Time for torrent approval

[269091]

Dear team of GTru, dear fellow uploaders, dear leechers and lurkers,

since a few days I am in a personal conversation with a Moderator of GTru. This conversation is very civilized but the issue we are talking about is not a plesant one - at least in my opinion. This is the reason I post here to find out if it is just me of if other people may share my opinion.

Before the discussion I want to give a short overview about the goings:

When I first uploaded I could't find any information about how long it would take for torrents to get approved.
So for my first torrent I waited for about three hours and everything was fine.

My second torrent only took 25 minutes.

My third torrent did not get approved. 24 hours later I PMd a Mod and got the message that I have too many other torrents active to get approval. Maybe the information, that I will find the number of active torrents I am supposed to have, when uploading a new torrent, by clicking on my username top left can be found somewhere - I just have never seen it. So I would have appreciated a message of some kind instead of just letting me wait until my impatience would drive me getting active after 24 hours. But anyway - I was aware it was my fault as I did something wrong.

My fourth torrent took 3.5 hours when I got the approval message. But it was not there - I couldn't see it. So again I PMd a Mod and found out that it has been moved to another category. Again my fault - I did look in the wrong place.

My fifth torrent took 45 minutes.

My sixth torrent took 8 minutes.

My seventh torrent took 6 minutes.

My eigth torrent took a bit less than two hours.

My ninth torrent was not approved after 1.5 hours - so I suspected myself to have done anything wrong again an PMd Brandon. It turned out that I did do everything right - just no Mod has had time.

By this time I had become somewhat irritated. What of a time would be normal to wait for approval - my experience went from 6 minutes to 24 hours, by clearly tending to less than an hour. From when on, the probability that it would hang for my own mistakes would be high?

So - after having searched the forums - I asked the Mod how long of a waiting time would be normal.
I got the advice to PM an online Mod after one hour of waiting time to ask for approval. I was very grateful because that sounded like a clear guideline.

From there on after 1.5 to 2 hours I PMd a Mod and everything was fine. Just that I used the ones in the forums instead of the staff list - my fault again. Nevertheless it went well for a few times.

But then  - with my last torrent after 1.5 or 2 hours (I dont exacly remember this time span) I wrote one but nothing happend - the mod went offline again, then I wrote to another one - same game. Then  - meanwhile after 4 hours I wrote a third PM - and this time I luckily found an approval Mod despite still bothering the forum mods.

This was the pre-story.

[box title=Statement:] I have made a lot of mistakes, sometimes due to my own fault, in other aspects I feel underinformed, in other aspects the information was present somewhere and I just missed it - what can be considered my fault again - although I feel it could have been presented in a more obvious place. Definately after 10 torrents uploaded I feel as unconfident as in the beginning. After an hour of waiting time I start checking everything in utorrent, on the site, with the torrent, checking PMs if there might be a message about anything that went wrong. [/box]

Then I got a message not to spam Mods with PMs assuring me that this will never speed up the process.

As I did nothing what I have not been told to do I was a bit upset and so a discussion went on.

After a few ups and downs I was finally told that I would have to wait how long it ever would take and stop trying to do anything to speed up the process (underlined by a quote from the upload guidelies). It was written in a very polite way and not offending at all but the message still was: Just shut up, wait and don't bother us.
And also I was told that the one MOd who told me to PM after an hour would be trying to be helpful to everyone…

To me this implied, that the others might see that differently.

Which left me very disappointed, seen that GTru lives from uploaders and their efforts. Without uploaders soon there would be probably not much left to moderate.

To me it seems worth considering if the "one-hour-PM"-Mod might be the one with the right attitude towards us uploaders.

