Read the latest Newsletter posted January 26th 2014

Dear Admin. I frequently get lost amongst your many wares available herein. When logging in I would like to be able to differentiate from posts already read from those posted since my last visit. On RO these were marked in red on the topics list. Call me 'irresponsible' call me 'irresistible' call me 'as thick as pig poo' but do call me (either privately or publicly) and stop me from wandering all over the ***** place trying to pick up from where I last left off 'cause it's driving me daft.

Its already there Atlas, on top of the blue coloured topic box you'll find
View posts since last visit • View your posts • View unanswered posts
Just click on the first bit

That much I know Charly. Done that. Been there. But it doesn't show me how to get immediately to the last post on the subject. It requires me to click down through the subject until I come to something I recognise as having been where I left off on the previous visit. My time is cock-crow time (as seen by the timings) and I want to be more precise (if possible) to enable me to go to bed - eventually - - - - .
Maybe this programme does not allow for such niceties - me don't know - me thick when it comes to computers having initially been taught the abacus x beads method.

Hello to IBFreddie, another ROer finally found us.

Charly wrote:Hello to IBFreddie, another ROer finally found us.

At this rate we will soon be back to normal it's a great site and all credit to you for getting it up & running so quick
I think it's brilliant

ROCHDALE TALK NEWSLETTER No 3
22nd of September 2012

Our third great week. Taz Ali brought our membership up to 60 and adds a bit of much-welcomed diversity as the Serious Case Review in the aftermath of the grooming trial looms and multi-cultural issues look set to be examined and hotly debated.

Main bone of contention on the forum has been the setting up of area forums. I thought that this idea might take off but response has been poor so I think we’ll discontinue them.

This just indicates to me that people obviously feel that the general forums meet their needs and let’s face it, if there was an issue specific to one area, you could always start a thread relating to it on the general forum.

One thing that some posters are telling me is that the number of political threads on RO turned many people off. I don’t know what the answer to this is. Whether we like it or not, politics greatly influences so much of our daily lives. We certainly can’t ban it but perhaps we need to try to ensure a degree of balance?

At the moment, most of the threads seem fairly light-hearted but I know that won’t continue. Anyway, next year is a ‘fallow year’ as far as local elections are concerned. So much of what is happening across the borough has a political dimension and we can’t ignore it. Metrolink, child grooming issues, river re-opening, questionable council appointments, attacks on the elderly, disabled and homeless means that politics will never be far from poster’s thoughts.

No doubt a fitting subject to be debated at our first Mod’s meeting.

Sadly have not cracked the accessibility issues for blind posters using screen-readers. I had even considered not allowing scrolling banners and avatars but I know that the latter are proving to be very popular. It does remain an issue that concerns me greatly though and should be treated with some degree of urgency by the powers that be at Forumotion.

Moderators Report

No posts pulled or moderated in the past week.

1 poster banned. Reason: Unacceptable username. We asked him to change it and explained why we were requesting this. We gave him five days to respond to our email but he failed to do so.

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Perhaps political threads could be under a separate section. Almost everything that happens in live is determined/governed by politics in some way. Some people don't like politics, some of us don't like stuff about buying furniture, or steam engines as examples, but I don't mind people having their discussions about such matters-I just don't read them. Even steam engines in the end depend on politics to some degree. It would be very hard to take the political element out of the vast majority of issues totally. Unless people are talking about PARTY POLITICS. That is different I suppose. Certain posters will never allow the slightest criticising of their party, especially Lib Dems and Labour.

Basically I suppose if you don't like a thread then don't read it.

Well done to the Admin and moderators for being so successful up to now, and long may it continue.

UP THE DALE wrote:
Well done to the Admin and moderators for being so successful up to now, and long may it continue.

Ditto. Great job.

I've no problem with political threads and find them quite enjoyable when people are discussing issues. I may not always join in but I often enjoy reading the debate. I think the problem may be when people fail to discuss issues and snipe at other posters in an attempt to derail the debate. Tis probably the same reason progress is slow in the Borough as a whole.

I think that I am in broad agreement UTD.

Hard to separate politics out. Nobody seems to object to NHS threads and sometimes there have been 3-4 running on the old RO forum front page and there is nothing more political than the NHS. Also, Rochdale is very much a town that politics has not, on the whole, served particularly well over the years and it would seem reasonable that posters would want to air their views about this.

What I really objected to was the manipulation by some posters to keep certain threads on the front page on the run-up to election time and the sudden influx of new posters seeking to use the forums as free political advertising space.

I must admit that the best thing is just to avoid threads you aren't interested in. I know that quite a few good posters left over the years but I suppose that is normal and mirrors real life. We all get wound up by some posters. Of course some posters used to feel that they had to air their views on every single subject; particularly those they weren't interested in! Never understood that myself.

