Suggestions: How to bring vBulletin.org back to what it was before...

[Brad]

People want it both ways... Many of you want the staff expressing their personal opinions here, which is not really a bad thing as long as everyone conducts themselves like adults. The problem comes into play when you start tearing their posts down bit by bit, and telling them they do not deserve a position on the staff. This does nothing but drive them away from your points, they don't have to put up with this if they don't want to, rest assured no one is over there forcing them to press F5 all day.

I don't think any of you really realize how stressful it is for the staff members here. Think about it, how would you like to wake up to this mess everyday? Would you enjoy waking up in the middle of the night because you're worried about the drama going on in this forum? I know these are some of the things I did, and I'm sure other staff members (past and present) know exactly what I am trying to get at here.

Be respectful to your peers (staff, and fellow users). A polite "While I disagree with your points, I can respect them. Here is why I think they are incorrect" goes a long way in getting your opinion noticed in the staff forums. Really there is more to it than that, it shows respect...and I'm not talking about respecting someone because they are staff. I'm talking about respecting them because they are just like you: human.

Treat people how you want to be treated, and you'll find things will start to improve. Realize that this site is not about coders, or users, or staff, or the elite. It's about coming together and doing things that benefit the greater good. It's about learning from your peers, and passing on what you learned to others.

There will never be a time when you agree with everything that goes on here. This is just a fact of life, you just have to accept that while you may not think something belongs here, many others may not share this opinion. By all means express your opinion here, but please try to do it in a polite way.

Above all remember, this is not some school yard where you have to yell to get noticed. This is a community, for message board admins, who are looking to improve their communities and share knowledge with one another. Without places like this vBulletin would not be what it is today, hell the internet as a whole might not even exist, at least not in the form we see it in today.

It's always good to get ideas from both sides of an issue, this is the only way to find some sort of common ground. But you have to learn to work together even when you do not agree with each other. If you do not learn how to do this you will start to ignore some of your peers as time goes on, and that means you're not seeing the whole story.