Talk:Moodle.org forums Code of Conduct

More friendly introductory paragraph

I feel the introductory paragraph

By enrolling in courses on moodle.org and participating in forum discussions you agree to the following code of conduct. If you are unable to agree you have the right not to participate.

is a bit harsh. I would suggest something like

The Moodle.org aims to be a friendly place where people can get help with and learn about Moodle, and contribute to making Moodle even better. Therefore, in the interests of creating a productive learning environment, we request that all participants follow this code of conduct. If you do not wish to follow these rules, you have the right not to participate.

Instead.

Thanks Tim, I've followed your suggestion. --Helen Foster 17:00, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

More search options

I take this opportunity to promote the use of Firefox search plugins for more precise search results at your fingertips (see http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=119209).

(Original posting was at http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=111313&parent=525114 ). --Frank Ralf 08:26, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Frank, I've voted for MDLSITE-644 (Autodiscovery of search plugins doesn't work (wrong link)). --Helen Foster 16:43, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks, Helen. MDLSITE-664 (Advanced search: Limiting search by forum discussion topic) might also deserve some attention for providing a better search experience. --Frank Ralf 07:35, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Linked to pages

I started to follow a link on this page to others. My first or second link I followed was to Moodle Forum Help. I created a subpage as a way of reorganizing the page so I could see what was what in all the words and paragraphs before carving it down with cuts and links. No question we need to tighten up on the existing pages that deal with the Code of Conduct concept. Hope to use this page as a hub and check the linked to pages for concepts and ultimately for verbosness :) Best to all --Chris collman 11:51, 19 November 2009 (UTC)

Chris, thanks for your help. It would be good to keep the code of conduct as short as possible and use Moodle Forum Help for giving further advice. Hope you don't mind me removing your 'Not sure where to post?' tip, as I think it encourages people to post in more than one forum rather than simply choosing the most appropriate forum first. --Helen Foster 12:38, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Nope I do not mind, that is why this is a collaborative effort. I see your point. What I would like the new user to do is ask in the Lounge "Where do I ask a question about restoring a course to a new server." But that is not going to happen often, more likely to get the entire question. Like my best college friend says "There are those people who know they are (clueless) and those who don't. --Chris collman 15:45, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Contact page link

http://moodle.org/contact/ has the contact form at the bottom and Mr. Bald did not see it right away. Is there a better HTML link we can use on this page to jump to the form on the contact page. I wonder if it wants its own separate page, or can be duplicated on it's own page for this and other links. --Chris collman 20:31, 21 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi Chris, actually the contact form was deliberately placed at the bottom of the page to encourage people to read and consider all the other contact options before completing the form! Despite this, people frequently use the support email and the contact form to ask for support. It's difficult providing help for people who just don't read... --Helen Foster 12:33, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

LOL, "well YAAH", reading always helps and some speed readers can not get beyond the first screen! Now we both have used up our "vent of the day". I will email you about the moodle.org/contact_form page, which I still think is a good idea for several reasons. Best --Chris collman 12:55, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Messaging

Hi Helen. I agree with you that Moodle is one of the friendliest places ever and this spirit of goodwill helps encourage new people to join in, enjoy learning, and eventually to give back by contributing to make Moodle even better. I'd like to get you thinking about this part "Please do NOT use Moodle messaging to ask for help". It has a note of finality when there are some exceptions. I've been asked through messages by several users for help and have gladly given it. Those that don't want to get messages have the ability to block them or ignore them if they wish. Of course new users should first try to use the forums but often I'm not reading the forums and a user may have an issue that I have solved. That's happened a few times where I was not aware of their forum post so then they message me and I was happy to help. I've benefited from this too although now I'll be more wary of using it. I think the goal is not to abuse it without first searching the forums. And then if you find something new, as I have, I always post it back into the forum for all to benefit. It's part of the friendly atmosphere at moodle. So how about something like this:

"Moodle has a friendly and helpful community where you can ask questions. We ask that you first try to solve any problems by reading the forum and then by posting your question before messaging anyone. For those who don't want messages you have the ability to block new messages from unknown users. Please try to return to the forum to finish solving your issue so that all can benefit or at least post any successes you experience."

(The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jamie Tinley (talk • contribs) .)

Hi, Jamie. I totally agree with you. What I am doing in such cases is answering the question in the forum and only point to that answer via messaging. --Frank Ralf 08:48, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

This morning is a case in point. I got a rare message asking for help and I did not know the user. It was about advanced file uploads that were disappearing from view. I basically said I know nothing about it, try General Problems and Assignment fourms and gave them links. And ended with I hope this helps :) --Chris collman 11:33, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

And that's perfect - It shows Moodle is approachable vs don't ask. Sometimes all we need is to be pointed in the right direction to figure things out.--Jamie Tinley 8:06, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Thanks everyone for your comments. I've added Jamie's paragraph to Moodle.org forums Code of Conduct. --Helen Foster 11:26, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

"Real" Users Only

Occasionally, in order to extend their own personal agenda, there have been users who sign up on Moodle with obviously fake accounts (e.g. Gul Lible, Rea Lity). These people make posts that are in no way helpful. I believe posts made in this fashion should be removed no matter what their content.

It happens. One of my jobs as a forum moderator is to make that decision or assist someone to reach a "better" level of behavior. I really do not care what someone has as a user name (well some names would be culturally inappropriate but that is the site administrator's problem). For example, "Wild Girl" with a cat avatar might catch my attention, but it is the content of the post which is important. I believe the Code of Conduct gives me and others a peg to hang our hat on if we need to do something in the community's best interest. My opinion only of course.--Chris collman 13:07, 5 February 2010 (UTC)

feedback or rate and solved

About the section:
Provide feedback if you solve your problem
In order to help others that may encounter the same problem as you did, rate forum posts as useful and provide a link to the documentation or discussion that helped you. Adding [Solved] to the subject line of your post is also helpful.

Aren't they two things?

- Once your problem is solved, mark the discussion as [Solved]
Once you could solve your problem, write how you did it providing links to the documentation or other discussions which helped you. Please mark this post by adding [Solved] to its subject line. That way people won't unneccessarliy continue to answer your question, and others who may have the same problem will find the answer quickliy.

- Rate forum posts
In order to help other readers and encourage those helpers please rate such posts as useful. For that you have to be logged-in. Then you will see a dropdown box 'Useful' at the bottom of each post. --Visvanath Ratnaweera 14:57, 1 May 2011 (MEST)

Visvanath, thanks for your comment. I've amended the code of conduct as suggested. Apologies for my long delay in responding. --Helen Foster 17:11, 17 October 2011 (WST)