The Darkside is no more...

[Ithryn]

as too schools rugby it is hard to find, i follow my own school though a little website set up by some of the players as part of their IT gcse project or something and then someone takes it over each year and hey presto information and a qualification, wonderful idea, no idea about other schools though

http://www.dalriadamedallion.co.nr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ithryn]

members only wont work of the majority of posters are happy here, the majority of us are supporters club members so why should we post on two sites.

[ColinS]

UR couldn't be arsed moderating it properly ......... it went to pot ........... UR closed it down

Hi Colin,

Many thanks for your Private Message. I appreciate your email and concerns and assure you that I share them.

The message board is checked daily by an external moderator but I am sure you appreciate that it is impossible to check every section. I check the board when I can but I simply do not have the time to look at 2/3 times a day as I believe it needs. We are currently looking at ways to deal with this and hope to have a resolution in the next few weeks. In the meantime I thank you again for concern.

Warm Regards,

Anne

There you go, was checked by an external moderator. Once a day really isn't enough.

[Father Jack]

schools' rugby is a double edged sword. It is really great to have it as many people are interested in their Old School's progress especially in the Medallion Shield and Schools' Cup. BUT it also attracts the "yah boo sucks my school is better than yours" posts which can degenerate into pretty obnoxious stuff very quickly. We did debate it early on on this board and pulled back because of the existecne of Schools and Club results on the Ulster Branch section of the main UR board and the Schools threads on the UR Messageboard. I guess it will be worth considering again. There is nothing stopping someone creating a specific thread on the subject and if it becomes popular we can give it it's own MB section.

[Father Jack]

There you go, was checked by an external moderator. Once a day really isn't enough.

I would agree that once a day is not enough. Thankfully the Mods on this board are usually not too far away.

[ColinS]

There you go, was checked by an external moderator. Once a day really isn't enough.

I would agree that once a day is not enough. Thankfully the Mods on this board are usually not too far away.

You mean.. you... actually do something!?

[cables]

The decision to suspend the messageboard also comes as we consider plans to open a Members Only section of http://www.ulsterrugby.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ahead of next season. It is envisaged that this section would offer supporters exclusive content, competitions, offers, access to events, and a forum for discussion is also being considered as an option.

So a discussion forum may return. Presumably, as it would be a "Members Only section", there would be stricter controls on registration and perhaps even some form of sanction.

Don't be surprised if there is also a membership fee.

[shamalicious]

by cables on Thu Feb 07, 2008 5:19 pm

Don't be surprised if there is also a membership fee.

That's what I'm thinking cables. Going down the same road as IRFU's messageboard!

[Cockatrice]

membership fees will cost some of those with alter egos a fortune. Lets be honest did it not have over 1000 members yet was rarely used by more than a dozen or so.

[Captain Chaos]

membership fees will cost some of those with alter egos a fortune. Lets be honest did it not have over 1000 members yet was rarely used by more than a dozen or so.

Are you owning up to something CT?

[bogboy]

The schools section was fairly active and could have accounted for a couple of hundred MBers

[aarons]

Aarons, while it ultimately depends on the size and general running of the community that's to be moderated, it probably isn't as big a job as one would imagine; I used to be a regular poster on a messageboard with some 50,000 members that was, effectively and quite strictly, moderated by 10 volunteers who had been frequent contributors to that messageboard and knew the 'culture' of it, for lack of a better word. It wouldn't take a great deal of time to moderate a forum with about 2,500 members and about 30 regular contributors like the official UR MB. It might be a sweeping generalisation but it seems that disinterest, rather than inability, is what has caused the moderation problems for a community the size of the so-called Darkside.

all fair comment neil. distaste as much as disinterest, though, i suspect.

i suspect the real problem here is that UB didn't like the messages that people were passing to them. but closing down the messageboard doesn't make that go away. flags and anthems is still a problematic area, and while i've got no time for the complainers, or their arguments, i do think that the UB/IRFU silence on these matters has been hugely counterproductive. the unwillingness to state a firm policy has both alienated ulster rugby from the rest of irish rugby, and irritated the hardened unionists in the north. better to be in one camp than pretend you don't have a view.

[browner]

Banishing it to the depths of the forum did not get the desired result - so it would appear that a suspension of the forum was seen as the next port of call in order to 'sweep the issue under the carpet'.

Joke of the day.............

[horslips]

******************Action stations*********************************

Under attack from hostile forces - inform the Capn of borders. Circle all of Kimbles wagons.

[Bruce]

Please don't close the forum,i haven't had a chance to get through half the stuff yet - have mercy on a poor refugee!

Entertaining as the "other topics" was on the ur site it was the beginning of the end although i saw the Munster guys having a good go at it too.

I'm sure even the mighty F Baik would admit that his threads were hijacked by the guy(s) who got the forum closed - i've no time for the politics but have no problem with free speech - the wind up boys are who you need to watch out for and you already know who they are.I think F Baik is getting a bit ahead of himself if he thinks that the flags and anthems resulted in the closure - i saw a lot of what could only be described as lunacy and some threads that thankfully were deleted within minutes saving the poster considerable potential "difficulty".

Back to reading the second half,there's a lot on here!