Admin Or Member?

[xxciaraxmist]

I love being an admin for several reasons. It gives you something to do when you're bored; you can make changes to the site (which gives you something to do instead of waiting around for people to post like a regular member would). It's YOUR site, so you can make whatever changes you see fit, and take what you've learned from other sites to make yours the best it can be. You get to be the fun-provider, making contests and setting plots, and taking suggestions from your members. I like being the one with the collective knowledge of what everyone wants so I can tailor my site to my members' needs. Regular members can't do any of that.

On the flip side, not having the responsibilities of running a site and just enjoying playing on one is excellent too. On a site where you're just a member, you can skip a day or two to do homework or go on vacation. Heaven forbid you do that as an admin. You come back to new members, a million new posts, 484156 new private messages, and occasionally the lunatic who has flooded your boards or gone crazy and tried to kill all your characters (it's happened to me: no fun).

Don't get me wrong, I love being an admin, but it does have its disadvantages, ya know?

[:~:Sarapha:~:]

I'm both, actually. I'm the admin of my site, but I also have... I think... Four more characters on it that I keep active. I made them back when my site was dying so I could induce posting, and I'm stuck with them, so to speak.

But I do agree with you so much. One of my previous members once decided to make a site of her own, and asked me to look at it, to get my opinion. It was an exact replica of my site. All the boards were the same, all the images, even the content was the same. I felt it horribly defeated the purpose of having a board if she was just going to copy mine word for word.

On my site, there are some things that get punished more severely than others. The one thing I will not tolerate are one-liners. People have to post at least 2 RP samples just to make it past the Sorting Stage. If they pass through it, then all of a sudden, they start posting one-liners, I get really irritated. But I'm not mean about it. I send them a message pinpointing their one-liner, and then list questions that they could use to write a good RP (Like, what's the weather like, what is your character wearing, what emotions are they feeling, what're their actions, ect.)

However, if I have to remind them more than three times in a small time-frame, I get really aggervated, and issue punishments. Might not be for the best, but hey, what can I do. I try to help them, but they post something no one can reply to.

[xxciaraxmist]

I see what you're saying. One of my members actually made three sites, and asked me to affiliate with them. I looked at them before putting their buttons on, only to discover they were replicas of my site. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. I've gone out searching for ideas for my site, but I've always put my own spin on things.

That's one of the things I don't like about being an admin. You put so much effort into creating a site, only to have it copied.

[:~:Sarapha:~:]

Thanks why I <3 Craig

He sorted it out for me.

[xxciaraxmist]

I <3 Craig because he worked with me for two days to get a code together to put pictures in my sub-boards.

=]

Lol. Slightly off topic. Sorry.

[kelendria]

Jul 31, 2008 9:47:31 GMT -8 xxciaraxmist said:

I see what you're saying. One of my members actually made three sites, and asked me to affiliate with them. I looked at them before putting their buttons on, only to discover they were replicas of my site. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. I've gone out searching for ideas for my site, but I've always put my own spin on things.

That's one of the things I don't like about being an admin. You put so much effort into creating a site, only to have it copied.

The EXACT same thing happened to me too, it's heartbreaking when you've put so much effort in & there's no Proboards rule against someone copying you

I love being an admin, it fills my time & I get great satisfaction from it.
On the other hand I'm not a member of many boards now, but it is nice not having the stress or worry sometimes

[palebird]

When you take the decision nd howto become an admin on a forum, you need to know when to make the decision when its best to cross the line. I've seen it more often than not on forums, where admins don't know when to or how to cross the line of being a friend to being an admin, and far to often than not let members get away with things far too many times.

Being an admin is great but it also comes with tough responsobilities.

[{ f a t e. GOTMEHERE;]

Jul 31, 2008 9:32:48 GMT -8 xxciaraxmist said:

I love being an admin for several reasons. It gives you something to do when you're bored; you can make changes to the site (which gives you something to do instead of waiting around for people to post like a regular member would). It's YOUR site, so you can make whatever changes you see fit, and take what you've learned from other sites to make yours the best it can be. You get to be the fun-provider, making contests and setting plots, and taking suggestions from your members. I like being the one with the collective knowledge of what everyone wants so I can tailor my site to my members' needs. Regular members can't do any of that.

