Why threads are locked?? (Kind Attn: Moderators)

[Former Member]

Dear Moderators,

I am quite surprised to note that the below thread is locked by Moderator (Mr. Virendra Pal)

/thread/1980407 [original link is broken]

Before I proceed, here is a quote from the Rules of Engagement (Link for which can be obtained from Mr. Nathan's first thread in this forum)

Section: Step 1: Finding An Answer

if you have not looked for SAP Notes you should make the readers aware of this. Many SDNers are very helpful and will even search for SAP Notes for you if you don't have that possibility yourself, but many will assume that you have already searched for SAP Notes.

From the above it is very clear that there is no violation of rules nor is there any gag so to say that the people responding are not to provide the note details. It clearly states some SDNers are very helpful so I believe Mr. Gokul & myself classify in that category as we provided the note details.

So if the moderators now think it is a violation, just remove the points (anyway my motivation is not that, so doesn't hurt), but why lock the thread n prevent the forum from knowing how the issue was resolved? Also update the rules of engagement n make it clear, why give misleading information in the rules of engagement?

I leave it to the wisdom of the moderators to do the needful.

Regards,

Vivek

[Former Member]

I have been confronted by these sorts of situations often in the past years. Mostly they are clear cut and the OP is behaving like an argumentative clown.

However there is also a lot of space for grey area and moderators also get "streetwise" after a while. For example if this above thread had been asked in the basis forums it would probably have been locked as well because asking someone else to give you OSS note information is a clasic indicator of a hijacked license without support, but still expecting it from SCN. Of course then will be locked. In the ABAP forums it would have raised eyebrows as well but probably have been watched for a while (perhaps the ERP mods already did that as Virindra mentioned that Nathan had already had some run in with the OP or the contributors?).

As far as "how to do the customizing" type questions is concerned, I guess it is an indication that the person might not have formal training nor a ligitimate customer S-account they are working on. Also grey area ... but often I watch the thread and / or the user for a while before taking action.

Answering very basic questions (and ponits gaming in general) belittles the efforts of the moderators to improve the forum quality. For sure I also watch those who rush in to answer any old interview question series with links and am generally stricter with them than with others who enjoy a challenging question (or one which develops into one thanks to their contributions).

It is very difficult to make perfect judgemet calls all the time. In this case perhaps it makes sense for the moderator to contact the person who asked the question and find out what the reason behind this is, and based on that leave it locked or alternately unlock it to continue the discussion.

My 2 cents,

Julius

[virendra_pal]

Hi Vivek

If you read Nathan's note it clearly states that the original poster should have stated that he/ she has searched for notes and could not find. If then you guys went ahead and helped that would be fine.

It seems that people are not trying to find an answer first - just post it for others to so the work for them - that is not a very professional approach.

Regards

Virendra

[Former Member]

@ Virendra: At the outset I must admit of all the forums which I actively visit, PS forum is by far leagues ahead in terms of its moderation and quality of threads (As a lot of them do search before posting a query). A large part of that credit must go to you & Mr. Nathan (not sure if there are others who moderate the PS forum) in ensuring the query posted serves to add value not just for the person posting, but also for the person responding.

Having said that in this case I believe locking the thread was not required, as the person posting dint ask anyone to provide OSS notes (nor are we sure that he / she did not make an effort to search the notes). So if the rule is violated with the posting of OSS notes, then it would have been enough if my posting was removed. But by locking the thread the person posting the query has been deprived of receiving any further help.

@Julius: Agree with most part of what you've said. Neither do I subscribe to the idea of spoon feeding when the person posting has not made any effort whatsoever to obtain the information. But for this case I chose to highlight because the person posting appears to be a newbie in SAP forums, clearly states that he / she had searched & could not find a suitable posting on this.

My point to both of you and to anyone who is interested in this discussion, the rule of engagement clearly says people responding can respond by providing relevant OSS notes if the person posting the query themselves have not looked for it, implying no violation of rules. I agree if the person posting has put in no effort and expects spoon feeding then it would require locking, but definitely not in this case.

[Lakshmipathi]

I usually recommend members to provide the OSS note number and not the explanation itself (copy paste) detailed in that note. With that note number, the person who have posted, should go and take the inputs from service market place.

thanks

G. Lakshmipathi

[Former Member]

@ Lakshmipathi: Thanks for your views.

In the case which I highlight, the person posting the query is penalized despite following the rules of engagement. Maybe that's how things work.

[ThomasZloch]

Well spotted, I think that this section of the RoE is pretty weak, it almost invites people to outsource their research for applicable notes to the community. I will suggest a change in that area.

Thomas

[matt]

Vivek has reported this post with the comment:

In PS forum threads are locked if a OSS note nos. is provided. In PP forum is it allowed to paste details from a Note? How come 2 standards? You may refer to my posting which has been moved to Coffee corner forum on this topic.

Each forum has different moderators. Moderation is an art, not a science. If there is a list of rules spelled out, you get people complaining that they're working within the letter of the rules - when they're not keeping to the spirit. If you don't have a comprehensive list, people complain about inconsistency. You can't win.

I prefer allowing flexibility. The number of moderated posts in contrast to the number that are posted every day is tiny. I really don't care if the different moderators in different forums apply the rules differently. I don't think it matters. The basic rule I apply is "Does this post harm or benefit the community as a whole". That might well mean that you were within the Rules of Engagement and get moderated anyway. For example, in ABAP General, date questions are shot on sight. You won't see anything about that in the RoE.

You've also failed to take into account that the moderators cannot possibly read every post and we rely on community minded members to report posts they think break the rules or spirit of the forums.

Edited by: Matt on Jun 29, 2011 8:16 AM