[box title=I am very well aware of the following facts:]
All Staff does what they do in their spare time, out of enthusiasm, without getting payment.
If you do a Mod or Admin job right, its whole lot of work.
Despite their effort it may still happen that they are not treated well by users.
Everything they do is taken for granted.
This site can not live without the staffs enthusiasm.[/box]

[box title=But there are also these facts:]
That this site can not live without the uploaders.
Uploading much and frequently, preparing good well illustrated torrents is a lot of work as well.
Many uploaders do it out of enthusiasm and not for leeching benefits.
I am sure many uploaders would on request be willing to help the staff in various means.[/box]

Both groups have chosen what they do voluntarily. An uploader is supposed to upload (obviously). And the staff is supposed to help. These are the roles.

So what's wrong in "trying to help everyone"? What would have been wrong in telling something like "We are trying to approve as quickly as possible and if someone PMs after X hours waiting time it would be ok" instead of "Just wait etc" (like quoted above)?

At least my enthusiasm has suffered a severe drawback I must admit. Its not any more the fun it was before.
I am really considering just to download what I want and to upload whats necessary for my ratio.

I would like to hear everyones opinion who would be interested to take part in this discussion.

Best regards

PS: I have tried to tell the story as impartial as I could. Should anyone of the persons involved see it differently please correct me.

PPS: Excuse my long posting 

[Popper]

You may have seen that we are not so many moderators and we are not organized between pure forum moderators, torrent moderators, report moderators and helpdesk moderators. We are too few and even can't assure availability around the clock to have such split. Most moderators do multi task: forum, approval, reports, helpdesk.

So when for example I am working on torrent approval, and a Report drops in, I stop approving and look to the report and treat it if needed. Reports are meant to bring infractions to our Rules to the staff attention, some are crucial for the durability of this site.

Helpdesk requests and Reports generate a notification in all Moderators and Administrators message boxes, so that they can be treated by any Staff member being online to be fast on them. The disadvantage is, they are "spamming" our boxes, indeed.

With the times you give it took your approvals, you are rather lucky. It can unfortunately take longer. We don't like that, but the availability of moderators is too random.

The time it takes me to review a torrent is very variable from a few minutes to more than 30 minutes (badly identified files, suspect for duplicate or forbidden content …). Often when I start to work on approval there are more then 10 waiting. So I may even not treat all before needing to leave.

We treat all torrents pending for approval, first those seed, then those not seed. A PM to a moderator who works on approval will just make him slow down the approval. Even if you get an answer, it will most likely say be patient or give you the thing to improve, which you would have got anyway when it is yours being reviewed in the queue.

Uploaders can help more and speed up the approval, by checking themselves if everything is OK:

• no duplicate
• seeding it in their Profile page
• pictures not lost
• respecting the amount of active torrents allowed

Just to give you an idea, more than 30% of the torrents I review are duplicate. Checking these is lost time and longer waiting for valid torrents.

In my eyes the moderator who indicated 1 hour as the span to consider a PM is not working much on torrent approval (but I may be wrong), because those who do know that unfortunately often there are longer waiting ones in the queue.

We like the uploader very much and try everything to keep approval time as short as possible, be assured of that.

An advise: Make a good row of clean uploads and you will get the Auto Approval privilege granted. You'll no longer need to wait for approval (but will have the full responsibility that ALL rules about uploading are respected)

[cumeaternc]

I will try not to offend with my response so if I do please don't take it as a personal attack anyone.

@269091:

That this site can not live without the uploaders.
Uploading much and frequently, preparing good well illustrated torrents is a lot of work as well.
Many uploaders do it out of enthusiasm and not for leeching benefits.

I disagree with the third line. Many uploaders do so to get their ratio up and keep their download rights.

The dirty little secret is that most if not all of our staff are prolific uploaders. I will use me as an example: Right now I have 203 uploads on the tracker(192 are active).  Of those about 40 are requested torrents. I agree with you. I upload because I like to fufill leechers needs.

I also review torrents and approve them because I like to fulfill uploaders needs.  When I review a torrent for approval I assume they have read the upload guidelines suchas:

• "It is important to get your file(s) out as quickly as possible.
  DO NOT UPLOAD IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SEEDING/LEECHING SOMETHING ELSE SEED ONE TORRENT AT A TIME
  If you wish to to do more than one at a time you need to consult a moderator about acceptable seeding practises for your connection speed. Please include your maximum Upload speed in your PM."

