h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am getting quite a few of my posts "temporarily hidden" for days at a time, yet I do not get told about them.

Is there a system (or software trick easy enough for a non-ICT bod) for being alerted about hidden posts that does not involve going back through every thread I have posted to in the last six months? One post was hidden after it had been visible for more than three months, and I only know becaue somebody else noticed by chance.

Hi Kiteman, nice to see you're still around, hope you are fit, fine and well

I can't answer your query, maybe SEF or TiT can shed some light on it. can I just ask if the post are only being hidden on h2g2 or the message boards you use too?

Emmily

There's no standard dna query for finding out that information for an individual's posts. Though someone like Jim Lynn (U6) could query the database directly if they wanted to know something like that. The public <./>search</.> is even disabled for normal conversation posts still, let alone hidden ones, and never did have a U-number specifier.

I had an Edited Guide Entry temporarily hidden for several days recently. There were no messages on my PS to tell me this had happened , and then it re-appeared, also without explanation

This post has been removed.

Sorry Kiteman, unless the problems you are having are with h2g2, there’s no point in me mentioning them to the Editors.

Although h2g2 and the message boards are all under the same “umbrella” they are different departments (for the want of a better word) run by different Editors, and one won’t interfere in the running of another. I can’t say more than that without breaking confidentiality rules, (just Aces stuff, no big secrets) but believe me Kiteman, if I thought saying something in the right ear would help, I’d do it.

Let's hope there's something helpful in SEF's post

Emmily

This post was removed because it used the full names of individuals whose full names are common knowledge. Those people have, in fact, posted their own names, in full on the S&N boards. Now it seems they are embarrassed for it to be known that they are responsible for the S&N boards debacle. Subject: Hidden Posts Posting: Hi, Emm, I'm fine, just a little steamed at the S&N Powers. The posts have all been hidden on the S&N messageboards, and they are generally on a theme of criticism of the boards and the way they are being run (ie. badly and inconsistently). I suspect the poster known as Hare2Hunt is behind some of it, since he frequently appears on a thread just as a post disappears. There is certainly something iffy going on - for instance, I started this thread: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/F2564204?thread=2096104&show=20&skip=0#pi15 specifically to bring the problem to the moderators' attention. To make sure they read it, I complained about the post myself, and had a response in only 1min13s to say the post did not break any rules. Now the post is "temporarily" hidden, and has been for most of the day. Some of the other posts have been "temporarily" hidden for three and four days now, with no sign of a decision. I have appealed to have removed threads reinstated, I have sent unofficial complaints to the mods, I have made an official complaint via the website complaints form, and I have had response zero. What is makes the things worse is that other posters are getting away with the most blatant rule-breaking. It is specifically against the rules to advertise in the boards, and I have complained about two posters who posted links to websites designed specifically to sell their books, and who said so in their posts, yet I was told the posts did not break the rules. I, on the other hand, had a post permanently removed because I broke copyright. What had I done? I had quoted the text of an email I sent, written by me, except for one short paragraph that I referenced. The text of the post is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A8804054 . I appealed against its removal, but I have not had a response. The host, Ian G[censored by the BBC], and the Editor, Lisa S[censored by the BBC], are noticeable by their absence - Lisa hasn't posted on the baords since November, and Ian has only posted six times in that time, each time for minor reasons. The BBC boards used to be a good place to visit. Lots of intelligent, friendly posters who were willing to go to great lengths to help newbies settle in, or to help with the genuine questions of less-frequent visitors. I used to actively recommend the Boards to my friends and acquaintances. Now I tell them to avoid the place, spoiled as it is by constant bickering and trolling that nobody is trying to bring under control. Emmily, you were one of the first people I "spoke" to properly on the dna system. Do you know what's going on? Have you heard rumours? Can you mention the mess to somebody higher-up than Ian G & Lisa S? Somebody seems to be out to sabotage the S&N boards, and they really need stopping, but I don't know how. Can you (or anybody else reading this) help? I know SEF has responded to this journal thread (although, as I type, SEF's post has been hidden due to unwarranted pre-modding [another example of the biased politicking going on around here]), so I'll get some advice there, but others reading this may be able to help as well. If you are reading this, and you are unhappy with the mess the BBC has created, I urge you to let the BBC know. Use the official complaint system. Make them realise that they are losing a lot of very good people to boards like http://www.elmhurstsolutions.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl . ADDED DURING REPOST I have been banned from mentioning the full names of the host and editor of the S&N boards, even though those people have posted their *own* names in full on the S&N boards. Yet another example of the BBC's double standards. I have not had any not

I appealed the removal of my post higher up this thread. I got a reply:

Hello Kiteman,

Thank you for your email. Although it remains our policy on this site not to include full names of BBC staff, more importantly we will not allow our site to be used as a forum for the discussion of those employed by the company. As a result, we will not be reinstating the post.

Kind regards,

h2g2 Feedback
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Who are they kidding? I bet they'd leave it if I said "X & Y are doing a great job"!

It's censorship, no more nor less. Individuals who work in the public domain, whose names are available in the public domain, who have used those names in the public domain, and who have made promises in the public domain that they have failed to keep, should not be surprised if they get discussed in the public domain.