Suggestion for reporting posts

[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...