In light of recent events, Iâve decided to write up a list of 10 ways you can have a more successful and cooperating forum staff team. Donât ask me what they are, I wonât tell you, but Iâve seen it happen on so many forums - first person and as a spectator.
A cooperating moderation/administration team is vital to the success of a forum. Too many forum owners disregard this and hire the first 3 people that sign up to be moderators - without even knowing their history or attitude. Bad idea. As more members sign up, theyâll think, âOh, the first three are moderatorsâ¦â and later, find out that the staff is less mature than the members - and the members will leave!
For example, a forum of which I will not directly name - which I do love and would suffer without (as for my business) - has a rule I do not support entirely. It is that you cannot promote a similar or competing forum. They have a great reason to do this, but some of the other aspects of the forum confuse me.
They have an Incentives board where members PAY others to go and post at other, maybe even competing, forums. They have a Clicks system, where you get paid forum-dollars to click links and visit - even competing - sites for 20 seconds. They also have a link exchange request board, so you can exchange LINKS with competing forums, perhaps, and they also have an advertising board. PLUS the paid ads at the top of each of their pages to advertise competing sites. (Not to mention signatures where you can link to anything you want almost. People click sig links a lot.)
So you can see why I donât support the rule entirely, itâs bound to happen - people with similar interests join that forum because they run similar sites, usually. And the forum Iâm talking about is the largest of its type with over 25,000 members and nearly 1,000,000 posts. Again, I do love that forum but this one rule just bothers me a bit. Their âno spamâ, âno degrading remarksâ, and âno flamingâ rules should be plenty to keep members and actions under control.
So finally - the feature presentation of this entry - the 10 rules to leading a successful forum staff team - is below.
1. At the start of a forum, donât have more than 1 mod and 1 admin. When people join a new forum, they donât want an evil, dictitorial admin empire to trample their every post and action. A new forum - and its members - demand freedom. Yeah, make some rules, but make them simple and keep the list of rules proportionate to the size of the forum.
2. Take hints from members. If a member, or a group of members, seem to be going out against the rules, even with warnings, then maybe you should take a hint and re-evaluate your rules⦠after all, moderators/admins arenât always right. Sometimes the members see something that you donât or canât. Talk to the member(s) and let him/her/them offer suggestions.
3. Be diplomatic. Donât be strictly rigid in your standing, let members negotiate with you, and maybe even try or take their advice. Members should run a forum and you should be happy that theyâre there - without them, your forum couldnât really do anything or exist even. Just remember that each member is important.
4. Keep in good communication. Itâs very important that your staff team is in constant communication, especially when the forum gets larger. You may have times where you have to work overtime locking threads, moving posts, warning members, replying to PMs, and on top of that, buying your wife some flowers on the way home. Be sure you know what the other staff is doing.
5. Let members choose staff. This one you may be scared to try, but it really works. Let the members choose the staff on your forum, unless, of course, they all choose themselves. Trust me on this one - it will make your members a whole lot happier. But, obviously, donât hire them if they have a bad history or record.
6. Always be supportive. Never post degrading remarks like ââ¦instead of wasting everybodyâs time?â or âJust because YOU want to â¦â - the members of your forum will NOT appreciate this, I guarantee it. Moderators/admins should be there to enhance the quality of the forum, not offend members. Even if a member is out of place, be supportive.
7. Staff should stand out from the members. Unless you want an undercover moderator or administrator, and will stay undercover, you should still only have 1 for this reason. Members want to feel safe when posting, knowing that if something happens to their thread they can report it to a moderator or administrator because they see a special icon, or bold lettering, proudly displaying âStaffâ or something similar on their posts or profile.
8. Donât be discriminatory. This oneâs obvious, but Iâve seen situations where moderators have actually deleted posts or banned members because they were Buddhist, or - in my case - Mormon. Those forums arenât worth beans then anyway. Your members wonât appreciate this.
9. Keep conflicts private. If trouble breaks out with a member or group of members, donât lecture or warn them publically when possible, use a private messaging system or email to send them a little - and friendly - line to get their act together. If a member starts a public âcryâ, then simply lock the thread and take matters to the PM system or email.
10. Lock; donât delete. Unless a thread is explicitly against rules regarding pornography, mass discrimination, or otherwise very, very bad, donât delete it. Locked threads are best to keep in the database if ever needed, and, if you want - though this could seem cruel - to let other members see it and thus show that at least 1 person on the forum is immature. Locked threads get a lot more views than normal open ones on average, and are generally best to stay there. If you don't want your forum to get messy with locked threads, move them to a special board, public or staff-only: your choice.
