On becoming a moderator

First you decide that you would like to do something to help Elfwood. Not having a lot of spare change you think maybe you could dedicate some time to helping keep Elfwood clean, so you volunteer to become a moderator.

Your email offer of help is first received by our support staff who put it in a great big pile of emails waiting to be dealt with. Then they sort through them one at a time. This is why it might take a long time to hear back from us.

When they read your email they check to make sure that your English is fair, because moderating, like everything on Elfwood, is done in English. You have to be able to give reasons for rejecting pictures, and the artist receiving the rejection has to be able to understand it. Moderators who check that person’s ticket in the future also have to be able to refer back to any notes you may need to make.

The next step is to send you a test. Yes, that's right, there is a test! It contains pictures and descriptions that you have to look at and judge if they belong on Elfwood or not; if you feel they don’t you have to list your reasons. If you want to be a moderator for the library there is a separate test for that; actually there are two tests. The library staff wants to make doubly sure you know what you are doing!

You then send your test back and the moderator staff person who is in charge of this area checks it over. You then receive your test back marked up. If you pass you also receive instructions on how to use the moderating tools and are put on a (rather busy) mailing list. You are then given a period of training that can take anything from one week to three weeks. During the time you serve your "apprenticeship" you do nothing but new joins and become very attached to George (the large rat mascot. You also get very sick of doing new joins and long to do other types of tickets.

But before you can move past moderating new join requests you need to work with a mentor. Your mentor will take you through a couple of tickets, possibly more depending on how quickly you seem to pick things up. This can be done on IRC (preferred) or ICQ, AIM, MSN IM or even by email, although that is very slow and definitely not a preferred option. Your mentor will go through a ticket with you, see how you feel about any images you might have to reject and make sure you check things like emails and bios for words that aren't entirely appropriate. You will also be taught to ALWAYS give a reason for a rejection so that people aren't writing back and saying, "Why did you reject my picture?" (On that note, people, please always make sure you read everything you receive from moderators before replying to any emails).

Then, as a new moderator, you are let loose in the woods.

But there is still more. The moderators have a whole website of guidelines, a "moderator’s dictionary" of terms, there is still more special training if you want to be a Fan Quarter moderator and there is always the mailing list where things are constantly questioned and discussed. Many times people present us with "borderline" images, pictures that MIGHT pass as fantasy, maybe, and sometimes these are discussed. Pictures are sometimes identified by one moderator as a copy, and they want to make sure that they are right as we don't like accusing people of copying. They will put that ticket on hold and all the moderators check it to see if they can identify it. Some might even be able to give the source. (Note: We do try not to accuse people of copying, but if a moderator recognizes a picture and can show the image that it was copied from then we have no choice.)

Talking about choice, moderators also get the chance to pick a "Moderator’s (or Mod’s) Choice." These are pictures that catch the eye, either because they are very well done, they are humorous or they just catch the moderator’s attention for whatever reason. This is an honor for us to pick these pieces and we love to see people happy because they have received a "Mod’s Choice" award.

If you have any questions about moderating, or about becoming a moderator, please write to me at halwyn@bigpond.net.au and I'll answer them in the next issue.