Welcome to Atheist Discussion, a new community created by former members of The Thinking Atheist forum.

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Forum organization
#1

Forum organization
Atheist Discussion Forum Organization

The Staff:

The 
Administrators manage the forum software and hosting services and have the final say over all forum policies and their implementation.  The current administrators are Aliza and Mathilda.

The 
Moderation Administrator leads the moderation team, has the option to restrict posting privileges of members that are violating rules, and may issue bans to users who violate the forum rules. Dom is the current moderation administrator.

The 
Moderators move, split, and merge threads as needed and to generally assist members and enforce the rules of the forum. Moderators also approve first posts by new members to ensure that they are people and not spambots.  Revenant77x and abaris are the forum moderators.


Forum Users:

The Registered Users of the general membership are the reason for the forum to exist.  They are asked to help the forum staff by using the “report” option to report potential problems before they get out of hand.  All reports are confidential. The staff also appreciates feedback and suggestions which can be made publicly in the appropriate forum section, privately through the Contact Us forum, or confidentially by sending a private message.  Note that the forum staff may communicate to members using the private message facility of the forum in order to advise them of potential rules violations or other issues.  If a member has placed any of the forum staff on ignore and does not see the warnings they do so at their own peril. Other user groups that operate like registered users but who are identified differently include former staff
former administrators, and newly registered users.


Users groups with restricted access of varying levels are as follows: Unregistered accounts are users who have not yet activated their account, the naughty list is for users who have repeatedly broken our rules, backup accounts are used with staff permission to assist in resetting passwords, and banned users
 are those users who no longer have access to view or post on the forum. 

The Fora:

Forum Information
 is an area for discussing the forum policies and day-to-day operations.  It is divided into a couple of general areas:

Rules and Information is an area for threads created by the staff explaining current forum policies and organization as decreed by the administrator.

Forum Comments and Suggestions is an area for members to post questions about the forum organization or make suggestions for new features or policy changes.  If you prefer to keep a suggestion private you can send a private message to any of the forum staff and it will be kept confidential.

General Discussion is the main area for discussing topics of interest.

Introductions allows new and returning members to tell the forum a little bit about themselves and to dip their toe into the waters.  Posts in this section are more heavily moderated and arguments or deep discussions will be moved to a more appropriate section of the forum.  This is just a place to get to know people.

Atheism & Theism is the place to talk about why you do or do not believe in the existence of a god and why others should accept your position.

Spirituality, Pseudoscience and Conspiracy Theories is for discussing beliefs that don’t directly involve whether or not there is a god.  If you want to talk about karma or crystals or ghosts or anything else not supported by mainstream science then this is the place.

World News, Politics and Current Events is where to go when you want to talk politics (the other subject that you’re not supposed to mention in polite company).

Science, Engineering and Mathematics is where to go to talk about technical subjects or recent discoveries or just to marvel at the universe we find around us.

Philosophy and Ethics is the right section if you want to get into the meaning of life or the nature of morality or just contemplate your toes.

Art & Literature is for discussion of, wait for it, art and literature.  If you want to talk movies or music then this is also the place.

History threads cover people, places, and events from the past.

The Colosseum is divided into sub-forums for Verbal Duels between two individuals with no posts from other members allowed, The Sewer where threads that have gotten unusually vitriolic are sent to keep them segregated from the main forum, and Commentary on Verbal Duels where members can chime in on the one-on-one debates.

Coffee House is a more relaxed section for casual conversations.

Off-topic is a catch-all for topics that don’t fit better anywhere else.  Want to talk about your day or ask for recommendations on buying something?  This is the place for you.

Gaming covers video games, board games, sports, and other fun activities and hobbies.

Mafia! is specifically designed for hosting "Mafia" games.  This section is moderated by the current game master and posting is restricted to players in an active game.  

Personal Issues and Support lets users ask for advice or help or just vent about their problems.  This section is very heavily moderated so if you don’t have something positive to contribute then you should take your comments to another section of the forum.

Leaving Religion allows members who are contemplating their beliefs or who are having trouble because of their loss of religion ask for advice.

General Support is a place to get advice and consolation on issues not related to leaving religion.

Contact Staff is a restricted section where you can discuss forum operations or concerns privately with the forum staff.  Threads that you make here are visible to you, the moderators, and the administrators but not to other members.  You can also use the Private Message function to contact one or more of the staff.

Privacy Policy:


Members should understand that all information posted in any of the forums is considered public and may be seen by all guests as well as other members.  Do not post information that you would prefer to keep private.

Information sent by using the “report” feature is visible to every member of the forum staff but will be kept confidential between them.  Members should be aware that the staff membership may change and new staff members may then be able to see previous reports.

Information sent using the private messaging facilities of the forum is considered private. The forum administrators and members of the server hosting service are technically able to see this information by directly accessing the database but are bound not to invade the privacy of any member intentionally and to respect the privacy of the information in all cases except where legally required to divulge it. 


Forum members are urged to keep all highly sensitive information off forum channels to prevent bad actors from viewing them through unauthorized means, such as hacking the database.


Show ContentPrevious structure in place from Sep 2018 - Feb 2021:

Edited by Aliza Mar 7, 2021
The following 2 users Like Mathilda's post:
  • KittyAnn, Dom
#2

Forum organization
Hear ye, hear ye, be it known that Pablo has joined the forum staff as a moderator.
The following 7 users Like unfogged's post:
  • Thumpalumpacus, Mathilda, Aliza, pablo, Smercury44, JDog554, mlmooney89
#3

Forum organization
@pablo has decided to resign his post to focus on other matters in his life. We wish him luck with his personal endeavors and hope to see him around the forum as often as he can swing by for a visit and a quick post. Smile

Thanks for your help, Pablo!
The following 3 users Like Aliza's post:
  • SYZ, pablo, mlmooney89
#4

Forum organization
As Aliza noted in another thread, @JDog554 has stepped down as moderator due to time commitments but is still active on the forum.
#5

Forum organization
FYI, Revenant77x has joined the forum staff as a moderator.
The following 7 users Like unfogged's post:
  • Smercury44, Thumpalumpacus, Finite Monkeys, Alan V, Joods, EvieTheAvocado, SYZ
#6

Forum organization
Updated forum structure on OP.
The following 2 users Like Aliza's post:
  • Dom, SYZ




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