Admin Or Member?

[Nacht]

I have been an admin many times over and a moderator. Granted I may not seem like someone who has been doing this for years, but I just recently got back into the whole proboards thing.

A trick that I learned was getting your friends involved. I started by joining other people's sites and getting some really good friends there, then when I decided to make my own, quite a few of them came over and offered to help. Not only that, but I brought friends in from school. They don't all have to people you don't know.

And like everyone said, patience is important. My site took a while, I came up with at least twenty different plots over the years, but we only needed to use a couple. I find a good way is to involve the members. Let them chose what should happen next. Let them help you brainstorm. It makes people feel important and like they are helping. You wouldn't want to just sit there and have someone control everything that was going on. That isn't any fun. Also when it comes to plots, don't make it so that only a couple people are truly involved. Make a ton of positions and possibilities open in the plot. True it may mean that it may take longer for everyone to get on and post, but it tends to be more fun all around, because again it gets more people involved.

Anyway, that's just my advice as an owner of a site that lasted a good two years before I had to give it up. The amazing thing behind it, was that people liked it so much that they kept it going after I had left. You know that you were a good admin when people like the site so much that they don't want to see it die.

Nacht Aus!

[niyx]

Reading some of these makes me feel good because I've stuck with my site for so long

But anywhooo... Another key trait for an admin is to have thick skin. They can't let insults or arguments affect them. A good admin isn't angered easily. They also know how to keep the peace while not allowing others to walk all over them. Basically you just have to know how to be a leader. It's not an easy job, and some people just aren't cut out for it.

[Evianne]

[quoteReading some of these makes me feel good because I've stuck with my site for so long

But anywhooo... Another key trait for an admin is to have thick skin. They can't let insults or arguments affect them. A good admin isn't angered easily. They also know how to keep the peace while not allowing others to walk all over them. Basically you just have to know how to be a leader. It's not an easy job, and some people just aren't cut out for it.][/quote]

This this this. (:

I've honestly been really interested in a board a few times, and the only reason I don't join is because of the way the admin seems to act. If you can't tell when you need to take a step back to address a situation correctly, you shouldn't be leading. You should also be able to stand your ground, because in all honesty, it's your law, not theirs.

[jaedyn69]

This this this. (:

I've honestly been really interested in a board a few times, and the only reason I don't join is because of the way the admin seems to act. If you can't tell when you need to take a step back to address a situation correctly, you shouldn't be leading. You should also be able to stand your ground, because in all honesty, it's your law, not theirs.

This sounds a bit tyrannical really. (And I don't mean this rudely)

I don't think you have to wallpaper your forum with "your rules" just to let people know what the deal is. If the only activity an admin takes part in is making sure they know it's your way or the highway then maybe being an admin is something a person should reconsider before doing it.

[razzyrazz]

What I really hate to see are admins that design sites soley to make them pretty. I myself have been at fault for that once before; I made a site, put days of hard work and creativity into designing it to my fancy, but once I had finished I realized that I didn't really even want to participate in what I had started. It's always fun to practice graphics and coding, but don't just open and advertise a site if that's all you want to do. Make it a test forum, or something like that.

Also, in order to be a good admin, you have to be an even better member. You have to know the basics of how forums work. Making beautiful site designs aren't necessary in my opinion, but it does help in attracting members. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of sites that are gorgeous in appearance, but they lack in content. Their member base is only because of how the site looks. So you have to make sure your content is just as good as it appears. That's what you made the site for in the first place, right~?

[[ saga ]]

It depnds what forum I've joined. If I was to say join a forum in which I had not much experience with, I would be happy to stick as a member, seeing as I probably wouldn't know what I was doing so much. But, other than that, I like to have a staff position. I don't need to though, and I am happy to just be an ordinary member.

[endo]

I don't know if I'm a good admin or not, lol. I'd like to think I am, but with hardly any members...or any that return I should say, it's hard to tell.
I am a good member, and go out of my way to welcome new members, without smothering them. And I add what I hope are interesting topics all the time.

I guess I just haven't had any times where I needed to step up and be "admin". Mostly, I just interact and start topics and reply. No drama so far, but then again I have 21 member and only a handful of them post.
Kinda easy to stay out of trouble with 5 new posts a week other than my own, lol.

[3D]

I'm both. I am more member than admin of my own 2 sites.

[Darth Momo]

Feb 1, 2011 12:51:19 GMT -8 3D said:

I'm both. I am more member than admin of my own 2 sites.

Pretty sure you're supposed to have at least four sentences when replying to threads in this board. As per the rules of this board. (:


_____________________________________


When I first joined the online role playing community, I was definitely a member-only type of person. My big break came when I was on a site, and the administrator lost interest in her site and just gave it to me. O.o The site had been dying, but with some work, and some spit, some blood, and more than a little duct tape, myself and a few of the other members were able to keep the site afloat for several months before it crashed and burned. What did I learn from that?

- First time administrators need help.
- Sites need members to keep going.
- Sites need friendly people on it.
- You gotta want it to keep it.
- It's not going to run by itself.

