Danae
11-04-2004, 06:10 PM
!!! Please take a moment to read this important announcement !!!
We've been down longer than usual, and its because the administration have been very busy re-organizing the forums and the structure of how things will be run at the VAA for now. We know that you've put up with many changes and disagreements in the past few months, and we hope that now we've created a place that will be easy to run and accommodating to all of our users.
After all, you are most important to keep this board going.
So, we sat down together, and decided that after our experimenting with new rules and new board formats, the thing we most needed was a defined set of rules and jobs for everyone. In this post, I will layout the new changes that have been implemented and some basic rules that you will be expected to follow from now on.
NEW ADMINISTRATION
Note firstly that the structure of administration has changed. This has been done basically because I'm the only one of the admins that can deal with complaints/feedback right now. So, from now on, this is how it will be set up:
Azure: Main VAA Website Upkeep Administrative
Azure will be dealing with the VAA Link List, Photo Album, and updates on the main website. If you see something amiss in one of those sections, please contact her immediately.
TamTu: VAA Insider Administrative
TamTu is going to be setting his sights on reporting and managing his pride and joy from now on. We're hoping to make this feature continue for a while, and if you have any interest in reporting or doing an article, please feel free to contact him! You will be received with open arms, I assure you.
Nikkita: Forum Technical Upkeep Administrative
Please be sure to welcome Nikkita to our staff, she's been immensely helpful to us and has been sitting around for the past couple of weeks helping install all the wonderful new hacks we've placed on the board for your convenience. If any technical problems come up on the board, please see her about it, and if you can't get ahold of her, give me the word and I'll pass it along to her.
NEW MODERATION
Now, moving onto the new forums. First of all, we got a new server that should work very well and not go down every other day. <3 Thank TamTu for that one. Don't worry, because all of your user names and PM's and posts have been backed up and moved to the new server. Also, we have cleared out all our old moderators because a lot of them were not even visiting the board any longer. A few new faces have been recruited, but they will remain silent and able to moderate only under a specific username that they will all share. They are to follow a specific set of guidelines for their moderating and I trust them all and know them well. They will not misguide you. Silent moderation is something that worked quite well in the past for Flava, and I think that its the key to avoiding pointless power struggles here on this board. They will only browse the board to move topics and comment on mislabeled audition posts, mostly. Anything major will be administrated directly by me (huge flame wars/trolls/whatever). To all the new moderators, please check your inbox if you haven't already, there is a message from me with all the information you'll have to know about your duties.
THE NEW FORUM LAYOUT
While some sections have been left alone, there are a lot of new hacks to help us organize the board and make it more useful for you.
Auditions and Casting:
This section has been split into two separate forums, Anime and Original/Non-Anime productions. This has been done simply for more organization. Though we at the VAA have in the past been based mostly on anime productions, we do not want our talented writers to feel bogged down by all the fandub threads. This way, people can easily peruse and audition for the production of their choice without interesting production threads getting shoved to the bottom and ignored. In order to do this, we locked the old forum and sent it to the archives. Your posts are still there, don't fear, but you will have to go and copy them into the proper section and follow the new post guidelines. It's very simple to follow, don't worry, and in the end it will make life easier for everyone.
Completed Works:
In order to lessen the clutter a bit, we have put all production posting forums under this one cluster. They are all there, they are simply subforums now. You can get to them easily by clicking a small link in the section description.
All-Chat:
This is a new forum that houses a multitude of the old forums you know and love. Gen Chat is for the posting of substantial topics that really have no where else to go, but shall not be used for spam. Anything considered blatant spam, will be locked and moved to the archive. To Be or Not To Be has been unarchived and returned in full. The Lounge and the Library also fall under this category. As for the Playground, do to a lovely new hack that Nikkita has installed, this section is now a link that goes directly to a Live Journal community I have created for anyone who feels like posting pointless randomness, word games, silliness and whatever. Live Journal is free, and nearly everyone has one anyway so all you have to do to post a new topic is sign up or join the community. Anonymous posting is allowed, so if you just want to reply to posts, you can do this as well. This community will be very lightly moderated, please be respectful when posting. Remember, we have the option of matching the IP's recorded on Live Journal to the IP's recorded on the board and if we find out you've been doing something harmful/generally rude we will probably come after you, even if you post Anonymously.
School of Graphics:
This is a new forum that now holds the Artists Gallery and Computer Graphics.
THE RULES
Now that I've noted the new forum changes, there are a few basic rules that I'm instating just for everyone to go by. These should be common sense, but I'm putting them down anyway just to remind you that common courtesy goes a long way, even on the internet.
1. BE KIND.
If someone is being an idiot, don't gather up all your best buds and attack them for it. We do have young kids here, and they aren't all sparkling examples of maturity. That doesn't give you the right to harass them. On the other side of the coin, if you are a younger member and someone is trying to give you a bit of constructive criticism or help, don't get up in their face and throw a tantrum. I don't expect this board to turn into Sunshineland, but lets all at least try to not be inconsiderate bastards for once. (I'm following this rule too :P)
2. BE HELPFUL.
If someone is having difficulty fitting in, don't be an ass about it. Just explain to them what they're doing wrong and leave it at that. And don't be drama queens. There are PMs for a reason. If you screwed up in a thread, would you want 10 replies of people telling you how wrong you are? Sending a PM is a much more tasteful and tactful way of expressing your feelings and not making a big fuss. Let's have less 'LOOK HOW BIG OF A BITCH I AM" competitions on the board from now on.
3. READ THE STICKIES AT THE TOP OF THE FORUMS.
They will tell you if there are any specific rules for that forum and your life will be easier if you follow them the first time around.