A typical one would be where someone starts a light-hearted thread on a TV programme and the thread then gets completely taken over by posters saying they never watch TV/it's all rubbish etc. What's the bloody point I ask myself? (I do miss Irish!)

Another 'pet'-hate of mine. (Get the pun?) were the threads on dog attacks. The other month there were THREE different threads on the subject!

There should be room for ALL... but let's not take the pizza huh?

I really do want moderation to be minimal. I know that I and others 'flounced off in a huff' now and again or put ourselves on the sub's bench when we got irritated by posters or we perceived censorship or heavy-handed moderation at work.

I certainly won't be correcting anyone's spelling mistakes but if posters then come under fire because their contributions are incomprehensible then so be it. Late-night contributors must expect a bit of flak from more literate (or sober) posters now and then although this has caused occasional complaints of anti-dyslexia or disability discrimination for those among us who treat the Queen's English as only a very occasional stopping-off place. (Aqualung please take note. You have had it far too easy thus far!)

I suppose as Admin I just have to play it by ear. I have every confidence in you telling me where and when I'm going wrong.

As a private forum, we perhaps have a bit more latitude than RO. The powers that be were often on the phone complaining about various items that had appeared on the threads.

We still have to be mindful about actions for libel etc but we don't have to put up with whinging party apparatchiks calling 'foul play' every time somebody wrote something they didn't agree with.

As for people not liking threads about steam engines; such people are beneath contempt in my book!

I have no problem with political comment, it frequently comes out of a thread rather than starts one. There is no such thing in my opinion as a non political person. Many innocent looking threads bear political thinking, for example crime, housing, health,hospital closures and others that often betray the writers real thinking and why not.
There is a danger that a forum which fears political comment can become boring when threads are started just to get something going. There is nothing wrong with controversy and diverse thinking. It's the Mods job to ensure it does not go too far.

Yes Past It. I think that what irritated most of the 'Oh no, not another political thread brigade' (ONNAPTB) was when a subject, no matter how inoccuous, was seemlngly taken over by those with fairly obvious political agendas and turned into a squabble between warring political factions.

So difficult as politics has shouldered its way through the door into most aspects of our lives.

Even subjects like 'gay marriage' are now apparently high on the political agenda.

I got the feeling that at times.... usually in the run-up to elections, that at least one political party suddenly made a concerted (or directed) effort to raise its political profile via the forums. Often there would be a rush of 'new' posters who disappeared as swiftly as they had appeared. (Usually the day after election day.)

I had no particular problem with this apart from the fact that we lost many good, regular posters in this way to the detriment of the diversity on the forums.

Just look at how conscientious some of our more energetic councillors are to update their diaries from about March each year!

Of course, it sometimes worked a little bit the other way and I have good, anecdotal evidence to suggest that some of the more rabid party supporters were 'asked' NOT to post during campaigns lest their utterances scare off some of the more faint-hearted and less partisan would-be supporters!

The problem with the politics business Hinch was that certain posters used the forum (on any subject whatsoever) to bounce off their own politica agenda and play points scoring. When posters deliberately turn the subject over to politics (by blaming certain councilors or political parties) it spoils the topic at hand and thus consequently puts others off from posting at all - and you lose people or they just don't contribute as often as you might wish. I still say it would be better to moderate by removing the post ,but not the fact they had posted ,and substituting the moderators reasons i.e. off subject/ libelous/derogatory/ etc etc etc. That way they could then re-post in a more moderate manner or in line with the moderators requirement - or not at all if they completely disagreed.

It is very difficult Atlas. You want to allow genuine debate to continue even when it becomes heated. At the same time, you don't want to sanction a bullying culture which turns other posters off and where they feel that their own views and opinions count for nothing.

It can be a very different call and you have to deal with each one as it comes in and try to be even-handed. Of those sharing the Admin function on here, I think it fair to say that we all have differing political and cultural views and backgrounds. About the only 'rule' we have is that nobody gets banned unless we discuss it and agree first.

With a ban, you cannot re-register under an existing email address. I hate banning anyone and am a bit disappointed that we felt forced to do so early on but we are not going to allow blatant advertising or promotion of a company or political party in a username. That would set completely the wrong tone.

Of two things I can assure you:-

1. We won't always get it completely right.
2. But we will try!

There are one or two mischievous posters of course who can't resist pushing it. I did it myself on various occasions on RO and had my wrists slapped on several occasions.

One frequent area of uncertainty is about racism and how far we let threads that discuss race, immigration and multi-cutural issues go before we pull 'em. Again, we would have different ideas about this. I am personally happy to let them continue for as long as they do not constitute intolerence or incite hatred.

