Moderating off-topic posts

I’ve got a request for the mod team here, and honestly, it affects pretty much everyone.

Here’s the deal: discussions often veer off course and essentially turn into an entirely different conversation. A handful of mods (and it’s been a while since I saw this happen) actually take the time to split a thread—meaning they take a bunch of off-topic posts and move them into their own dedicated topic.

It’s obviously way easier to just drop a snarky comment like, "The last 40 posts have been total nonsense, so here are warnings for everyone for being off-topic," and then just nuking those 40 posts from existence. That completely kills what could have been a perfectly decent, high-quality new discussion.

I’m a member of several other niche forums, and that kind of thread-splitting is standard practice there (it used to happen more often here too, but lately, it's rare). Look, I get it—trolling and being obnoxious needs to be handled—but when a debate shifts gears, it’s actually super helpful to start a new thread and move the relevant posts over instead of just deleting them.

Now, if we’re being strictly by-the-book, what I’m saying might technically be irrelevant, but it would be great if mods put in a little extra effort to spin those "40 off-topic posts" into a new topic rather than just handing out warnings or hitting the delete button.

At the end of the day, this forum is basically a digital dive bar, and we all know how those conversations go. You start talking about changing a tire on a Ford F-150 and somehow end up arguing about political extremists and civil war factions—classic Godwin's Law.

The general rule here on the forum is that if an off-topic comment is actually high-quality and brings something meaningful to the table, we’ll spin it off into its own dedicated thread. If it’s just noise, though, it stays where it is. Do you have a specific link to one of those discussions you're thinking of? I'd love to see which ones you feel deserved their own separate space.

rustydrifter10 said:The rule here is that if an off-topic post is actually decent and adds value, we spin it off into its own thread. If it’s just noise, it stays put. Can you drop a link to one of those discussions you think deserved its own space?

Unfortunately, it was deleted. We're talking about that FedEx PDF where our informal "Gas Prices" chat went on its usual detour—you can check the thread history; the off-topic stuff goes on forever—only to be "corrected" by getting shoved into a "new sub-thread" that basically vanished into a digital black hole. That FedEx PDF used to be famous for spawning new topics from old ones; honestly, some of the biggest threads started exactly like that (just look at the early posts). But the old moderators handed the keys over to the new kids, and things have changed.

It’s incredibly annoying when you spend two or three pages dismantling technical misconceptions, only for the whole thing to get wiped out. I haven't had much motivation to write lately, and this just kills what little drive I had left.

Here’s an example of one of the best threads we ever had, which actually started as off-topic:

And here is our informal chat topic, though the new moderator clearly doesn't realize how different it is from the old way:

It might actually be a good idea to formally add "Chat" to the title, since that's exactly what it is—a chat thread that served as the foundation for tons of other topics...

Best,

Some mods just shut down a thread if people start drifting off-topic... like that recent move to kill the discussion about Donald Trump.

Wouldn't it be more logical to just penalize the rule-breakers or delete the stray posts?

The way things work now, you aren't actually punishing the guys breaking the rules—you're just silencing the ones who actually follow them, so they can't even participate anymore...

Daniel Morales63 said:I’ve got a request for the mod team—and honestly, this affects pretty much everyone here.

Look, discussions here constantly spiral out of control and turn into a totally different topic—it’s a mess. Honestly, it's super rare for mods to actually put in the work to split things up—you know, taking all those off-topic rants and actually opening a fresh thread for them. Most just let it happen.

It’s way easier to just drop some genius observation like "you guys have been off-topic for the last 40 posts, so here's a ban for everyone" — and then, of course, wipe out those 40 posts that actually could've lived in one decent, high-quality thread.

I hang out on a few other niche forums too, and that’s totally standard practice there—it used to be way more common here, too, though it feels like it's dying out lately. Look, I get it—trolls and jerks need to be shut down—but when a debate starts veering off into a whole different direction, it’s actually super helpful to just spin up a new thread and do a C/P (or whatever you call splitting topics) for all the posts that don't fit the current vibe.

Look, if we’re playing strictly by the book, what I just said doesn't even matter—but seriously, moderators should probably just let us start a fresh thread once a discussion hits like 40 posts instead of handing out cards for trolling or going off-topic... especially when they could just delete those posts instead.

I mean, let’s be real—this forum is basically just a digital dive bar. And we all know how those barroom debates go—you start out talking about changing a tire and somehow end up arguing about Trump and the partisans. The Godwin Law—it's basically a fact at this point.).

Great... just great. 👍

Just my two cents regarding that Religion PDF—specifically when it hits this topic...

Evolution vs. Creationism—Part 3.

Look, I get it—this thread is supposed to be strictly about evolution... but since everyone keeps dragging the Book of Genesis back into the mix—and that book basically bundles biblical cosmogony with how life and humans were made anyway—it’s pretty much impossible not to end up comparing scientific theory against theological creationism.

It wasn't even an issue when this thread first started—but lately? Not so much... way too many posts getting nuked.

