# Off Topic > The Water Cooler >  >  "Explain this" thread title discussion

## royUK

EDIT BY JBeaucaire:  The posts below were moved here from the thread to keep that thread intact and remove the appearance of further rule breach so the discussion could ensue:

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-new-...lain-this.html

Jerry Beaucaire
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> Jason, I'm a fan of the rules, I hope the OP does take a moment to read through them, very helpful.
> 
> As brief as it is, this title of this thread does depict the OP's need.  It is fine in this rare case.
> 
> Thanks all.



What??????????????

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## JBeaucaire

If I have to moderate, that means make a decision.  The OP wants a formula explained.  I get it, you don't agree.  We really going to argue in the OP's thread over this?

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## royUK

I'll argue with you any where. It just seems to me that you new mods interpret the rules to suit yourselves. You haven't a clue about moderating.

Please feel free to follow the current EF trend & delete my posts if they don't agree with your opinions.

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## Andrew-R

IMO the thread title clearly breaks rule 1, but can we not have a thread somewhere for fighting over this, rather than turning every thread into a moderation fight ... please.

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## royUK

I am fed up of seeing threads deleted arbitrarily, value members being banned for having the nerve to point out things that the management don't agree with.

I have seen threads deleted for allegedly breaking the rules, i.e asking how to avoid the enable macro warnings which no way breaks the security rule. Now this one that clearly breaks the Title rule being OK's. When I was admin here I actually had to warn JB about answering such questions by PM, now as a moderator he feels he can do as he pleases.

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## npamcpp

Welcome to the new ExcelForum. 

What can you expect when the moderators of this forum are selected from what's left after the people who knew how to moderate have resigned or have been banned?

Moderating is a skill that not everybody possesses. Previously, moderators in this forum were appointed after careful consideration and with consensus from the active mods. Recently, the owner promoted a staff member to moderator, against the veto of the active, long-serving moderators who have spent years making this forum into what it is now. 

This totalitarian act of the owner led to a mass exodus of long-serving, experienced moderators, most of them Microsoft MVPs (which speaks of the quality this forum leadership used to have). To fill the gaps, some of the remaining members have now been promoted to a moderator role. But this does not mean that they have the skills to do the job. It just means that they are the one-eyed among the blind. Some of the new moderators seem to relish in their new-found powers and get a bit over-eager at times. Wow, JB, you're a moderator now. You can determine if a thread title is valid or not. I tremble at your wisdom. 

In the overall context of the skills of the "tech team", I feel that the skills of some of the new "moderators" actually make a fine match. They all suck up to the owner of the forum and none of them really know what they're doing. 

Perfect EF behaviour for the new ExcelForum. 

You'll all have a brilliant career ahead of you. Just make sure you adapt your language to the style of the sorry excuse of a "newsletter" that was sent out a few days ago. Another example of the decline of quality of the new ExcelForum. 

All fluff and no content.

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## martindwilson

"this" 
Pronoun:	
Used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced: "is this your bag?".
Adjective:	
Used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced: "don't listen to this guy".
Adverb:	
To the degree or extent indicated: "they can't handle a job this big".
Synonyms:	
pronoun.  it - that - this one - these
adverb.  thus - so - that

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## npamcpp

Martin,





> "they can't handle a job this big".



That would be the current moderators, no?

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## JBeaucaire

Roy, I don't remember deleting one of your replies, certainly not in this thread. Be dissatisfied with me, if you wish, but not over something that didn't occur.  (Or are you referring to something elsewhere I don't recall atm?)

But, I will shortly me MOVING this discussion out of this thread to a separate discussion referring to this thread, but nothing has been deleted by me here so far.   The "title" rule is a pain, albeit a necessary pain, so I've resigned myself to this never-ending debate being inevitable.  However it is not necessary that it be littered across the forum when it rages on.

Will this spark a new debate on whether I did?  *sigh*   

Everyone "interprets", else humans wouldn't be needed.    If I must moderate, then I must interpret.  Those on the sidelines enjoy the right to disagree and apparently do so.  Go team.

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## npamcpp

Oh, another "Go Team" from the mighty JB. We've always enjoyed these, especially on threads where you did not participate other than post "Go team" as if you were the team leader. Basking in the light provided by others. Go JB. Shine.

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## royUK

I started a thread about the security rule,* which was totally ignored for days* until Arlette spotted it. I believe it was actually in the improvements forum.

One of my posts was not viewable earlier but has somehow re-appeared.