If they have not done this small step then reviewing that torrent is just a waste of time. Another common problem is not doing the very last step in the upload guide which is re-downloading the torrent from the tracker so it will become "visible". Again it's in the guides.

@269091:

All Staff does what they do in their spare time, out of enthusiasm, without getting payment.

"Spare" being the nominative word here. ;D
I cannot speak for other staff but feel free to PM whenever you have a question or need assistance with a torrent.  All I ask is that you please read the guides, faqs and rules before you do.

The easy answer is to be patient and upload your torrents without mod intervention.  If you can do that for 10 torrents in a row then you can ask for auto approval status.  That means your upload goes live instantly and we review its content after the fact.  This conversation only really applies to the group of users who have either 1. Not uploaded 10 torrents or 2. Not uploaded 10 clean torrents to gain AA status.

[269091]

Dear Uwe and Brandon,

I am not sure if I made myself understood well.

I am not complaining if there is a "sign" somewhere that says: Average waiting time X hours, please don't get nervous before that time. If you don't have approval after X hours ask a Mod" (or go to the helpdesk etc.).

YOU make the call - you can tell how many hours, you can tell what to do - but then the user will be informed.

When I am told average would be 1 hour I get nevous after two and angry after 4.
When I am told average is 4 this would not happen.

What I am asking for - again - is a clear policy with granted information in an obivous place. Instead of "just wait how long it will take".

We treat all torrents pending for approval, first those seed, then those not seed. A PM to a moderator who works on approval will just make him slow down the approval. Even if you get an answer, it will most likely say be patient or give you the thing to improve, which you would have got anyway when it is yours being reviewed in the queue.

Yes - but 24 hours without notice is a LONG time! Annoying but understandable IF you would prepare the users to expect waiting times up to that.

Uploaders can help more and speed up the approval, by checking themselves if everything is OK:

• no duplicate
• seeding it in their Profile page
• pictures not lost
• respecting the amount of active torrents allowed

And here it is again: What the heck does mean: seeding it in profile page?? I thought pp ist just for info - I can only seed wit my torrent client - or am I wrong again?

What means: pictures not lost? Where shall they go after having uploaded them??

–--------------------

While I am writing this I got Brandons reply.

And here ist the difference:

…a god row....

…10...

Nothing could illustrate better what I mean. Be specific! I really tried my best to gather all the information from various places and do everything right - but I failed.

I don't just want to critizise over and over without offering solutions.

Why not create the X golden rules of uploading?

0. get information about how to produce torrents here: http://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?board=2.0
1. Don't upload duplicates. Check here:http://tracker.gaytorrent.ru/browse.php?showsearch=1
2. Don't upload stuff listed here http://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?topic=3592.0
3. Don't use uploads smaller than 50MB (if you have smaller clips - use more of them together in ONE upload)
4. Check here: http://tracker.gaytorrent.ru/userdetails.php?id=userid for the number of active torrents you are supposed to have when uploading a new torrent
5. ALWAYS re-download your uploaded torrent and ONLY seed the re-downloaded version, not the originally created one.

6. In case you won't receive approval within the next X (you staff will have to tell if it will be 2, 5, 10 or more hours) hours check points 1-4 first.

7. If you are sure 1-4 are not violated use the helpdesk and provide the link to your not approved torrent

8. After having uploaded 10 clean and up to the standards torrents you may ask for auto approval (more info here: http://forum.gaytorrents.ru/post explaining auto approval and requesting process)

For a more detailed explanation od upload rules look here http://tracker.gaytorrent.ru/uploadguide.php#467

In case I have missed some points - the list can be expanded probably (BTW - 10 would be nice…greetings from Moses)

I really had to click a lot to collect the stuff above.

