Pity the poor Webmaster

Hear, Hear! Thank you for posting this Karen, I agree with your post whole-heartedly.

He's doing what he thinks best, and I have to respect that...following guidelines to the best of his judgement. That doesn't mean I agree with everything he chooses to do. So, in that respect, he's doing the right thing.

Karen I am totally in agreement with you and I think the webmaster does a great job and probably has enough to do without having to respond to unjustified complaints. If you ask him a question he responds immediately with a full explanation. I don't believe that he minds at all if posts are not always questions, but if someone complains he has to respond and be seen to adhere to guidelines. The answer is I think amongst ourselves to have a little more tolerance.

Ban her webmaster!

Unfortunately this is deteriorating again! Here in Germany we are having a mild autumn. Let's hope this means that this winter will not be as severe as last year. The colours in the forests range from gold through reds and russets. Absolutely beautiful and a great time of year to visit before the snows, unless of course you want to ski!

I think our webmasters do a fair job,, I do hope they have senses of humor,, as it would be a drag if this did just become a cut and dry question and answer board. I really see only a very occaisional post that needs to go,, mostly for commercial promotions etc. I think Michaels post was meant to be funny,, er,, I also have a saying I use on crybabies "suck it up buttercup"... LOL

Correct. I was being ironic, or so I thought.

I rarely feel the presence of the webmaster, which is a good thing. I'd say he/she does a pretty good job removing the most offensive posts and lets a lot slide.

I'm with those who say that the webmaster is doing the best he or she can to let the Helpline be the Helpline with minimal interference. I too have found that the webmaster is very responsive. When I spot something that I think is in appropriate I email the webmaster directly and don't post on the thread. It's easy to do this. Simply click on Contact us and click on webmaster under web/technical. I usually hear back from the webmaster within a day or so. Pam

Great post Karen! And I agree with you. Love your posts and humor, as well as others (Eileen!). I'd hate for the Helpline to lose the humor.

The violation of course need not be in the original post but in material added later in response to it. If we can stay off personal attacks then no one need feel threatened. I think a healthy exchange of views is great, acknowledging in doing so our differing cultures and attitudes. I have learned a lot from reading responses from mostly American points of view which I would otherwise not have had the opportunity to do.

From my experience, the webmaster is very responsive to questions or complaints. I think those who are complaining loudest about the guidelines are those who have had posts moved or removed for violating them in the past.

I give the webmaster kudos for finally giving you-know-who the boot a few months ago. It's got to be a thankless job. Allow too much humour and someone will get offended and complain. Cramp down too hard, and someone else cries "censorship"! But in my opinion, good job Webmaster!"

Part of the problem with writing responses rather than talking face to face is that folk can't tell what 'tone' you have written in which can lead to misunderstandings. For example Michael's response was intended to be funny, but you can't tell from reading it. May we should put smiley faces after if we do not intend to offend?... No....please don't, I'm not serious!

I had sent the webmaster a "thank you and good job" email after I read the new guidelines. I think they are generally very well worded (and if you read closely you see the sense of humor)and take a positive tone. He also adheres to what I see as 'Rick's philosophy' of tolerance, acceptance, and openess in what is allowed and what is not. The webmaster has always responded promptly to any concerns I've brought to his attention. I hope Rick knows the jewel he has.

I think the webmaster is doing a good job. It seems to me chatting and sniping are the issues being addressed. For travel chat, you have the option to join Fodors and Tripadvisor. Forums that allow sniping and chatting demonstrate how it leaves some people feeling hurt and/or excluded from the inner cirlce of "regular experts" IMHO. This is why I support the webmaster in keeping this website a question and answer forum to share travel knowledge and experience. No one gets attacked. No one feels excluded by chatter between "regular experts."

I think the webmaster does a terrific job, and I've not been inconvenienced nor had any bad pasta based on reviews found here. :=)

The webmaster has a tough job, but he seems to be good at it. There seem to be two types of threads on Traveler's Helpline, and I suspect that makes his job much harder: One is a general discussion about issues or matters that someone is concerned about, like this one. I try to stay away from these because they seem to be a variation of Facebook. But I do get drawn in occasionally. This is one of those times. I think people deserve the right to vent on these as long as they don't get abusive; that is the webmaster's call. He is the referee, though, not the teacher! Most of us are adults with a great deal of real-life experience, not kids in a classroom, although I sometimes have my doubts about individuals. The other type of thread concerns questions about travel. That is the only type question I read most of the time. When I do that, I am seeking ideas for my own travel planning, but when I can help answer a question, I try to help. I do find it annoying when people accidentally or on purpose hijack these threads to change the subject for no apparent reason. I will continue to point that out when I see it, and if some of the offenders are offended to the point of being offensive, as some have been, so be it.

As I think about the Rick Steves empire as a whole, this community is a terrific way to engage past, current and future customers to the full suite of RS products. Rick is very liberal (I say that as a positive), yet the community is relatively restrictive. It operates on an absolutely ancient platform, has minimal search capabilities and has yet to find the right balance that allows people to communicate like they do on other travel forums. Volunteer moderators are not utilized and an ineffective "report abuse to the webmaster" formula is used. Yes, I know this is a helpline, but why why not broaden the scope of the community to allow greater engagement? People have begged for a trip report area, an off topic area, photos, etc.... How about better integration with social media? The more time people spend here the more likely they will be to utilize RS products. Make it restrictive and you are literally closing the pipeline for future business. Beyond the p/l reasons, RS has a philosophy to travel which inspires us to be more open-minded, more empathetic and at the end of day, better people. This community is not aligned with that vision. It is nice, but it could be so much more.

