I agreed.

[merrily]

Last edited Tue Jul 28, 2015, 02:20 PM - Edit history (6)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1172169308#post1

Suggestions for DU Posting.

1. Make an annual donation. If you are not currently a star member of DU (aka a DUer who donated at least a small sum to DU), you may want to make a donation. Consider it a very small fee for your posting hobby. First, you will be able to add ten members to your jury blacklist (15 vs. 5). Second, your likelihood of serving on a jury will jump up 40%. Your likelihood of serving on a jury helps keep as active DUers people who know you best.

2. Update your jury blacklist regularly. Don't waste slots on people who are currently not active, be they banned or "on vacation." As you update, check profiles to see how likely it is that someone you are adding to your list will be called for jury duty. If they are not active members of DU, they will not be serving on a jury very soon, so should not be on your current blacklist. Just remember to keep updating.

3. Use trash thread, trash forum and ignore. I've been much happier since I starting using ignore. GD was the first forum I trashed and that's good, too. Know, though, that these things do not affect jury duty. For example, I recently served as a juror for a post in a forum I had trashed, made by a poster I had on ignore.

4. Consider serving as a member of the MIR Team or as a forum host.

As a MIR Team member, you will have a voice in who gets many cases of who booted and who does not, although the likeliest experiences you will have are with newbie trolls. You will also get to know your fellow MIRT volunteers better. I've read that an announcement recruiting volunteers for the MIR Team should appear around the last week in July. (That would appear in the Announcement forum.)

As a forum host, you will have a voice in which threads get locked and which do not. You will also get to know your fellow forum hosts better. To host a forum, you have to (1) have a 100% likelihood of serving on a jury and (2) add your name to the waiting list for that forum. These are the forums in which you can serve as host.

Welcome & Help

Latest Breaking News

Good Reads

Video & Multimedia

General Discussion

General Discussion: Primaries

The DU Lounge


To put your name on the waiting list to host one of the forums listed above, go to the forum and click the About tab. The waiting list for that forum is under the list of forum hosts, along with instructions for how to add your name to the waiting list.

And enjoy.

[merrily]

1. kick

[Cosmic Kitten]

2. K&R a whole bunch

Awesome public service message!

[merrily]

3. LOL, thanks. I'd better take my own advice.

[MineralMan]

4. Forum hosts are not selected by admins.

All a DUer has to do to become a forum host is to add his or her screen name to the waiting list. It does require 100% on the availability for jury service, which means you have to have zero hidden posts and be a Star member, but that's the only criteria. Every forum host can serve for only 90 consecutive days. When they scroll off the host list after that, the next available volunteer in the waiting list becomes a host.

Hosts do nothing but lock OPs that are not in keeping with the SOP for each forum. They have no other job or power. They exist to help keep the forums on topic. That's all.

I recommend being a host if you qualify. It takes some time, but it helps DU stay on track within all of the main forums.

The MIR Team, on the other hand, is selected by the admins from DUers who express their interest. The MIR Team's only job is to ban DUers who have less than 100 posts and who are disruptive newcomers very soon after joining DU. They can't ban anyone with over 100 posts, except in very rare special circumstances. I don't think that ever occurred while I was on the MIRT.

Disclaimer: I am a current and frequent forum host and have served on MIRT for multiple terms.

[merrily]

5. thank you. Can you tell me what you are calling a "group?" Because I did not think I

referred to groups. I think of the Bernie Sanders Group as a group, but I didn't mean to include that kind "place" on the board in my post.

I don't think of GD, for example, as a group, but a forum.

So far, are you and I using the same terminology?

How would someone put his or her name on the waiting list?

[MineralMan]

6. Forum hosts only deal with main forums.

The same group of 30 are hosts for the following forums:

Welcome & Help
Latest Breaking News
Good Reads
Video & Multimedia
General Discussion
General Discussion: Primaries
The DU Lounge


Announcements and Ask the Adminstrators are also Forums, but are administered solely by the Admins.


Every other location on DU is a Group. Groups pick their own Hosts, and are solely responsible for managing those groups. Different rules apply, and they are not subject to the same 100% jury availability rating as forum hosts. Groups are basically on their own, although posts are subject to alerts by any DUer, and so can be hidden by a jury, which is made up from the general DU jury pool. Jurors need not be participants in that group.

[merrily]

10. Thank you. I will edit the Op to include this info.

[MineralMan]

7. To get on the forum hosts waiting list, just go to

any main forum, as listed in the previous post and click the About tab. Under the list of forum hosts, you'll find the waiting list, along with instructions for how to add your name to it. Right now, there are five people on the list. They'll all be hosts within 30 days. The longer the list, the longer it takes for a name to rise to the top of the waiting list and move into being a Host.

I see that you are qualified to be a Host. I highly recommend trying it. It's very interesting. You could also add your name to the MIRT list when the announcement shows up. You'll be surprised at how collegial both groups are and how objectively their duties get handled. Either is a great way to help DU run more smoothly.

[merrily]

11. Thank you. I will edit the OP according.

I'm sure all involved do their best to do a good job. As for me personally, as the OP says, I have reasons for not wanting to serve. I don'ta especially want to discuss them, but they have nothing to do with anyone on DU except me.

[MineralMan]

12. No problem.

Those thing are completely voluntary, and do require time if you do them right. Nobody should feel obligated in any way, but all are welcome.

[MineralMan]

8. I'm sorry. I used group when I meant forum in the previous post.

My error. I've edited the post. Thanks for pointing that out.

[merrily]

9. No need to apologize.

[Catherina]

13. K&R n/t

[merrily]

14. LOL! That was fast!

[Catherina]

15. I'm a fast woman lol

[merrily]

16. I don't judge.

[rhett o rick]

17. Great post. k & R. Thanks for posting. nm

[merrily]

18. Thanks.

Ironically, Catherina thought it was good, too.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/128080259