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Namepros wants threads to stay on topic

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Yesterday was a long day on Namepros, a ton of posts and a ton of posts mods had to delete. As someone who modded for 12 years it makes for a long day and gets a lot of people upset.

I have said for years, some are just coming to do battle, they do not believe in what the other poster is posting about and they will change tactics and come back in a slightly different passive – aggressive way.

Some thread starters bring this out as they are only starting a thread to bring attention to themselves, with one little detail left out. PROOF!

Paul Buonopane and several other mods went back and forth to the wee hours of the morning answering questions, deleting posts and issuing infractions against members.

Namepros wants to be clear they want on-topic posting and they define it:

At NamePros, we have strictly defined “on topic” in this rule:

  • Rule 1.15. Organization. All content must be organized in an appropriate section (“forum”). Posts and messages must be on topic and relevant where submitted (e.g., a discussion thread or direct message).
    • Note: The topic is decided by the title and the first post/message; subsequent posts (even by the topic’s creator) do not change the topic. If a topic’s creator changes the title or first post/message within the edit time limits, then previous posts/messages will be unaffected and the new topic will apply moving forward only.

Now I asked about people starting “Look at me” posts with no substance and the mods let me know about a new rule,

Not too long ago, we did add a rule that prohibits threads from being created solely for that purpose:

  • Rule 2.6. Do not create a thread solely for the purpose of reporting a sale unless at least the item’s full name (e.g., domain name or business name) and exact sale price are shared within it. The exception to this rule is showcase threads where everyone can share partial details about their sales (e.g., “the name starts with insurance and sold for $XX,XXX”) in the same thread (not limited to 1 showcase thread but rule 1.13 applies).

Of course, it’s possible for threads to be created that get around this rule, but it has helped.

Hopefully this starts getting smoother because you cannot continue to have days like yesterday. People are just going to say, “I’m done with this!”

Comments

  1. This is a great rule, but of course with the Exception for the thread “The NP’s Official USA Political Thread”
    I tried at one time to keep that thread on topic but I was overruled but most everyone who regularly post in that thread.
    So I guess there really are really exceptions to every rule.

  2. Namepros has simply become a joke, I know you worked there Raymond no offense. Any chance you would start a forum ?

  3. I agree with Ronald. A brand new forum is needed. DNForum isn’t coming back to what it was. Namepros isn’t for everybody. Some people are already going, I know some left because of letting Epik in. Haven’t seen Kate in awhile, one of the few people where I actually learn from.

  4. The best thing about namePros at the moment, is that it is the platform for the individual domainer.

    Having namePros, makes it harder for registrars ,marketplaces & other domain service businesses to screw up, eventually hurting the individual domainer. That is why I am sticking around.

    It is a domainer friendly platform.

    Everything else is up for debate, it is what we make it to be, sometimes its boring, sometimes its ridiculous but we play a part in that.

    I hope its survives.

  5. Namepros is as good as we want to make it. If one does not like it one only needs to take the helm and open a topic. Make it relevant to domaining and state your opinion, all the while inviting honest open discussion.

    The search button also yields a ton of useful information, but the greatest thing about namepros is it has some incredibly knowledgeable industry insiders. Spend less time following the instigators/troublemakers and focus on identifying the contributors. Follow them and you will learn a lot.

    PS. Remember it’s not just good enough to follow, you have to want to learn and follow the examples of some of the pros who are offering guidance.

    Information on namepros is free, all you have to do is take it.

  6. ive been going onto np for about 10 years and it has slowed down bigtime. the traffic is very low now and the simple basic comments of so called domainers has been watered down by alot of useless and irrelevant data. alot of people on np do not have a clue about a many topics and not alot of research is done into subject matter prior to regging domains. in short too many people on the site r not very savvy with limited intelligence and life experience it seems

    for example one guy in a post thought the word Nike was pronounce bike and had no clue that the name derived from the greek goddess for victory hence they used nike for a sports company. His comeback that he said was who would know that factoid was his response.

    well there u have it. brain dead snowflakes with limited intellect and any interest about the past present or future. thats why u see all kinds of crap domains.

    but it has its positives

  8. Eh, the one Epik thread has rambled on for months now it seems on NP, without any moderation. Even though it is in the ‘reviews’ section, they argue politics, religion, all sorts of off topic crap. I know how to block people on namepros, I haven’t seen a ‘block thread’ option, other than to unwatch, which doesnt actually hide the thread. If there is any worthwhile moderation taking place it certainly hasn’t occurred in that thread.

