Ok, the webmaster has apparently done something wrong and needs some feedback. The interesting thing here is that the webmaster (me) was essentially gone and on vacation for most of the last month and a half so I'm not sure if what's going on is a result of my action, inaction, or is simply out of my hands. It was relatively easy to "keep the peace" when we had a few dozen members almost a decade ago--it seems to be next to impossible now that we have more than ten thousand.

Despite what some people may think, it is not my intention to run this website in a totalitarian fashion nor do I desire to censor free speech--at least not free speech as it relates to 8052 microcontrollers. I have never closed or deleted a thread or a post because I disagreed with someone's answer or approach. It's simply never happened. And since this forum is about the 8052 microcontroller I find it interesting that I receive an email suggesting that I'm engaging in censorship when I close the London (non-8052-related) thread down because it was clearly going to become a source of conflict. This wasn't an attempt to censor, it was an attempt to keep members from getting into a political fight that has no place in a technical forum.

I desperately need feedback here because the only reason I do anything in terms of moderating this forum is to try to keep it as enjoyable and informative for as many people as possible. If my efforts aren't working then I need some constructive feedback.

1. Is it reasonable or unreasonable to close/delete threads when they have become flame wars between members? I tend to try to close down flame threads before they get too intense so that members don't build up ill-will towards each other. But it seems that happens anyway. Should I just let flame wars rage on? My concern about doing that is that people that come to the forum will see nothing but flames rather than useful discussion about the 8052.

2. Am I closing too many threads? I feel that I operate on a pretty hands-off approach compared to most other forums I've seen; yet I get messages accusing me of censorship.

3. Is there a reasonable tolerance for off-topic threads? Obviously this is an 8052 forum so that's what the topics should be about. But this is also a community and a lot of us know each other since we've posted back and forth for years--as such, I do not automatically close down every off-topic thread simply because I feel it's not unreasonable for a community to want to talk like normal human beings. Should I be more or less strict about off-topic threads?

4. This has come up before but I think I need to ask it again: Do we need an additional message board where all off-topic, non-8052 threads can be posted/moved? The forum software has the capability to have multiple forums. Every time I've asked this question the feedback has been generally negative and members have preferred this single-forum approach. But perhaps we should at least have an "Off-topic" forum where people can talk about anything they want? Those that only care to read about 8052 topics simply wouldn't visit that forum while those that wish to chat with fellow members about non-8052 things could do so in that forum. Would that make sense?

I'm definitely looking for feedback here. I would like it to be constructive, though, and I would also ask that if you don't agree with what some member posts in this thread that you PLEASE disagree with him in a civil manner. There's simply no reason why there should be "politics" between members in a technical forum... unless I'm being naive and these kinds of inter-person politics are inevitable in any group of people this size.

I look forward to your comments.

Regards,
Craig Steiner
8052.com Webmaster