How Admin Etiquette Can Effect Your ProBoard

[:~:Sarapha:~:]

I disagree with you at some points. I'm admin of my forum, and all of my members and I are like one giant, odd family. But I'm not the kind of admin who's all sucky-upy to new members, either. I was once a member of a site where, if a to-be-member asked for anything to be changed, the admin would change it right away, just in hopes that he will get people.

I'm not like that. Infact, if you went on my board right now, you wouldn't know who I was. I don't pretend to have too much authority, and I don't boss people around. I post with anyone, regardless. If I were to join a post with someone, the only way they'd know I was admin was if they knew me.

More importantly, I'm deffinatly not mature (unless in a serious thread). In the chatbox, I'm all fun and games (unless provoked). I don't want to be an uptight admin. I'm very much like all my members, I just have all the admin functions. My members see me as a friend, and many of them PM me daily to tell me about personal problems they have. I like honesty, if something's bothering me, I will talk to them. We're all very close.

Though, in the past, I have been guilty of a lot of bad admin things, like favoritism, and ban-happiness. I don't now, and as I've said at least 12 times, we all get along on my site. I'll stop now before I lose my train of thought again.

[Nacku]

No one likes a spammer. Spamming your site begging people to join is one sure way to never get any real members. If you're lucky a few people will register with obscene names as insults directed towards you, but no real members. Would you join a forum where it's admin didn't have any more sense then to go around advertising in the least effective, and most annoying way possible? What does that say about their maturity? More importantly, what does that say about the chances of success for their forum when they obviously have no common sense, let alone enough sense to run a successful forum.

No one likes a rude smart Aleck person. If you are part of another community you hope to get members from, and are just plain rude, then people will stay as far away from you as possible. I mean, would you want to join a forum where the admin likes to insult others, spam, make fun of you, makes rude comments about other people and other things? Highly unlikely.

You said it right there! That is so very true!

A good admin is without a doubt the backbone to a forum and the key to it's success. Speaking from my own personal experience, I've come across admins that join in on berating members and that is completely uncalled for. Not to mention highly unprofessional. IMO an admin needs to be the one that sets examples for the members. This particular admins argument (when called on her attitude) was "Just b/c I'm staff doesn't mean a thing." Well, to me it does. The staff and especially the admin should be the ones to put a stop to that sort of thing. Not join in.

Another example is an admin that people walk on egg shells around for fear of setting them off. And when I say set them off, I don't mean blowing up. I mean just the opposite. Instead they're more subtle. Taking nasty little subtle jabs or purposely bringing up a subject that they know will cause an argument just to stir the pot, so to speak.

Like I said both of these examples are from my own personal experiences and in both cases the overall atmosphere of the forums were strained. I would not call either of them successful forums.

Kel

It's so sad, too. I have had my eyes opened to something recently. I found out that some admins are the aggressor after having had tried to remedy something and was unable to. I found out what was really going on. Some people are so sad and twisted that they can't even admit they were wrong about anything! And then whine when they are called out on their crap.

There are admins out there who use their board to publicly harass others and use it as a form to cyber-bully those they have some vendetta against. I will not be bullied and stupid people will always underestimate those of us who are smart. They think they can make people cow-tow to them and demand you to grovel when you are the one being harassed. It's called power-trippin' and some people are that messed up; they think because they have a board that they have some imagined power over you.

I could send a message that are full of facts but it would just affirm that I am acknowleding the behaviour and of course I would be harassed even more than I am now. All I tried to do was distance myself from something and remedy something so I could gracefully bow out. Instead I got my eyes opened and now see the truth. Oy! So I know exactly where you are coming from Kel. We'll get through this.

[Rroan]

((I am a little lazy to read all of the 10 pages, sorry, so if anyone said this already, I agree with you.))

I agree with a lot of you. The admin needs to set examples, be kind, not annoy others and the other stuff said. But he/she also needs to hold his/her power calmly, without getting caught up in it and believing he/she is always right.

An admin should be responsible, humble, kind, etc. That is all true, but the members have responsibility too. They should stay active, (in situations where the admin disagrees or may be right) they need to stay calm, be respectful of the rules and staff, and lastly, be kind to all the members. The members should also be patient with an admin if they try to learn and do better.

I, as a newer admin, have experienced situations where I am wrong and where the member over reacts or does something wrong. I am trying to learn and become a better admin and I hope my members are patient with me. I also, personally, will kick out any member who is rude to the other members.

As long as the admin does his/her job, the member should respond in a responsible way and with both, the site, overall, should be a great site.


