Nigel Metheringham wrote:
> I am proposing to change the list moderation handling - of course the
> people this *won't* affect are those here, since a list subscriber
> will not normally get their messages moderated.
>
> Currently each message that gets put in the moderation queue by
> mailman generates a moderation message to the moderators (thats
> basically just me at the moment). That means I get a personal copy
> of each spam that hits the list - not a small number of messages per
> day. It also means that, during my online hours (basically UK
> working hours) I tend to respond fairly quickly to legitimate
> messages that get moderated (very few per day).
>
> I am intending to change this so that I no longer get immediate
> moderation notification, or immediate notification of membership
> status changes (mostly due to bounces). Instead I will purely work
> on the daily status reports (I may change these to twice per day).
>
> At present the majority of my incoming spam load (that avoids the
> basic filters) is stuff from mailing list moderations. This is
> taking up my time and probably meaning I miss some stuff in the mess.
>
> However the downside of this change is that it may take longer for
> non-subscriber messages to get through to the list.
>
> I am not at present planning to move to the far more drastic method
> of just bouncing mail from non-subscribers - which would break our
> long standing policy of being open to non-member queries.
>
> Comments (to the list) welcome.
>
> Nigel.
Now and then I get the wrong outbound selected in my MUA and get one of these
bounces - hasten to the web-page and 'cancel', then repost with the subscribed
address. I, too have been a moderator-slave.
Given the neatness of that method, the fact that the 'arrivee' *has* an email
account, the ease and low-cost (!) of subscribing, availability of online
archives which can easily be searched, I would suggest a few things that could
perhaps reduce the drudge work further:
1) Add a greatly enhanced 'where and how to subscribe' to both the non-member
bounce and the web-page it takes one to. Two jobs, one-time each.
2) Couple that with a caveat/incentive ' ...messages from non-members are
ordinarily reviewed within [ 48 | 72 | ? ] hours...' IOW - sugest that it may be
faster to subscribe than wait, and make it so. Those who begrudge the traffic
can as easily 'unsubscribe' later...
3) Recruit a few helper-moderators, preferably in different time-zones [1]. Same
notices propagate to each, first one who notices, actions. Only the obviously
'controversial' ones need delayed or discussed. Very few, I would surmise.
Meanwhile - thanks for all the work you put into providing a very valuable resource!
Best,
Bill
[1] Hong Kong/Asia October-May - US/Europe June-September for me.
