Discussion replies get stuck in limbo for hours before becoming visible

[Michael Lowry]

I've seen this a few times over the past few months, and this morning @Joel Wiesmann reported that he has seen the same thing.

Occasionally, when I post a reply to an existing discussion, the reply appears to be accepted, but it does not appear immediately in the thread.​ Sometimes it will appear hours later, usually after I have already rewritten and successfully posted the reply I wanted to post originally. This results in lots of needless extra effort, and duplication of replies in discussion threads.

[Jason McClellan]

@Michael Lowry  @Joel Wiesmann-  we have created a document explaining why some posts hit moderation even after their first post has been validated.   One of the issues with the vendor platform is that when a post is flagged the offending word is not highlighted so the moderator has no idea why the post was flagged.  We have a product enhancement idea opened with the vendor to allow us to evolve our filter list removing words that are catching posts when they should not.   Most of the time, I see technical posts caught in the filter.

Lastly,  moderators work all hours depending on the product community.   I check posts in the AM and at the end of the day to catch posts that our main admins and moderators may have missed.    Also, posts created late on Friday afternoon or evening are not moderated until Monday.  Again it depends on the team.

Thx ~jm​​

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Thank you
Jason
Broadcom Community Platform Admin, IT
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[Michael Lowry]

Is the author given any indication when a post is in moderation limbo?
Ping @Jason McClellan

[Jason McClellan]

@Michael Lowry  in both scenarios where a user's post is sent to moderation there is a message posted on the page in the green banner.   It might be better as a popup so the user reacts to it.   

First Post Message

After the users, first posts, the watch words filter can be triggered, with this test post it was and here is the message to the user in green.

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Thank you
Jason
Broadcom Community Platform Admin, IT
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[Michael Lowry]

It would be preferable if the user saw his posts that were awaiting moderation, with a banner indicating that the post is awaiting moderation and thus not yet visible. It would also be preferable if the reason the post triggered moderation were disclosed.

[Michael Lowry]

The poor implementation of the moderation feature is leading to duplicate posts.

E.g., How to get the alias name of the parrent?

[Jason McClellan]

@Michael Lowry  - we are working on improving moderation for both stopping the onslaught of SPAM and making it easier for confirmed users who have a history to post faster.   That being said, behind moderation are people, and during the holidays, we are human, and there may be delays.   Thx ~jm​

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Thank you
Jason
Broadcom Community Platform Admin, IT
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[Michael Lowry]

I got hit by the poorly implemented moderation mechanism again today.

Last night I posted a new discussion, and this morning I wanted to make an edit to the thread so I went to the forum and tried to find it. It was nowhere to be seen, so I thought perhaps there had been a problem posting it. I always edit posts in an external editor, so I still had the original text. I posted the thread again with the intended edits. That's when I saw the little green warning.

Thank you for submitting your message. It should be reviewed and posted shortly. 

This was the first time I understood why the original post had not appeared. I must not have seen the banner when it appeared yesterday. The banner appears for only a few seconds, and if you're not paying attention, it's easy to miss. There's also no way to see or edit posts waiting for moderation. 

It's possible that the post was flagged for moderation because it contains the word Broadcom.

[Jason McClellan]

@Michael Lowry - your post was flagged by our watchwords filter by accident.   We've seen technical posts flagged for no apparent reason before and tried to release them quickly.   We continue to evolve our filter list to stop SPAM, but sometimes it catches valid posts.   Nothing is perfect.     

The moderation banner flashes on the screen if it is your first post, for if you post, hit the SPAM Watch words filter.  It's been in use from day one.

As for moderation, as I mentioned before, we have global moderators, and Monday, Feb 21st, was a holiday that could cause a moderation delay. 

Jason

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Thank you
Jason
Broadcom Community Platform Admin, IT
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[Jason McClellan]

My post was stuck in moderation - it is common for employees and community users to get flagged by watchwords by the filter.  We are working with the vendor to improve the moderation system.

Screenshot of my post, which I just released.

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Thank you
Jason
Broadcom Community Platform Admin, IT
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