Also, as a side note:
I believe that as an admin, I should be the above and more, but I have a right to warn and disagree and kick out members with the right reasons. Is that wrong?


Rroan; admin of Rooftops

[Nacku]

Yes all members should respect each other and try to talk to the other if a misunderstanding occurs instead of just flaming them.

I recall making amends for a misjudgement-misworded-whatever and the admin not only hid the fact that I tried to make peace with another member - he went on the warpath. As if there was to be no peace made and it was impossible because it was the flaming that the admin wanted to see (some forums are geared toward a negative subject) and people should have known what the admin was really like.

It's just what Kel was saying about the experience of those kinds of admins. They cannot be reasoned with. It's like they're getting off on it.

[dippydoo]

I agree all members should respect each other, but above all they should respect the administrators and mods who on some boards have a hellish time of it from trolls. If a board has good admin then the members should support them. You should be able to discuss with admin if you have a problem on any issue and admin should take it on board and discuss how it can be fixed. If not get the hell away from that forum and find yourself a new one.
I am on a forum that is locked and only members can read and post, this is because one person registered in several names and caused havoc, this person seemed to make it a personal crusade to close the forum, that person did not succeed, the forum has gone from strength to strength, an excellent administration well supported by good members. Troll even reported forum as being in violation of TOS, fortunately forum was read and complaints rejected.

I agree Rroan an admin should be able decide who stays and who goes without being on the receiving end of threatening emails and PMs.

[Nacku]

If there are no violations of the terms then that forum has nothing to worry about, true. The staff here are unbiased and professional when it comes to the terms. They don't mess around. If they see a violation they will act. Plain and simple. I feel that the discussion here is more about various admin's behaviour overall, rather than a member. There are bad admins and good admins. It's just a fact of life. Of course, trolls will try to report forums just for the thrill of it. However, there are admins/forums out there that do violate the terms and some people here (some of us are no stranger to) being on the receiving end of a particularly nasty admin who uses their board as a sort of "weapon" against a member that they disagreed with and surprisingly usually over something friggin' minor or trivial or small! Tsk tsk tsk.

And believe me, trying to talk to them does no good because they're sitting there getting some sick pleasure out of what they're doing. They're at their controls, calling all the shots in that little box of that little virtual geography of room, place and territory. It's a psychological thing that might be occuring, who knows? Think of ProBoards as a giant hotel or a maybe a country, where all the citizens are given free roam of the halls, or streets and some of the citizens opt to take a room or a suite and invite their friends over, or invite all citizens over and it's all free of charge and the food is free, the drinks are free, everything is free. Now you'd think with such an idea that does exist here in cyber space that all the people would see the innovative and creative potential in such a hotel or country...alas, no, there will always be unsavory anal-retentive nitwits out there to give certain rooms a bad name. (Why all of the sudden I'm thinking of the movie 'The Shining'?)

Heck, some admins glorify themselves as the best troll and flamers-supreme. So...yeah, it just depends on the person. The subject matter of the forum could also be problematic if it's prone to draw a certain audience anyway. I can name about 3 or 4 gothic and anti-(certain politicians) forums that all have infighting and thankfully I'm not there but have a few friends that are and they're staying clear out of the way. As I always tell them, try to stay clear of the debris. If you've said anything that could be misread or perhaps targeted then you should go in and try to move yourself out of the way.

Now of course, I don't recommend that for everyone but in my case, I've always found that the "less" said or the "least" information you give about your own personal tastes, experiences, whatever, the better because someone, somewhere will try to use that as blackmail if they're bored enough. I described one troll once as a B-Troll and then decided against using the term anywhere because it was only given to a certain situation and no one would know what the heck I was talking about, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't presume I was talking about something there or somebody there. So I was just like, well it's irrelevent. Nobody cares so why even bring it up? But I'm shy like that...I'm very guarded and suspicious by nature now because of some bad experiences with trolls and other like creatures. Very bad.

But hey, I'm still alive and nasties really can't kill anybody on the internet unless they could create a program to make computers blow up or something. Or maybe that'll be a technology arriving sooner than the Invisibility Cloak!

[dippydoo]

I feel that the discussion here is more about various admin's behaviour overall, rather than a member.

Surely how a member behaves towards admin and how admin responds is relevent to this discussion. At the end of the day the person responsible for any forum and its members is admin.
No matter how good an administrator is, if he or she ticks one member off for even a minor issue, that member can become hell bent on "revenge". Some people don't like rules or being told no you cant do that. Those people should join forums where rules dont apply.
A good admin takes on board his members suggestions and has to be seen to be fair. As I said if you happen to be on a forum with an admin like that, you cant lose.