If financial considerations are holding back more options for TH, we could each buy another book, and a few more folks could take a RS tour. Problem solved.

I do think that violations should be reported, and I have done so. There are simply too many postings here for the webmaster to keep on top of, so we can serve to direct the webmaster to problematic posts right away. For some reason, certain areas of the forums are particularly vulnerable to "bad" posts; the Turkey Tips section often has spam ads thinly disguised as 'reviews' of guide services and travel agencies. I report the obvious ones because I know that travel services in Turkey run the gamut from wonderful to total ripoffs, and I assume that folks trying to cheat their way to business by posting fake reviews are likely to fall along the ripoff end of the continuum. Meanspiritedness, sarcasm, and warmed over second hand outdated information masquerading as recent personal experience is also worthy of being reported in order to keep the Helpline experience friendly and useful. Believe me, there are plenty of places on the Internet where perople can flame away, insult people, and troll to one's heart's content. I'm just as glad that this isn't one of them.

Right on - {PM JER from Seattle.

As the guidelines clearly state, people should not engage the violators directly, because that just leads to more violations. Reporting to the webmaster is the correct thing to do. The webmaster has other duties besides monitoring the helpline. Just because other travel forums are run differently doesn't make them better. This website has been very clear about their vision for this forum. It is for questions, not trip reports or photos or chat. If that's not acceptable to some here, there are plenty of other places to talk travel.

I think the webmaster does a great job too, and no, he does not read all these threads every day. Good lord! As to reporting threads. If there is something abusive, or disgustingly racist or bigotted, then yes, this should be reported to the webmaster and let him make the decision about removal. As for the posters who are whining about "this is off topic", "he has too many posts", "no trip reports allowed", "this has to be in question form", "this should be on the Graffiti Wall", "this is chat, it isn't allowed", "this is a serious forum, no funny stuff please", reporting stuff like that is way too much like kindergarten and is simply tattling. These are the type of posts that make me think about leaving this forum for good.

Absolutely every word in Jos last paragraph is spot on,, her first one makes sense too..so perhaps another first here,, I agree with Jo completely on this subject. I was nver a hall monitor in school, and would never want to be one,, but I won't tolerate bigots, racists, or liars either.. people that just annoy me, or don't agree with me have the right not to be ratted on..

Hear, hear, Jo. I'm more in the school of "if I don't like it, I'll just stay out of it." The only things I've reported are blatant marketing posts, and those have been quickly removed. But, others have posted about getting really nasty, abusive PM's from people on the helpline, so, of course, those should be reported. I just try to keep in mind that it's just the helpline, it's not the Geneva Convention.

On the new guidelines, I find I especially like two of them. One is to not respond to others in a way that leads to bickering. The other is to only post twice per question. I don't think it's a problem when our 3rd or 4th or 5th post has value and adds to the discussion or information, but it should cause some of us to back slowly away from our keyboards. (Me included.) Hah-that reminds me of when my kids were little and would start poking each other in the back seat. I'd yell, "That's it! Everybody sit on your hands!"

I am a little confused about something. On number 5 of the Community Guidelines it states, "Only two posts per blog entry". When I first read that, I assumed it meant only the comments in response to Rick Steves' blog on this site, since it specifically said "blog". Then I thought perhaps it also meant comments in response to questions on the Helpline. Can anyone shed light on this?

I assumed it also meant two responses to a given question, but as Karen said above, sometimes a subsequent post can add value or information. I think it is more of a way to limit back and forth chatter between posters.

I have no opinion whatsoever of the webmaster, and I really have no reason to ever think about the job he/she/they do, although I'm sure they do it well. And while I'm pretty sure some of my more radical/subversive/ political/other offending posts may have led to a report or two, I really don't care what anybody posts on this forum. Post whatever you wish. As for bigoted, racist, or hateful posts, however, you deserve to be called out publicly for these, and I'll continue to do so when I see them (perhaps someone will report you...I don't use this feature). Also, some people need to reflect on why they're here and dispense with their self-perceived superior travel prowess...it's unsightly. As a general observation, I say get the cob out, lighten up, have some fun, and offer/receive some travel advice. It's a pretty simple recipe. And, I'll have to agree with Michael and James: Some posts aren't appropriate, but Stasi-like censorship isn't healthy either. I'd rather hash it out in an open exchange (as appropriate) and even learn something when reading other points of view. I do understand the purpose of this forum is to discuss European travel & I'll do my best to stay in line. I just hope fun isn't sacrificed on these boards.

It is possible no one actually reads the guidelines. I'm just glad that I'm not the webmaster. It is a thankless job. Except today.

Maybe the webmaster should jump in now on this thread!lol!

It would be nice to hear from the webmaster now!

Very grateful to the Webmaster for fixing the recent problems with the site, now I can view all the helpline topics again!