Change a topic into self-moderated retrospectively / add polls retrospectively

[1miau]

How is it possible to change a topic into self-moderated retrospectively?
Would be useful for some existing topics, which got spammy over time after a few dozen pages.
And sometimes, I just miss to select self-moderated and don’t know how to change it after the topic is created.
I’ve tried to find it, didn’t see any option.
Editing a topic doesn’t offer that option currently, which is very weird and tiresome.

Same applies for adding polls retrospectively. I don't find where we can enable it after a topic has been created / for existing topics...


Edit after a few confusions:
When a topic would be changed to self-moderated, all the comments left before should get treated as it has been before (not possible to be removed). It's just about the new comments coming after the topic gets changed, which would be self-moderated.
Because when a topic is changed to self-moderated retrospectively, our message "self-moderated topic" would be displayed and everyone would see it.  

[1714843477]

1714843477

[hosseinimr93]

It's not possible to make a topic self-moderated if you didn't select "self moderated" when creating the topic. That's how it should be and I don't agree with allowing users to do so.
The poster has the right to know if his/her post can be deleted by the topic starter when making the post.

Assume that I create a topic which isn't self moderated and you make a post. (You may not want to post in my thread if it's self-moderated). Then I make the topic self-moderated and delete your post.

[LoyceV]

Would be useful for some existing topics, which got spammy over time after a few dozen pages.

Just lock it, and (before locking it) make the last post point towards a new self-moderated topic.

And sometimes, I just miss to select self-moderated and don’t know how to change it after the topic is created.

I often forget to tick "self-moderate". Just create a new topic, and move the old one to Archival.

I’ve tried to find it, didn’t see any option.

You can't self-moderate on this board (Meta).

[1miau]

It's not possible to make a topic self-moderated if you didn't select "self moderated" when creating the topic.

Wow, sad to hear...
So, once a topic is created it can get filled with spam and we can't prevent that, we are just dependent on moderators deleting it?
Recently, even bans are not handled anymore consistently.
Would be nice to enable it to combat spam more effectively.

That's how it should be and I don't agree with allowing users to do so.

Doesn't make any sense in my opinion because I see zero reasons to disable it. It's just beneficial for spammers.

The poster has the right to know if his/her post can be deleted by the topic starter when making the post.

I can agree here but that could be solved by making it possible for the OP to delete only posts which were made after the topic gets changed to self-moderated.
Easy solution in my opinion.
No need to disable a change towards self-moderation retrospectively.
Same goes for adding polls.

Would be useful for some existing topics, which got spammy over time after a few dozen pages.

Just lock it, and (before locking it) make the last post point towards a new self-moderated topic.

It's a solution but that would split the discussion into 2 parts on 2 different places...

[uchegod-21]

And sometimes, I just miss to select self-moderated and don’t know how to change it after the topic is created.
...

This has happened to me and I ended up leaving the topic to remain unmoderated. There is always a tendency that one could forget if your consciousness is not there.

Assume that I create a topic which isn't self moderated and you make a post. (You may not want to post in my thread if it's self-moderated). Then I make the topic self-moderated and delete your post.

This should not be a big problem.
The program be written that posts which were made when the topic wasn't self moderated shouldn't be possible to be deleted. The ones which were made after the post became moderated can be deleted.

[1miau]

And sometimes, I just miss to select self-moderated and don’t know how to change it after the topic is created.
...

This has happened to me and I ended up leaving the topic to remain unmoderated. There is always a tendency that one could forget if your consciousness is not there.

Same here. 
And sometimes, I just notice it a few hours later, after several new comments below my OP.
By then, it's too late to delete / trash my topic since it would also trash the comments which were already left...

Assume that I create a topic which isn't self moderated and you make a post. (You may not want to post in my thread if it's self-moderated). Then I make the topic self-moderated and delete your post.

This should not be a big problem.
The program be written that posts which were made when the topic wasn't self moderated shouldn't be possible to be deleted. The ones which were made after the post became moderated can be deleted.

Exactly this. Would be enough to get a self-moderated topic once it's turned into a self-moderated one.
Previous comments shouldn't be affected. 

[NeuroticFish]

Sorry 1miau, I agree with @hosseinimr93 here: if one posts into a self-mod topic he knows that his post may get removed. This doesn't happen with a "free" topic. Changing this "during the game" is unfair advantage for topic owner.

Just imagine a shady business getting a couple of bad reviews: in your proposal it will be allowed to change to self-mod and remove those. Those users, if they would have known that there's a chance their posts get removed may have been made the complaints in completely different topics.

Your use case takes into account only your situation when the topic starter is honest and the posts he wants to remove are probably spam (which can be reported) or bad intention garbage (which, at an extent can be ignored, and if a threshold is passed the topic ends with a link to the new moderated topic). We are old enough around here and can find our ways. Let's not give more tools to the scammers only because we want some things be easier for us.

Previous comments shouldn't be affected. 

This would make sense, but may be more difficult to implement.