Since then, I've worked as a staff member on almost every site that I've joined. Not always right away, but, invariably, I ended up on the team. Here's my theory as to why this is/what admins need to be:

1. I'm a hard-worker. Once I commit to something, I COMMIT. There is no,"Oh, I'll do it if I feel like it... Or maybe next time..." If something needs doing, I'll do it. I'll get up early, stay up late, forgo food, deny myself things that I want to do (like watch an episode, or finish reading my book.) Admins need to be dedicated, and they have to be willing to take the time to do things. Setting a site is no picnic, and it's easy for people to get discouraged. Keeping it running afterwards ain't easy, either, and folks need to be wiling to work, or else things pile up and get overwhelming =\

2. I'm friendly. I reach out to people, make an effort to include them. I know what it's like to try and do something, only to be stonewalled by others who just don't bother to reach out. I hate this happening to me, and I thus do my darnedest to keep it from happening from others. I have no problem with answering questions, and I work hard to make it so that new members have as many resources available to them. Admins

3. I'm laid back. Sure, I'm intense, in my own way, but I'm not a stiff-arsed Nazi that demands complete and total obedience from my members at all times. We joke around. Plot our character's untimely and unlikely demises. If a "rule" is broken, I usually just ask a person what's going on, if they need help with anything, etc. None of this "Break a rule once, you're warned, break a rule twice, you're banned D:<" business. You can be professional without being rigid. I mean, come on, my mom works in a place where the workers get to take an hour during the work day to do yoga or see the chiropractor that vists the work building, and in the summer, wearing shoes in the building is optional. Major company, laid back.

4. My motto is essentially. "For the people, by the people, of the people." This. So many times, this. A site is not just for you, it's for other people, too. It was MADE for other people. If it wasn't, you shouldn't be advertising, and your site shouldn't be open to other people. Because the point of a role play site is to have other people come in and do something with you that you all have a common interest in. In many cases, role playing, and a certain topic/genre/fandom that you have in mutual likes. And hands down, other people will vastly out-weigh a single admin. Every single time. And so, as an admin, you have to think of the people as a whole, not just this one person, and not just yourself. You need to include other people. If people don't feel included, they leave and go and do something else. Which leaves you with yourself, your site, and your failure.

5. I make sure I know what the heck I'm doing. Knowledge. Admins, you gotta know about what you're administrating. How the admin panel works, how you want a site to run, the materials covered in the site, etc, etc, etc. Knowledge is key. Members have questions - you gotta be able to answer them. They want some sort of structure - not a free-for-all anarchy of boards and characters and templates (or lack thereof). And they usually want a site that looks like someone put effort into to make it look nice. It doesn't have to be stunning or mind-blowing, but it should be coordinated, and original. Know your market, yo.

6. People skillz. You gotta want to talk to people. Can't be an asocial type that doesn't interact with others - you'll never get anywhere except backwards with follks, and they'll not want to be around you. Likewise, you can't be the most overbearing jerk to ever troll the webs. People don't come online to be ridiculed and mocked - they came for fun, entertainment, release from whatever they've got in RL. They do not want their free time to wasted by power-hungry, anger-fueled, self-centered autocratic delinquents.

7. Lastly? Humility. You needs it. You have to know your limits, and know when to get help, or to look something up. And if you can't do something, tell people so. This also means that, while you might be a god of some sort on the site, you're not the number one person. You respect the other people as people, and not tallies on a wall. You listen to their ideas and their constructive criticisms, and you don't blow a gasket whenever something doesn't fly 110% with your each and every idea. Don't just assume that you know everything; could be, a member is actually right, or they actually have a good idea. You really ought to listen to them; they have a different perspective of the forum, and can provide insights that you never even dreamed of. Between yourself and them - you can actually keep the forum pretty well covered. (:


Just my two cents on the matter. I realize that different people run their forums different ways, and they work - I do believe that there are some key elements that we all have in common, though.

Stay in the light,
--Moira (:

[Cats_can]

I started out as a member. I didn't want anything to do with the heading up of anything.

And then... I got handed a staff position. I fell in love. I enjoyed being able to help people in more than just a friendly neighborhood senior member capacity. My biggest skill I would like to say is the ability to defuse situations. Recently a very new member had a plot that just did not jive with the group he'd placed the character into. He was butting up against a canon group, and everyone was getting irritable and fed up about the massive Gary Stu in the midst of them all. I was very proud of myself in managing to find a suitable solution to both the issue with the canon group, and keep the member--without hurting any feelings on either side.

The forum I co-admin has been open for nearly four years. It is an RPG in a VERY popular fandom, think HP, TWI, HS/RL type popular, the kind that there are about ten million of by the time the craze has run it's course. It is still very, very active.

How? A LOT of work. I work more keeping that site afloat than I do on my college work some weeks. Is that particularly healthy? Maybe not. But the site continues to thrive, grow even. It's bigger right now than it was at this time last year. If you personally can not find the time to put in to make sure things are done, plots are being pumped out, advertisements are being made and everything is just running in peachy keen order, you need to find a very good set of mods to help you out.

