Posting approval

[Der Pilger]

Posting approval

This question is for the moderators. I've tried to post several times to certain threads that were moderated, getting a message that my post would have to be approved first before it appears. That's fine, and I understand it has to be done with certain types of threads. But what concerns me is that so far I've made several of these types of posts (if I remember correctly), but only one was posted, and that was only after I asked a moderator about it. The reason I asked about it was that it had been taking a long time. Another post that I'm pretty sure I made was never approved, and I never heard a word from any moderator about it. Is it normal practice to disapprove a post without informing the author of the post about it? Or does it just take a long time to approve posts?

Thanks.

 

[Jeffin]

Der Pilger, all posts made to the Answers forum are moderated. Currently I am the only one approving them and hence the delay. I read through very briefly and if I don't have I keep a few pending for later.

 

[Der Pilger]

Der Pilger, all posts made to the Answers forum are moderated. Currently I am the only one approving them and hence the delay. I read through very briefly and if I don't have I keep a few pending for later.

Jeff, thanks for the fast reply. If a post isn't approved, is the author of the post informed about the decision? Due to the delay I sometimes wonder if a post has been disapproved but no notification has been given as to its status.

 

[Jeffin]

The author is not informed because all posts in this forum are from anybody whether registered members or guests without an email address registered with us. Most of the time, we won't have an email address to send a notification.

The problem could be solved if I can get a few members to moderate that area constantly.

 

[Der Pilger]

The author is not informed because all posts in this forum are from anybody whether registered members or guests without an email address registered with us. Most of the time, we won't have an email address to send a notification.

The problem could be solved if I can get a few members to moderate that area constantly.

I know e-mail might not be a possibility, but why not just send the poster a private message if he/she is a registered member?

Edit: I just had an additional thought about this: If someone's post is disapproved but they are not informed as to the reason why, how would they know what to avoid doing in the future? The problem might be with how they are wording something; or, on the other hand, it could be with the actual content of their response. Either way, leaving them in the dark will just cause them to keep doing the same thing over and over again. It could even discourage members from posting responses because they can never be sure whether they are writing something unacceptable and, therefore, if their post will even appear. That's a big deterrent if the post requires time, careful thought and clear writing. Some questions on this board require that kind of response, but why bother doing that work if you don't know whether your post will even show up?

Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult or contentious, but may I strongly suggest that you consider informing people, when technically possible, not only that their post was disapproved but also the reason(s) why.