Subsequent to the many changes on CC--format, mods, etc.--I keep noticing oodles of "moved" threads and threads being placed in "private holding areas" (which usually translates into something being locked or deleted).

I'm putting in my 2 cents to say that I don't really like the new format and that I find long list of "moved" threads not conducive to productive forum browsing or posting.  I also come away with the feeling that the "private holding area" threads reflect a form of censorship that's looking very heavy handed.

I know that I'm seeing less traffic on the site and fewer responses to threads.  I think that this is a direct function of the recent changes--they're discouraging.

Case in point is that I posted info on The Art of the Cake show here in Cleveland for Jan. 2013.  When the show was subsequently cancelled, I posted that as well, along with an explanation and some admonitions.  The thread is now in a "private holding area", along with a lot of other threads about shows and classes--WTH????

Everyone like a clean and tidy site that's easy to use, but I'm finding the current CC being "sanitized" and clunky.

JMHO

Rae

I know a lot of people have gotten fed up with CC lately because I am a "recent post" browser, and always have been. A couple years ago I could log on, skim through the recent posts, and if I didn't see anything I wanted to read, I could hit refresh and have another list to choose from, maybe the last 4 or 5 would be in the same order as the first time, but there would be 20-30 new threads or new posts every 2 minutes. Now, I can log on in the morning, and the same threads as old as 24 hours are just sitting there halfway up the list. I have seen threads with 3 day old posts sitting on the front page of the recent posts list.

Obviously people are leaving in droves, and not just not posting because you could watch the "number of views" grow like crazy after you posted a new thread. Hit refresh every 20 seconds and it would go up a dozen or more each time. You could get a response in less than a minute, only the newest posts wouldn't have a comment. 

Also, there are a ton less experienced cakers on here and hundreds of newbies. I love newbies, but the dozen or so of us old timers can't answer the dozens of questions asked in every thread, and in the comments of most of the really nice pictures.

You see "tutorial please!" and "is there a tutorial?" all over the place, and less people knowing how to do the technique in question. 

A/agree & am saddened.

How to we get everyone to return?

There is at least one moderator who has been moving old-format posts about classes--FYI those were NOT moved by the thread starters. That same moderator has also been deleting similar posts in the new format.  And editing CAPS out of other peoples posts for no apparent reason at all.

I posted a response to this crap last weekend.  When third parties are posting class information, I don't see how that counts as "advertising in the body of the message" which is the excuse provided for this activity.

This same moderator has deleted several of my posts that used baking terms.

So I have deleted a lot of my business advice posts, and I do not plan to tolerate any more bull**** from moderators who prove themselves in writing to be profoundly ignorant of the technical aspects of baking or food safety.

AI've only been around for a few years but I haven't noticed much of a decrease in activity, there is usually a new post at least every few minutes or so. What I have noticed is that there have been fewer off-topic back-and-forth arguments in the past year or so since a few vocal members have either been reigned in or left the community.

Re moderation: in general it's an improvement actually having active moderators, but it may take some time for the mods to get the hang of managing a community with relative transparency, especially if they are new to moderating. Impartiality (or at least the appearance of such) and professionalism are the most important traits of a moderation team, IMO that's something they need to work on.

The new website has some automatic systems which try to catch spamming.  That may be why you are seeing more threads moved to the private holding area.   Any thread it thinks might be spam is held for moderator review.  The forum moderators will reopen any threads that aren't spam.

AArgument happening right now on another thread, lol!

Well, the threads that I found in "private holding area" had actually been up and running for weeks to months, most posted by "known" members,  so I don't think a program just happened to catch them a few days ago and sequester them.  No matter, I still don't like it.

As for the more "active mods", a true moderator is not expected to be active in a discussions.  They should be silent observers and although re-direction may at times be appropriate, they really shouldn't be participating in the discussions by members.  I have seen threads in which members were openly admonished in the thread--WRONG.  That should only be done in a PM.  I've recently witnessed a heavy handedness that I feel discourages member discussion.  I think that if a mod wants to participate in the discussion, then they should have a separate screen name that doesn't SCREAM MODERATOR.

I'm a member of an active cruise forum.  People "argue" all the time and I can tell you that it's the rare thread that gets locked or blocked.

If there are fewer arguments (and fewer posts), it's because the current state of the forums is the least welcoming it's ever been.............

Rae

A

100% agreed. This is how most forums handle moderation.

The Private Holding area is just that, A private area where mods can move threads/posts temporarily while being moderated.

The moderators are all putting in a lot of time and effort to keep the forums organized.

Our moderators are real people, mostly cake decorators and are very much a part of the cake community worldwide. These people are generous, kind and do their best to uphold the guidelines put forth by myself, as well as continuing to be a part of this community and post their own photos in the galleries, and give out cake decorating advice in the forums.

I will not stand for any bashing these wonderful people. We all won't always agree, and certainly sometimes mistakes are made, but the cakecentral.com moderators are always willing to help.

I also wanted to add.. Most of the complaints about threads that were moved into the Private Holding Area were regarding Events/Classes/Other Promotions

There has been some confusion by moderators and cc members as to why there is an events forum, but some paid events were being moved. And yes, this was confusing and frustrating for a lot of people. Years ago we spelled out very clear rules that no one could post events/classes/promotions that were paid events as at the time years ago.. the system was being abused and started getting out of control.  This rule however, is outdated and we are always working to update our policies to keep up with changing technology.  One of the things we have been working on (and are really excited about) is a more organized area of the site for events and classes. In the meantime, there is still the outdated Events Forum, which is still tied to the old rule-set, which is still confusing, and we hope to have replaced in the very near future.