Then take that stuff and link it on top of the page instead of "browse" in golden letters (as "browse" is not different from "search" anyway) and also put it on the upload page (replacing/ expanding the current text).

At least this would have been an incredible help for me avoiding MUCH hassle and question marks floating above my head.

best regards.

BTW - I think I have the 10 requested torrents - though connected to many PMs to Mods - too many maybe.

[Popper]

No, we just can't give you how long it takes in average. The availability of moderators to work on torrent approval is to uncertain / random. Remember we do that in our free time and what time is free (If tomorrow the sun s shining, I'll go to the seaside, if not I may work on the site. Just an example). In addition new torrents drop in not regularly. Some times few, sometimes there are all the sudden many.

Basically you should never have been given a fixed time.

Regarding the number of clean uploads to get Auto Approval, 10 is an internal guideline given to moderators. However it is not a fixed rule. To give or not the Auto approval privilege, is up to the moderators appreciation of the members upload history. There are other factors which may count:

• small clips vs. full DVD-R uploads
• the variety of torrents (did the member read the forbidden upload list or only by coincidence uploaded from a free studio)
• regularity of uploading
• is a learning curve visible (i.e. failures noted aren't repeated) > good
• type of mistakes if any
• etc…

That is the reason why on purpose I was vague and not giving a number. Like the average approval time should not have been given.

It looks you haven't read the first page which shows up when one click "Upload" in the blue band

Upload - Read this careful! - ALL UPLOADERS MUST FOLLOW THESE UPLOADING RULES
Upload of Videos/Pictures with actors under 18 years is prohibited! Breaking this rule will cause immediate ban!
Upload of Videos/Pictures from the following Studios is prohibited! Breaking this rule will cause immediate ban!

It is important to get your file(s) out as quickly as possible.

DO NOT UPLOAD IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY SEEDING/LEECHING SOMETHING ELSE SEED ONE TORRENT AT A TIME
If you wish to to do more than one at a time you need to consult a moderator about acceptable seeding practises for your connection speed. Please include your maximum Upload speed in your PM.

You HAVE TO SEED YOUR TORRENT until at least 3 or 4 other people have the complete torrent.

Don't upload really small video clips (< 50 MB) Instead, upload a collection of 2 or 3 smaller clips or add a few photosets as a single torrent > 50MB. There is NO leeway in this rule, 50 MB or more, no 47 or 49.99999 MB videos

Exception: Member Category

You must do a torrent search first to ensure you are not uploading a duplicate. A different quality version or format of existing content is acceptable. A repost of content that has been deleted months ago is also acceptable.

Do not put personal descriptions in the title or file name like "HOT!", "MUST SEE!" or "BEST EVER!". Use the description to give your personal opinion on the content instead.

If you have any questions about uploading, make sure that you first read our Upload-Guide before asking a Moderator.

I have read an understand   Use QuickTorrentMaker for easy uploading…

and the link to the "Upload Guide" which contains a gloden rules part:

How to make torrent-approval an easy task

Abbreviated upload rules at one glance

All our upload rules are valid. Just to remind you again, an abbreviated version of the upload rules follow:
Rule more Information
Do not upload forbidden (banned) content Forum
Upload one new torrent at a time Upload Rules #1
Do not upload any duplicates Upload rules #2
Watch the size of your upload Upload Rules #4
Add at least one picture of that movie and a description (something that earns the title of 'description') Upload guide #1.4

Bold items are links on these pages …

[cumeaternc]

@269091:

Why not create the X golden rules of uploading?

0. get information about how to produce torrents here: http://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?board=2.0
1. Don't upload duplicates. Check here:http://tracker.gaytorrent.ru/browse.php?showsearch=1
2. Don't upload stuff listed here http://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?topic=3592.0
3. Don't use uploads smaller than 50MB (if you have smaller clips - use more of them together in ONE upload)
4. Check here: http://tracker.gaytorrent.ru/userdetails.php?id=userid for the number of active torrents you are supposed to have when uploading a new torrent
5. ALWAYS re-download your uploaded torrent and ONLY seed the re-downloaded version, not the originally created one.