Look, I know we've got threads going on about Flat Earth, the Big Bang, and the whole Science vs. Religion debate, but honestly? It’s just not cutting it for me.

Look, I really don't want to make more work for Grace Kim80—when I see people going off-topic, I’m gonna call it out—but regarding this thread, we should probably just rename it. It needs to actually cover everything from the Big Bang and evolution to how NASA's science evolved—specifically all that old debate between geocentrism and heliocentrism.
I don't see what the big deal is—honestly.

restlesscobra24 said:Some mods just shut down a thread entirely if people start veering off track—like how they recently nuked that whole discussion about Donald Trump.

Wouldn't it be way more logical to just punish the people breaking the rules or maybe just delete the specific posts that don't fit?

The way things work now, you aren't actually penalizing the rule-breakers (the ones spamming off-topic stuff); instead, you're basically silencing the people who were actually following the rules—they're the ones who get blocked from participating in the thread.

Honestly, I think the real issue lies in how this whole forum is organized and those rigid rules that seem totally disconnected from reality.
I call it the "natural flow" of a conversation.
If a discussion naturally drifts into an off-topic tangent, it’s honestly pretty lame for moderators to just wipe everything out and hand out warnings—mostly because the forum isn't exactly buzzing with traffic, so the off-topic chatter doesn't bother the users nearly as much as it seems to bother the mods.
And even if things go sideways into off-topic territory, it doesn't stop someone else from eventually bringing the focus back to the main point and pulling everyone else along with them.
It really hurts the smaller threads the most—you know, the ones where there isn't a ton to say—because in those cases, going off-topic is basically just a way to keep the conversation alive before the thread inevitably dies out.

Brian Gonzalez24 said:Great... 👍

My observation concerns the Religion section, specifically regarding this thread...

Evolution, Evolution with God, or Creationism (Part 3)

The truth is, this topic is primarily intended for discussions on biological evolution... however, since the references constantly point toward the biblical Book of Genesis—which merges biblical cosmogony with the creation of life and humanity—it is extremely difficult to avoid comparing scientific perspectives with theological views on evolution and creation as a whole during a debate.

At the start of this thread, that wasn't an issue, but for some time now, it has been... quite a few posts have been deleted.

It is true that there are separate threads for Flat Earth, the Big Bang, and Science vs. Religion, but in my opinion, those aren't entirely sufficient.

I really don't want to make extra work for Grace Kim80; whenever I notice people drifting off-topic from other threads, I step in... but for this specific topic, I suggest a change by renaming it to encompass both the origins and the evolution of the universe, including scientific developments in astronomy, particularly regarding geocentric and heliocentric theories.
I don't see why that would be a problem.

That isn't possible.

The issue would be that the subject matter becomes too broad, effectively covering two distinct scientific fields.
We aren't the FBI, after all, and I won't run this place like a circus where one thing is treated as one field and another as something else; I provide everything on a silver platter, literally. There is an index containing more or less all essential topics, and anyone who wants a decent discussion on the development of the universe certainly has a place to go.

The problem is that either most people who want to write there lack the necessary knowledge to understand the subject, or they simply CAN'T BE BOTHERED to go to a different thread and post something meaningful. Instead, when this specific thread is active, they just dump everything in here: the origin of species, the expansion of the universe, maybe a bit about the earth's crust, then a bit about atheists, a bit about Jesus Christ walking on water, a bit about the nonexistence of God... I don't even know how many posts I've had to delete myself.

This thread is specialized; if you don't have the knowledge, you shouldn't be posting here.
The trouble is there is no option to ban a specific user from participating in one exact thread, otherwise, I would have sorted that out a long time ago.

Isn't there a thread on the NASA/Astrophysics section regarding the development of astronomy? 🤔

I believe we had something regarding the Church's contribution to scientific progress, which discussed similar themes... you should look it up via the search function or Google. I can't be expected to remember everything forever.

And keep in mind that we are not primarily a scientific forum, and we don't allow just anything here—no rejected or unfounded scientific theories, and God forbid, conspiracy theories. Still, a certain standard must be maintained. If you have an idea for a topic but aren't entirely sure about it, or can't find it in the search/index, you can reach out to me so we can discuss how to proceed and whether it's appropriate in the first place. Generally speaking, I am always in favor of constructive, intelligent, and coherent topics from which any reader might actually learn something new.

Grace Kim80 said:It just won't work.

The real issue is that the scope would be way too broad—we’re basically talking about two entirely different scientific disciplines here.
Look, we aren't the FBI, but I’m not trying to run a circus by mixing one field with another. I’ve laid everything out on a silver platter—literally—there's an index with pretty much every major topic covered, so if someone actually wants to dive deep into cosmic evolution, they have plenty of places to go.

