@jj123 nothing wrong with some fun in posts. My opinion was just that, if maybe confusingly put. A light hearted forum feels better than a tightly run one.

And yes personal attacks should always be where the line is drawn. With multiple warnings a preclude to where the instigator is heading.

@viyida just for your update, I don’t care any which way whether Ishmael is in the forum. I just didn’t really get the whole week ban thing for his ‘crimes’.’

Did enjoy the William Wallace metaphor though :o)

To use a football analogy, soccer for you Americans, if the ref gives you yellow card and you keep arguing with the ref, guess what will happen, you get a red card.

The problem with the people making arguments against set policies is the false believe that they have a say in the matter, you don't. Rules are rules, take your arguments private via the messaging system, don't clutter up the forums. Act like adults and stop whining. Provide your feedback for or against through the contact forms. There is nothing more to discuss so I hope the issue can be put to bed although I know my prayers will be unanswered.

I think everyone is in favor of lively debate, and a large majority appear to oppose trolling. There is a gray area in between lively debate and trolling that might be called "disruptive" posting, which is a good part of what seems to be at issue here.

The problem is that disruptive posting is extremely difficult to define, and it's even harder to determine what if anything should be done in any given instance. Therefore, the chances of us settling the matter here are virtually nil. It is the job of the moderator to make judgement calls about how best to address disruptive posts for the general welfare of the forums.

We also now know that Ishmael didn't just summarily get a red card, but rather had first received several yellow cards. So the free speech concerns that some have raised should be at least somewhat reduced.

The upshot of the points above, I would suggest, is that the current conversation has run its useful course.

The forums were carrying on rather well before the present to-do, as several other people had already noted. This gives reason to hope that the new approach to moderation is working. So how about we all take a deep breath, put some trust in the moderators, and let them do their job for a while?

When one has refrained from using the antagonistic "snowflakes" to coin the left, you know the new approach is working.

Lets keep it this way. Attacks on political affiliation and personal beliefs should also be moderated. Even in avatar titles such as "Trumpster" whether sarcastic or not.

For the record, it was supposed to be "Trumpeter" as in, I play the trumpet. An innocent finger slip during registration has resulted this farcical, yet totally unfortunate handle that I shall never live down.

Trumpster wrote "An innocent finger slip during registration ..."

This has the makings of a politically charged rom-com. One day you may find yourself living happily ever after in Nebraska.

Speaking of registration, permit me to touch on more technical issues brought up by some individuals very early on in this thread.

Registration is the floodgate where spambots penetrate into our forums without resistance. It has become a daily nuisance for mods and readers alike.

I don't mean to step on the toes of prospective developers embarking on revamping the website, but it may be recommended to beef up on the newest version of reCAPTCHA based on modern machine learning. Ones that are Chinese/English-friendly and not blocked by GFW. Such first and second defensive layers against bots have significantly evolved since 2013 when Scally previously commented on them:

www.gokunming.com/en/forums/thread/7843/that-spam-button

The current CAPTCHA is outdated and does not present any type of challenge for today's sophisticated bots.

Moreover, security tweaking in cloudflare DNS is in order.

I doubt fully blocking disposable emails will be possible. But at least try.

An easier way to do this would be to have the form for registration with a hidden question (as bots will fill in any and all questions regardless if hidden or not) and have it that if this part of the form is filled then registration fails.

Dear all,

As of today tigertiger will be one of the moderators, and soon another volunteer moderator will start.

Thanks everyone, and especially tigertiger for volunteering his time.

The reason why this thread was started was to gauge people's feelings.

The majority of members who either responded on the thread, sent us private messages, talked to us in person, or used the Contact Us button wanted change. Those changes have now begun.

A reminder of where the posting guidelines can be found: www.gokunming.com/en/pages/t/guidelines/

Thanks all for your feedback. Change is happening, and again, this is process, so thank you for your patience.

We still want your feedback! From now on please send us your feedback through the Contact Us button: www.gokunming.com/en/contact/

The thread has now achieved its purpose and will now be closed.

Thanks again and looking forward to a new chapter of Gokunming.