Dear Nan -
I said I epected my participation in this htead would be minimal because I already make my comments simultaneous with my posts or shortly after someone makes a post a I want to comment on.
However, the second part of your post above makes this inevitable.
First,
I opened this post on 7/28 because Mary wrote more than once that she wanted a place for discussion. I said in answer to her initial post - either one could use the "Quote" system, which enables anybody to comment on any post no matter how far back by simply quoting the entire post or a relevant part of it; or start a new Discussion thread if anyone wanted to, at which point I made it clear that obviously,
no permission for this was needed at all, because anybody could start any thread any time as in any forum, and as people have done in this section before.
No one acted on either suggestion. Therefore, some three weeks after the initial to-do, I decided to open the thread myself to urge a start to the much-desired discussions. Finally, Mary herself started to use it on 8/1 and welcomed it.
The reason it is a 'sticky' is so that it does not get shoved to the back page of the section board eventually, if no one uses it for days or weeks.
Second, as I explained the first time I started doing it months ago, I make my comments within posts
in order to leave the member's name on the board for as long as possible until there's a new 'article' post (or comment post by anybody else). Since I tend to comment or answer posts that require commenting or answer almost immediately, this avoids having the board showing my name all the time as the last 'post' on any thread.
If I do go ito a post to add my comments,
I do not change anything in the post itself, obviously - if I did, I would certainly have heard from the member concerned by now; I simply add on what I have to say. An exception was when I translated Janice's post of a Magister blog in Italian - for obvious reasons that I also stated within the post.
Third -
Already we have members that hardly post anymore because our moderator for this posts articles in rapid succession before anyone can read them much less comment on them. Some of us feel stifled.
Is it now being held against me that I post articles 'in rapid succession'? I post articles as I find them,and as I am able to translate those that I think need translating in order to be shared.
How long am I supposed to wait between articles to post? Suppose nobody ever comments on the article for the rest of the day - or ever, as often happens? Does that mean I should stop posting anything new?
The mechanics of posting is such that
when one finds something one thinks is worth posting, then one posts it right away because that is the most efficient way, and one wants a post to be as timely as possible. What am I supposed to do? Write down somewhere a list of all that I want post,and then go back and revisit all the sites to look for the post I want when it is 'time' to post them? When is the time to post if not when you find the item - or when it has been translated if it needs to be?
Even doing that - posting ASAP - already takes up a lot of time. If I postpone doing anything, then other new things will simply pile up and I would never be able to catch up in a timely manner. Even when I manage to post items during my regular working-day at my regular job, I still need about two hours in the morning before going to work and three hours at night before I go to bed to do what I have to do for the Forum
on a regular basis.
Much of this time is spent just looking for material- none of it falls into my lap conveniently - and reading through whatever one comes across in order to evaluate it, and sometimes, looking for appropriate pictures, as whenever I start a thread or a 'coverage section' about the Papal trips. And then, the translations.
Even the relatively easy news articles still need time to be translated, let alone the more difficult analytical pieces! But I have been doing all this cheerfully and willingly because it is my way of sharing information with others, especially those who do not have the time I have - time that I deliberately, consciously decided to 'make' - to devote to the Forum. I would have thought more information was welcome, instead of being resented.
I would dearly love to hear from other members who feel 'stifled' because I post 'articles in rapid succession'. I do not post articles because I am the moderator.
Even if I were just a regular user and not a moderator, I would still post the same articles in the same number and at the same pace as I find them, because the purpose of this particular forum is mainly to share information about Pope Benedict and the Church. I just happen to be the moderator because Ratzigirl made me moderator of the section, since I asked her to start it for us. I didn't ask for it.
Anyone can write Ratzigirl or the other administrators an open letter on the forum or by FFZ mail to replace me as moderator. I have no problem with that whatsoever.
Lastly, whenever I do or write anything, I always make sure I explain myself first. I am sorry that you appear so offended by my actions as moderator.
Obviously, I had to open a new post, as you object to my commenting within a post - which means that for now, my name will appear on the board as the last post on this thread, instead of yours.
Teresa
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/08/2007 15:51]