You have to know when to change things, and when to leave them alone. I left a skin too long once, and activity just started to....dwindleeeeeeeee. Down to literally a third of what it was. If I hadn't gotten on the ball with a new skin, promotionals and something fun to raise interest, well... dead site. . As soon as that new skin went up, activity increased. It was back to normal within a few days. But the reverse holds true. IF you change too much, its no longer interesting to see changes.

You have to know when to be the bigger man, and when to let the issue drop. Sometimes the members are right, hell a good chunk of the time they're right. xD. You need to understand that just because you're an admin does not make you god. These are people, and if you treat them like people, are welcoming without being smothering, and active, there is no reason your members shouldn't like you.

There are a lot of things a good staffer has to be. Too many for me to describe here. Trial and error, is the best learning tool. And always remember, not everyone is cut out for it. There's no shame in just being a member.

Staring at the applications that I really don't want to go over, sometimes I WISH .

[ren]

I prefer to be just a normal member, since it's much easier than being in charge of a whole site. Moderator positions are nice, though. I enjoy helping new members, but I just don't have enough time to run a whole site. D:

[el oh el ya *]

I started out as just a simple member, I think that everyone did. Then like, a month after I started someone offered me a chance to create a site with them and I took it. Me and my best friend created site after site, getting better at graphics, at helping out others at managing everything.

I would really like to think that I make a good admin, but it's really difficult to judge yourself in that way. I always try to help people wherever I can, I try to be as polite as I can. When someone isn't used to the way my forum does something I always try to help them out. At times I have one of my friends online and to them I will yell and sigh and be all frustrated so that I can be polite and sweet to the person that is frustrating me xD I would really like to think that I am good at running a site, but that is something that only others can judge I think.

I always spend a lot of time on the skin, it takes me a while to get it perfected and to make sure that everything is in order. I always make the graphics myself, whether it's for my site or for my characters or something. I make sure that I'm active along with running the site, I'm on a lot and nearly always there to welcome new members. Apps get checked within 24 hours, mostly within a few minutes because I'm around so much xD

I do think that some things are very difficult and at times I just want to quit all together because it seems that people just lost track of why everyone started to RP in the first place. It's supposed to be fun and relaxed, when people come on and start nagging about how terrible their life is, it takes a lot for me to just breathe and make them feel better because a part of me just isn't interested. Maybe that makes me a bad admin, I'm not sure.

For now I still love running my sites, I love rping and I won't quit just yet, but I do think that just being a member is easier than running a site. I guess it really does take a special breed of people to be an admin xD

[Fragleheart]

One of my biggest suggestions to new admins is get to know your members. You need to be more then just an admin to them. You need to be a friend, someone that they can trust and turn to. My members are more then just 'members' to me. These are my friends. I know their names, I know who plays who, I know about their daily lives, I know when something has them upset or happy. I've learned from experience that being able to just talk to the admin, and know that they are your friends, and they know who you are on a personal level, makes a big difference.

But you still need to be an admin, you need to set those boundaries, enforce them, and punish those who break them. Make it clear that no one is above the rules. Not you, not your closest friends, not new members. The rules apply to everyone. If you don't follow them, why would other people? If you let certain people get away with rulebreaking, people will think you are playing favorites. Your members need to know, that no matter how close you and they are, you will not let them walk all over you. You are the boss, and your word is law.

[thepaintedgrin]

I recently came across a forum with an admin that has been pushing my buttons from all angles.

I really have no problem with professionalism, it's something I admire and aim to be like in my own forum. Not snooty, but just a little apart from it all. Always friendly, but never silly. This is great for me, it sets boundaries, which makes RP for me a lot easier and prevents favoritism, but this particularly forum is taking it a bit far.

The admin shows no emotion, what so ever (except when he's swearing). He replies everything in short snippy sentences, with the kind of attitude few people can stand. It's not that I don't appreciate the fact that she is (trying) to keep her distance from members, but she doesn't even greet the new members. No all he does is point out their mistakes and once even cussed... at a new member.

What my point is here is that even professionalism, must have its limits. It's okay to be slightly aloof and make sure that you don't favor any members, at the same time that can turn you into a downright... 'female doggy' attitude if you're too aloof which makes for a horrid RP and forum.

I think these types of admins has a condition... it's on the tip of my tongue... oh yes!

Grandiose Paranoia.

[endo]

See, that's exactly how I don't want to be. I see no need to rule with an iron fist, but at the same time the rules of the forum need to be adhered to.
As I stated earlier, my forum isn't that busy....getting there, but not yet.

I want people to find it a welcoming, friendly place to post about horror. I have no mods at this point, but if and when I need them, I'd like to find people kind of like me, lol.
Kind of laid back, and there to have fun, but will take care of what needs to be taken care of.
Be it trollers, or just people that can't seem to figure out how to put their posts in the proper sections.
So, I guess I would be half and half. I don't have an issue making friends on my forum. But at the same time, that shouldn't be a free ticket for them to do whatever they choose on the forum, and it wouldn't be.
We'll see how it goes, but yeah, I'm a little of both...admin and member.