Suggestion for reporting posts

[yahoo62278]

I just reported some posts in the services section for a user not deleting old bumps. Within a few minutes those posts were deleted, but I still had 3 or 4 unhandled reports. This got me wondering, if multiple users report the same post will they all get credit for reporting the post? Or does the report stay as unhandled?

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post? This way multiple users are not reporting the same posts as well as moderators do not have to look at the same report over and over. Seems like it would be a better system.

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[hacker1001101001]

Isn't multiple reports an matrix of getting the post deleted soon or doesn't it even increase the probability of it being handled ?

[yahoo62278]

Isn't multiple reports an matrix of getting the post deleted soon or doesn't it even increase the probability of it being handled ?

It should only take 1 moderator to look at the report and decide if they want to take action or leave the post as is. No reason they would need to see something reprted 25 times to finally decide to delete.

[hosseinimr93]

If that post has been deleted by moderators, it should be marked as good. I guess those posts have been deleted by the poster.
You can visit modlog to check whether the post has been deleted by moderators or the poster.
If a post is deleted by moderators, it should be listed in modlog. Simply, Ctrl+F and search for ID of the poster.


According to following post made by Halab, if a report is handled and the post is deleted, all other reports for that post are also deleted and they all are marked as good.

I do not know how mods see reports for one post which is reported let's say 20 times?

In this case, we have 20 reports.

Do one handled report for such post solve all other reports?

If the solution is to delete the reported post, yes all 20 reports are deleted.
If the solution is to move a topic, the mod must click 20 times on 'handled' after moving the topic.
If the 20 reports are considered bad, the mod must click on 'bad' 20 times.

According to what Halab said, only if the report is bad, moderators should click on "Bad" for all reports. So, when a report is good, all reports are marked as good automatically.  

[Jawhead999]

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post? This way multiple users are not reporting the same posts as well as moderators do not have to look at the same report over and over. Seems like it would be a better system.

According your suggestion, it's similar case from @iasenko suggestion in this thread Request an option to cancel a report.
But, till now that's suggestion has not been implemented.

[hacker1001101001]

Isn't multiple reports an matrix of getting the post deleted soon or doesn't it even increase the probability of it being handled ?

It should only take 1 moderator to look at the report and decide if they want to take action or leave the post as is. No reason they would need to see something reprted 25 times to finally decide to delete.

Ok, I agree, it would not matter much but atleast give moderator an view of this post really being spammy due to multiple reports on the same.

This even makes sense here and could make the doubt in the OP about marking multiple reporting clear.

I would like to know if I report 1 post two times or a two people report one same post does it comes as a two different cases or one case with 2 reports?

Still no answer to this question, hoping to get some information on how the report system is working so we can be more efficient.

AFAIK If two/three/ten people report a post then they all get credited for a good report if the post/thread has been deleted. If multiple people have reported a post they come up as separate in the report queue. However, if a moderator deletes the post all the users are credited with a good report. If the post is moved, then not all reports are credited with a good report, and quite often if someone hasn't specified something along the lines of "Wrong section, doesn't belong in <section>" then a moderator may think you are reporting it for being in the current section it's been moved too and thus mark it as a bad report.

I'm unsure what happens if an account is banned, but their posts haven't been removed. However, I would think that after someone has been banned the report would still remain in the queue, and you would be marked on it's accuracy. A moderator probably knows if a user has been banned, and might mark your report good without removing it.

[o_e_l_e_o]

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post? This way multiple users are not reporting the same posts as well as moderators do not have to look at the same report over and over. Seems like it would be a better system.

I would disagree with this, because the same post can be reported for multiple different reasons.

Lets say someone reports a post for spam, and it gets buried in the queue and not dealt with for a few days. In the meantime, someone else comes along and notices that the post actually contains a link to malware. Reports for these reasons are usually dealt with more quickly, but the second user would be unable to report the post, leaving other forum users potentially at risk of clicking on malware in the meantime. It could even be abused by scammers posting links to malware, then reporting their own post for some frivolous reason (such as it being in the wrong board), thereby protecting their posts from deletion at least for a short while.

Furthermore, I've even reported the same posts twice - the most common situation would be reporting it initially for spam, and then again later when I discovered it was actually plagiarism.

[TheBeardedBaby]

I have discussed this problem with the multiple reports of the same posts so many times before in different threads so we ended up with this.

The multiple reports are needed so they can out stand the posts which need quick reaction. Aslo one can report the post for spam, other can report that post for having a link to infected wallet for example. So both are correct but for the second report the user will be banned.

Keep in mind that I never got any feedback from theymos on the case only the interpretation from different moderators.