Even after resigning I have tried to advise Arlette & other mods & posted warnings about rule infringements. However it seems that the rules are now open to interpretation by individual moderators. 

IN the dim & distant past of Simon being admin here we mods at the time discussed & agreed the rules & a moderators' code of conduct which was posted in the Mods' Forum.

AS for those on the sidelines - if youi mean myself & the former mods then you have a cheek. I did more moderating here in any month than you have done since being upgraded, so I think my experience & history gives me the right to make comments.

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## JBeaucaire

> Moderating is a skill that not everybody possesses.



Agreed.  True of just about all non-basic skills, but ok.




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"Can determine" .... hm, I think "have to determine" is more accurate.  I have to decide what I think and and I'm up for that.  I'll try not to treat you with sarcasm, but respect, which will put me at a disadvantage.




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Truthfully, I have no idea where this conclusion comes from, I certainly do not interact with the owners or suck up, not to them, and as you can see, not to the ex-Mods.  I have to decide and act on what *I* think.   Again, I'm ok with that.   

When I was a nonMod I refrained from sniping at the Mods over things I disagreed with, I was here to help OPs, not Mods or owners.  But that was my choice, too.




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*cough* Ok, I will take the well-wishes as what they could be, sincere.  I wish others success in their careers, too.  But EF, of course, isn't a career.  It's a place I come to help, and now have been asked to enforce and support the forum as a moderator.  That's what I'm trying to do when I'm here.

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## Marcol

Seems the OP has a valid point in his title

*explain this ...* 
2 posts to help the enquiry ... 11, and rising, to argue about the title and grammar ... *explain this*  ...  :Confused: 

Do we all get infractions for answering a thread that has/hasn't got an acceptable title?

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## JBeaucaire

No cheek intended, Roy.  You should know I have nothing but respect for the work you and others have done and continue to do.  Please read my posts to you as NOT being ill-spirited or disrespectfully spoken.  Though I speak my mind directly as best I can, in text form many things read as harsher and more sarcastic than is ever true in the way I speak in person.

Yes, you certainly were an awesome mod.  I miss it, but I do not wish it back on you.  Yes, please comment away, and do not take that as anything other than agreement on that point.

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## npamcpp

@Marcol, No. this is more about moderators justifying their positions. See JB above. I gotta laugh.

---------- Post added at 02:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 AM ----------





> and now have been asked to enforce and support the forum as a moderator.



It's lovely to see how you're utterly missing the very point of this subject.

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## npamcpp

oops, some posts seem to have been deleted from this thread. 

Several long-serving members noted that the thread title does not adhere with rule #1 of this forum. 

The new moderator crew does not seem to care.

Rules are now applied by interpretation of a second grade guard, who fill in the moderator role after the MVPs have resigned or been banned. 

Go Team!

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## JBeaucaire

"I gotta laugh" is not much contribution to the discussion, either, don't you think?  I do not mean to miss the point.  A lot of things are being said, though. So specifically you refer to?

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## martindwilson

cue the "rocky" theme tune.....

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## JBeaucaire

> The new moderator crew does not seem to care



I care, else I would not reply.  Accuracy dictates I correct that to: "I do not agree."






> Rules are now applied by interpretation of a second grade guard, who fill in the moderator role after the MVPs have resigned or been banned.



Stuff like the above I expect from people who feel they are losing an argument, and I don't think you believe that.

Certainly this is supposed to be a discussion about whether the title is accurate or not.  No one seems to be talking about that anymore.

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## martindwilson

well i got to say "explain this",is really not a descriptive title JB now "explain this date formula" might be

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## MarvinP

Soooo.....

I'm trying to follow the topic in this thread and it claims *Results 1 to 15 of 20* are showing.

I can only scroll down and see 7 posts with no next page indicator.  7 <> 15 (or 20 for that matter)..  Explain that!!??   :EEK!:  :EEK!:

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## royUK

The whole problem is that moderators now seem to interpret the rules how they want to.

One moderator to my certain knowledge does little or no moderating in all the time that I was admin has recently banned a long standing member who happened to be an ex-mod. This was for voicing his opinions about the way the Forum is now run.

The problem that I see is that the person who seems to act as admin link here has little moderating experience & cannot help the newer mods. In fact if the old mods had been listened to she would never have been given the position.

I have offered advice by PM to her & some of the newer mods, some has been received well and some totally ignored. Anyway, if it hasn't been deleted then in the mods' forum there was a Sticky that acted as a guide to moderating

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## JapanDave

I still can't beleive that the powers that be are letting Mordred's banning stand?

