Yogesh {L_WROTE}:
I wouldn't say yes or no as this is up to Alan and/or Lamma-Gung to decide.
Yogesh is right, but it's really Alan's decision alone. A poll is not really appropriate in this case as Alan has resigned already. But any message of support would be most appreciated, I think.
Obviously, personally I don't want Alan to leave as he's our most senior, most active and usually very helpful moderator, taking great efforts to answer many questions that might arise not just in his Discussions forum. It would be a great loss for these forums in general to see him give up moderating.
I realise that occasionally one of his messages might look a bit aggressive, easy to misunderstand sometimes and might even be considered insensitive occasionally. Being ironic or mocking is difficult in text-only messages and it's all too easy to hit a raw nerve with some readers. No harm was intended but some people misunderstand easily. Ideally, moderators should be moderate, sensitive, even-tempered and very very patient, but it's very difficult to find such ideal people and nobody's perfect anyway. But moderators, like any other forum members, are entitled to express their own opinions; it doesn't really matter if I personally agree with them or not, this is a free-speech forum.
But volunteer moderators are extremely difficult to find, even harder than Fun Day volunteers. Moderating can be a permanent, almost daily job and it's usually without any rewards or even any thanks. I understand Alan's frustrations and I've faced similar feelings myself, sometimes even considering giving up these sometimes troublesome and very time-consuming forums. People love to criticise and be negative but rarely ever praise anything or thank anybody...
It's up to Alan to remain an under-appreciated moderator or just be a regular forum member for a while, free to behave any way he likes - within the simple forum rules - without having to behave like a moderate moderator. But I'd like to thank him publicly and express my sincere appreciation for all the work he's done over the years for these forums, so much behind the scenes that our readers are not even aware of. He's been a tremendous help in keeping these forums, not just Discussions, alive and prospering. Forums without proactive moderators usually die a quick death or go into hibernation, as can be seen in some of our other forums, unfortunately.
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