That's why I created the SpamBuster's club when the spam level was sky high so we (who reported on daily basis) don't waste time on reporting same low priority threads/posts many times.

No matter how many people report the post, if it got handled, everyone's report get handled as well. Sometimes it takes time, you see the reported post is deleted but your report is still unhandled, just give it a bit more time.

What I suggest for the people with 300+ good reports the link "Report to moderator" to turn in red if the post has been already reported, but you can choose what to do yourself

Edit > oeleo was quicker then me

[Upgrade00]

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post?

This has been suggested before now and I remember a comment then drawing attention to how this can become a loophole which can be exploited by spammers and scammers:

A user can create a post and use an alt account to report it for a very vague reason which is most likely to be ignored by the moderator (except they chose to personally look for possibly issues with the post). After they've reported the post, the option is removed and other users can no longer report the post, so it likely remains up. Also other users may think it has been reported already by a well meaning member and not look deeper.

[yahoo62278]

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post? This way multiple users are not reporting the same posts as well as moderators do not have to look at the same report over and over. Seems like it would be a better system.

I would disagree with this, because the same post can be reported for multiple different reasons.

Lets say someone reports a post for spam, and it gets buried in the queue and not dealt with for a few days. In the meantime, someone else comes along and notices that the post actually contains a link to malware. Reports for these reasons are usually dealt with more quickly, but the second user would be unable to report the post, leaving other forum users potentially at risk of clicking on malware in the meantime. It could even be abused by scammers posting links to malware, then reporting their own post for some frivolous reason (such as it being in the wrong board), thereby protecting their posts from deletion at least for a short while.

Furthermore, I've even reported the same posts twice - the most common situation would be reporting it initially for spam, and then again later when I discovered it was actually plagiarism.

Less reports = less in the queue= mods not being backed up and able to handle reports in a more timely manner. I hear your argument and can agree with it. I think my suggestion(or iasenkos) would help though.

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post?

This has been suggested before now and I remember a comment then drawing attention to how this can become a loophole which can be exploited by spammers and scammers:

A user can create a post and use an alt account to report it for a very vague reason which is most likely to be ignored by the moderator (except they chose to personally look for possibly issues with the post). After they've reported the post, the option is removed and other users can no longer report the post, so it likely remains up. Also other users may think it has been reported already by a well meaning member and not look deeper.

You make a great point, never thought about that aspect of it.

[The Cryptovator]

So, when a report is good, all reports are marked as good automatically.  

I have doubts about it, because sometimes a post reported by multiple users and if moderator delete post and marked good then it will reflect to who had reported first. Who had reported second time will marked unhandled forever. If I have remember correctly I encountered same issue previously those post has deleted but marked unhandled.

 

Less reports = less in the queue= mods not being backed up and able to handle reports in a more timely manner. I hear your argument and can agree with it. I think my suggestion(or iasenkos) would help though.

Agree with you, marked red or removed report to moderator would save reporter time those posts have reported by other users. No meaning of double report except waste of time.

[UserU]

The multiple reports are needed so they can out stand the posts which need quick reaction. Aslo one can report the post for spam, other can report that post for having a link to infected wallet for example. So both are correct but for the second report the user will be banned.

Just something to ponder about. What if the second user decides to enter some irrelevant comment or mumbo jumbo, would his or hers get approved as well?

Perhaps one way to solve this is to link the report ID with the users' ID with the checkboxes and assign them accordingly, but I doubt the programmers/ developers here might want to revamp the whole thing.


So by using the above example, the mod(s) could simply mark report 2 and 5 as Bad, followed by 1, 3 and 4 as Good.[/b]

[TheBeardedBaby]

The multiple reports are needed so they can out stand the posts which need quick reaction. Aslo one can report the post for spam, other can report that post for having a link to infected wallet for example. So both are correct but for the second report the user will be banned.

Just something to ponder about. What if the second user decides to enter some irrelevant comment or mumbo jumbo, would his or hers get approved as well?

Perhaps one way to solve this is to link the report ID with the users' ID with the checkboxes and assign them accordingly, but I doubt the programmers/ developers here might want to revamp the whole thing.


So by using the above example, the mod(s) could simply mark report 2 and 5 as Bad, followed by 1, 3 and 4 as Good.[/b]

I think that the system works a bit different, for example if you report the same post twice you don't get good reports twice, sometimes its unhandled sometimes its bad.
That means that the mod check every report separately and approve only those who apply, so if you write some mumbo jumbo comment you gonna get what you deserve no matter what happens to that post.

[pugman]

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post? This way multiple users are not reporting the same posts as well as moderators do not have to look at the same report over and over. Seems like it would be a better system.

