Re: Do Moderators have the right to delete posts!
Faili,
I think the creation of
www.gt40s.com has been covered in other threads. It essentially came out of a discussion that I had with Hershal when I met him at Knott’s Farm (met him in Texas before that) and Robert (first time meeting him) during that same time period. All of us thought GT40s people needed a place to discuss GT40s, just like the Cobra folks. It was, and still is a good idea. Since I had moderated usenet text forums before there was an internet, and I had the skills needed to get something like this running, I decided to get this thing off the ground. So, I set out on my own and created a test forum using a free server and that forum can be found here:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/127426/
That forum existed about two months or so. After it was clear to me that a GT40s forum could thrive I bought the domain names, registered them on servers, bought some software and got it going. Since then it has gone through lots and lots of versions and packages to get where it is today and I do the work for free. Roaring Forties did not pay for the forum, own the forum, or anything else. Roaring Forties does not and will not get preferential treatment on the forum – they pay for their advertising and forum just like the other kind supporters. And, I don’t receive anything from Roaring Forties with one exception – in 2001 Robert did not have a very good website for Roaring Forties. In exchange for a set of pin drive wheels and adapters, I created a website for him (which still wasn’t that good but a lot better than the one he had). Using the Internet Wayback machine you can see it here, I’m sure some will remember it (a lot of graphics don’t work on the archives).
http://web.archive.org/web/20011130142342/http://www.roaringforties.com.au/
The only relationship that I have with Roaring Forties is that they have money from me to build and deliver a turnkey minus car to my specifications. The forum is free and clear of influence from manufacturers and members. I am friends with Hershal, Robert, and Jerry, sure, but I treat them as I do the other agents on the board and you’ll find I generally don’t enter into conversations about “which car is best” with the exception (and mistake) of posting on general market conditions on that ERA thread some weeks ago, which I’ll never do again (
http://www.gt40s.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/70759/an/0/page/0#70759).
I strongly believe the forum should be a place of free speech. I’ve been threatened three times on the forum - a racer tried to sue me over something someone said on the forum, a member tried to sue me for loss of money for some posts he made and wanted me to remove, and some bloke from Italy wanted to sue me because something was said about his character from some other chap located across the pond. In all of the cases I refused to budge and remove the posts. I removed a post some years ago, I can’t remember over what, but I remember it being a bad idea and something that I regretted. Since then the only posts that have been deleted are corruption issues with the threads, that joker that posted a ton of spam over a weekend, and one or two I personally have put up asking a questions that were for short term like the one I posted last week about information regarding military medals that my just then deceased uncle earned.
So, in short I don’t think moderators should be able to delete posts and I personally feel it is the wrong thing to do. I’ve corrected the error (my fault) that allowed moderators to delete posts. That is no longer possible for a moderator to do.
David, unfortunately unless the board is closed and posted deleted it is not possible to re-instate them. I don’t know when the posts got deleted since I didn’t see them, but I know the board was open all day thus they are gone. Again, I’m sorry for the problem but it will not happen again.
The forum is a wonderful thing that brings the opportunity for all of us to interact over something for which we share a passion. It has made the world smaller and brought like minded people closer together. I also think it has improved the GT40 industry and caused manufacturers to further perfect their product as well as offer a better product for the money. The forum also brings a transparency to the industry which is generally a good thing.
In these sorts of discussions I end up being the middle man, or administrator, but that is what I signed up to do. And I will do it, impartially, and objectively.
Best,
Ron
