How Admin Etiquette Can Effect Your ProBoard

[jeffhulk]

Well with my site and one other I go on and few others we had trouble with Store managers going on that the site when we went to vote for a strike .These managers posted things that the members and myself disagreed with ! Now we have more troll problems and was forced to shut down my site becuase of grocery contract talks .

[.the werewolf!]

Reading through bits and pieces of this thread, there are things I most certainly agree with. I have most of the things I wanted to say typed up, except its on my laptop and that needs a new charger, so, its desk top for me. I digress however. As an admin on a few boards, that I've had to pull back due to real life things, I had rules that were, pretty much common sense. While others were needed for that type of forum, I was made sure to, while enforcing the rules, not be too overbearing. Each member was treated the same, along with the staff, and myself included. If I did something wrong, I would want my staff to tell me too. Treating members the same, with friendly and warm welcomes, and not be too snarly when enforcing rules(I generally say a hello and things before asking them kindly to remember the rules and make sure for further posting).

A site I'm on currently, the admins have a good way of dealing with the odd rule breaker, but dealing seems to be the wrong word here. Instead of splashing it out on the forum, the staff will PM the member, that way its confidential and not too humiliating as opposed to being displayed everywhere(some sites have this, others I've seen that don't, not trying to mean any disrespect here!). As a mod over there, I do the same and go to the admins before such things, so we are all in the same loop. When I first joined, I was immediately welcomed, and that was one thing that got me to join, was the friendliness. Plus all the members are kind and welcoming too, its quite normal for a new member, or guest, to pop on the chatbox and we all jump in to say hello and welcome, and see if they wish to join the conversation or not.

I think a combination of being nice, kind and welcoming to members, plus knowing when to enforce rules and having it so you aren't, degrading or being absolutely rude, is what I look for in an admin. Bottom line, treat others how you wish to be treated.

[Crimson wolf]

I can relate as well because as a matter of fact I discovered I'd been banned from a forum for one of three reasons the final one being the stupidest of them all because of my personal situation, I go to check out the site 1st thing to pop up is ''Sorry you have been banned.'' It was either for Constant Complaining or questioning their plot choice, the final one being inactivity but You delete someone if their inactive you don't ban them yes the admin warned me about my activity but at the same time she could have just as easily deleted me.

[ily 'TIL THE end]

May 31, 2006 15:44:47 GMT -8 @myke said:

Believe it or not, part of many forums' success if determined on how the majority of the populous sees the admin of said forums. I, personally, have seen a many forums take off because it's admin was well liked by outside communities they were a apart of.

Think about it for a second, you see two different people with two different forums, but the same subject, a subject that interests you. Guy A is a pretty nice guy. He is willing to interact with you, and post with you in a fun, mature way. He is considerate of others' feelings, and always brings something interesting to the table. Guy B is a jerk. He likes to spam his forum, begging people to join. He likes to make smart Aleck comments towards other members, post spam replies, and flames others when they point out that he is wrong.

Now, whose board would you be more likely to join? Person A, or Person B?

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.

How you present yourself on other forums, other communities, is how people will form opinions of you, and form initial opinions of your forum. You can have the best forum in the world, but if you go around acting like person B, then no one will ever give you a chance. No one wants to be around anyone like that, unless they, themselves are immature, smart Aleck, rude spammers.

The admin of a site is the most important member to a forum's success. He/She is the one who sets all of the examples that others will try to follow. He/She is the one who ultimately stands before the judge and jury every time there are out in other communities hoping to get some members.

When I became a regular here at ProBoards Support, I tried my hardest to be an upstanding, productive member, because i KNEW my actions, and attitude here would reflect back on how people viewed my forum.

What you want to do while visiting other communities (and while visiting your own forum) is to be nice, caring, productive, entertaining, mature, sensitive to others, ect. Be silly if you want, that's fine, we are all a little bit silly, but do it in an acceptable way. Follow all of the rules, don't get branded as a constant rule breaker. Again, what does that say about your forum if you can't follow simple rules on other communities? Would you elect a mayor who was a rapist?

Just use some common sense, and do the right thing, and treat people right. By doing that, you will only gain. By acting like a fool, like person B, you will always loose.

Thoughts, comments, questions?

I agree but let's put another spin on this discussion with merging Guy A and Guy B. Oh yes, that is very much possible. Guy C does everything Guy A does, and does a bit of what Guy B does. For instance, Guy C does the following that Guy B does; Rude comments made mostly in private and/or to other people about other people they don't like, underestimating the members and not asking the right questions instead just assuming and appearing naive in the process and never apologizing for being wrong. That is Guy C. You will say, that person is a hypocrite and I would never join that persons forum! What if you didn't know the private side of Guy C? What if Guy C appears to be only Guy A and very people know that the person is really Guy C? Wouldn't you like to know who a person truly is? Guy C, when given an opportunity to come out and make it clear what type of person he/she is, never does. They think it will ruin his/her reputation and possibly, ruin his/her forum and no one would want to be a part of a cowards forum, now would they? Because in the end, Guy C is just another coward who pretends to be something they are not.

Thoughts?

[The Dark Knight]

Administrator etiquette should be in sync with the forum and how seriously the forum is being run. If some people start a forum just for fun and for the heck of it, you won't see them being very serious or ethical about the way they run their forum. However if you the forum is a serious forum, then admin etiquette would matter.