[Nacku]

Erm, I'm afraid you missed my point. Basically if an admin cannot respect the member's needs (maybe a member became jitterish about something and wanted to discuss it but admin would not) that shows the admin has ABSOLUTELY NO respect for anyone. That's what I meant. In general observation I've found that some admins just like to obscure the truth and lie and go out of their way to make the member they disagree with look like the bad guy. Ego, can't be proven wrong about anything, a psychological disorder of some kind, I'm just saying they're out there.

Heck, it's funny but some admins, the minute someone doesn't cave give to bullying or their chest-beating antics, suddenly everyone's a troll, and everyone's lying and everyone stalking and gee, all the sad, pathetic tactics just come a'flying.

These types of admins like to use what is called "intimidation" and no matter how much they flex their puny fists it doesn't change a thing. They're sad little people. Just my two cents.

P.S. In your situation, you have admins and members getting along and listening to one another. Sharing ideas and not using the board for "revenge". So you're right, boards like that cannot lose.

[dippydoo]

Sometimes an administrator is damned if he does and damned if he dont. I would hazard a guess that it happens on here as well that members have disagreed with an admin decision. Where does an administrator draw the line before he is classed as a waste of space or a bully. Whose opinion should an administrator listen to...the member who yells and threatens or the member who takes time to consider and respond calmly....both disagree with him...but who does he warn/ban....We all want happy boards but there will always be a conflict of opinions..steering the middle road is not easy and admins should not be slated for it.

[Nacku]

Whew, well yeah that's something I, myself, can relate to. More than you know, believe me! But the issue is Admins who are good and ones that are just bad. The bad ones simply WON'T take the time to consider a thing. They can be labelled a bully especially if they're acting like one. No admins here have ever acted like a bully and members who disagree with them will just disagree rather than react the same way they might react to a bully. Most people are smart and can figure out when they're being talked down to as opposed to being talked with.

In your scenario, you have someone who is reporting a board for violations. Okay, every site on the internet can be reported by anyone at any given time. But IF a board is found to be violating the rules, it is acted upon. There are no "sides" because the rules and terms are lined out. De facto. There are no sides because maybe the problem is round! LOL! Anyway, seriously, if something is acted upon it's because the board was flubbing up and trying to get away with something and usually that is; bad admin wanted to flame and post slander of some kind and felt it was his right to do so because 'person A' or 'person B' had pissed him off and therefore such little peons deserve to be berated.

Like I said, it's a psychological thing. Bad admins will never see how they're wrong or doing wrong and won't try to change that. You can't change them. I can't change them. It would be a waste of time. Time that could be spent playing this really awesome, cool game I've been enjoying, but I digress.

These are examples of a good admin: be kind, listen to your members, take the time to listen and don't let the power go to the head. If a banning is needed, do it and be DONE with it giving no more heed and move on. Don't give the banned a hard time and don't declare WWIII on them. If affronted with something that confuses or upsets; ask and then go from there. Don't jump to immediate conclusions because the internet is impersonal and it doesn't reflect the expressions experienced in real life conversation.

These are examples of bad admins: be a know-it-all, be ban happy (oh lots of that one), if a member has an issue and tries to explain it be paranoid of some ghoulish obscure motive, do some more banning and then go on a rampage and get board reported. Then declare WWIII and go after them with a vengeance because they've insulted the bad admin's power rather than fell before his/her feet grovelling even when demands of fealty and "chances" were uttered, as if they ever owned that person like you'd own an ashtray.

In the first scenario, as you can see, the good admin would have nothing to worry about even if reported. In the second scenario, the bad admin will be carrying a grudge that it was reported and continue to whine about that fact. I've seen this with my own eyes! A bad admin (and overall that type of person) will be in shock that such an insolence has happened. Because after all, they're never wrong, you see? How dare someone take any action to stop the oncoming train of the angered bad admin. Ooh scary stuff, that is. Meh, yeah, whatever. As the Dark Lord would say; I cannot help but roll my eye over this. ;D

My trying to understand people like that just gives me a headache, so I don't even think about them and they can't rent space in my mind because I have so much more fun with boards and groups where there is acceptance and tolerance and minor problems with troll and spammers, but they're easily done away with. An admin who abuses power makes everyone suffer. A member who abuses power (well maybe power is the wrong term) but they don't do much because they're not really in a position to hold everyone hostage.

What a good admin does is take the time to listen carefully and not be prone to knee-jerk reactions all the time. Unfortunately, as I've said before, it's a fact of life...there are always going to be real arseholes that have admin powers somewhere and all anyone else can do is stay clear and away. Which is what I do in situations like that and I've been real lucky to have numerous friends have my back. I got people looking out for me. But what of those poor little souls who encounter such an admin who is bad-rotten to the core and the poor souls being picked on don't know their rights? Those are those the ones I feel for because I've been in their shoes.

