03 PM

@adonis
Don't get me wrong...I just wanted to say that Erin shouldn't award the position of 'Moderator' to a person who asks for remuneration...TM is like an alma-mater and it's our duty to help TM and Erin...
I'm sorry for the foul language in my earlier post.

scheng75 · 03-10-2005, 05:03 PM

Wow, thanks for asking! Dingus where are you??? --->

I'd love to help, but I only have around 200 posts

. I assure you that I make quality posts

.

Dingus · 03-10-2005, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scheng75

Wow, thanks for asking! Dingus where are you??? --->

Hehe. I messaged Erin. Though I admit I don't really follow some of the rules of conduct. Also, my grammar is a bit shaky sometimes. Thanks, scheng.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scheng75

I'd love to help, but I only have around 200 posts

. I assure you that I make quality posts

.

I can definitely second that!

Michael (Wasleys) would be awesome too.

scheng75 · 03-10-2005, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dingus

Hehe. I messaged Erin. Though I admit I don't really follow some of the rules of conduct. Also, my grammar is a bit shaky sometimes. Thanks, scheng.

Hmm...didn't really notice your shaky grammer

, maybe mine is not so good either

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dingus

I can definitely second that!

Thanks Dingus!

Also, I just realize gforce's new title of De Geest van Informatie???How come I wasn't informed? What in the world does it mean anyway?

**Erin** · 03-10-2005, 06:12 PM

Let me revise a bit what I wrote. I didn't intend to come off as a grammar cop; I actually care more about intent than result. We all make grammar mistakes, and if English is not your first language, some awkward constructions or even errors are understandable.

The main thing I wouldn't want (actually, I have to say, I couldn't accept) is something like this:

hai ppl u cud email 2 me sum filz cuz me don't have gud inertnet, plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111

scheng75 · 03-10-2005, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin

Let me revise a bit what I wrote. I didn't intend to come off as a grammar cop; I actually care more about intent than result. We all make grammar mistakes, and if English is not your first language, some awkward constructions or even errors are understandable.

The main thing I wouldn't want (actually, I have to say, I couldn't accept) is something like this:

hai ppl u cud email 2 me sum filz cuz me don't have gud inertnet, plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111

I totally agree! I cannot accept that either since I can barely understand it. I agree that the popularity of emails, instant messages and text messaging should not lower the quality of our English language use. Great example, Erin

.