However, it is over 50 years since we had mass immigration into Rochdale so it is high time that we should be able to have a mature and pragmatic debate around race issues and this has to some extent been signalled by the sea-changes in the level of debate by some people and the determination not to keep on hiding behind the tired but very safe old platitudes.

Years ago on RO, a poster wrote that "All black men are rapists." Now that may well have been her very honest opinion but it was a hateful and inaccurate thing to say and to me constituted incitement to race-hatred. Others may have disagreed and taken the 'free-speech' approach.

Of course, we have NEVER had free speech in this country and never will have. In the case I just related, I was completely happy with a permanent ban. Others may have disagreed.

Anyway, we will see how it goes and take each day as it comes.

I think the banned RO poster said 'All black men are RAPIST' not racist, or am I remembering it wrong?

No, you are right. It was a typo on my part and I have amended the post.

Would it be possible to have a "like" and "dislike" button for posts? Please consider it.

UP THE DALE wrote:Would it be possible to have a "like" and "dislike" button for posts? Please consider it.

Good idea.

We are not facebook!!!

Maybe not so much like, but agree and disagree options. Sometimes people might read a post and either agree or disagree with it, but don't know what to say themselves.

My personal opinion (for what it is worth ) is well done for getting us all back together I just LUV it

UP THE DALE wrote:Maybe not so much like, but agree and disagree options. Sometimes people might read a post and either agree or disagree with it, but don't know what to say themselves.

I can see your point. I read nearly all the threads but do not always feel the need to comment but often agree/disagree with what the poster has said.

It took me a long time to comment on the old forum. Commenting take quite a bit of courage and sometimes it can feel like you're butting in on a conversation. This might be a way to encourage the forum "lurkers" to join in.

Btw, I'm not a fan of FB.

Thank you for my dedicated short-lived garish (!) banner. That's what I call a really personal touch

Who was it said ' revenge is best served cold? '

ROCHDALE TALK NEWSLETTER No 4

3rd of October 2012

Membership pretty static but plans to increase it via Blogging.

We have agreed to try to organise a Christmas night out somewhere in the borough in early-December. Some members have problems with curries so perhaps we may go for a traditional Xmas meal for a change and will aim for a venue to suit everyone’s pockets.

If anyone has any idea for a reasonably-priced, decent quality venue then please let us know. We will probably advertise a couple of midweek dates and go for the one with the best response. We may need a deposit to hold a table.

We plan to do occasional Italian or curry nights in the year so no big deal if you can’t do Xmas. All ideas welcome. Perhaps a Lancashire night with pie, peas and pickled cabbage and a couple of football cards to buy raffle prizes or go towards the cost of another social?

The access issue for blind posters looks as if it might be on the way to being resolved by the poster concerned though sadly not by our hosting organisation.

Surprised at the number of non-registered guests we seem to attract. We had nine on at one time earlier in the week so someone is keeping an eye on us. We also get an occasional visiting ‘bot’ but I think this is Google and it doesn’t appear to be causing us any issues.
The user-stats are ok and we are pulling about as many daily posts as RO was but obviously not as many page views. Keep signposting us via your social networking sites and contacts list.

The adverts at the top of the page are a bit of an irritant but we are stuck with them. If they look slightly fuzzy and tell you you’ve won an ipad or iphone I’d just ignore them.

If you prefer to come on and just look around but your username not be visible, you can do can set this up in your Profile settings. Just be aware however that if you are doing this on your work PC, your boss will still be able to tell which sites you visited.

The Chatbox function seems to be a bit of a waste of space but it costs us nothing so we will keep it on the home page for now.

Moderators Report
One post pulled in last week to keep a thread on track.

Three threads pulled as they were mind-numbingly trivial and we need to attract new posters not send them heading for them thar hills. If you wish to ask one member a question, no need to start a thread. Use the PM facility..

1 poster removed due to inadvertent multiple registration.

No other moderation issues..

Mods meeting

We held our first Mods meeting yesterday. All of us pleased with way forum is going but all present said they would like to see Irish and Veritas on board as well as some of our other old friends. We all agreed that generally you are all giving us an easy time so far.
If you were barred or suspended on RO then don’t let it stop you joining here. Everyone gets a fresh start if they want one.

Idi Admin

Re the ads - I have never seen one on this site. This is probably because I am using Firefox rather than internet explorer as a browser and Firefox has an advertisement blocker to go with it. Both are FREE and very easy to use, a couple of clicks and you are advert free. Here's a pic of what the site looks like to me:

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Let me know if you would like me to put a link here to Firefox and adblocker or need any help to install them.