What's up with flat/threaded/nested comments?

These are just different ways of displaying what can be a rather long list of comments. Here's the rundown:

• Flat mode displays all the comments in one gigantic list, without showing anything in the way of relationships between comments.
• Threaded mode shows a hierarchy of responses, with replies as links to new pages.
• Nested mode displays the same hierarchy of responses, but displays all of the comments. (This can be a bitch of a page to render on weaker platforms and in longer discussions.)

What is the moderation system for?

All comments are scored on an absolute scale from -1 to 5. Logged-in users start at 1 (although this can vary from 0 to 2 based on their karma) and anonymous users start at 0.

When moderators are given access, they are given a number of points that they can use to adjust the score of a comment by +1 or -1. Each comment they moderate deducts a point from their reserve. When they run out of points, they are done serving until next time it is their turn.

Moderation takes place by selecting an adjective from a drop down list that appears next to comments containing descriptive words like "Flamebait" or "Informative." Bad words will reduce the comment's score by a single point, and good words increase a comment's score by a single point.

Moderators can not participate in the same discussion as both a moderator and a poster. This is to prevent abuses, and while it is one of the more controversial aspects of the system, I'm sticking to it. There are enough lurkers that moderate that, if you want to post, feel free.

There are a few simple rules for determining who is eligible to moderate:

What is karma?

Your karma is a score that primarily represents how your comments have been moderated in the past. If a comment you post is moderated up, your karma will rise by 1, and if it is moderated down, you will lose a point.

Karma is used to determine who moderates and who doesn't. Extremely bad karma usually indicates a user account that is being used to spam the discussion board.

Moderate! Read comments (preferably at a low threshold) and when you see comments that are very insightful, or perhaps just plain off topic, select that option from the drop down list. When you are done, hit the 'Moderate' button. That's it!

A good comment says something interesting or insightful. It has a link to a relevant piece of information that will add something to the discussion. It might not be Shakespeare, but it's not Beavis and Butthead. It's not off topic or flamey. It doesn't call someone names. It doesn't personally attack someone because of a disagreement of opinion.

Here are 10 tips for improving your karma:

• Post Intelligently: Interesting, insightful, thought provoking comments are rated higher on a fairly consistent basis.
• Post Calmly: Nobody likes a flame war. In fact, more times than not the flamer gets burned much more than their target."Flame Bait" is hit quickly and consistently with "-1" by moderators.
• If You Can't Be Deep, Be Funny: If you don't have something truly developing to the topic, some humor is welcome. Humor is lacking in our lives and will continue to be promoted. Remember though, what rips your sides out may be completely inane to somebody else.
• Post Early: If an article has over a certain number of posts on it already, yours is less likely to be moderated. This is less likely both statistically (there are more to choose from) and due to positioning (as a moderator I have to actually find your post waaay at the end of a long list.)
• Post Often: If you only post once a month you can expect your karma to remain low. Also, lively discussion in an open forum is what makes the site most valuable.
• Stay On Topic: Off topic posts are slapped quickly and consistently with "-1" by moderators.
• Be Original: Avoid being redundant and just repeating what has already been said. Smirk. Yes, being moderated as "redundant" is worth "-1" to your post and your karma. Especially to be avoided are the "what he said" and "me too" posts.
• Read It Before You Post: Does it say what you really want it to say? Check your own spelling and grammar. Occasionally, a perfectly beneficial post is passed over by moderators because of this completely irrelevant-to-content feature. This is also a good approach to checking yourself for what you're really saying. Can't tell you the number of times I've stopped myself from saying the opposite of what I meant by checking my own spelling and grammar.
• Log In As a Registered User: I know, this sounds obvious but, "Anonymous Coward" does not have a karma rating. You can't reap the perceived benefits of your own accidental brilliance if you post anonymously. Have pride in your work and take credit for it.
• Read the site regularly: You can't possibly contribute to the discussion if you're not in the room. Come to the party and play.

What is metamoderation?

Maybe. If you have relatively little karma, there is a possibility of getting some karma for your efforts. However you won't be able to get enough karma to get the +1 bonus boint. That can only be earned by posting comments and getting moderated up. This is to encourage people to metamoderate, but not let them abuse it.