On the flip side, not having the responsibilities of running a site and just enjoying playing on one is excellent too. On a site where you're just a member, you can skip a day or two to do homework or go on vacation. Heaven forbid you do that as an admin. You come back to new members, a million new posts, 484156 new private messages, and occasionally the lunatic who has flooded your boards or gone crazy and tried to kill all your characters (it's happened to me: no fun).

Don't get me wrong, I love being an admin, but it does have its disadvantages, ya know?

Oh yeah. Once, on a big site that i had just got handed because the old admin quit, I decided to take a 2-week vaca. Excpecting it to be all relaxing, I found myself thinking about my site non-stop. and finally, when I relaxed and came back, I came back to find that one of the other co-admins had deleated my account and said I quit. I was all EHMEEGOD.

So yeah. End of vacas.

[Owlstar]

May 31, 2006 15:34:36 GMT -8 ∞ ConqueringWolf ∞ said:

I see people who throw on the first generic template they can download off the first graphics site they come across and then they throw up a few general boards and proclaim their self as the greatest forum in the world. Personally I believe one of the keys to success for a forum is a unique look that distinguishes itself from someone who just uses a template that 2,000 other boards already use. If an admin cares enough to run a good quality forum they should be willing to spend the time to learn how to design it their self so they can offer something unique to their members and also offer upgrades and changes in the future.

I don't think people will necessarily care where the tables and coding came from. Some people don't know how to code, and ProBoards offers some basic codes to use. I think it's more about the content of the site rather than the look. If people don't find something that interests them, they will join. Of course, the look is important. People could find a site and think it looks hideous. Of course, that would be the skin - Not the tables and where the coding came from.

May 31, 2006 15:34:36 GMT -8 ∞ ConqueringWolf ∞ said:

I also see admins who refuse to post in their forum saying, "I am waiting until I get members and then they will start posting on their own". I know from experience that members will not just come in to an empty forum and start making threads on their own. If they have something that interests them enough to reply to then they will join to do so. Once your forum becomes active and new topics are made every day then new members will come in and start new topics and join in on the fun but never will they do that with a forum that is starting off with no topics or posts. Forum activity should be driven as equally if not more by the forum admin than anyone else.

That would be one reason as to why people would be better off as a member. But most sites are role play, and role playing can be very hard if it's just by yourself. So the admin can start a few topics, then wait for some people to join and then get the site going. Also, when I make a new site. I go around asking my friends to join. One or two of them always join.

May 31, 2006 15:34:36 GMT -8 ∞ ConqueringWolf ∞ said:

You also need patience to run a forum and I see too many people who say, "I have had my forum for a week and I don't have any members". If you are not willing to suffer with your forum and endure with it for months at a time with no or little activity then maybe you shouldn't be an admin.

I have had my first forum since last year, and only 11 people joined. I have had to send out multiple emails saying to be active, but no one ever is active. Of course, three people are, but the others aren't. I ask members of forums this: If you have had enough time to find a forum that interests you and had enough time to join, why don't you have enough time to make a post or two every once in a while? That's another important part of keeping up a forum; Members have to be active.

[Pro—Poster]

May 31, 2006 15:34:36 GMT -8 ∞ ConqueringWolf ∞ said:

I have had my first forum since last year, and only 11 people joined. I have had to send out multiple emails saying to be active, but no one ever is active. Of course, three people are, but the others aren't. I ask members of forums this: If you have had enough time to find a forum that interests you and had enough time to join, why don't you have enough time to make a post or two every once in a while? That's another important part of keeping up a forum; Members have to be active.

I agree slightly with this. As for the amount of members coming on; sadly, this happens a lot. For a forum to become active, advertising plays a key, but is the forum that people stay for. As for making your forum better, they are many factors, but that is the topic nor the time to dicuss this. As for you, Owlstar, this has happened to my original forum that I had. Unforuntely, there is nothing you can do about the amount of active members that come on. In my opinion, they obviously just joined for no apparent reason at all, and they never cared about your site. That is why I try to do every once in a while on the numerous sites that I joined. Members do have to be active; and it is partly the admin's responsibilty, and the members, though it is not their job.