    • Great suggestion.

      I would even hope to take it a step farther is possible.

      E.g.

      When you block a somebody, have a second window or checkbox in place to either:

      (a) block somebody for that thread ONLY

      Or

      (b) block somebody for EVERY thread.

      Sometimes when you block somebody, for say their political or religious views, you may often miss out on the great domain related content that member may provide.

      There is of course the show ignored content button. But often times, it can be overlooked.

  9. I have stopped going there because of that Epik thread, it’s atrocious and management must condone it.

    I second the motion for you to start a new forum Raymond, because I am never going back there.

  10. The hypocrisy reeks in that place, Rob Monster can be attacked like that? I would love to see if it was Rick Schwartz, he would hit them back so hard, the site might close down.

    • Well to be fair, I do think the fact that Rob posts so prominently in that thread and has not asked for it to be closed is one factor.

      It sets a dangerous precedent, I mean if someone starts a thread, :What’s the deal with so and so and their company name and just blasts their religious or political beliefs, how is that thread closed?

  11. I see a few different questions and some statements that I’ll try to address, for more clarity.

    The political thread mentioned, is located in the breakroom, which is a designated area for anything that does not fit in industry-related topics.

    Keep in mind that NamePros is very active, with thousands of posts per day. It’s impossible to implement an automated system to handle everything and there are not enough human moderators to monitor each and every post manually. It’s just not possible to catch and address everything, but the majority of feedback we receive is positive that we do a better job than any other website of equal or greater size. We will still always try to do better.

    What people don’t see, are all the posts moderators have removed, warnings and infractions issued, accounts being restricted or auto-closed, ongong investigations, etc. All of which can be very time consuming.

    Could you imagine what the community might look prior to all that work?

    NamePros has been seeing lots of older members (2003 to 2007) returning all the time. Each of them say pretty much the same thing when they return, too (E.g. Life happens, Work happens, New projects take up a lot of time, etc.).

    A great businessperson going silent on a forum is not a red flag, it’s a green one, it means they are focused more on achieving a goal. No worries, they will be back in a year or 5 sometimes to share their experiences with us all. That seems like a pretty standard rotation time (From what I’ve seen over the years). Still, We’ve seen more logged-in members in 2019 than ever before and that number continues to rise.

    I’m finding it interesting that some comments here are judging an entire community of over 1 million members for the acts of 4 or 5 members. Some are even making negative statements against people that live in countries where English is not a first language, because they can’t read, write, or comprehend English very well.

    Really guys?

    Let’s not start casting stones on those that are different than we are, please. They are good people too. We are all products of our enviornments and when various cultures from all over the world collide, there is bound to be some misscommunication, confusion, and even frustration, leading to heated debates.

    At the end of the day, NamePros is a public forum and members are responsible for everything they post publicly.

    Moderators are available to help, when you use the report feature, if you don’t use the report feature, chances are, a post you felt may have violated a rule, was not seen by a moderator and got lost in the sea of thousands of posts per day.

    Please report when you come across a rule violation so a moderator can get more involved.

    Eric Lyon

    • A lot of points where you are misguided

      1) There never were a lot of great business people at np

      2) A lot of old members have never come back and the reason was the forum went downhill.

      3) The rob monster thread is not in the breakroom

      4) this notion you guys do everything better than other forums is a complete joke when it comes to moderation.

      5) There is a need for a new forum as others mentioned, np simply is long past it’s prime.

      • Misguiding is sometimes as simple as using an anonymous username or identity to push a false agenda, rather than addressing real people, as a real person, to find solutions to real problems, not made-up ones.