I believe that is all that needs to be said. So all that being done, please enjoy the forums and get some productions done!! <3
We've been down longer than usual, and its because the administration have been very busy re-organizing the forums and the structure of how things will be run at the VAA for now. We know that you've put up with many changes and disagreements in the past few months, and we hope that now we've created a place that will be easy to run and accommodating to all of our users.
After all, you are most important to keep this board going.
So, we sat down together, and decided that after our experimenting with new rules and new board formats, the thing we most needed was a defined set of rules and jobs for everyone. In this post, I will layout the new changes that have been implemented and some basic rules that you will be expected to follow from now on.
NEW ADMINISTRATION
Note firstly that the structure of administration has changed. This has been done basically because I'm the only one of the admins that can deal with complaints/feedback right now. So, from now on, this is how it will be set up:
Azure: Main VAA Website Upkeep Administrative
Azure will be dealing with the VAA Link List, Photo Album, and updates on the main website. If you see something amiss in one of those sections, please contact her immediately.
TamTu: VAA Insider Administrative
TamTu is going to be setting his sights on reporting and managing his pride and joy from now on. We're hoping to make this feature continue for a while, and if you have any interest in reporting or doing an article, please feel free to contact him! You will be received with open arms, I assure you.
Nikkita: Forum Technical Upkeep Administrative
Please be sure to welcome Nikkita to our staff, she's been immensely helpful to us and has been sitting around for the past couple of weeks helping install all the wonderful new hacks we've placed on the board for your convenience. If any technical problems come up on the board, please see her about it, and if you can't get ahold of her, give me the word and I'll pass it along to her.
NEW MODERATION
Now, moving onto the new forums. First of all, we got a new server that should work very well and not go down every other day. <3 Thank TamTu for that one. Don't worry, because all of your user names and PM's and posts have been backed up and moved to the new server. Also, we have cleared out all our old moderators because a lot of them were not even visiting the board any longer. A few new faces have been recruited, but they will remain silent and able to moderate only under a specific username that they will all share. They are to follow a specific set of guidelines for their moderating and I trust them all and know them well. They will not misguide you. Silent moderation is something that worked quite well in the past for Flava, and I think that its the key to avoiding pointless power struggles here on this board. They will only browse the board to move topics and comment on mislabeled audition posts, mostly. Anything major will be administrated directly by me (huge flame wars/trolls/whatever). To all the new moderators, please check your inbox if you haven't already, there is a message from me with all the information you'll have to know about your duties.
THE NEW FORUM LAYOUT
While some sections have been left alone, there are a lot of new hacks to help us organize the board and make it more useful for you.
Auditions and Casting:
This section has been split into two separate forums, Anime and Original/Non-Anime productions. This has been done simply for more organization. Though we at the VAA have in the past been based mostly on anime productions, we do not want our talented writers to feel bogged down by all the fandub threads. This way, people can easily peruse and audition for the production of their choice without interesting production threads getting shoved to the bottom and ignored. In order to do this, we locked the old forum and sent it to the archives. Your posts are still there, don't fear, but you will have to go and copy them into the proper section and follow the new post guidelines. It's very simple to follow, don't worry, and in the end it will make life easier for everyone.
Completed Works:
In order to lessen the clutter a bit, we have put all production posting forums under this one cluster. They are all there, they are simply subforums now. You can get to them easily by clicking a small link in the section description.
All-Chat:
This is a new forum that houses a multitude of the old forums you know and love. Gen Chat is for the posting of substantial topics that really have no where else to go, but shall not be used for spam. Anything considered blatant spam, will be locked and moved to the archive. To Be or Not To Be has been unarchived and returned in full. The Lounge and the Library also fall under this category. As for the Playground, do to a lovely new hack that Nikkita has installed, this section is now a link that goes directly to a Live Journal community I have created for anyone who feels like posting pointless randomness, word games, silliness and whatever. Live Journal is free, and nearly everyone has one anyway so all you have to do to post a new topic is sign up or join the community. Anonymous posting is allowed, so if you just want to reply to posts, you can do this as well. This community will be very lightly moderated, please be respectful when posting. Remember, we have the option of matching the IP's recorded on Live Journal to the IP's recorded on the board and if we find out you've been doing something harmful/generally rude we will probably come after you, even if you post Anonymously.
School of Graphics:
This is a new forum that now holds the Artists Gallery and Computer Graphics.
THE RULES
Now that I've noted the new forum changes, there are a few basic rules that I'm instating just for everyone to go by. These should be common sense, but I'm putting them down anyway just to remind you that common courtesy goes a long way, even on the internet.
1. BE KIND.
If someone is being an idiot, don't gather up all your best buds and attack them for it. We do have young kids here, and they aren't all sparkling examples of maturity. That doesn't give you the right to harass them. On the other side of the coin, if you are a younger member and someone is trying to give you a bit of constructive criticism or help, don't get up in their face and throw a tantrum. I don't expect this board to turn into Sunshineland, but lets all at least try to not be inconsiderate bastards for once. (I'm following this rule too :P)
2. BE HELPFUL.
If someone is having difficulty fitting in, don't be an ass about it. Just explain to them what they're doing wrong and leave it at that. And don't be drama queens. There are PMs for a reason. If you screwed up in a thread, would you want 10 replies of people telling you how wrong you are? Sending a PM is a much more tasteful and tactful way of expressing your feelings and not making a big fuss. Let's have less 'LOOK HOW BIG OF A BITCH I AM" competitions on the board from now on.
3. READ THE STICKIES AT THE TOP OF THE FORUMS.
They will tell you if there are any specific rules for that forum and your life will be easier if you follow them the first time around.
I believe that is all that needs to be said. So all that being done, please enjoy the forums and get some productions done!! <3