1. (State of OD)
While it could definitely improve as far as more in depth and interesting discussion as opposed to the how high am I going to get threads, I feel as though recently members and mods have made an effort to keep OD more in control so to speak. When there were basically no active mods a few months ago it went a bit haywire as threads completely against standards would remain up for days (thereby encouraging more of them). But I think @znegative has done a great job reining in the off topic and "out there" type posts by either closing or redirecting them. And I'm sure the new mods will continue that, having seen their quality posts. So I think, definitely on the upswing
2. (Raising bar for new posts)
I don't think you really need to "raise the bar" per se. I think redirecting posts more suitable to Drug Culture and BDD helps people realize "hey we have forums for those types of posts" rather than just sticking everything in OD. For some reason new people who get in the mobile app seem to say they can't navigate well( I can't speak to that as I hate the mobile app). On THAT topic though--posters on mobile app can't post in OD because when it asks for a prefix the drop-down box that shows on desktop app * does not * show on mobile. That makes people have to post in homeless, and a mod has to move it, and I think fixing that problem would save time and frustration all the way around
On the new thread subject I do have one other pet peeve. If we are going to tell people to UTFSE instead of making a new thread, then we shouldn't close the thread when the person does use the search engine, finds an appropriate thread and posts his question in it. You can't have it both ways. If someone has a question they either need to make a new thread or attach it to an existing one. But it must be frustrating to find an appropriate thread and post then have it closed because it's an old thread. To be fair this went on much more last year or two, but I still want to mention it as the irony always annoys me. (And I understand closing old threads pointlessly revived, such as when someone gives advice to someone who was going thru withdrawal 4 years ago lol. I am not referring to those)
3. (Answering threads against rules before mod closes)
Well, sometimes it's human nature, if you know the answer to say it. This mostly happens with urine test questions... "....this question isn't really allowed, but no you won't test positive for fentanyl on a dip test..."
I guess if that really bothers you, you can strictly enforce warnings and such to those answering, but I wouldn't recommend it. In fact, if there is a particular type of question that people do keep answering before its closed, perhaps OD should revisit the suitability of such threads. Now, if it's a sourcing question and posters are giving out specific info or something, yeah, that definitely shouldn't be ok.
I don't really find anything wrong with it currently especially as now we have mods who will see the questions and close them whereas a few months ago the questions would sit open for days
4 (awareness to OD posting standards)
I kind of answered this already--I think by redirecting such threads to appropriate forum and stating why, others will realize "oh, that's a Drug Culture question ". Mods will have to be proactive on it--but like I said since znegative started doing that we are seeing less of the "I'm really high today" threads.
I would caution about being too rigid. If someone is asking about a substance and what it does and is it recreational, that is different to me than asking "can I get f*cked up on this if I take X mg". One seeks to expand knowledge that may benefit the forum; the other just wanted to get f*cked up.
Perhaps green lighters could have a pop up screen with posting standards show up for first 10-15 posts in OD. Oh and if you implement that--put in upper case letters "no SWIM".
5. (Rule violations mostly by greenlighters)
Above mentioned popup box would help. Gently telling them also helps. No need to be nasty or rude, everyone was new somewhere at sometime and you don't want to chase them away from seeking help. Most often they just don't know because let's face it, no one or almost no one-reads a whole page of rules before they get to asking their question. So maybe--a very short page with the most important rules to have to click on before first posts?
6. (Something like thread I want to see)
No, I pretty much start whatever I have questions on.
7. (Dangerous stamps thread)
Absolutely. If someone has that knowledge passing it on could save lives.
8. (Should I ab/use benzos thread)
Well, is that meant to be like the "should I try heroin thread?" That one was necessary as someone would post almost daily "should I try h" and of course got mostly the same answers. That became repetitive. I don't see that so much with benzos. But, a thread on what the side effects and issues with dependency isn't a bad idea. Although--I thought the mega-thread had that?
I'm not against it if others feel it's necessary. I do feel stickies are often skipped. You need something eye-catching on them--change in color, font, something every once in a while to catch people's eye
9. (Any other ideas)
A link at top or bottom of page or a sticky so people can switch to desktop/mobile view. I am aware there is one in support, but others may not be. And as it currently stands one cannot start a post in OD from mobile due to the drop down box for prefix that doesn't show on mobile. And on that link maybe something saying "can't start a post? Switch to desktop" until someone figures out how to fix that. I know it was brought up ages ago, and still seems to be a problem.
Implementing software that auto-blocks out "SWIM" like some forums have for profanity. V-bulletin can be set to do it for profanity how about SWIM. Lol. Just joking, sort of ...
-------
All in all I think OD's issues are fairly minor and having active mods takes care of most problems already. But I also think a survey like this should maybe be a yearly thing, as input from members only helps to make it an even better place!