[dkbit98]

So, once a topic is created it can get filled with spam and we can't prevent that, we are just dependent on moderators deleting it?

You can still report all the posts you consider to be spam and moderators will probably delete most of them, if you created that topic.
It wouldn't be fair to change topics from normal to self-moderated later and I think scammers could abuse that function.
Just lock the old topic and create new one that is self-moderated... it's not that hard.

Doesn't make any sense in my opinion because I see zero reasons to disable it. It's just beneficial for spammers.

It doesn't make sense that you can't delete topic you created, but you still can't, and many other things 

[decodx]

One option to consider is implementing specific local rules within your OP and enforcing them, rather than creating a self-moderated topic. Any posts that violate these rules can be reported to the moderators for further action.

[1miau]

Sorry 1miau, I agree with @hosseinimr93 here: if one posts into a self-mod topic he knows that his post may get removed. This doesn't happen with a "free" topic. Changing this "during the game" is unfair advantage for topic owner.

I've not demanded anywhere to delete old comments from before the topic was changed to self-moderated.
When it's changed to self-moderated, all the comments left before should get treated as it has been before. It's just about any new replies coming after the topic gets changed.
Then, our known message "self-moderated..." topic would be displayed and everyone would see it.

I have added a hint in my OP to avoid confusion.  

Just imagine a shady business getting a couple of bad reviews: in your proposal it will be allowed to change to self-mod and remove those. Those users, if they would have known that there's a chance their posts get removed may have been made the complaints in completely different topics.

Once again, I didn't demand that.

Previous comments shouldn't be affected.  

This would make sense, but may be more difficult to implement.

I don't know how much more difficult it would be but doesn't sound much more difficult?

So, once a topic is created it can get filled with spam and we can't prevent that, we are just dependent on moderators deleting it?

You can still report all the posts you consider to be spam and moderators will probably delete most of them, if you created that topic.

Sure, it's an option but after all, we would dependent on a moderator to delete it.

It wouldn't be fair to change topics from normal to self-moderated later and I think scammers could abuse that function.

I didn't demand to delete old posts, my request is only for new ones because when a topic is changed to self-moderated, our usual message would show up.

I have added a hint in my OP to avoid confusion.  

One option to consider is implementing specific local rules within your OP and enforcing them, rather than creating a self-moderated topic. Any posts that violate these rules can be reported to the moderators for further action.

Yes, it's an option as well but most spammers won't care, unfortunately.  
We can't really enforce it, if it's not a self-moderated topic, as it would also require a moderator to delete it.
But it's a good suggestion.
Maybe it would help a little bit after all, which would be already nice.  

[ShowOff]

Somehow I think moderators can do it on user request, but if it is not approved then the last advice is lock old topic and create new topic with self moderation. But I haven't found a case like this done before, or maybe I've missed it.

One option to consider is implementing specific local rules within your OP and enforcing them, rather than creating a self-moderated topic. Any posts that violate these rules can be reported to the moderators for further action.

Yes, it's an option as well but most spammers won't care, unfortunately.  
We can't really enforce it, if it's not a self-moderated topic, as it would also require a moderator to delete it.
But it's a good suggestion.
Maybe it would help a little bit after all, which would be already nice.  

It's true, spammers will not care. But reporting it as spam to moderators is the best option if you don't want to lock the topic and create a new one.

[LoyceV]

Sorry 1miau, I agree with @hosseinimr93 here: if one posts into a self-mod topic he knows that his post may get removed. This doesn't happen with a "free" topic. Changing this "during the game" is unfair advantage for topic owner.

Once in a while, a user goes wild and deletes all his own posts. It would be much worse if he can delete all other posts in his own topics too.

Previous comments shouldn't be affected.  

This would make sense, but may be more difficult to implement.

I don't expect that to happen any time soon indeed.

[1miau]

Somehow I think moderators can do it on user request, but if it is not approved then the last advice is lock old topic and create new topic with self moderation. But I haven't found a case like this done before, or maybe I've missed it.

Interesting idea, maybe I'll PM a moderator to ask if it's possible and an appropriate solution. Or a moderator can reply here if it's possible. Most likely, approving such request has a high chance to decrease work for moderators overally, if that's possible for moderators to change it manually.
Of course, having such an option available in our edit settings would be the best solution that all comments made from that point of time are self-moderated.

Sorry 1miau, I agree with @hosseinimr93 here: if one posts into a self-mod topic he knows that his post may get removed. This doesn't happen with a "free" topic. Changing this "during the game" is unfair advantage for topic owner.

Once in a while, a user goes wild and deletes all his own posts. It would be much worse if he can delete all other posts in his own topics too.

Sure but such an issue is a general argument against self-moderation and such cases might be very rare.
And when we handle it as described to treat all the comments left before will be unaffected, while only new replies  coming after the topic gets changed to self-moderated can be deleted, we won't have that problem, when members are deleting old posts.

Previous comments shouldn't be affected. 

This would make sense, but may be more difficult to implement.

I don't expect that to happen any time soon indeed.

