Reality
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This sticky thread will hopefully answer some questions and avoid causing some users to have their accounts benched (suspended).
Why was my thread moved to the Jerry/Garrett/Rant Zone?
Before the Rant Zone forum was created, all threads that were nothing more than complaining about the same things people have been complaining about for years were deleted. The reason the Rant Zone forum was created was to avoid deleting threads that some of the users here have an interest in discussing. It was a good alternative to simply removing the threads from the site.
So we can't say anything bad about Jerry, Garrett or the team now?
Of course you can. The policies in regards to the Rant Zone have been in place for years. We are not enforcing them any more today than we did years ago. That said, there is a difference between constructive criticism of the team, staff, ownership, etc. and simply posting (spamming) negative comments just to gain attention or LIKE's and to tick off or harass other members.
Why was my non-negative thread moved to the Rant Zone?
Unfortunately, sometimes good threads deteriorate into negative threads. It sucks but it happens. The staff will usually try to delete the negative spam (non-constructive criticism) to try to save the thread, but sometimes the content of the original post makes that impossible.
Why is the staff so pro-Jerry and/or pro-Garrett?
Actually, we are not. While some of the staff may like one or both of them, some of the staff do not as well. The staff enforces our posting policies as consistently as possible and sometimes that means we have to move or delete posts that we actually agree with. In some situations the staff discusses a thread prior to it being moved or deleted and every staff member knows any decision by a single staff member can be questioned at any time by one or more other staff members.
Why was my post deleted?
If your post was deleted and you did not receive an official warning, you should take that as you got off lucky because it means it likely violated the forum rules or was nothing more than negative spam.
What if a moderator doesn't like me?
It's human nature for some individuals to not get along or agree on topics. It's amplified when one or more of the people involved are emotionally attached to their opinions. Even though we have a really good staff, we are not immune to this either. That said, there are two things you need to understand.
The first is that a lot of times, when a staff member who has a known issue with a specific user sees that user do something he/she feels is a rule violation, they will ask the staff about it first rather than act on it immediately. There are exceptions of course because sometimes rule violations are rather obvious.
The second thing you need to know is that every staff member receives alerts for every warning issued by the rest of the staff. Meaning, not a single official warning given out sneaks by the staff and that includes warnings I or WoodysGirl give out as well. Even we as admins are not above being questioned about an action we have taken against a user, thread, post, etc.
*** VERY IMPORTANT ***
Other general things you should know ..
1) If you publicly question the moderation of the site, your account will be benched (suspended).
2) We manually review and approve new accounts on the site so if your account is benched, do not think you can just make a new account and return.
3) New accounts typically take 5-10 days to be approved. This helps weed out spammers, trolls from other teams and returning benched users.
4) Only about 30% of new accounts are approved. Yes, you read that right. It is very hard to get an account on CowboysZone. I never put this site online to be the most popular site. I put it online to give Cowboys fans a safe place to spend their time discussing the Cowboys. I do not care how many users we have nor do I care how many pageviews CowboysZone receives. I never have. My only priority is keeping this site free from trolls, spammers and drive-by advertising posts. Most of you have no idea how bad spammers attack forums these days and they are very aggressive at trying to gain access.
5) The staff does a lot of work for this site and most users never show any appreciation for it. The internet is filled with vile, disgusting, offensive and hateful discussions and yet our staff works endlessly to keep this site not only free of that but also as family-friendly as possible. It wouldn't hurt for everyone to think about that and let them know, even if it is only the ones you like, how much you appreciate the time and effort they put in to make this site a place where you enjoy spending your time each day.
Hopefully, this has helped to clear up some misunderstandings about how this site is run and what is expected of you as posters.
/reality
Why was my thread moved to the Jerry/Garrett/Rant Zone?
Before the Rant Zone forum was created, all threads that were nothing more than complaining about the same things people have been complaining about for years were deleted. The reason the Rant Zone forum was created was to avoid deleting threads that some of the users here have an interest in discussing. It was a good alternative to simply removing the threads from the site.
So we can't say anything bad about Jerry, Garrett or the team now?
Of course you can. The policies in regards to the Rant Zone have been in place for years. We are not enforcing them any more today than we did years ago. That said, there is a difference between constructive criticism of the team, staff, ownership, etc. and simply posting (spamming) negative comments just to gain attention or LIKE's and to tick off or harass other members.
Why was my non-negative thread moved to the Rant Zone?
Unfortunately, sometimes good threads deteriorate into negative threads. It sucks but it happens. The staff will usually try to delete the negative spam (non-constructive criticism) to try to save the thread, but sometimes the content of the original post makes that impossible.
Why is the staff so pro-Jerry and/or pro-Garrett?
Actually, we are not. While some of the staff may like one or both of them, some of the staff do not as well. The staff enforces our posting policies as consistently as possible and sometimes that means we have to move or delete posts that we actually agree with. In some situations the staff discusses a thread prior to it being moved or deleted and every staff member knows any decision by a single staff member can be questioned at any time by one or more other staff members.
Why was my post deleted?
If your post was deleted and you did not receive an official warning, you should take that as you got off lucky because it means it likely violated the forum rules or was nothing more than negative spam.
What if a moderator doesn't like me?
It's human nature for some individuals to not get along or agree on topics. It's amplified when one or more of the people involved are emotionally attached to their opinions. Even though we have a really good staff, we are not immune to this either. That said, there are two things you need to understand.
The first is that a lot of times, when a staff member who has a known issue with a specific user sees that user do something he/she feels is a rule violation, they will ask the staff about it first rather than act on it immediately. There are exceptions of course because sometimes rule violations are rather obvious.
The second thing you need to know is that every staff member receives alerts for every warning issued by the rest of the staff. Meaning, not a single official warning given out sneaks by the staff and that includes warnings I or WoodysGirl give out as well. Even we as admins are not above being questioned about an action we have taken against a user, thread, post, etc.
*** VERY IMPORTANT ***
Other general things you should know ..
1) If you publicly question the moderation of the site, your account will be benched (suspended).
2) We manually review and approve new accounts on the site so if your account is benched, do not think you can just make a new account and return.
3) New accounts typically take 5-10 days to be approved. This helps weed out spammers, trolls from other teams and returning benched users.
4) Only about 30% of new accounts are approved. Yes, you read that right. It is very hard to get an account on CowboysZone. I never put this site online to be the most popular site. I put it online to give Cowboys fans a safe place to spend their time discussing the Cowboys. I do not care how many users we have nor do I care how many pageviews CowboysZone receives. I never have. My only priority is keeping this site free from trolls, spammers and drive-by advertising posts. Most of you have no idea how bad spammers attack forums these days and they are very aggressive at trying to gain access.
5) The staff does a lot of work for this site and most users never show any appreciation for it. The internet is filled with vile, disgusting, offensive and hateful discussions and yet our staff works endlessly to keep this site not only free of that but also as family-friendly as possible. It wouldn't hurt for everyone to think about that and let them know, even if it is only the ones you like, how much you appreciate the time and effort they put in to make this site a place where you enjoy spending your time each day.
Hopefully, this has helped to clear up some misunderstandings about how this site is run and what is expected of you as posters.
/reality