6. In case you won't receive approval within the next X (you staff will have to tell if it will be 2, 5, 10 or more hours) hours check points 1-4 first.

7. If you are sure 1-4 are not violated use the helpdesk and provide the link to your not approved torrent

Here you go http://tracker.gaytorrent.ru/uploadguide.php and http://tracker.gaytorrent.ru/upload.php (both under the UPLOAD link)

Every question you have ask concerning uploads is answered here! Notice that there is no defined time for approval anywhere.

If you need a time frame to help you out then I would say this…If you have not had your torrent approved or have not received a message to correct your torrent within 24 hours of uploading it then please feel free to PM a Mod.  Please allow 24hours to for a response..... ;D Not really, just joking.

If you want to keep us Mods honest then keep an eye on the new torrents.  If one becomes visible and available that was uploaded after your then by all means send us a PM to see what the hold up is.

A quick forum search found this thread about auto approval:
http://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?topic=7698

I don't mind helping out but please take the time to try to find the answers yourself first.  Get to know the site and your profile information also.  Giving you the tools to get the information you have asked for is pointless if you don't take the time to use them.

update: A quick search of the topic logs show you looked at the auto approval thread 30mins before you asked where to find it.  ??? Regrettably the forbidden studio topic log shows you have never viewed it and it is the very first link under the upload link.

[269091]

Uwe,

I really can't understand that you don't want to commit yourself. Then make the time long enough - 12 hrs - just a time the staff would say: Thats too long, thats not ok. But then users will have a guideline instead of hanging in the air and having to guess.

About Auto Approval - would it be really that hard to tell: Do this and that and you will get it??? So people could work towards it. I would probably never have applied for it. When I look at the hitlist I read terrabytes of upload and stuff - if i compare myself to that I would never have dared to apply for auto approval.

What bad could happen if the rules would e a bit clearer???

besides of that these two points only would be a minor change to my suggestion in my last posting.

Best regards  

[Popper]

… seeding in the Profile page ...

Should better read : Shown as being seed in the list of uploaded torrents on your Profile page, respectively in the peer list on the torrent description page

… pictures not lost ...

Should better read: Double check the torrent description page if the given information is complete or if it could be improved. We got a site bug, which make pictures rarely randomly being lost, too. It seems to happen more likely when completing the torrent upload takes long.

Sorry, I tried to make a fast answer and was therefore brief.

[cumeaternc]

Ok 269091 here is the clear answer…

There is no set time for torrent approval because all Mods are volunteers on this tracker.  Don't ask for a time frame because no mod "works" the same hours daily on the site.  If torrent uploads becoming visible in a timely manner is important to you then get 10 torrent uploads right in a row and I(cumeaternc) will give you (269091) AA privileges.  You have 8 clean ones in a row right now. Again there is now and will never be a "time frame" for a torrent upload to be approved so don't ask for one.

[Popper]

@269091:

… I really can't understand that you don't want to commit yourself. Then make the time long enough - 12 hrs - just a time the staff would say: Thats too long, thats not ok. But then users will have a guideline instead of hanging in the air and having to guess. ...

Because many times it just takes longer than we think ourselves it is OK. If we would give for example 48 hours to be on the secure side, it wouldn't help and just make new members afraid of uploading for the first time.

Personally I can not commit to fixed hours to work on torrent approval. If it gets there, I'll stop working on approval. (Remark: of the currently available torrents I've approved the third most). Perhaps it is where you want to push me.
Less I can commit on a duration. That will require a professional team (thus paid and no more a free place).

BTW: Qualified and motivated volunteers to the staff are welcome. There is an advertisement in the forum. It's old but still valid.

@269091:

… What bad could happen if the rules would e a bit clearer??? ...