Most likely you are 100% right here. 
 

[John Abraham]

You can still report all the posts you consider to be spam and moderators will probably delete most of them if you created that topic.

Sometimes it takes a long time to get handled. Also, there is no guarantee that my report will be handled. I believe this is one of the main reasons you want to create a self-moderated thread (to respond quickly).

It wouldn't be fair to change topics from normal to self-moderated later and I think scammers could abuse that function.
Just lock the old topic and create ate new one that is self-moderated... it's not that hard.

Both arguments got some good points. I agree with this statement as well. As others already discussed, if old posts don't get affected, I don't see any harm in the implementation of this system. Imagine you created a topic and it has more than 20 replies already, then you realize you wanted to make it self-moderated.

[tranthidung]

It is only one-sided procedure.

• You can change your topic from self-moderated to non-self-moderated by Moving it to Meta (Meta board does not allow self-moderated topics), then move it back to the initial board.
• It's impossible to change a topic from non-self-moderated to self-moderated. It is helpful to prevent scammers to turn their topics to self-moderated and censor user posts or inquiries about their scam projects.

If you are not scammer, but want to make a topic as self-moderated, do as above users suggested: Pin a last post in your initial topic, direct posters to your new self-moderated topic and lock an initial one.
You can bring your request to Self-moderated topics

[_BlackStar]

• It's impossible to change a topic from non-self-moderated to self-moderated. It is helpful to prevent scammers to turn their topics to self-moderated and censor user posts or inquiries about their scam projects.

That may be the reason why topics that have already been created can no longer be converted to self-moderated topics.

In most sections, you now have the option of marking topics self-moderated when creating them. In self-moderated topics, the OP can delete replies. The option for enabling this is under "additional options". Topics cannot be converted to self-moderated topics after creation.

If you are not scammer, but want to make a topic as self-moderated, do as above users suggested: Pin a last post in your initial topic, direct posters to your new self-moderated topic and lock an initial one.

IMO - It has to be one of the most effective solutions if the OP can no longer prevent spammers from bombarding non self-moderated thread. Meanwhile the OP can also report some spam posts in the non self moderation thread if he doesn't want to create a new one.

[tranthidung]

IMO - It has to be one of the most effective solutions if the OP can no longer prevent spammers from bombarding non self-moderated thread. Meanwhile the OP can also report some spam posts in the non self moderation thread if he doesn't want to create a new one.

Some projects and their representatives in forum do the same too.

They created a new announcement topic, announce it in a past topic, lock it and move onwards with a new one, that is self-moderated.

I also see some projects do an opposite: initially they create self-moderated topic, later after community complains, they locked it, and create a non-self-moderated topic. I believe they did not know about the procedure I shared above (move it to Meta the move it back to where it belongs to) 

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Assume that I create a topic which isn't self moderated and you make a post. (You may not want to post in my thread if it's self-moderated). Then I make the topic self-moderated and delete your post.

I'm kinda on the fence about this idea; part of me agrees with OP that it'd be nice to switch a thread you created to a self-moderated one in order to get rid of shitposts (which has plagued so many threads on this forum, it's ridiculous).  On the other hand, I suspect that if Theymos were to implement a feature like this, it would be the focal point of a massive number of complaints by members who had their posts nuked, even if said feature wasn't being abused.

A few years back, there was discussion about senior members making their threads self-moderated in order to combat low-value posts, but that seemed to go nowhere.  I was one of the members who'd intended to do it, but I kept forgetting and in the end just gave up on it.  So I guess the answer is to either make your thread a self-modded one from the get-go or take whatever is coming in terms of post quality.  I don't think Theymos is going to change how threads are structured retroactively.

[_BlackStar]

IMO - It has to be one of the most effective solutions if the OP can no longer prevent spammers from bombarding non self-moderated thread. Meanwhile the OP can also report some spam posts in the non self moderation thread if he doesn't want to create a new one.

Some projects and their representatives in forum do the same too.

They created a new announcement topic, announce it in a past topic, lock it and move onwards with a new one, that is self-moderated.

I also see some projects do an opposite: initially they create self-moderated topic, later after community complains, they locked it, and create a non-self-moderated topic. I believe they did not know about the procedure I shared above (move it to Meta the move it back to where it belongs to)  

They may not know how it works. Some of them don't really care about this kind of stuff ^{[newbie or non contributor],} so it certainly makes sense why they'd make a new one and lock up the old one. Another reason, they don't bother to care about how the forum works is because they tend to think about developing the project.

[Halab]

Interesting idea, maybe I'll PM a moderator to ask if it's possible and an appropriate solution. Or a moderator can reply here if it's possible.

I just checked  (in a section where self-moderated topics are enabled) and we have no option to change a topic to self-moderated.

And it's not bad in my opinion. We will see this kind of topic : "Oh no, the evil mod didn't want to put my topic in self-moderated to protect his corrupted friends."
Or : "Oh no, the evil mod changed the topic to self-moderated so that my opinion is deleted now."