Thanks for that explanation Kat, but you don't say what the difference is between a JoeClone and a MudElf.

I'd prefer there to be more Joes, not JoeClones, with their roles clearly on view in their sig.

Back-room mods are fine - you're always going to need them too. (Better/safer to come clean, I think, but entirely understandable - in fact I've proposed the two name solution myself in the past). But that's not the same as your sig saying 'Katlaughing - Mudcat Moderator' so every passing guest knows that you have this extra power and treats any diplomatic comments you may make with due deference.

I'm not in favour of wholesale editing either. I'd like to see a lot more warning shots though, and I'd like threads like the Mental Illness one stopped as soon as they cross the line. If the discussion can be steered away from danger with a firm word, so much the better. If not then offensive or bullying posts should be deleted before they can hurt someone - something that does not happen here anything like enough in my opinion. Closing a thread would still be the last-but-one resort as now, and deleting a thread the ultimate sanction - again as now. (I wouldn't have closed that tread but left it on view myself, though. Defamatory stuff should just be erased, and if you won't erase single posts you should really erase the whole thing).

Tom