Members will claim: I've uploaded 10 clean torrents, you must give me Auto Approval privilege. Members will upload 10 small clips (lets say in the 100 MB range) from one studio and then claim the privilege. It is where it will bring us. However such a upload history does not allow to evaluate if a member has understood the upload rules and will follow them on it's own initiative once the privilege is granted. (this is a little caricature to make the point)

[269091]

Dear Brandon and Uwe,

I guess I have understood that going on in this thread will not get anyone any further. From my side it was just a suggestion which I would consider an approvement based on my personal experience in here (probably I am one of the less intelligent users by being the only one running into these problems  :)) - do with that suggestion as you like.

Many thanks for your opinions and best regards 

[Popper]

Sorry to say, your sugguestion to indicate a time is not practicable with the current staffing.

It is a good proposal for a professional site which puts the necessary resources to assure a stable quality of service.

I repeat, you should never been given a time, which was the error leading you to create this topic.

[269091]

Sorry to say, your sugguestion to indicate a time is not practicable with the current staffing.

It is a good proposal for a professional site which puts the necessary resources to assure a stable quality of service.

I repeat, you should never been given a time, which was the error leading you to create this topic.

Excuse me very much - I have not planned to post anymore in here but I can't prevent myself from doing so again.
Because what you write is simply not true. I still consider it right that I have been given a time guideline - though I admit that the timeframe may have been a bit optimistic…

BUT

It was not just the time thingy - although the topic title says so - but more the feeling, that I repeatedly ran into problems and made mistakes due to the fact that important information is not present or not acessable enough easily.

This is still my opinion and this was the main goal of this thread. I made a suggestion to improve this (regardess if you name a time for approval or not - that was just a detail in my suggestion and NOT my main goal) and you made me understand that you don't share my opinion and don't this consider improvement necessary.

On the other hand I still do consider it necessary and don't share your opinion.

So this is the point where it gets pointless to discuss any further - that was what I meant with my last posting.

Thanks again and best regards - and this will be my last posting in this topic - I promise. More would be a waste of your and my time.

[blackdid]

Hi all,
Interesting topic, good questions and answers  
"269091" joined on July 30th and I joined next day, on July 31th so we're still newbies (until when lol)

But with Mod's and Admin's answers in Forum or PM, I guess most of the questions I had were solved.
Now concerning the torrent approval time, yes it varies a lot (especially if you upload during day time or night time, as I usually do).

Last example yesterday night : QTM 1.3 uploaded my torrent and redownloaded it automatically in Utorrent at exactly 23h24pm
And it has been approved at 5h18am this morning.
I felt it would take some time before approval (because of the hours display concerning the last approved torrents yesterday evening, as showed in the Search screen : 19h51 - 21h51 - 21h55… then nothing else was approved when I checked at 23h24, so maybe night mod was busy or resting at night time, and i respect that) . Next approved night torrents were done at 2h15, then 4h41 , finally a whole bunch (9 torrents) were approved during 4h59 and 5h25, including mine at 5h18 (time for torrent approval is no more an issue for me, because I knew my torrent was well prepared and mod may be busy. Also there are many other things you can do on the computer meanwhile...or even sleep lol)

On the other hand, during day time, it happened to me a torrent was approved after a few minutes only and that was great too. The things I always do now while waiting for approval are :

• Stop all other seedings (no more leeching these days, but if they were I'd stop all of them too, immediately)
• Verify images have been uploaded correctly (clic on the link in the automatical GT response : it happened to me, once, that an image was "lost" in GT, so I deleted the torrent before approval and resent it, that's so easy to do with QTM 1.3 , and all 12 images were showing that time)
• Verify Utorrent is seeding (the green arrow, not the red one !) and it shows me seeding at GT ("1" written in green in my GT uploading profile, and "0" in downloading) : all these steps are very simple to check.
• What is a bit more complicated is to check, before, if it's not a duplicate, and several queries have to be done in the Search window to check the best I can before creating the torrent (and Mod's sure have same problem to detect duplicates : it takes time, that's why the Search engine could be more helpful to all of us, as we already discussed here with Mod's and Admin's : http://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?topic=1818.120 )
  Helping Mod's to search faster if a torrent is a duplicate or not will make this annoying task less...annoying  
  Also Uwe already confirmed me that the pending torrents were approved using a "FIFO" method (first in, first out)

