Changes

Recently there have been a number of calls for so alterations to the sections and layout of the forums. Over the next few days/weeks the Admins will be attempting to apply some changes that we feel best compromise the desires of the users and our own needs for keeping things central enough to control. The Off Topic section in particular will be facing a rough time as I will need to sort through all of the old threads and place them in the corresponding sub-sections. As this is a rather busy time for some of the Admins/Mods outside of the forums and we have relatively little experience with making such moves on an active forum there is a good chance that there will be some growing pains and unforeseen issues that could arise. Please bear with us as we work through the bugs that do pop up throughout the process. We appreciate your understanding and patience.

Also, due to the continued refusal to heed warnings and requests about the Madrid/Barca fights in the General Section, the Admins/Mods will now be taking a much more strict stance against them. Any threads we feel are breaching the topic, or are unsuited for the General Section can and will be moved/locked/deleted without warning as the Admin/Mod sees fit. Remember, if you have questions or issues with such an actions use the PM system to express them. Public threads and posts on such topics WILL be removed in accordance with the rules on DOMA (Discussion of Moderator [and Administrator] Actions).


If you have any suggestions, comments, questions, or complaints feel free to PM an Admin.


YNWA,
RedOranje

As a follow-up now that things have gotten moving, here's a quick run down of the new sub-sections in The Hub (a.k.a the Off Topic area):

- Gaming & Sports: This section is for discussion of games of all kinds (video, board, card, etc) and sporting events other than footy.

- Entertainment & Media: Discussion of all types of media (barring video games) will be done in this thread. Movies, music, literature, poetry, and what not all belongs here.

- Life & Humor: The Life & Humor section has a large purview. It can cover everyday activities, joke threads, funny youtube videos, and Sepi's weekly gambit of awkward, slightly-too-personal questions. Food topics (looking at you, Viva) and such will go in this thread as well.

- Tech Corner: The tech section is fairly self-explanatory: if it's covering technology it goes here. News about new OSs, phones, cars, and similar topics all belong in this section.

- Politics & Religion: This one is a bit misleading... We ran into a bit of trouble finding the proper title for this section and eventually settled on "Politics & Religion" but the section itself covers much more. Any serious threads about science, philosophy, current affairs, human rights, and other topics that are meant for legitimate debate and thoughtful, genuine discussion. There will be topics discussed in this section that many will find provocative and inflammatory; however it is in everyone's best interests to keep their tempers in check. I will be a bit more lenient toward occasional outbursts but repeated offenses and troll-like or offensive posts in this section will result in a harsher punishment than elsewhere.

- Odds & Ends: This is basically a catch-all for anything that doesn't seem to fit in the other sections. There will probably be a good deal of overlap between this section and the Life & Humor one... and that's fine. We'll see if it finds a proper purpose as things progress and make a decision on it after suitable time has passed to judge.


Remember, while Admins and Super Mods have no limits to their jurisdictions within the forums The Hub (formerly the Off-Topic area) is predominantly watched over by me. While I wish it to be as free as possible for expression I will not stand for abuse of the rules or other posters (and their race, beliefs or lifestyles). The topics are too sensitive and we have lost too many good posters already to offensive and ugly comments.




Finally, while I have moved a decent number of threads already there are still close to 12 times as many left in the old Off Topic section. If there are any that you wish to have moved that you have cannot find in the new sections, please PM me with the details (title and/or topic) of the thread you want and I will do my best to find it for you.


Once again, thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this.