Your comments on these items are always welcome, Iâm interested in reading them.
A cooperating moderation/administration team is vital to the success of a forum. Too many forum owners disregard this and hire the first 3 people that sign up to be moderators - without even knowing their history or attitude. Bad idea. As more members sign up, theyâll think, âOh, the first three are moderatorsâ¦â and later, find out that the staff is less mature than the members - and the members will leave!
For example, a forum of which I will not directly name - which I do love and would suffer without (as for my business) - has a rule I do not support entirely. It is that you cannot promote a similar or competing forum. They have a great reason to do this, but some of the other aspects of the forum confuse me.
They have an Incentives board where members PAY others to go and post at other, maybe even competing, forums. They have a Clicks system, where you get paid forum-dollars to click links and visit - even competing - sites for 20 seconds. They also have a link exchange request board, so you can exchange LINKS with competing forums, perhaps, and they also have an advertising board. PLUS the paid ads at the top of each of their pages to advertise competing sites. (Not to mention signatures where you can link to anything you want almost. People click sig links a lot.)
So you can see why I donât support the rule entirely, itâs bound to happen - people with similar interests join that forum because they run similar sites, usually. And the forum Iâm talking about is the largest of its type with over 25,000 members and nearly 1,000,000 posts. Again, I do love that forum but this one rule just bothers me a bit. Their âno spamâ, âno degrading remarksâ, and âno flamingâ rules should be plenty to keep members and actions under control.
So finally - the feature presentation of this entry - the 10 rules to leading a successful forum staff team - is below.
1. At the start of a forum, donât have more than 1 mod and 1 admin. When people join a new forum, they donât want an evil, dictitorial admin empire to trample their every post and action. A new forum - and its members - demand freedom. Yeah, make some rules, but make them simple and keep the list of rules proportionate to the size of the forum.
2. Take hints from members. If a member, or a group of members, seem to be going out against the rules, even with warnings, then maybe you should take a hint and re-evaluate your rules⦠after all, moderators/admins arenât always right. Sometimes the members see something that you donât or canât. Talk to the member(s) and let him/her/them offer suggestions.
3. Be diplomatic. Donât be strictly rigid in your standing, let members negotiate with you, and maybe even try or take their advice. Members should run a forum and you should be happy that theyâre there - without them, your forum couldnât really do anything or exist even. Just remember that each member is important.
4. Keep in good communication. Itâs very important that your staff team is in constant communication, especially when the forum gets larger. You may have times where you have to work overtime locking threads, moving posts, warning members, replying to PMs, and on top of that, buying your wife some flowers on the way home. Be sure you know what the other staff is doing.
5. Let members choose staff. This one you may be scared to try, but it really works. Let the members choose the staff on your forum, unless, of course, they all choose themselves. Trust me on this one - it will make your members a whole lot happier. But, obviously, donât hire them if they have a bad history or record.
6. Always be supportive. Never post degrading remarks like ââ¦instead of wasting everybodyâs time?â or âJust because YOU want to â¦â - the members of your forum will NOT appreciate this, I guarantee it. Moderators/admins should be there to enhance the quality of the forum, not offend members. Even if a member is out of place, be supportive.
7. Staff should stand out from the members. Unless you want an undercover moderator or administrator, and will stay undercover, you should still only have 1 for this reason. Members want to feel safe when posting, knowing that if something happens to their thread they can report it to a moderator or administrator because they see a special icon, or bold lettering, proudly displaying âStaffâ or something similar on their posts or profile.
8. Donât be discriminatory. This oneâs obvious, but Iâve seen situations where moderators have actually deleted posts or banned members because they were Buddhist, or - in my case - Mormon. Those forums arenât worth beans then anyway. Your members wonât appreciate this.
9. Keep conflicts private. If trouble breaks out with a member or group of members, donât lecture or warn them publically when possible, use a private messaging system or email to send them a little - and friendly - line to get their act together. If a member starts a public âcryâ, then simply lock the thread and take matters to the PM system or email.
10. Lock; donât delete. Unless a thread is explicitly against rules regarding pornography, mass discrimination, or otherwise very, very bad, donât delete it. Locked threads are best to keep in the database if ever needed, and, if you want - though this could seem cruel - to let other members see it and thus show that at least 1 person on the forum is immature. Locked threads get a lot more views than normal open ones on average, and are generally best to stay there. If you don't want your forum to get messy with locked threads, move them to a special board, public or staff-only: your choice.
Your comments on these items are always welcome, Iâm interested in reading them.
