Guilty Spark Banned.

[Britec]

Guilty Spark has decided to leave the forum for a number of reasons, he also asked for he account to be deleted, leaving and deleting accounts is two different things. Asking to leave and deleted account and post and threads is something we will not do.

Whats Happening? 

1. Leaving to me means he leaves and don't come back, this of coarse is totally up to him and I have no problem with that, he has been great on these forums, I have tried to work it out with him but he has decided that's it. he left on his own accord personal personal reasons that's going on in his life.

2. Guilty Spark ask to leave the forum and wanted his account deleted which would remove 800 posts and 1400 or so threads. This is not acceptable. Why he wants his account deleted is a big surprise, just leave and move on, forget about the forum.

3. I have decided to ban him so he can't log in to his account, I cannot and will not delete accounts. If I enable this feature and I offer Moderator or Admin, this will give them the power to destroy the forum and they had a falling out with another member or staff. So for that reason a lot of features will be be disabled to stop this happening, if Guilty Spark had the power at the time, he would of deleted his account himself with consulting me or other Admin staff first. This is not acceptable. 

There are a lot of posts and threads with good answered tech support questions with Guilty Spark name in them, this means we will lose a lot of these posts and threads.

I hope Guilty Spark  and other forum members understand. This forum is bigger than one person and its hard keeping everyone happy. If Guilty Spark wants his ban removed he can, but he wanted to leave and I don't think that's going to worry him to much.

[Compton]

very sad to see him go, let's look on the bright side you still have Compton timster Britec
I am sure we are not leaving anytime soon I will probably be here on still 100 years old LOL
I love helping you guys out also learn a lot from the forum

[EAPTCB]

It's always sad to see a key member of the team leave. Good luck to Guilty Spark and hope his personal issues are resolved. I must admit, I was surprised GS wanted his account deleted, that would have caused a lot of very good posts and threads to disappear. His posts have helped many people (myself included) in the past, and will do in the future for others on the forum.

[Timster]

GS was an original moderator here and was also on Britec's previous forum. I would hope he has second thoughts and comes back. He has very good knowledge in certain technical areas that is needed here. This being said it looks like a new door has opened now that GS has left. It's tough to find knowledgeable tech help for free but I'm sure the right moderator will be found who wants to join for the right reasons.

[Partha]

I hope he reconsiders his decision

[baker7]

(04-27-2016, 02:17 AM)Timster Wrote:  GS was an original moderator here and was also on Britec's previous forum. I would hope he has second thoughts and comes back. He has very good knowledge in certain technical areas that is needed here. This being said it looks like a new door has opened now that GS has left. It's tough to find knowledgeable tech help for free but I'm sure the right moderator will be found who wants to join for the right reasons.

Timster:

I am not sure what caused him to make the decision he did, and whatever happens, I hope that he is able to deal with whatever personal issue(s) he is experiencing.  I too, hope that he may decide to return, and I do agree that he is a very helpful, knowledgeable individual.  Each of us may have things happen in life where we need to step away for a while, and GS may have decided to do that, and I hope that he may come back to us, but the decision is his.  

That being said:  I have been a member of many forums over the years myself, and I have also served as an IRC Channel Operator, Channel Admin and IRC Server Operator.  Each of these positions requires dedication, skill, and a willingness to learn, as well as the ability to assess situations and be able to act in the best way that you believe best serves your userbase.  

I also agree with Britec, and all of the responders:  Deleting an account is not a good thing, ESPRCIALLY when you have users who can and do benefit from the information posted.  I have yet to see a forum that would ban and remove a user account when they leave:  The information posted is a record of information that becomes a part of the community.  The only time I have ever seen accounts banned, and posts removed is in the case of spammers.  Britec is right on the money here:  Deleting GS would remove all his threads, and that would serve no one.  His postings can help others as well. Additionally, as Britec Says, Allowing users to delete accounts, or giving Mods or Admins the ability to do this can cause problems, and can and often does destroy the fabric of the forums.

Quote:It's tough to find knowledgeable tech help for free but I'm sure the right moderator will be found who wants to join for the right reasons.

You are correct Timster:  It takes a special person to want to share his or her knowledge with others.  I have tried to make that my #1 reason for helping others:  People help you when you need it, teach you and guide you, and then you are expected to "pay it forward."  I try to do that every day - You will find a good moderator, who wants to help others:  One who wants to pay it forward, and one who is not in it because of the 'power' you have.  A good friend of mine "burned that into my head - The power you are given to do your job is a tool that is to used to do your job - It IS NOT used as a tool to punish others, or as a power trip."  I run on a Code of honor, which forbids me from disclosing information that is privileged, or to use power in a detrimental way. I believe in the premise that I am a VOLUNTEER first, and a STAFFER second, but when you are staff, you are held to a higher standard, and are expected to act accordingly, and not to act out of malice or anger, or any other emotional state. You are expected to be able to analyze the situation and decide how to proceed.

This is not to say that we are always going to act appropriately, or that human emotional states don't get in the way, because they do - You just have to be able to see when something may be bothering you, and decide whether a situation requires you to think twice before posting or acting, because, as I was always taught: "Once you post it, and it is online, it can be very hard to remove, and online postings may be harmful later on, if you posted without thinking".....

Good Luck

Brian

[Compton]

baker you can apply if you would like to

Apply for Moderator?

[baker7]

Compton:

I am seriously considering it

Brian B.