Okay no, it would work in an ideal reality, unfortunately this ain't it. Along with what o_e_l_e_o and iasenko highlighted, I think what might possibly help is some sort of an indicator perhaps? Say if someone has got 5 posts deleted by the mods in the past 1 week, so his account has a small caution tag which advises the user to post carefully. This indicator could be either shown to all logged in users, or say frequent reporters(like those who have 300+ reported posts).

Also, the reporting procedure should provide some sort of possible options in the reporting menu. Let's say a post has a url tag in it, then the report page automatically shows a button which displays as "Link contains malware" and the user can click it and the report will be sent. Or if the post contains a pic, the report menu will have an auto-generated button for reporting NSFW images, or if a post contains more than 2 paragraphs, a button for plagiarism perhaps. All these could be like extra suggestions to help out the user, the main reporting text area will still be the same. I know this has been suggested before, but it doesn't hurt to suggest again.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I think what might possibly help is some sort of an indicator perhaps?

What I would like (and what was discussed in iasenko's thread he linked to) would be an indicator to show if I have already reported a post. Most of my "bad" reports are from unintended duplicate reports for spam. Once you've reported enough barely coherent one or two line nonsense, it all blends in to one, and I find myself forgetting which posts I've read and reported before.

In terms of a warning for the user, I would like that too but only if it was actually backed up with some sort of temporary ban. There are several users chronic spammers I have reported dozens of times, and no further action is ever taken against them.

Also, the reporting procedure should provide some sort of possible options in the reporting menu.

suchmoon's script ([HACK] One-click mod report, not for the faint of heart) essentially provides this, albeit it entirely customizable so the user can define their own buttons. Perhaps some optional forum generated ones would be a nice way to encourage people to start reporting, who otherwise may feel intimidate or unsure about the whole thing.

[Lafu]

Most of my "bad" reports are from unintended duplicate reports for spam. Once you've reported enough barely coherent one or two line nonsense, it all blends in to one, and I find myself forgetting which posts I've read and reported before.

Dont worry about that , happend to me also from my 40 bad reports are i guess 20 for double reported because i lost the line where i was reporting   

If you report Mega spam threads and dont know where you was just check the last names on your report history , helpd me a few times to avoid double reports !
Anyway as long the bad reports not more as the good reports should be all good and i wouldnt care about !

[pugman]

What I would like (and what was discussed in iasenko's thread he linked to) would be an indicator to show if I have already reported a post. Most of my "bad" reports are from unintended duplicate reports for spam. Once you've reported enough barely coherent one or two line nonsense, it all blends in to one, and I find myself forgetting which posts I've read and reported before.

In terms of a warning for the user, I would like that too but only if it was actually backed up with some sort of temporary ban. There are several users chronic spammers I have reported dozens of times, and no further action is ever taken against them.

I do agree, the reporting system is a mess, put decently. And there's clear sense of frustration from some users,things have been the same around here for years now. Things need to change. Or as we fear, soon people will start caring more about their IRL stuff than the forum. The motivating factor is lacking way too much, and something needs to be done about it as well.,

suchmoon's script ([HACK] One-click mod report, not for the faint of heart) essentially provides this, albeit it entirely customizable so the user can define their own buttons. Perhaps some optional forum generated ones would be a nice way to encourage people to start reporting, who otherwise may feel intimidate or unsure about the whole thing.

I have come across this, but I also know not a lot of reporters use this. Probably because it is not official. I like the script, but we can only go so long by using scripts.

I am just too damn desperate to see the new forum, but there's zero hope out there for it to be out.

[Welsh]

It should only take 1 moderator to look at the report and decide if they want to take action or leave the post as is. No reason they would need to see something reprted 25 times to finally decide to delete.

As already mentioned it can give a quick indication of high priority reports. If there's a lot of reports then its more likely to be serious as a lot of users around here don't report every rule breaking post, and instead only report when they think its urgent. Think malicious links, and the usual. We moderators should probably just do CTRL + F, and search commonly used keywords, but generally we take a quick glance, and act on more serious ones first. Some moderators might just do it chronologically. We all have our own different methods, but a unhandled report doesn't mean much at all. I would say that almost all reports which are left unhandled has been seen by at least 2 different staff members.  

Although I do agree that the reporting system could potentially be streamlined, and a few features added here, and there. (I'm thinking along the lines of multiple queues) it generally does the job pretty well.

[cabalism13]

This got me wondering, if multiple users report the same post will they all get credit for reporting the post?

No. Who ever got to report that post first will be the only one to receive the credit. The others will have the mark of "Bad". Afaik

Or does the report stay as unhandled?