[Diego Zelaya]

I like being a staff member on my own sites. Probably because I have to be. lol.

However, I much rather be a member for two reasons. If the site is starting up, I do not want to put so much effort in it, and than let it be a waste when the admin leaves, and I also do not like to watch over a whole lot of people either. They tend to get annoying after a while.

[Remis]

I believe a Main Admin should be one who is patient, generally intelligent, and rather charismatic. Not everyone is cut-out to be a general ruler of a forum.

Some people are too impatient. Others, too inexperienced with forums themselves. I've seen one person who was like "I want to make a forum, but I don't know what about yet..."

I do believe I could be a forum creator/admin, but, I have a bad habit of being lazy, so unless something really interests me, I try to prevent myself from making a forum.

[matrix934]

I've had my forum have absolutely no members at all, only my posts, and inactive for months now. Of course I don't want over 200 members joining right away. I'd very much appreciate 1 new member a week.

I like being the admin because I can change the forum and add all of my ideas. I'm good with the designing, I just have trouble on the advertising.

[Reisuke]

I have read a majority of things here and many things have come to mind. For the last month, I have been getting in simple-minded arguments with staff. Now you all are probably thinking that these things usually happen and are for the better. But, what the prime topic being brought up is me, the owner and creator of the site.

It seems like everyday I get a staff doing all kinds of things that you all mentioned in a few thread throughout this board. Some staff is embarrassing me in the chat box, which is bad because it scares members away and gives me a bad outlook. Now, I need you all opinion on what I am gonna list below. I really wanna get better, but I need help from others than those who dislike me and can’t understand my position.

• They complain saying I don't hear them out or consider there opinions. (Yet my forum, like all forums, have a suggestion board. We even have a appeal board for those who disagree with a ruling).
  
• They complain saying I don't treat them equal and that I use my owner privilege as a reason why. (When we have three more owners that have equal power).
  
• They complain saying how I am disrespectful to them. (When I hear/see my fellow staff saying "mess me" and so forth).
  

I also get the occasional he is power-hungry and that he makes it so that no one can touch him. I am going to break in half, I mean it’s crazy. I try to stay calm, but no matter how much stuff I give them or how nice I am to them it’s like they just don’t accept it. They don’t accept me as an owner, yet they come on my forum. To sum it up, it’s like they want to control my forum and don’t want me to run it how I run it, because of there own personal reasons. Plus the fact I get downplayed with my staff saying, “I know more than you” and “You don’t know dookie” yet I have ran my forum for s year successfully. What do I do everyone?

[hime ♥]

Oh my! This happened with me also. kind of. XD

one of my co-admins always had nervous breakdowns (because of how I behaved with her. Meaning=I didn’t rp with her all the time. No. I’m not lying. This was her Reason. I was like goshwtf.) and all the others (even the members) started to behave and talk with me like I was some kind of DramaQueen. (and well, I could understand the members, because every time when I was online, the drama started.) And after a month, one day they simply asked me (the one who made the site and all the coding XD and was the main admin for one and half a year) to leave… and surprise-surprise, I did leave.

-thinks- Well, maybe this little anecdote doesn’t seem to be helpful, but I, in the other hand, learned a lot from it. Now I have a wonderful site, with a awesome co-admin, who do all the power-hunger things, and I can be nice and lovable. XD

So, my advice will be cruel (sorry, really. Most of the time I’m nice and angel-like, but –rolls eyes- there are times when you have to be cruel), but I think your main problem is the one who says things like “You don’t know dookie”. I think you have already asked him/her if she/he has a particular problem with yourself, so maybe it’s time to ask “if you know everything why don’t you make a site yourself and make it successful?” I mean, heck, it’s your site. –reread- Gosh, I sound so mean and evil. –blush-

Okay, so forget everything what I said before… and talk with the one who do the blackmouthing behind your back.

Sorry that I couldn't be more helpful, but at least you know, you are not alone.