From my point of view, I first came here to help help for a simple Excel formula. I kept coming back for help due to the senior members/Moderators that helped me, always willing to go the extra yard even when my questions were hard to understand. I even understand why I received infractions for , you guess it bad thread titles from RoyUK and others, which BTW ,now I understand why I got them. Why I am still here is b/c I wanted to give back something to this community.

 To be honest I could not care less who the owner is b/c I am not here b/c of him/her. Until now that is,(I do care who the owner is, b/c it seems that they are not acting in the best interest of this community) I honestly don't understand taking the hard line approach with some of Excel forums most valued members is all about. How productive can this ultimately end up being? Maybe too much water has passed under the bridge, but I am genuinely saddened that very much valued members are being pushed away from this community on a forum I once held in such high esteem. I would very strongly urge the Admin of this site to please listen to what most of the members are asking for, b/c it is purely only in the best interests of this site and if the Admin can't see this , than I guess the quality of posts here will ultimately suffer and if they are OK with that, then I guess that is where they want to take this web site.

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## snb

> MarvinP 
> Re: "Explain this" thread title discussion
> 
> Soooo.....
> 
> I'm trying to follow the topic in this thread and it claims Results 1 to 15 of 20 are showing.
> 
> I can only scroll down and see 7 posts with no next page indicator. 7 <> 15 (or 20 for that matter).. Explain that!!??



The same happens to me (IE8)

As soon as the new 'select' and 'copy' icons (along VBA code) appear in a post the thread will be cut off.
I already reported this 2 times in the 'improvement' section to no avail. Explain that !!

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## MarvinP

HEY snb,

This is GREAT  :Confused:   :EEK!:   :Mad:  !  So we only get to read part of a thread that has these attributes?  What do I do to fix this problem?  Change from my IE 8 to IE 9?  Change to another browser?  

I think I'll just read what is shown and try to do my best.   :Cool: 

BTW - what are the new "select and copy" icons so I can test your theory.  

Did it get fixed because I can see more posts in this thread?  Arlette?

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## arlu1201

There have been intermittent server issues with Sunday being the worst affected.  This could be causing few blips in the forum performance.  The tech team is working on it and be rest assured of receiving a resolution soon.

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## Richard Buttrey

"A place for relaxed off-topic discussions, getting to know your fellow members or idle chit chat!, please keep all Excel/VBA questions in their relevant forums. "

So sayeth the word of God.

Look chaps - and chapesses. I rarely visit the hallowed turf of the watercooler, but if recent posts here are what it's about then I'm rather glad and shan't be hurrying back here soon.

There is nothing relaxed about this and I detect a huge amount of baggage being touted. Can we stop it please. You all know who you are. 
Follow the Harry S Truman dictum if you are so worked up about perceived slights and things not being as they were 'in our day'.

At the end of the day the owner is the owner. (Rhetorical Q. What on earth's the point of being one if you can't have your own way?) 
He could restrict this forum to myopic Lithuanian one armed bus conductors if he wishes. Which would be daft of course but hopefully you get the point.

Nuff said. That's my last on this point.

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## JBeaucaire

Thanks Richard, and fairly said.   This thread originated in the open "General" forum so anyone who wanted could add to discussion, but it was moved here.  It probably isn't best Water Cooler faire, but we'll make sure this isn't a regular thing here.

Today isn't yesterday is a good thing for people to remember.

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## FortySixAndTwo

> but we'll make sure this isn't a regular thing here.



I'll bet you will!



> Today isn't yesterday is a good thing for people to remember.



No, it definitely isn't.

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## JBeaucaire

All good when opposing viewpoints can still agree on some things.   :Wink:

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## royUK

The whole point of my original post was the rules seem to be interpreted to suit the moderator. "Explain this" was the title of a Thread that JB seemed to think was OK. I'm sorry to disagree but it certainly does not explain the gist of any question.

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## arlu1201

To err is human, isnt it?

JB realised the mistake and corrected it.  So can we close this discussion here?

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## JBeaucaire

It's easy to get into an argument with someone who is being argumentative, so I apologize for my part in that.

I'll be a little more stern about the rule in general.   For first time posters, I'll most likely just fix the titles with a note, as I have been doing for the most part.  

Without getting into the argumentative discussion, Martin politely suggested a better title, the thread title was changed. Hat-tip to Martin.

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## royUK

I didn't start the argument. I merely questioned the comment,, but you lot just carry on.

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## JBeaucaire

See how easy it is to just keep it going?   Yes, everyone has moved on.  Good time to end this discussion I believe.

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