Back then I didn't even know you could report websites and abuse in them. I learned, after a while, how to. I try to present the evidence without saying anything mean about the person I'm reporting and try to keep emotions down. Then present the evidence and go from there. It works...if there's a violation of something, it's taken care of. I just hope that anyone here who is suffering from some mean-spirited admin who might be abusing them can know that you don't have to put up with it.

'Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers. - Shakespeare

[eri]

Sorry for joining in this late so it may have been said already but to me one of the key things a good admin should do is make sure everyone is welcomed. I hate being on forums where I will post in a welcome section and then never get a reply....I tend not to post after that, admins have a huge impact on the atmosphere and feel of their forums and should always be as active as posisble in my opinion.

[tasia the free spirit !]

There's also a line across this as well. I've noticed that despite being as open and friendly as I can be, I don't find a lot of members coming towards my boards. Which is why I personally don't find the need for it, but I will try before writing it off as another learning experince. I try to look at the positives, like what this has taught me, and how to be a better admin. It helps when you know what you're doing.

[fantasmic]

Jul 18, 2006 3:31:16 GMT -8 pollywollydoodle said:

Hi

Oooops, reading this thread has made me think I've made a big mistake!

When I set up my board I saw the Admin side as just a way to set up, modify the board, add code etc. so once it was ready to go I then registered myself as a general member thinking that I'd rather be 'one of the girls' than the big know-it-all 'Administrator'

I posts and reply as myself but whenever updates or deletions are necessary I just log in as the Admin do what's necessary and leave.

The site is fairly new so I suppose I've time to change but does anyone have any suggestions on how I could do it? How could I go from being a member to being Admin without it seeming strange as I would end up with two lots of posts all by me but with different names.

Wish I'd seen this thread before!

Thanks for any help or ideas

I really see nothing wrong with that. In fact, on my old board, that's what I did too. And that board ran smoothly for a few years before we all decided that the RPG was rather old. None of us were into it anymore, and it was a mutual decision to close down. We're all in contact via different sites, etcetera. Just sometimes the site plot becomes redundant. But that's neither here nor there. Sorry for that tangent.

Anyways, as I was trying to say, not everyone feels comfortable with that little "Admin" pip underneath their friend's name. Maybe they're afraid of a power trip, or having the admin be accused of favoritism. It sounds weird, but I've seen it. Plus, there are sites that require post counts to make characters or join events or what-have-you. In those instances, it'd be a lot easier for the admin's characters to participate in events when they didn't have some-odd numbers of posts just from setting up threads. Some people get defensive about that, and see it as abusing power. Though frankly, I don't agree with those people, sometimes it's just smoother to make another account for RP and interaction purposes, and leave the Admin account for "official business" so to speak.

As long as the other members know at the end of the day that you're in charge of the site, and that they have to respect you with or without the PIP, I don't think it's a big deal. Don't feel like you have to change what you've been doing, if it works for you.

[Macy]

I agree with the fact that the admin must be nice and kind to incoming members, but still be willing to help them out with little things. However, the admin can at times be too nice. I speak from experience.

One of my rpg forums had taken off extremely well and was doing just fine. I installed two trusted members as moderators on that forum, because the work load on it was getting too much to handle. Well, I ended up giving them too much power and was a total pushover to their views for the site. I ended up doing all the work, even though it was all their ideas and everything was horribly disorganized. Atop that, more and more members left since those two 'staff members' had such large egos.

So, the moral of the story? I think admin should be cordial to all members, but keep their staff in line. It probably would not be as extreme a case as mine had become, but even then...everything in a balance I think holds well.

[Imprintation]

The admin is probablly the most inportant person on the site. But the admin shoulnd't be smug about that. If you have a new member or any member for that, that doesn't agree with something the admin does. It doesn't give the admin a right to go off and start abusing them and being a complete jerk. The admin should act like they are a normal member. They shouldn't have favorite members. I can actually relate to this on my site. I am an admin and someone broke the rules on my site. I asked them to change it polietly and she still refused. I did not ban this member for something so small as that. I simply told her to change it or i shall change it for her. Now we get along great.

Admin also shouldn't hold grudges against their members. If you have an argument with a member just let it go. It shouldn't drag on. If admins are nice to new members there is a bigger chance that you will get more people. Admins deserve some form of respect but not to the extent where they abuse their position. Admins should be nice at all times and not annoy or disrespect their members.