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So many things went wrong there that never had to happen, if they'd only been open and worked with us from the start (I find it interesting that they're talking about "open dialog" over there now, when it's not something they've been willing to do prior to this).
We've been trying to work with them since the day they bought the forum (I can't recall what month that was last year...can you, Breandán or Bríd? I know it was some time before ILF was formed in August, but I can't remember how long we attempted to work with them before coming to the conclusion that the only way we could have a hope of preserving the community was by providing an alternate, ad-free, site). When we pointed out to our contact that the daily post count had dropped alarmingly, we were accused of over-stating our case because the forum was still getting a large number of hits (they don't seem to realize that what keeps a forum going isn't people who surf in and surf right back out, but people who stick around to ask questions and to learn something).
When I mentioned that pop-up I was getting (the full-screen one that proclaimed "you've won an iPad"), the rep flat didn't believe me, and kept insisting that the site was set up for pop-unders only. That pop-up eventually disappeared, but he never followed up by admitting it had been there, or by asking if I was still seeing it. It came back, too...along with all the pop-unders...during the week preceding the appearance of the leprechaun banner.
We actually made the suggestions that eventually became demands way back in July or August, I think (I know it was before ILF was created): i.e., that they filter the ads to remove the ones for auto-translators, that they consider limiting ads to products and service that are relevant to the kind of people who would visit an Irish translation site (perhaps to ads promoting Irish tourism, Irish courses, Irish-themed movies and books, for example), that they set a post count at which regulars would no longer see ads, that they work with us to determine what would keep the site thriving and still allow them to make money on their investment in it, etc. Apparently our contact never saw fit to share any of that with his supervisors.
We complained about the leprechaun banner on the day it was launched, February 28. Our contact never did believe us when we said it couldn't be closed. He promised to look into it, then apparently took off on vacation without even bothering to inform us he was doing so. The only change that was made to the banner was to replace the leprechaun with a four-leaved clover. We've had nothing but deafening silence on the issue since February 29, which is why we felt we needed to take more drastic action, especially with St. Patrick's Day coming up. The way the "admin" there is talking, you'd think we just flew off on a hissy fit out of the blue, without trying to "work with them, and that quite simply isn't true. We've been trying to "work with them" for months, but they clearly weren't interested in working with us.
I personally offered to work with them on modifying the banner to something less objectionable and more in-line with IGTF's appearance and tone when I learned that it would be sending subscribers IGTF translations (though I did express reservations about the concept, and asked how translations would be "vetted" for accuracy). I received no reply to that message (not even a "I'm out of the office until X/X/XXXX" autoreply!)
When Eoin sold the forum, it was his belief that it would continue to be run as he ran it, i.e., with no ads for registered users. He was also under the impression that one of the moderators would be given some administrative function, as there are some tasks that can only be done by an admin (for example, creating new moderators and mini-mods), and the company that bought it wasn't interested in becoming involved in the day-to-day running of the forum (that never happened).
We believe in open and honest communication, and felt that we had a responsibility to let the forum community know what was going on, and that the forum was no longer being moderated. As Breandán said, they (the owners) apparently don't know what forum moderation means.
I don't know how it happened that Scooby got his moderator powers back after we were banned. He resigned as moderator some time ago. My guess is that they found the old "team" list at the forum that apparently was never updated (and it is an old one...it lists mhwombat and Benjamin as moderators or mini-mods as well as Scooby) and just reinstated their moderator status. Now, of course, they're accusing "the moderators" (which, until yesterday, only included me, Breandán, Bríd, and Tim) of "abusing our moderator status by inappropriately locking and editing posts," when, in fact, that was done by someone THEY made a moderator (apparently without even bothering to ask him if he was interested in the job!). Only an admin can make a mod, and we didn't have that power.
It's interesting that they accuse us of not allowing "open dialog" when they've made that impossible by locking us out of the forum. We've been very open with the forum community about our concerns and our actions from the beginning...it's the owners who haven't been interested in "dialog."
I don't mind being banned, really, but it infuriates me to be lied about with no opportunity to speak in my own defense.
Redwolf
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Nope, I think you might just be stuck with me for another while. 