#Siteannouncement #Moderator
As can be seen, the Groups feature has been rolled out, but has been significantly scaled down, in response to popular feedback. Instead of a complete and drastic change, we now have most of the previous system as well as provision to expand into new features. Some notes:
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1. We have 6 Monitor Groups, and site update privileges will...
more... derive from being in one of the Monitor groups, rather than from Adminship. However, almost all Admins are part of all Monitor groups, except for those who have never participated in that activity.
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2.We now have "RailFan Clubs", ONE for EACH station. The main purpose of these Clubs is for members to organize RailFanning meets around the stations they live in. It is desired that many of the larger and popular stations will have "RF Clubs". So, once again, each station can have only ONE RF Club, and these Groups are NOT freely formed. Initially at least, any Admin or member will have to pvt. post moderator to join any "Station RF Club".
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3. It is expected that, yes, members will be able to confer and share more confidential details to organize their local meets, within their own RF Club, but after their RailFanning, they will post details in the Open Forum for everyone to enjoy (in essence, like how the Admin Forum functions).
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4. Any member may be part of several RF Clubs, Monitor Groups, and post to the individual groups. All Monitor Group posts (that the member is a part of) are available in the "Monitor Forum". Similarly, all RF Club posts (that the member is a part of) are available from the "RF Club Forum".
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5. Moderation will be done so that the RF Clubs do not degenerate into abusive conduct, etc. as in WhatsApp/FaceBook.
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6. In the early days of the site, we were appointing Admins quite frequently, based on members' RailFanning enthusiasm. And although becoming an IRI Admin is of ZERO significance in this world, for IRI members, it is "some" recognition that their presence is valued here. And it helps in enlarging our community. With the new system, we can continue and scale this process by involving enthusiastic members in the various Monitor groups, without having to make them Admins. Regular, highly active members may become part of this or that Monitor group without having to become an Admin. For example, some member who is making hundreds of updates everyday and whose updates are almost 100% correct, but is getting somewhat discouraged, because he is having to wait for days for Confirmation may be appointed as Timeline Monitor. This way we are able to recognize that member's contribution and provide him further impetus in developing an interest.
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7. The "Attn" feature will soon be expanded so that you may post blogs and select "Attn" to an entire group (like a specific RF Club). So, if a member has a specific question about a station, that RF Club will likely be able to help out, rather than posting a general question in the Forum, that many people will not likely answer. Similarly, whenever there is a site issue, members will be able to post Attn to that Monitor Group. For example, if there is a wrong plotting of a station, Attn to the "Atlas Monitor" may be more efficient.
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8. Similarly, is is desired that the RF Clubs will encourage RailFanning Activity around the various cities, and creates more "Pivot Members.". So, maybe if our Admins/members travel around the country, there will always be familiar people welcoming them around the stations!!! (only a wish/desire.)
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9. As for symbols, the * stands for Admin, the ^ for Monitor & ~ for RF Club member. So essentially, we have ONLY THREE kinds of Groups. Very limited and focused. NOT generic free-for-all groups.
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10. Many new features will be added to the Admin group, and the other RF Clubs to encourage/facilitate the planning of RF meets.
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Summary, TL;DR,
This is a very tightly focused release of the Groups feature, with the sole aim to encourage RailFanning/Travel related activities. We shall make sure that the site does not degenerate into "abusive Whatsapp-like conduct", as was feared. Moreover, we are retaining all our past features as well.
