Mute a specific poster

I would have sworn there was an option to mute someone but I cannot find it. Maybe it never existed?

Bill, do you have a selection called "Ignored Users" that appears in the drop-down menu that appears when you click on your name (top-right corner when logged in)?

I have one, but it might be reserved to "Administrators" for some reason. I haven't tried it. It includes a field in which you'd type the member's name. (I believe that would be whatever is showing as the user's name to the left of individual posts by the user.)

See attached image file.

Dave, I do see that. Now I have to search to find the specific screen name I need.

I was expecting it to be something like a click on the user's profile and that's where I've been hunting.

Thank you very much!

Unfortunately I've learned that it doesn't work when the ignored poster starts a new topic. 🙄

Bill, first, I hope it's not me and second, do I get 3 guesses?

Just reading some intolerable postings by someone whose handle would come very late alphabetically.

15 minutes ago, CuseFan said:

Bill, first, I hope it's not me and second, do I get 3 guesses?

Just reading some intolerable postings by someone whose handle would come very late alphabetically.

It's not. Just not a fan of constant advertisement type posts. If one wanted to do that and had been interacting for a while, I would feel differently.

1 hour ago, Bill Presson said:

It's not. Just not a fan of constant advertisement type posts. If one wanted to do that and had been interacting for a while, I would feel differently.

He's the new "Lance".

OMG Lance!!!  I deleted my original account on this site because of him.  He was really something.

11 hours ago, Dave Baker said:

Bill, do you have a selection called "Ignored Users" that appears in the drop-down menu that appears when you click on your name (top-right corner when logged in)?

I have one, but it might be reserved to "Administrators" for some reason. I haven't tried it. It includes a field in which you'd type the member's name. (I believe that would be whatever is showing as the user's name to the left of individual posts by the user.)

See attached image file.

Bill, it is even easier than what Dave describes.  Just hover over the user's name *OR* avatar.  The ignore user option is near the bottom of the popup. Maybe it will do what you want if you select all four ignore options.  Or you could just say the word and I'll mark him as a spammer.  Least I can do now that we are related and all. :-)

20 hours ago, Bill Presson said:

Just not a fan of constant advertisement type posts

Agree. Those should be prohibited.

Can you point me to an example? Thanks

Mike... Please explain what we are about here to Zooey72.  I am not interested in his rant on Social Security!   thanks!

PNJ

1 hour ago, Dave Baker said:

Can you point me to an example?

Dave, I think Bill was referring to recent posts by Ken McDonnell. 

21 minutes ago, CuseFan said:

Dave, I think Bill was referring to recent posts by Ken McDonnell. 

Correct. I sent him a private message link.

1 hour ago, Bill Presson said:

Correct. I sent him a private message link.

I was on the fence about Ken.  While the posts definitely seem pedantic and a little off topic, the referenced links are always to government web pages intending to educate all that stumble in.  Seems like it walks the tightrope for me. But I wouldn't strongly speak in favor of Ken's posts if Dave decided they are not welcome.

2 hours ago, Patricia Neal Jensen said:

Mike... Please explain what we are about here to Zooey72.  I am not interested in his rant on Social Security!   thanks!

PNJ

I think others have already done a bang-up job on that score.  I don't expect to see his conspiracy theories any more.

22 minutes ago, Mike Preston said:

I was on the fence about Ken.  While the posts definitely seem pedantic and a little off topic, the referenced links are always to government web pages intending to educate all that stumble in.  Seems like it walks the tightrope for me. But I wouldn't strongly speak in favor of Ken's posts if Dave decided they are not welcome.

I'm not opposed to him posting. I just don't want to see them. But the ignore user option doesn't work for the thread starter.

8 minutes ago, Bill Presson said:

I'm not opposed to him posting. I just don't want to see them. But the ignore user option doesn't work for the thread starter.

Maybe it is a scope thing.  Computers are so darn smart these days.  Maybe if you invoke the ignore user option as I indicated it ignores that user's future posts in that thread.  Maybe if you invoke it the way Dave described it completely ignores that user.  Worth a shot.

18 hours ago, Mike Preston said:

Bill, it is even easier than what Dave describes.  Just hover over the user's name *OR* avatar.  The ignore user option is near the bottom of the popup. Maybe it will do what you want if you select all four ignore options.  Or you could just say the word and I'll mark him as a spammer.  Least I can do now that we are related and all. 🙂

Maybe it is part of being a "mods" which I assume is some kind of moderator but I can't ignore Mike.  But If I hover over Bill's name like described I could choose to ignore him.  

The above is an observation.  

43 minutes ago, Mike Preston said:

I was on the fence about Ken.  While the posts definitely seem pedantic and a little off topic, the referenced links are always to government web pages intending to educate all that stumble in.  Seems like it walks the tightrope for me. But I wouldn't strongly speak in favor of Ken's posts if Dave decided they are not welcome.

Same here.  The TOS already prohibits commercial advertising through the message boards, so if it was "pay $50 for my webinar" it would be really simple.  All the links seem to be to the CFPB website but I haven't seen a link that has been more than just tangentially related to this message board

I've asked Ken to be sure his posts are about subjects that pertain to employee benefits.

They're certainly unlike the other posts we've had to date, because they're not questions posted by a practitioner for discussion, or other sorts of practitioner-shared information. That's probably the source of the understandable discomfort.

Many employers are offering "financial wellness" benefits, basically being educational programs. That's a sort of welfare/fringe benefit, which is probably why Ken chose to post the messages in the "Other Kinds of Welfare Benefit Plans" forum/message board. His most recent post (which is not a product pitch) is about student loans; as you know, some employers are running programs that actually pay pay off student loans for employees, because it's a very attractive employee benefit for the younger employee or potential employee who is saddled with high payments.

But that sort of information is valuable to employers and not so much to practitioners, who make up the vast majority of users of the message boards. Still, they would be useful to a practitioner who advises employers about fringe benefits.

Reaction?

I think it's a bit about "know your audience" and many of the things posted are, like you mentioned, not so much for practitioners.  I'm actually an HR manager and have found that they would be better for an employee audience than a practitioner one.