EDIT 3 - The r/FirefoxCSS sub ‘resurfaced’ mid-afternoon today, Saturday 27Apr24… over 4 days after it had closed again due to the 2nd ‘gone private’ blackout incident triggered for unknown reasons by a person or persons unknown on Tuesday afternoon. Previous and only current Mod ‘yawn_zz’ reappeared alive and well and apparently back in sole control of “his” sub. Hmm? Mild flamewars and some Mod deleting of critics’ and disbelievers’ posts ensued.

The good news is that the r/FirefoxCSS sub’s extensive and valuable back history appears to be recovered and fully searchable again. :D

No explanation(s) offered for the 2nd 4-day-long blackout period or how/who/why the silly and petulant ‘PRIVATE SUB FOR STAR FOX FANS’ notice got posted? Same credulity-straining story about Pro-Palestinian protestors hijacking Mod’s unlocked phone offered for 1st half-day ‘gone private’ blackout incident last Monday. Novacula occami… “When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras”… Caveat emptor!

EDIT 2 - Regrettably the ‘gone private’ incident resumed pm Tue 23Apr24… this time with a silly ‘PRIVATE SUB FOR STAR FOX FANS. BEST NINTENDO GAME EVER!’ notice added… suggesting r/FirefoxCSS Mod has been hacked and is being trolled. An alternative suggestion is that sole Mod may be doing the trolling for unknown/unexplained reasons? :(

EDIT 1 - Gone ‘private’ incident over r/FirefoxCSS reappeared a short while ago after >8 hours blackout no longer a ‘private’ sub. Phew!

Explanation of sorts was posted by Mod at: https://www.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/comments/1caovpr/why_was_this_subreddit_closed/ (this post and sceptical comments from users Re: Mod’s bizarre blackout explanation was then deleted before the 2nd ‘gone private’ incident began. Unknown if this was just a coincidence or deliberate trolling?)

ORIGINAL POST - The r/FirefoxCSS sub suddenly went private this afternoon, Monday 22nd April 2024.

No warning, no discussion, no explanation.

A minor tragedy… all those years of questions and answers, thousands of CSS code snippets, and a myriad of other info about the inner workings of Firefox all now hidden from general view and no longer searchable. What a waste!

A ‘private’ CSS help sub is next to useless IMO. A sad loss. :(

See also: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1cafqvr/does_anyone_know_why_rfirefoxcss_is_closed/

  • MrOtherGuy@lemmy.worldM
    3·
    5 months ago

    Hi, I can’t help you too much, but I can tell you what little I know.

    I honestly have no idea what has been happening in reddit since last July. As far as I’m concerned the whole platform is dead, killed by admins, and I don’t want to have anything to do with it.

    Indeed, the sub was abandoned some years back as well, back then I became a mod solely to rescue it from abandonment. I believe (although I might remember incorrectly) yawn_zz was given mod rights first by admins, and then I was given mod status by them. No clue how this sort of deal would resolve nowadays.

    At any rate, I don’t have any other contact with them, but without going to any further details I can say that our relationship was suboptimal.

    Frankly, the community was less willing to move to another platform than I had hoped, but perhaps now is a good chance to try again :)

    • ResurgamS13@fedia.ioOP
      2·
      5 months ago

      Thank you for your kind reply. :) Reading between the lines from the few exchanges you had with yawn_zz when you were leaving r/FirefoxCSS last July I had gained the impression that your relationship was likely on the minimal/curt/frosty side.

      I have no objection to the community moving here or wherever else it wants to exist… my aim at present is to try and rescue all those years of previous posts so they can be searched… even if this was only as an archived sub in future.

      As a first step I need to find out from u/moohorns if he has received any reply from the Reddit Admins Re: the message he sent to them a couple of days ago not long after the 2nd ‘gone private’ event had occured sometime in the early afternoon of Tuesday 23rd April… see: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1cafqvr/comment/l0wnif6/

    • hansman@fedia.io
      2·
      5 months ago

      Frankly, the community was less willing to move to another platform than I had hoped, but perhaps now is a good chance to try again :)

      Let’s hope so; and thanks for chiming in.

      But more importantly - how do you like your new nick: MOG? ;P It sure is easier to type.