---

Brandon, I thought same as you concerning something you wrote in this topic : "...then keep an eye on the new torrents.  If one becomes visible and available that was uploaded after your then by all means send us a PM to see what the hold up is..."

But aren't we both mistaken looking it that way ?
In my nightly example, you can see 2 torrents were approved at  2h15am - 4h41am, when I uploaded mine at 23h24pm
How can I know at what exact time those 2 torrents were uploaded by the users ?
I can't, because it isn't shown anywhere (only approval time is indicated in the search window results) and those users probably uploaded their torrents before I uploaded mine, i.e they both uploaded before 23h24 and their torrents were pending before I uploaded mine, do you see it that way too ?

The only place where is indicated the real uploading time is the "hidden" page indicated by the automatical GT response, the page where our torrent isn't yet public (waiting for approval), there we check if our images are all displayed and if comments are correct : only there it shows the exact upload date, but it's hidden to everybody else, and just after approval, the approval date replaces the real upload date...which will disappear forever.

Or not ?  

[Popper]

@269091:

… I still consider it right that I have been given a time guideline - though I admit that the timeframe may have been a bit optimistic...

No it was wrong. See the already earlier given answers. It is just to variable. If you like something on the secure side, it will be much too long to be meaningful.

And the time which was given to you made you complaining. If it would have been 4 hours, you would have still complained.

---

@269091:

….
It was not just the time thingy - although the topic title says so - but more the feeling, that I repeatedly ran into problems and made mistakes due to the fact that important information is) not present or not acessable enough easily.
....

Then you gave the topic the wrong title !

Nevertheless it looks you did never take the time to read the first page when one clicks "Upload" completely and the big / bold pages it links to (forbidden content list and the Upload guide), before you said to have read and understand by going to upload.

So I doubt, if it would be presented like you suggest, you would have read all the items linked in your proposal either.
(Just my humble opinion).

Yes, we have some cleaning and housekeeping in work and we read and notice suggestions. Unfortunately again, the staffing does not allow to implement these in a reasonable time to make any announcements. We speak rather in time frames of years.

Our Test section for members of the Forum is open to work and draft an alternative upload guide or any other guides. Or if you think you have a good Guide, it can be posted in the Guides and Howto section of the forum and may even become a sticky topic.

It is not only Staff who can improve the information available here, but the howl community. Doesn't sound that more positive spirit than the previous answers.

[Popper]

… Brandon, I thought same as you concerning something you wrote in this topic : "...then keep an eye on the new torrents.  If one becomes visible and available that was uploaded after your then by all means send us a PM to see what the hold up is..."

But aren't we both mistaken looking it that way ? ...

Looking at the torrents which appear in the list can indeed be very misleading, because the time given in "Added" is the time of approval. Not the time of upload to the approval queue. So from that, you can't deduct if it was before or after yours.

Even if you compare the torrent IDs (in the end of the URL of the description page), which are given in the order of starting the torrent description is misleading because of the Auto Approval privilege members' uploads which go directly to the list and don't queue for approval.

On the other hand, your example for seeing a series of torrents being approved one after the other is rather an indices that a moderator came available to work on approval.

[blackdid]

@Uwe:

…because of the Auto Approval privilege members' uploads which go directly to the list and don't queue for approval.

Thx Uwe for your explanations.
Wouldn't it be great to display a "green star" (it indicates "auto approval" in visible user's profiles) right to the uploader's name on each result line in the Search window, and this green star would appear even if a user profile is hidden ?

