Former Member issues and the forum PLEASE READ

[Adminlizzieborden]

After a bit of back and forth with Steve887788, where he has been warned against deleting his posts yet continues to do so, he has asked me to delete his account. I don't delete accounts, but I do deactivate them. What posts he hasn't removed (replacing with "HI ") will remain.

This disruption of conversation in a thread is entirely rude and cannot be tolerated.

Why someone would have something to say and then want to take all their thoughts back is not something I understand. In effect, his actions have disrupted the forum.

Sad, really.

I realized after his deactivation that his erasure of topics had created a mass of confusion. The thread titles had been changed to HI yet all responses were still given the original topic title. This creates a horrific problem for the search engine of this site as well as members looking for topics.

If any of you sees a member deleting their posts, please inform me immediately through private message or email. I cannot have any one individual wrecking havoc on a stable community that has been here since 2003 ---next year will be 20 years!

Remain vigilant, please, for any bad actors--- this will help the forum retain its content and order.

An even better rule is "Don't post anything you don't want others to read."

And feel free to reply to this post if you like.

Thank you,
Stefani

[Adminlizzieborden]

I changed all the topics back to their original titles. It took time for the database to make the changes but now the threads are properly labeled. You will still see big gaps in conversations due to the posts being removed by him in the threads themselves, but I can't restore those.

BTW, he has asked to come back to the forum. I herein publicly say no. Enough is enough.

[Goldenstatebear]

Hello. I am new to the LAB forum and I don’t know what this dispute is about. No one else has replied to your announcement that Steve cannot return to The Forum. All I want to say is that I will miss Steve’s posts and I’m sorry that he is no longer participating. I found many of Steve’s comments humorous and insightful. And I for one wish good luck to Steve.

[mbhenty]

"Hello. I am new to the LAB forum and I don’t know what this dispute is about."

If you read the Administrator's post you will discover what this was about. It's not a dispute but a member behaving badly. He was given two chances. He was told that you cannot remove what you have posted, especially on a mass scale.

What happened was that he was posting, replying, questioning etc. Other members would reply, speak to the topic, and come up with an acknowledgment to the topic Steve88 was speaking about. Then suddenly he goes in and removes everything he wrote. The entire thread is left hanging in the wind. Posters appear to be talking to themselves, replying to questions that are no longer there, etc. Also, this disrupts the threads. Topics headings were disappearing and replaced with Hi

It took some work to return threads to where they belonged.

Thus it was not a "dispute" but a delinquent member doing as he pleased to the inconvenience of others and the well-being of this site.

It is upstanding that you feel positive things about Steve88. The first time he was banned I stood up for him and advised the Administrator to give him another chance. He took advantage of that. And if allowed to return, he would do it again.

Yes, Steve88 was a funny guy. Some of his posts were thought provoking. But his behavior was childish and damaging.

And like a child he has asked to return, still again. Like this was all just a game.

So if you read the first post above it explains his infraction. This is not a dispute but a constant breach of forum rules and regulations to the point that it has disrupted entire threads by someone who had been forewarned.

[Goldenstatebear]

Dear MB: i’m not sorry that I used the word “dispute.” You seemed to jump on my use of the word. I’m still sorry that Steve has left the forum and is not permitted to return. Many of you have been on this forum for many years. I’m not saying that you’re a closed group but most of you know the subject matter through and through and sometimes things got heated. But I don’t know why things got heated.

I don’t need to read the admin’s original post. My reaction was that of an outsider, a newbie.

It was just that I was surprised that there were no replies to the admin’s post. Nothing from all the veteran forum members. And that is the reason why I did reply. I’m sorry about Steve. So sorry…

[mbhenty]

Yes

No need to be sorry. It's just that the use of the word does not apply when it came to Steve88. Dispute denotes a disagreement, or an argument or debate which supports a different point of view. None of that applies here. Please don't take it as an attack. It's just that if it was a dispute it would mean that Steve88 had a valid or honest disagreement about a practice that is common and custom here on the forum.

That you like Steve88 is a favorable quality which you embrace and that is a good worthwhile feature. I can't say I like steve88 or that I don't like Steve88. I don't know the man, or woman. What I didn't like was his disregard for rules and the fact that he did it twice after I threw my support behind him the first time. We did not have a dispute with Steve88. It was a ruling, a banishment to prevent any further damage to the forum. And even before it came to that, Steve88 asked to be removed. The rule is you don't start removing posts on a major scale. Especially when you know that it is wrong and you do it anyway. That's not a dispute, it's an infraction on his part.

The reason I asked you to read the original Administrator's post is that it explains what the infraction was all about and how it was handled. Yes, it was important to read it, especially if you are a newbie. Things did not get heated because of what we know or how much we know or because some of us have been on here for years. It's because Steve88 broke a serious rule that affects the forum and everyone on it. It was not a character clash or a disagreement or dispute. Steve88 tampered with the forum when he knew it was wrong. Simple as that.

And the main reason no one replied to the Administrator's original post is "probably" because it is uncomfortable. Why get in the middle of things. Conflict. Taking sides. Arguing about it. Sometimes it is best to just be neutral and not say a word. To do so would be to invite allies and haters. Before long the entire conversation gets out of hand. Yes, sometimes it is best to be silent. And many on here have the astute perception to do so. The reason that I'm involved is because I'm a Jr. administrator here.

And it's fine that you like Steve88. I don't knock you for that. Or anything, really. And if you don't agree with me on that then we can label it a dispute. A friendly dispute. And at times that is a healthy thing.