How do I ask the moderators a question

[MadameButterfly]

about something I don't understand on DU?

[highplainsdem]

1. There are no moderators. There are two admins, and EarlG usually answers questions.

And DUers who've been here a while can often help.

What's the question?

There are forum hosts, but they have few moderator powers.

[MadameButterfly]

2. I want to learn the best place to post OPs

I've only posted 4, but the first 2 showed up under "most rec'd" under the "Greatest Discussion" when they got a lot of recs. The last two haven't and I don't know why. I have a current OP that has 72 recs but isn't showing up there. I posted it under General Discussions. Should I have posted it under Greatest Discussions? I didn't want to assume my OP belonged there unless the response landed it there.

I tend to have a lot of questions just about the tech side of DU and I learn by trial and error. i imagined there would be some instructions somewhere so people looking for more exciting topics wouldn't have to slog through this.

But I appreciate your help.

[highplainsdem]

4. Greatest Discussions isn't a forum you can post in. It's the page that collects threads with at least 5

recommendations in tha last 24 hours. You'll see that tab on the top of the page, after Home and Latest.

This is the direct link for the Greatest page

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=greatest_threads

and this is the direct link for Latest:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=latest_threads

Your OP with 70+ recs was more than 24 hours old

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221036318

so it's no longer on the Greatest page.

[MadameButterfly]

5. Thanks!!!!!

[MadameButterfly]

3. Also, if I wanted to ask EarlG a question

how would I do that

[highplainsdem]

6. You can just email him. But he doesn't always have time to answer. In which case I suppose you can

try emailing again.

I've run sites before, and it isn't at all unusual for admins to get dozens or more emails a day.

Same for mods, if they're active moderators. (I've been both mod and admin in other forums, not DU, though I'm a host here, in Music Appreciation.)

DU used to have moderators, long ago, but they were replaced by the jury system.

[MadameButterfly]

7. And to find his email?

[progree]

9. See the "contact" link at the bottom of every DU page

Also for anyone's DU mail, click the "My DU" tab on the top rhs and click on "Member Lookup"

Once you find the person's profile and click on that, there will be a "Send DU Mail" button

He is extremely very busy...

[highplainsdem]

10. To email him - send DU mail - while you're logged in, click on his name anywhere on the board (you

can always find it right away with the pinned threads in this forum.and all the threads in Announcements). Clicking on his name will open his profile page and you'll see the link to send him DU mail.

If you aren't logged in to DU, for any reason can't log in, you can use the email address you'll find clicking on the Contact link at the bottom of every page.

[progree]

8. Forum hosts have the power to lock threads and to ban members from their forum

Most use these powers very sparingly or not at all, but some use them, sometimes with people they have personal disagreements with.

ETA - There's one forum I sometimes post in with an authoritarian host, and it pisses me off that I have to walk on eggshells. /ETA

There are forum hosts, but they have few moderator powers.