But as we already have yellow stars (donators) or red "A" (download disabled) right to some user's names, it would be too overcrowded there.

Hey, I got an idea : why not displaying the user's NAME in green (instead of white) if he's on "auto approval" ?
Well, don't know if this could be of any help for Mod's…except give more work to mgr  ;D

Have a great week-end all of you
(Brandon, i wrote it my way "week-end" ... private joke) 

[Popper]

Moderators see Auto approval names in a different colour and "anonymous" uploader user names in a different shape.
mgr made us that already, but not to standard members.

I think making Auto Approval uploads recognizable to all isn't a bad idea. To give you an idea, the 250 AA members have uploaded with that privilege about 40% of all the torrents available, means about 12000.

[blackdid]

@Uwe:

Moderators see Auto approval names in a different colour and "anonymous" uploader user names in a different shape.
mgr made us that already, but not to standard members.

:announce: I think mgr's way !

Well now I should ask it officially in the request thread : it would be great if this good functionality could be seen by standard members too.
Then, if a user waits for his approval during hours and notices meanwhile 10 new approvals…all in green "AA" color, he would know there's nobody working on torrent approval (more or less), this should soothe his pain...a little

Better than staying in his own depressed mood : "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"  ;D

[mgr]

May be I'm allowed to throw in my 2 cents:

sorry if I beat an already dead horse: Sorry to say - but we can not give any time frame for approving uploaded torrents for various reasons

• we can't establish a time table so that we have at least in that time-table covered a regular period each day (not speaking of seven days a week). We (the admins) ask a moderator to be present on the site for at least one hour each day, that would require at least 24 moderators only for torrent approval alone, but only if all those moderators live in different time zones around the world so that really 24 hours can be realized and, more important, if really all those moderators are available to do their work each and every day. I think that is an illusory aim

• there are a lot of other parts of the site where our members expect also moderator presence like the forum, the help desk …

• we are right now in vacation time (at least in Europe) - so that would make any time table not worth the paper it is written upon (rather the computer storage to save it) - not speaking about some things like illness, family (rather BF) issues (also gay people DO have family) although there are not only gay people in the staff - and becoming a father takes quite a lot of time away from you - and I even didn't talk about economic issues which make real life work much more stressful than it was ten years ago

• given that most of our torrents (more than 70% against 12 % from moderators in the US, rest mostly from Asian moderators) are approved from mods in Europe (remember the different time zones!!!) it is not really easy to find a moderator (which does torrent approval) during daytime in the US - just another problem

• we constantly search for new moderators and we are lucky to get an aspirant too once in a while - on the other hand that also takes away time from our existing staff because new mods have a learning phase too and moderator newbie questions are usually important and urgent.

• …

But the most important reason (at least for me) is: When we give a time frame we have to adhere to that time frame. (I'm not going to promise something I can't do later on).

As to our rules: we always try to have only those rules which are important for our members. Asking for uploading rules: our upload guide was mentioned before - I guess there is no other place where you can find all rules for uploading and hints for easy torrent approval combined together than the 2nd part of that guide. (Sorry for the "fishing for compliments" in that last sentence). You can find some "draft" of that part also in the forum: http://forum.gaytorrent.ru/index.php?topic=2202.msg7340#msg7340

@blackdid:

…
Well now I should ask it officially in the request thread : it would be great if this good functionality could be seen by standard members too.
Then, if a user waits for his approval during hours and notices meanwhile 10 new approvals...all in green "AA" color, he would know there's nobody working on torrent approval (more or less), this should soothe his pain...a little

Better than staying in his own depressed mood : "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"  ;D

If you can give me a real good reason to show AA-users in a different color. That information is important for moderators, because they not only have to approve new uploaded torrents but also (and especially) to check torrents from AA users for possible mistakes, you'd be astonished (to avoid "scared") how many AA-uploaded torrents have mistakes (like duplicates). It was (and still is) intended to make work for those moderators who not only approve torrents but check torrents from AA-users a bit easier.