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revmacian

macrumors 68000
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Oct 20, 2018
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What is the purpose of the ignore list functionality of the MacRumors Forums?

If we don't want to see posts from certain people then we can put those people on ignore. That way we won't get notifications from those people but we will still get notifications from the people who interest us. It's a wonderful system.. when it is used in a fair and consistent manner. However, I feel that it isn’t always fair and consistent from a normal member's point of view.

Please consider this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-have-macbookfear.2168166/page-8#post-27070164

I don't want to receive notifications from the posts of this moderator and I don't want to see his replies unless such reply is related to actual moderator duties. He is a moderator and I cannot put him on my ignore list.

Yes, I realize that we cannot put a mod on ignore. So, how do we get moderators to not reply to our posts as if they were a normal member and not doing moderator-related duties? Or at least make it so that I don't receive notifications from their non-moderator replies to my posts?

I emailed Arn about this issue, just in case he misses this thread.
 
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keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
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You can't ignore mods. It's the same on any forum unfortunately.

This is because if they put a mod note or a message you need to read it. Agree it's frustrating when there might be posts you disagree with or you feel may be impartial but it's the way it is.
 

revmacian

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2018
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You can't ignore mods. It's the same on any forum unfortunately.

This is because if they put a mod note or a message you need to read it. Agree it's frustrating when there might be posts you disagree with or you feel may be impartial but it's the way it is.
Yes, you are correct.. but the point of this thread is that mods can reply to your posts as if they were a normal member and you still get their notifications even if you don't want to see their replies because you can't put them on ignore.

I feel this is favoritism. Either mods should not be able to reply as a normal member or we should be able to put their replies on some type of ignore list so we don't get notifications from their replies. If you were a moderator and you wanted to force your non-work-related opinion on someone, wouldn't the forums and current ignore list functionality be a great way to do that?
 

Falhófnir

macrumors 603
Aug 19, 2017
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How about just politely messaging and making your feelings known that you wish to leave the discussion there? More thank likely he will oblige you, but you have to accept if you're putting your thoughts on a public discussion forum, they are there to be challenged.
 
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revmacian

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2018
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How about just politely messaging and making your feelings known that you wish to leave the discussion there? More thank likely he will oblige you, but you have to accept if you're putting your thoughts on a public discussion forum, they are there to be challenged.
I have asked mods in the past to refrain from replying to my posts and that worked for a time, but then things went back to the way they were. I will try that again.

Yes, you are right, I have to accept that my posts are on a public forum. And, in a public forum you can place normal members on an ignore list so you aren't bothered with their replies. But, you cannot add moderators to ignore lists.. you are forced to receive notifications from their replies even when they reply as a normal member and not performing moderator duties.. as in the link in the OP.
 
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revmacian

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Hmmm...an interesting thought. I'm intrigued by this. One would think it should be possible to ignore a mod's personal content without being able to block their professional content. Seems like a setting that should exist.
Agreed, perhaps a forums software revision is in order. Thank you for making that point.
 

OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,799
The Black Country, England
You can't ignore mods. It's the same on any forum unfortunately.

This is because if they put a mod note or a message you need to read it.
This is correct, we need to be able to post Moderator Notes in the forums which can be read by all members and when we issue reminders and suspensions the notifications are send as Conversation Messages, which would not be received by the member if the moderator was on their ignore list.

Yes, you are correct.. but the point of this thread is that mods can reply to your posts as if they were a normal member and you still get their notifications even if you don't want to see their replies because you can't put them on ignore.
If you want to ignore someone on a forum I would suggest you stop quoting and replying to their posts because your responses are keeping the conversation going.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-have-macbookfear.2168166/page-6#post-27063872
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-have-macbookfear.2168166/page-6#post-27063503
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-have-macbookfear.2168166/page-7#post-27067181

Hmmm...an interesting thought. I'm intrigued by this. One would think it should be possible to ignore a mod's personal content without being able to block their professional content. Seems like a setting that should exist.
You will have to wait for @arn to reply as I'm not sure how this would be possible to implement.
 

revmacian

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2018
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Noted, and I will endeavor to make this change in my habits.

But, how do we avoid seeing notifications for a moderator's personal replies to our posts without missing notifications from the replies we wish to see? I realize we need to see a moderator's replies when those replies deal with official moderator duties and that is beneficial.

