Moderator FAQ
From MemberPlugin
What is it?
Is this like the Message Maker?
It's similar. It provides the same function as the Message Maker (and more), but built into your members' browsers - so they don't have to go to a special page, just to Yahoo's normal post page.
By opting in, am I opting in or out of My Freecycle too?
Neither, they're completely separate.
Whether or not your members can use My Freecycle depends on whether you're opted in to My Freecycle.
If you are, then they can use My Freecycle to post, or this plugin, or email, or the Message Maker if you have one - whichever they find most convenient.
So how does it relate to My Freecycle?
My Freecycle is only relevant to Freecycle groups, not to Freegle groups.
It has a number of potential advantages over Yahoo groups.
- It's a dedicated website, so it can be customised to Freecycle and provide function that simply isn't possible within Yahoo.
- Revenue from advertisements goes directly to Freecycle rather than Yahoo.
On the other hand, there are potential disadvantages.
- It's another web site for members to register with and get to grips with.
- Some Freecycle groups may not want to use My Freecycle, either because they feel as a Beta site its not yet ready for public use, or because they are uncomfortable with a centralised website.
- It's only for groups within The Freecycle Network, not for Freegle or ther similar groups that aren't part of TFN.
The point of these plugins is to provide members with more choice. If they want to use the posting interface that My Freecycle provides, on groups supported on My Freecycle, then that's fine. If they or their group owners prefer to stick with Yahoo but would like to add more Freegle-specific or Freecycle-specific function, then these plugins can help do that. If they want to do neither, but stick with Yahoo's traditional posting interface, or use groups via email alone, then that's fine too.
Will it affect my moderation plugin?
Nope, they don't affect your moderation plugin. For two reasons:
- The IE version is completely separate, because your moderation plugin is in FF.
- The FF version operates on the Post page, which the moderation plugin doesn't touch at all, and it doesn't do anything on pages which the moderation plugin does do stuff on.
So they're separate - you can run them quite happily in the same copy of FF. I do that.
Is it open source?
It's not got any license restrictions, but it's not exposed on any of the standard open source websites. If you want to see the source, then:
- For Firefox, dig around in the Firefox profile directory - it's in there.
- For IE, it's visible at https://secure.modplugin.org/svn/MemberPlugin/
I'm sure there's lots of ways the code could be improved, particularly the string handling, which is wretched.
Installation and Configuration
Why do I have to opt-in and configure things - can't it just always work?
We don't want to opt groups in by default, because that's not fair to group owners who've never heard of this plugin, and who might get questions from their members about it. By asking you to opt in, we're offering groups new function rather than forcing it upon them - and people always prefer that.
If I install this, will my members all automatically see it?
No, they have to install it themselves. Even if you wanted this, it's not possible.
Do I need to tell my members about updates?
No - the plugins will tell them when new versions are available. See What you'll see#Getting_Updates.
Can I share configuration with My Freecycle?
Maybe. At the moment this plugin has more features than the My Freecycle message maker does. If you're only interested in changing features which MF supports, then you can make your changes on MF and then point the member plugin at MF (see Advanced Configuration).
But if you want to use features which MF doesn't support, then you can't do that - you have to configure the plugin, and then configure MF as closely as you can to what the plugin supports.
How do I configure worry words?
When you configure worry words (e.g. using the editor), it works like this.
- You get 10 slots.
- Each slot contains:
- A word. This is what it looks for in the post.
- A warning. This is what the member sees in a popup if they create a post with the word.
- You can specify multiple equivalent words which you'd like to share the same message by separating them with a | symbol, e.g. lend|borrow.
Remember that the member might not be doing something wrong.
- For example, you might configure the plugin to warn about the word "buy", but a member might say "I can't afford to buy...", which is fine.
- So it's a good idea to make your warning messages say things like "appears to" or "seems to", to allow for the possibility of false matches.
- This is why the plugin lets the member continue and submit the message without changing it, if they really want to.
How do I configure a map?
See Configuring a Map.
Where is it available?
Is it available just in the UK?
No, any group can use it.
Do I need Yahoo's permission?
No. Your members can just install it.
Does it violate Yahoo's TOS?
No - it doesn't retransmit any "content" in Yahoo's terms to any third party, or republish it. It just sits on your members' machines and helps them.
Do my members need broadband?
No. You might have used the Firefox moderation plugin, and that makes so many requests that realistically it's hard to run on dialup. But this should work fine.
Is it just for Freegle groups?
No, other groups such as Freecycle can use it too.
This next bit will be changing shortly.
By default it has Freecycle in the name, and in the footer it inserts, so your members will see that. But you can change that using the configuration editor - see Creating Your Own Configuration and How to Edit the Configuration File.
It will always show up with Freecycle in the name of the Firefox extension / Internet Explorer BHO, though. That's too hard to change.
Why does it do anything at all on non-Freegle groups?
You'll see that it says groups do not use the plugin. Why does it even say that? Remember that some groups don't have Freegle in the name, and this plugin works with non-Freegle groups like Freecycle too. So there's no way just from the name of the group to distinguish between:
- a Freegle group which hasn't opted to use the plugin
- a group which is nothing to do with recycling.
All it can do is check whether the group has opted in or not, and then discreetly say so.
Can I have more function?
Can I have moderation features too?
No, I'm afraid not. The Firefox moderation extension has features to help with moderating, but the development environment for Internet Explorer is so painful that I can't offer to maintain two parallel moderator tools.
Where are all the options, like on the Moderation extension?
There aren't any options that members can change. This is deliberate.
- This is not supposed to be a complicated extension with lots of function you can configure to make it behave in different ways. That would confuse members, who wouldn't know which options they needed or how to configure them (not because they're stupid, but because they have more important things in their lives).
- In any case, the point of this extension is to help members follow the group rules. So that means gently guiding them towards something, not giving them lots of choices about how to do something differently.
But though users of the plugins (typically members) can't configure how it behaves, you can, as a moderator, configure how the plugin should behave - what text it should show, and so on. See More Advanced Configuration.
Can you make it do this for me?
Maybe. Check the Wishlist first, then mail the group and suggest it.
Why does it do...?
Why does it have the FOP* tag in the subject?
My Freecycle has a bug, which means that although you've not checked the box for including the FOP* tag in the subject line, the Message Maker preferences file which it creates has that turned on.
I've reported that to Richard, so hopefully it'll be fixed soon.
How long does it take before changes to the preferences are used by members?
Upto 24 hours, but you can force it by moving your mouse over (but not clicking) the Disable. More details in Preference Caching.
Problems
Why doesn't it work on my group?
You need to check that you've configured it right. First, go to the Post page, and move your mouse over the line that says that the group doesn't use the plugin. You'll see an explanation of why it's not working.
If you've just opted your group in, click on the link to make the plugin double-check; this avoids waiting the usual 24 hours to spot configuration changes.
Other things to check:
- Check that you've used precisely the same case as the wiki has for everything - for example, don't use "memprefs" instead of "MemPrefs".
- Copy and paste URLs rather than typing them in.
- If you're hosting the configuration elsewhere, check it's accessible from other machines than yours.