It will only remain unhandled if Moderators didn't want to respond on it or they leave as it is. Afaik

My suggestion, if a post is reported then could the report to moderator option be removed from the reported post? This way multiple users are not reporting the same posts as well as moderators do not have to look at the same report over and over. Seems like it would be a better system.

Not possible, some reports might be getting piled up sometimes, so they might also forget looking on those reports.

[TheBeardedBaby]

This got me wondering, if multiple users report the same post will they all get credit for reporting the post?

No. Who ever got to report that post first will be the only one to receive the credit. The others will have the mark of "Bad". Afaik

You are wrong here, if 10 different people have reported the same post with correct feedback and if the post is removed then they all get the report as "good". You get bad one, if the feedback you provided is wrong, you have already reported it before or the post has not crossed the rules ( according to the perception of the Mod who is handling the reports).
Sometimes if the reports stay unhanded, that means that the mod has no privileges to handle the reports and a global Mod has to take over, or the posts are not against the rules but are doing shady business and are not actually bad. Example is my 50+ un-handled reports for posts using homograph attacks or text spinners - they are basically hiding plagiarism with tools which are not against the rules but are definitely cheating. Since we have not 100% proof that they are good or bad, those just hanged as unhandled.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I like the script, but we can only go so long by using scripts.

I actually think it's a good thing that there isn't a "one-click report" feature built in to the forum. It is extremely easy to mess up and fire off a bunch of inappropriate reports, so forcing people who want to use it to both have to spend some time setting it up, as well as have a basic knowledge of coding, prevents spammers and scammers flooding the report queue with nonsense.

We moderators should probably just do CTRL + F, and search commonly used keywords, but generally we take a quick glance, and act on more serious ones first. Some moderators might just do it chronologically.

Would a system which providers reporters with "Suggested comments" or a checkbox for the most common reasons not be fairly useful then, as it would serve to standardize a lot of reports, making it far easier for mods to CRTL + F for more serious reports? Even better would be a filtering system so you could automatically filter for all reports which were reported with same comment/checkbox.

[Rizzrack]

I actually think it's a good thing that there isn't a "one-click report" feature built in to the forum. It is extremely easy to mess up and fire off a bunch of inappropriate reports, so forcing people who want to use it to both have to spend some time setting it up, as well as have a basic knowledge of coding, prevents spammers and scammers flooding the report queue with nonsense.

IMO that is spot on. Anything too easy could be abused. Soon after we might see temp bans for "report spam"

Would a system which providers reporters with "Suggested comments" or a checkbox for the most common reasons not be fairly useful then, as it would serve to standardize a lot of reports...

Not too sure about the checkbox and standardization. Also need to think about different languages as well. Since being a patroller I learned how to write "spam" in 4-5 languages so far ))

This is an idea I liked:

Maybe the button can be 'semi-disabled', ie it gives you a prompt like you have already reported this, are you sure you want to report it again?.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Not too sure about the checkbox and standardization. Also need to think about different languages as well.

Fair point. I just think there is a bit of a mental barrier for relatively new users to start reporting. At least, there was for me when I started. Being new to the forum at the time, reporting posts of members more senior than me felt strange, almost like I hadn't earned the right to pass judgement on them. I was also very unsure to begin with what I should be writing in the comment boxes, or just how much a post had to break the rules to be considered for deletion, that sort of thing. Some guidance of "Suggested reports" might encourage more users to start reporting, rather than just skipping over spammy or other rule breaking posts.

This is an idea I liked

Yeah, agreed. Especially given that I always use suchmoon's script as above, and I often go on reporting sprees before all my previous reports have been looked at and dealt with, I often find myself wasting time double checking my report history to make sure I don't report the same posts twice. A warning would be useful.

[Rizzrack]

Fair point. I just think there is a bit of a mental barrier for relatively new users to start reporting. At least, there was for me when I started. Being new to the forum at the time, reporting posts of members more senior than me felt strange, almost like I hadn't earned the right to pass judgement on them. I was also very unsure to begin with what I should be writing in the comment boxes, or just how much a post had to break the rules to be considered for deletion, that sort of thing. Some guidance of "Suggested reports" might encourage more users to start reporting, rather than just skipping over spammy or other rule breaking posts.

That is a normal behavior and one that most users went through and many more are going to go through. You might want to lower you expectations regarding new users because ... their new )
First they need to understand the environment, see and understand a normal thread flow, get some info about the subject, learn the rules of the forum and then start reporting (if you feel the post is out of order)
Over 90% of the reports are done by users Member or above. And I personally find it normal. A little encouragement or guidance would definitely help but would not rush anyone ...

Many users don't know that some posts are spammy or against the rules. Not knowing can be fixed, ignorance cannot. But that's for another topic...