Is it possible to have the forums software system make proper separation between a moderator's professional posts and their personal posts? Perhaps require a staff member to utilize certain menu options in order for the software to implement this separation? That would seem to resolve the issue.
 

revmacian

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2018
1,745
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USA
How about just politely messaging and making your feelings known that you wish to leave the discussion there? More thank likely he will oblige you, but you have to accept if you're putting your thoughts on a public discussion forum, they are there to be challenged.
I did that, as you suggested, and my request was respectfully declined.
 

Juicy Box

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2014
7,517
8,846
What is the purpose of the ignore list functionality of the MacRumors Forums?

If we don't want to see posts from certain people then we can put those people on ignore. That way we won't get notifications from those people but we will still get notifications from the people who interest us. It's a wonderful system.. when it is used in a fair and consistent manner. However, I feel that it isn’t always fair and consistent from a normal member's point of view.

Please consider this post:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/i-have-macbookfear.2168166/page-8#post-27070164

I don't want to receive notifications from the posts of this moderator and I don't want to see his replies unless such reply is related to actual moderator duties. He is a moderator and I cannot put him on my ignore list.

Yes, I realize that we cannot put a mod on ignore. So, how do we get moderators to not reply to our posts as if they were a normal member and not doing moderator-related duties? Or at least make it so that I don't receive notifications from their non-moderator replies to my posts?

I emailed Arn about this issue, just in case he misses this thread.

I agree with you, and it doesn't seem right that Mods' personal content cannot be ignored. Maybe this is something that could be changed...

I am curious though, why do you want to ignore @maflynn posts? I looked at the example of the one you linked, and it made me genuinely curious what was wrong with it.

I guess people get ignored for all sorts of things...
 

OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,799
The Black Country, England
Is it possible to have the forums software system make proper separation between a moderator's professional posts and their personal posts? Perhaps require a staff member to utilize certain menu options in order for the software to implement this separation? That would seem to resolve the issue.

I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't able to be implemented, but it seems like something that should be, you know?
@arn or @WildCowboy would need to look into this.
 
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revmacian

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2018
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USA
I agree with you, and it doesn't seem right that Mods' personal content cannot be ignored. Maybe this is something that could be changed...

I am curious though, why do you want to ignore @maflynn posts? I looked at the example of the one you linked, and it made me genuinely curious what was wrong with it.

I guess people get ignored for all sorts of things...
I feel that the reason for ignoring is not the issue and would not add anything useful to this thread. I apologize for my apparent refusal to answer your question, and I mean no disrespect, but I wish to avoid possibly clouding the issue at hand.
 

arkitect

macrumors 604
Sep 5, 2005
7,027
11,893
Bath, United Kingdom
I feel that the reason for ignoring is not the issue and would not add anything useful to this thread. I apologize for my apparent refusal to answer your question, and I mean no disrespect, but I wish to avoid possibly clouding the issue at hand.
Well I think that couldn't be helped as you were at pains point out exactly which Mod you have a problem with… you could have handled it as a hypothetical anonymous case.
Now we all know there is "something" going on between you and this specific named Mod.

Hardly fair on the person you seem to have an issue with.
 

Falhófnir

macrumors 603
Aug 19, 2017
6,139
6,990
I have asked mods in the past to refrain from replying to my posts and that worked for a time, but then things went back to the way they were. I will try that again.

Yes, you are right, I have to accept that my posts are on a public forum. And, in a public forum you can place normal members on an ignore list so you aren't bothered with their replies. But, you cannot add moderators to ignore lists.. you are forced to receive notifications from their replies even when they reply as a normal member and not performing moderator duties.. as in the link in the OP.
Equally though, you should be able to just ignore anyone's replies that you don't want to engage with without the need to hide them completely from your view. This is why I personally don't think the ignore function is all that great a way to deal with something. If I feel a discussion is getting 'too much' I usually just take a step back and don't reply for a while until I'm feeling 'up to' stepping back in (at which point the discussion has usually moved on a bit anyway). Is this perhaps a bit rude to those who reply to me? Perhaps, but if they reach out to me I will happily explain my reasons to them (preferably in private so as not to derail a thread). This has worked well for me in my time here.

I did that, as you suggested, and my request was respectfully declined.
Ok, well, it's not for me to comment for someone else. I did tacitly mean take it out of public view a bit, perhaps clear it up on PM with the mod in question and maybe a couple of others as mediators.
 
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revmacian

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2018
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Ok, well, it's not for me to comment for someone else. I did tacitly mean take it out of public view a bit, perhaps clear it up on PM with the mod in question and maybe a couple of others as mediators.
From my experience, moderators tend to "look out for their own" and in gray areas it will likely be decided that the mod is innocent. At least this is the way it was when I served as moderator for a few other sites.. it's one of the reasons I resigned.
 