The headache is that either most people who want to write there don't really have the background to grasp the subject matter, or they just can't be bothered to jump into a dedicated thread to make a coherent point. Instead, they wait until a specific topic is trending and then decide, "Eh, whatever, let's just dump everything in here"—so you get stuff about the origin of species mixed with cosmic expansion, then a little bit about tectonic plate shifts, then a pivot to atheism, then maybe some talk about how Jesus Christ walked on water, or even debates on whether God exists... honestly, I lost track of half the stuff I had to delete.

That specific thread is specialized; if you don't know your stuff, you probably shouldn't be posting there.
The problem is, there isn't a setting to ban a specific user from one particular thread while letting them participate elsewhere—if there were, I would've fixed this ages ago.

Isn't there already a thread about the history of astronomy over at NASA/Astrophysics? 🤔

I think we had something similar regarding the Church's influence on science development, so you could probably find something like that if you use a search engine or Google. I can't spend my whole life playing librarian, you know?

And we have to keep in mind that we aren't primarily a hardcore scientific forum. We can't just host every rejected or baseless theory, or—God forbid—conspiracy theories. That said, we still need to maintain a certain standard. If you have an idea for a topic but aren't totally sure where it fits or can't find it in the index, just reach out to me. We can chat about it and figure out if it's even viable. Generally speaking, I'm all for constructive, smart, meaningful discussions where readers actually walk away having learned something new.

But what if everything was just kept in one big place?
From what I can see, the only people who seem bothered by off-topic chatter are you moderators.
Don't you realize that it's not even a huge crowd? It's just a handful of regulars who end up drifting off-topic together. Without that side-chatter, the thread would just die out until some new person shows up to read it (and even then, that's a big "if").
And then what happens?
You guys start deleting posts and locking threads.
It doesn't actually help the discussion move forward at all.

That is simply not true.
The clutter bothers other users too, especially those who take the time to report issues and ask when the mess will be cleared out. Not to mention what would happen if threads started accumulating hundreds or even thousands of off-topic posts!! It would be total chaos everywhere.

While some discussion boards might allow for more leeway, our structure is strictly organized by topic. Allowing off-topic chatter to pile up—regardless of whether it’s constructive or not—helps absolutely no one; even a single off-topic comment can trigger a landslide of others. If an off-topic remark is actually useful, it can be moved to its proper place, which is fine. However, non-constructive noise is the death of a thread because there is nothing you can do with it, and meanwhile, high-quality, on-topic contributions get buried under a sea of spam. We cannot operate this way, as our primary goal should always be improving the quality of our discussions. My motto is simple: Quality over quantity! 🧐

Furthermore, in the long run, forum members need to learn how to moderate themselves. They need to realize when to move a conversation to the right section and understand their own contribution levels. Ultimately, we aren't just doing this for myself and my colleagues; we are doing it for ourselves, since we don't take these forums home with us in a PDF format—these threads remain here for everyone to use. That level of awareness still needs to mature; some users have already reached it, while others haven't quite gotten there yet, but I am hopeful they will. Things are better than they used to be, but they can, and should, be even better.

Grace Kim80 said:That's just not how it works.
It messes things up for everyone else too—you know, those people who actually take the time to report stuff and ask when the trash is getting cleared out once it starts piling up? Not to mention what would happen if everyone just started dumping hundreds or even two hundred off-topic posts in a single thread!! It would be absolute mayhem everywhere.

Look, some threads can handle a bit more breathing room than others, sure, but the way we run things here is pretty strict about keeping topics focused. When you get a massive pile-up of off-topic chatter—doesn't matter if it's "useful" or not—it doesn't help anyone. Honestly, it just takes one random tangent to trigger a whole chain reaction. If an off-topic comment is actually constructive, fine, it can be moved to the right spot. But non-constructive fluff? That’s just a death sentence for a thread. You can't do anything with it, and meanwhile, the high-quality, on-topic posts just get buried under a mountain of spam. We can't let that happen, because at the end of the day, the goal should always be leveling up the quality of our discussions. My mantra is simple: Quality over quantity, always! 🧐

Plus, looking at the big picture, we really need the community to learn how to self-moderate. Like, teaching yourselves to move conversations to the right sub-forum or realizing whether you're actually adding value to the topic or just cluttering it up. At the end of the day, this isn't just about me and the other mods—it's about us. We don't exactly take these forums home with us in a PDF format; these threads stay here for everyone to use. It's about developing that kind of awareness. Some people have totally gotten it, others are still working on it, but I'm hopeful. We've definitely improved, but there's always room to get better.

nezz, I honestly can't remember a time in my life where I complained about off-topic talk, mostly because I get that without it, a thread would just die a quiet death.
The problem with what you guys are doing is—people finally start vibing and focusing on a conversation, and then you swoop in and shut it down.
Think about it like this: imagine you're having a great deep dive into a book with someone at the local library, and suddenly the librarian kicks you both out because you're being too loud, so you head over to a Starbucks to keep the chat going.
Once you move to the cafe, it becomes so much harder to pick up exactly where you left off and stay just as locked into the topic.
And on a forum, it's even messier than that because you lose your train of thought trying to keep track of who said what in a group setting.

The only thing that actually bugs me is the pure spam.