        1.) Did you just make the assumption that there has never been any great business people on NamePros? You do realize that just about every major registrar, registry, hosting company, and other industry-related corporations have members on NamePros, right? Many of them own those businesses I mentioned. I don’t think your blanket statement will be very appealing to any of them that may read this. Take a look at this page which proves you’re wrong: https://www.namepros.com/members/?type=reps

        2.) Really? We see them coming back all the time. Anyone who actively participates in NamePros can clearly see a members join date in the post bit to the left of a post. You’ll mainly find the older members (2003 to 2007) in the more constructive and business orientated discussions, rather than heated ones. I’m not sure when the last time you used NamePros was, but it doesn’t sound like it’s been for a few years. Things are constantly changing for the better. You should check it out again, but this time, avoid the heated debates and participate in the more creative, logical, professional, and educational ones. It might paint a different picture than you remember.

        3.) No, it’s not. The political thread mentioned is though. The thread you just referenced is in the Reviews forum, which is where topics about a company, organization, product, service, etc. go. Reviews are also a public forum, where members are free to express their opinions without censorship. Heated debates are an every day part of life, as long as they don’t cross the line into threats, personal attacks, or harassment and remain constructive, it’s perfectly acceptable for humans to have debate in our society and in the NamePros community. If they cross the line (E.g. threats), then please report it and moderators will review.

        4) That’s matter of opinion I suppose but that’s what we hear most often: NamePros does it best. For instance, the members a moderator has helped in mediation when issues in negotiation, payment, or transfer arise, are generally appreciative of the assistance, however, on the opposite side of the spectrum, members that habitually violate the rules, receive infractions, warnings, restrictions, or account closures would probably agree with you, out of frustration that they got reprimanded. I’m not sure why you feel the way you do, but something had to happen for you to feel that way. Feel free to send me a message on NamePros personally and I’ll look more into what ever happened for you.

        5) Keep in mind, NamePros is the largest and most active domain investors community in the world. The only reason it’s grown so massive is because of all the dedicated, loyal, experienced, creative, professional, and entrepreneurial members that have contributed from it’s conception and still do to today. NamePros will continue to grow, for that same reason. It’d be great if everyone who thought they could do a better job got a chance to try just so they could see how much they’ve underestimated and underappreciated the work involved.

        At the end of the day, NamePros is a community driven by its members, working together, to achieve common goals.

        Eric Lyon

        • Well tough guy if you are going to make smarmy remarks about not using a real name, make your members use it.

          No there are not a lot of great businesspeople who belong to namepros. A lot of members just promote their stuff, who is great?

          The rob monster thread is not a review thread for you to defend it shows you are very misguided. As is mentioned in the comments here many people are opposed to that thread.

          I use np all the time and don’t see many old time members contribute, do you mean 1 post every 6 months or a year?

          The domain industry is a small industry the fact you are the biggest goldfish in a plastic baggie of water, congratulations.

          Lastly there is no false agenda, I think Namepros is lacking as a forum, what’s false there? I am allowed to express my opinion, last I checked you don’t own this blog.

          Why don’t you reply to Tom Rice he used a real name.

          “Tom Rice says
          May 29, 2019 at 6:47 am

          Eh, the one Epik thread has rambled on for months now it seems on NP, without any moderation. Even though it is in the ‘reviews’ section, they argue politics, religion, all sorts of off topic crap. I know how to block people on namepros, I haven’t seen a ‘block thread’ option, other than to unwatch, which doesnt actually hide the thread. If there is any worthwhile moderation taking place it certainly hasn’t occurred in that thread.”

          Ya thought so, you will never be able to defend the epik thread no matter how much you try.

          • If you look, it’s possible to find complaints about too much moderation and too little moderation on NamePros. It’s impossible to please everyone but the fact is we do moderate and some members think it’s too much and some members think it’s too little, so regardless of which side of that opinion you’re on, many members disagree with you.

            I’m not trying to defend, I’m explaining things. Keep in mind that moderators are not babysitters and they aren’t going to be. You can learn more here if you chose to: https://www.namepros.com/posts/7169300/

            Have a nice night,

            Eric Lyon

  12. @Eric Lyon I like namepros very much but the rob monster thread certainly does not belong on a domain forum. I read the extreme moderation that took place against members who were critical of Bob Hawkes and Lolwarrior. What was said to them was nothing compared to the epik thread.

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