03-10-2005, 07:53 AM	#1 (permalink)
Erin So many things to do... Forum Admin Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: USA Posts: 8,213	Moderators Needed TestMagic just keeps growing, faster and faster all the time, and I find that the forums will best continue their growth if we empower our already watchful eyes with some moderating powers. There are several of you who regularly PM me or use the button to notify me of posts (you know who you are!), and to you, I am thankful. A few important things you should know: What do moderators do? Well, the main thing is simply keeping an eye on things, such as spam, double posts, posts made in the wrong forum, etc., and taking the appropriate action--deleting the posts, moving threads, and so on. Pretty simple stuff, actually. This would be a completely voluntary position, at least in the beginning. I very well may be able to offer a small bit of compensation in the future, but for the time being, I cannot commit to this simply because I have no idea of the kind of ROI (in terms of improvement to the quality of the forums) that the TestMagic forums could expect from the investment. However, as a moderator, you would have easier access to me to ask me questions, and I would try my best to help you if I can and if I have the time. I should point out, though, that the one thing I cannot do is edit papers or essays, as it’s just much too time-consuming. Just want to say that in case that’s a consideration. I will give preference to regular visitors with a history of good, meaningful interaction. In the future, I would imagine only forum members of 1,000 posts or so would be considered, but I know there are some great members with fewer posts who could really make great contributions. Moderators should visit fairly regularly (at least several times a week), although it’s quite common for people to leave for a short period (vacation, finals, etc.) and return. And I would ask you not to volunteer if you don’t think you’ll be around in another six months or so. For example, if you’re just going to be too busy come summer because of your upcoming round-the-world-before-your-Ph. D. trip, then I’d prefer to choose somebody else. No hard feelings if you’re a regular contributor and just want to stay that way. I envision two levels of moderators--a starting level and an advanced level; because you just never know how things may turn out, first-level moderators will have fewer “powers” than second-level moderators. All moderators will start out as first-level moderators (although I intend to change the name to something catchier) and will hopefully be promoted to the second level as warranted. I’m thinking that some people will feel comfortable only in certain forums; for example, an FPGEE moderator may not ever venture into the GMAT forums and may not want to moderate there; or a grammar person may never visit the math forums. This is fine; I would hope that the coverage would work out in the end, though. I would hope to start with a relatively small batch of moderators, say five or so, and see how it goes from there. Moderators MUST be professional, tactful, helpful, and polite. I think most of you will agree that TestMagic is generally a very friendly and helpful place, and anybody who represents TestMagic in the forums must promote the spirit we have come to expect here. No ppl, ur, u, l8r, plz, wrt, and the like. I don’t mean to denigrate anybody, or their Internet habits, but really, this is an academic forum. I fully realize that some people have learned to use a lot of abbreviations to speed up their communication, but for us, more complete sentences are better. And some abbreviations are acceptable--BTW, LOL, ROFL, IMHO, YMMV, etc. I’m not passing judgment on anybody, but anybody who represents TestMagic simply needs to write in educated English. Moderators must engage in moral, ethical, and legal behavior on the forums. This means no uploading or “sharing” of copyrighted material, no foul language, no sexual harassment, discriminatory behavior, etc. There are more guidelines, but I will go into greater detail for those who are interested and who I think may work out. This is the first time I’ve ever made a public post about moderators, and to be honest, I hope it’s the last. No, not that this group will bring TestMagic into the great beyond, but I would expect to contact people privately in the future; it’s just that now the need is a bit more pressing than I think it will be in the future, and I need to get the word out fairly quickly. Post general questions here; ask whatever you want. If you want to know what’s involved, how much time it will take, etc., I’ll try my best to answer here in this thread. To show your interest, please PM me. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ [Say 'hi'!] [Google Interviews Erin] [San Francisco Chronicle Interviews Erin]

03-10-2005, 01:20 PM	#3 (permalink)
awhig shuriyoken Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Now in US Posts: 2,390	Re: Moderators Needed Great news.I want to contribute. Erin: PMed you some questions after reading your post.

03-10-2005, 05:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
gforce TestMagic MVP Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 3rd Rock from the Sun Posts: 1,829	Re: Moderators Needed @adonis Don't get me wrong...I just wanted to say that Erin shouldn't award the position of 'Moderator' to a person who asks for remuneration...TM is like an alma-mater and it's our duty to help TM and Erin... I'm sorry for the foul language in my earlier post. _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ De Geest van Informatie. Econ Fan Club *Comisión del Policía* TestMagic Police Department

03-10-2005, 05:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
scheng75 TestMagic fan! Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: CA Posts: 660	Re: Moderators Needed Wow, thanks for asking! Dingus where are you??? ---> I'd love to help, but I only have around 200 posts . I assure you that I make quality posts . _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ Vice President The Economics Fan Club Memberships are exclusive and subject to a deep appreciation of the finer points.

03-10-2005, 06:12 PM	#9 (permalink)
Erin So many things to do... Forum Admin Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: USA Posts: 8,213	Re: Moderators Needed Let me revise a bit what I wrote. I didn't intend to come off as a grammar cop; I actually care more about intent than result. We all make grammar mistakes, and if English is not your first language, some awkward constructions or even errors are understandable. The main thing I wouldn't want (actually, I have to say, I couldn't accept) is something like this: hai ppl u cud email 2 me sum filz cuz me don't have gud inertnet, plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111 _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ [Say 'hi'!] [Google Interviews Erin] [San Francisco Chronicle Interviews Erin]

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