I think that may be the underlying symptom...

I'm not sure what the policy is regarding notification of the post originator that his/her post has been moved. It seems like most of the controversy stems from the originator having to discover, and be surprised by, the movement of the post. If the S.O.P. was to PM the originator that the post was moved, and the reason, it might avoid some of the angst.
I appreciate the moderators efforts to keep the forum organized.

Ben

I don't see a big problem moving posts, but the poster should be notified. Also how do you handle a post that lets say asks about an electrical problem in a radio and also in the same post asks what kind of grill cloth does this set take? Do you move it, leave it, or also post it in the cabinet section? Most questions will get better responses in the correct forum, but as others have stated, the don't look at all the forums.

An electrical question and a grill cloth question should be posted in separate forums. They shouldn't be in the same topic. If these were both posted in the electrical section, I might respond to the electrical question then suggest that the author post the grill cloth question in the cabinet section. I wouldn't move the topic.

Dave

Please, we can can come up with scenarios ad infinitum that would justify moving or not moving a post. A little bit of common sense needs to be applied here.

As I said earlier, if the post is generally in the right place or if there is some question as to whether it maybe fits here or maybe fits better there, then just leave it alone. Let's not start splitting hairs.

Just a couple of comments regarding "how it works now"...

I move posts occasionally when they appear obviously more appropriate in a different section. This usually happens with newbies who aren't familiar with the overall organization of the Forum, so they post in the first section they come to, which is Discussions.

As long as a link remains in the original section, no correspondence is required or initiated. Note the word "obviously" in the preceding paragraph. That's important. I don't move things which are questionable in my mind. Other folks may hold different opinions. That's fine.

As far as who moderates what section, it's a question of who is available and online at the time. Whenever I come on I click on the "Posts since last visit" link, and look over the entire list. I only read a few of them, so I will certainly miss many posts or threads which might deserve some action.

Some moderators are seldom on the board. If we restrict the actions of the others, some sections might go unattended for extended periods of time. This was the problem that existed previously.

Over 95% of my "moderating" time is spent correcting spelling errors and typos in other peoples' posts. I consider this to be a ridiculous waste of time, but do it as a service to other members who may try to search for information in the future. Remember that many of our members are not native English speakers, so they may have trouble understanding posts which contain errors.

This service, which goes completely unnoticed, is probably one of the most important services that a moderator can perform. As a resource for radio information, including discussions, differing opinions, facts backed up by references to texts, service info, sales info etc, radio forums play a huge part, and the only way to be able to refer to them in the future is to have correct spelling, especially in the titles in order for search engines to work accurately. The rest of Leighs post is also spot-on.

cheers

As John said, 'spot-on'. I am in complete agreement with Leigh's post. Thanks to the moderators for keeping this place organized and easy to use.