CarlJ

macrumors 604
Feb 23, 2004
6,971
12,133
San Diego, CA, USA
Is it possible to have the forums software system make proper separation between a moderator's professional posts and their personal posts? Perhaps require a staff member to utilize certain menu options in order for the software to implement this separation? That would seem to resolve the issue.
I can't say how this is handled on MacRumors, but on many other forums, "Moderator" is not a paid professional position.

Many moderators are just forum members that the Powers That Be deemed to be level-headed and fair (and around), and deputized to be able to put out small fires when the Powers That Be are not around. As such, they naturally continue to make their fair share of personal contributions to conversations (if they hadn't been around a lot of the time already, they would not have come to the attention of the Powers That Be in the first place).

I generally try to cut them a lot of slack. It's a mostly thankless job, and they keep the forum from completely burning to the ground. If you have troubles with one, DM them directly. If that doesn't help, DM someone higher up. It may not resolve the situation to your satisfaction, but your concerns will at least be on file with them. Beyond that, perhaps consider any remaining dissatisfaction to be a minor cost of using the forum - it's not like you're paying hundreds of dollars a year to post/read here.
 

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,491
If you have troubles with one, DM them directly. If that doesn't help, DM someone higher up.

Actually, it’s not recommended that you contact the moderators directly if you have a personal issue with them or their actions, they want you to use the ‘Contact form’, it’s completely transparent, and it allows administrators to review your request for the alleged concern/complaint, which then they (Site administrators) contact you eventually when they have the opportunity to discuss.

Reference:

https://forums.macrumors.com/misc/contact/

The support team and administrators will review your posts, account history, and the actions by the moderators based on your message and the moderation records, and in most cases email you a reply within one week. Sometimes they may start a private forum conversation with you.”

https://macrumors.zendesk.com/hc/en...with-moderation-of-my-posts-?mobile_site=true
 

revmacian

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2018
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Well I think that couldn't be helped as you were at pains point out exactly which Mod you have a problem with… you could have handled it as a hypothetical anonymous case.
Now we all know there is "something" going on between you and this specific named Mod.

Hardly fair on the person you seem to have an issue with.
The reason for the ignore is not the issue here. The issue is that the notification system could benefit from amendment in order to make the notification system less intrusive.

The 'something' that is going on between the other person and myself is none of your concern and focusing on the 'why' would serve to inject drama and possibly derail this thread.

Let's stick to the real issue and work towards finding a solution without allowing teenage drama to derail the thread. Derailment happens too often in other threads, let's not allow it to win here.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
 
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CarlJ

macrumors 604
Feb 23, 2004
6,971
12,133
San Diego, CA, USA
Actually, it’s not recommended that you contact the moderators directly if you have a personal issue with them or their actions, they want you to use the ‘Contact form’, it’s completely transparent, and it allows administrators to review your request for the alleged concern/complaint, which then they (Site administrators) contact you eventually when they have the opportunity to discuss.
Fair point. I was thinking more from the standpoint of having an issue with them on a personal level ("I don't like your opinions, please leave me alone") rather than with having an issue with them as a moderator. But using the official path is always preferred.
 

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
34,076
23,675
Gotta be in it to win it
Not clear on what the technical problem really is, although different strokes for different folks. Use your eyes to just "skip" the content you don't want to see even if the notification appears on the flag. That's what I would do. I also would not interact with someone (mod or not) that for whatever reason is not on my "favorites" list.
 

Juicy Box

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2014
7,517
8,846
Use your eyes to just "skip" the content you don't want to see even if the notification appears on the flag. That's what I would do.
Good advice, this is also what I do.

I hardly ever use the ignore feature, but I know there are plenty of people on this forum who do. Actually, I have seen many posts of people bragging about how many members are on their ignore list. A few people stated that their list is actually full and they can't ignore any more members. I wonder how many ignores that it takes to fill up the list?

I guess everyone has their reasons to ignore people, but after thinking about it, I am wondering what these reasons are. I have ignored people in the past, but I can't remember why.

If the ignore feature's main purpose is to block people with different opinions, why even be a member of a forum.

I agree with the OP, and think that if there is an ignore feature, the mods shouldn't be excluded for their personal content, but the more I think about it, I think that maybe the ignore feature is counterproductive in a forum that is supposed to have opposing viewpoints on topics, and ignore probably shouldn't be a feature at all.
 
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