AWOL:
What's that supposed to mean?
Was this thread ever reported to the moderators?
I happened upon it, and thought I'd respond.
Why not try reading the thread AWOL? I know it's a cazy idea but it really helps the understanding of the situation. Since you're a Global Mod you should be aware of the ideas existing thread you are posting in.
But, alas I guess I'll have to repeat myself. Yes I reported it to the Admins - all of them via PM. Here's what I sent (I posted it in the thread BTW -
Forum Error Messages Involving Searches
The courtesy of an official response in-thread is requested regarding the documented problem in the thread linked below.
Thank you very much for your attention,
Modeller
"Document Expired" Messages When Going Back to Search Results
cc:
Massimo Banzi
David Cuartielles
mellis
Davide
cmaglie
madbob
And what happened? Nothing. Not a damn thing. Not even a "Thank you Modeller for being concerned about forum errors"
That tells me a lot.
Don't see any denigration - can you point it out please?
It should be obvious to a Global Mod. Considering you need it pointed out, it wouldn't do much good.
If you are a Global moderator then you should have knowledge of SMF
Why? I have an adequate set of tools that work.
I'm going to consolidate my answer to save time and space. You should not be a Global Moderator when you admit this:
AWOL:
I have no (nil, zippo, naff-all) knowledge of SMF, moderator slots, permissions or privileges, and until I retire and have some spare time, I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in acquiring such knowledge, and even then I can't imagine I'll be that excited about it.
You should be at minimum a board Moderator, but not a Global Moderator. What you are doing is not the job a Global Moderator is supposed to do. It's kinda like using a jackhammer to pound in an upholstery tack. That's what I'm trying to get across. If you don't want to listen to experience that's your business, but that isn't going to prevent me advising what I have in-depth knowledge of.
You said -
I don't want to run the forum - that's Big Government - I want the forum to run itself.
Newsflash: No forum runs itself. Ever. And if you are a Global Mod you are supposed to help run it.
That's what a Global Moderator helps do - run the forum. I've explained it in another post you also probably skipped over. Actually all the moderators help run the forum. Why would you think moderators don't help run the forum? That's like saying you sit in the co-pilot's seat in the cockpit but don't want to help fly the plane.
Global moderators supervise board moderators, act on Reports to Moderator in cases where there is a severe rules violation, recruit new moderators, and other housekeeping given to them by Admins via the permissions. They don't have to moderate the entire forum. For a forum of this size and this traffic level - it's nearly impossible, case in point this thread, where you claim to have just now come across it.
I think you are a very, very smart person. There's lots of them here. I think you are a great asset to the forum, but if you don't want to help run it, that's a classic screening question that would exclude a person from being a Global Moderator. That's "What They Do".
Anyone who is a great asset, but does not want to help run the forum, shouldn't be a moderator. However, they many times are placed into special member groups that can be created with a high ranking. Again, in my experience, this is what I would do here. Valuable members such as yourself, who don't want to help run it (as you freely admitted) should be given a special adviser's group or helper group or whatever name you want to call it. But again, what do I know right? I mean I've only spent the past 8 or nine years doing what you don't like to do - running forums, installing them from scratch, and recruiting staff/moderators.
Moderating isn't about being an expert in the subject of the forum, it's about being an expert in running the forum.
A job description! At last! After twenty months in the job.
You just now got a job description for a Global Moderator after all that time? You should have had one on the first day.
Anyway, at least you did respond, I'll give you credit for that.