Of course, as the forum will grow, Administrators will have to take a stand to decide whether or not they should take the forum seriously or whether they should continue running it the way they always have in a fun manner and not care about what issues arise. They can do as they please and as things have worked out in the past, they shall be the same in the future.

It all depends on the nature of the forums and how seriously the staff takes the forums.

Lately, it doesn't matter to a lot of people what staff etiquette is like as long as the place is a fun place to be in.

[``HEATHER-LICIOUS``]

It is indeed true that it is the admins reputation on other sites if even reputation that makes a site popular. The administrator and all staff are role models for the entire site. If the admin is rude, people will be less likely to join the site regardless of the topic.

I would like to add that it is also the members that make people stay or go. Again, it is the administrator that sets up the site and shows everyone how the site works and are polite to all members.

Sorry if thiswandered a bit. xD

[Marci]

The worst kind of admin, is one that welcomes you with open arms, and then favours other members as opposed to you. Because there is NOTHING you can do about it. But even worse than that, is, when they steal your idea, and change it subtly and give you no credit. That happened to me once. But the admin's a heavy drinker, and a total slag to boot, so I'm happy that she'll die young of Liver failure, or some STD.

[jaedyn69]

I'm new here. I've been a moderator on a Proboard forum and I've seen some things myself.

Admin and moderators etiquette can really take a toll on members. Allowing numerous alternate ID's to run without restraint, spousal run boards where users get scolded for contacting a moderator that is the spouse of the admin while they would have no way of knowing it, censoring (editing/deleting posts) of a small group of users while allowing the bigger whole to play however they like, and sarcastic/accusatory pm responses from admin/moderators to users that are trying to get to the bottom of issues that look like they're being ignored due to inaction on the part of the admin/moderators.

It's a mixed bag to say the least and having admin that actually care can be hard to find, especially when they run admin/moderator positions by themselves and run their own resources thin.

[Amber]

I have been a member of a site where I was allowed to "Bend" the rules and make an off kilter character, due to inactivity on the site. I then got married and quit for a few months, just to return to the site to find that the admin had taken my character and redone the site completely based of my characters plot. Not only that... she had my character up for adoption as a cannon and would not let me adopt it, claiming my inactivity was the reason she could not allow me such an important role. As well she refused to remove my character and its plot from her site.

There was a huge fight and she lost every single member on THREE of her sites due to this clear lack of responsibility and respect.

[Crimson wolf]

I had that happen to me to Amber I was on a Sailor Moon Forum, the character I created was supposed to be the daughter of one of the Starlights and another sailor scout. I left the site or was inactive, she took the character then made it her own. The sad part is that when I tried to claim that she had stolen my character the main admin of the forum claimed that I didn't have the grounds because it didn't have a copyright on it, the worst part was that she had asked if she could use the character but when I found the profile she had totally changed it.

[Amber]

I hate that. I mean some sites have it in the rules that if you become inactive your characters are put up for adoption, to keep plots going (Mine is one that does that) But unless that is clearly stated (Giving someone the opportunity to refuse), they have no right to use a players character.

[[ saga ]]

I think a friendly admin is an important part of the site. Also, one who really cares for the site and posts and updates things regularly. Also, ones that spell and speak correctly. I know this might sound strange, but there is one site in particular, and the staff all speak using the 'text talk'; 'u' and 'tht' etc. I find it really offputting and it made me think twice about joining their forum.

[thordryc]

interesting....

[Former Member]

This is a very interesting topic, as many of you have agreed. We've all been members and many of us have been staff including Admin therefore having perspective from both sides of the fence. I used to be an admin of 2 boards back in the day but had to leave for personal reasons and have recently returned to joining forums as a member.

I'm part of well established forums and new ones and its interesting to see the difference between these, especially as I was once an admin of similar aged sites. I agree that some people are not cut out to be admins and some do need to develop a thick skin and you can also see and witness a learning curve of being an admin. We've all been there and hopefully we are all still patient and not judge but assist this process but NOT over assist (if that makes sense, especially if a member). It is ultimately the staff and admin's roles that affect the life of a board...

Be friendly
Be active
Know and follow your own rules (Members do spot it)
Be thick skinned or learn to develop one (you'll need it!)
Don't be afraid to ask for help
Don't be afraid to make mistakes (we're only human)
Remember to keep a distance from arguments / Don't have favourites
Treat new members as you would older members
That just because you have a staff position, doesn't mean you drastically change who you are on a board
Just because you promoted somebody doesn't mean you can't demote them. Do what's best for your forum
Accept that people will join, leave, come back months (or however long later) without explanation (this will even happen to well-established members)
HAVE FUN!!

I could keep going with this list for ages....

[Rosa Calica]

Dec 27, 2010 13:59:06 GMT -8 Crimson wolf said:

I had that happen to me to Amber I was on a Sailor Moon Forum, the character I created was supposed to be the daughter of one of the Starlights and another sailor scout. I left the site or was inactive, she took the character then made it her own. The sad part is that when I tried to claim that she had stolen my character the main admin of the forum claimed that I didn't have the grounds because it didn't have a copyright on it, the worst part was that she had asked if she could use the character but when I found the profile she had totally changed it.

I can relate to this, somewhat. It is actually more of an unanswered issue I would need help in.

The character I had created for a roleplay was the daughter of a government official, and a canon character to the RP. The way the list of canons was set up, there were canons that absolutely had to have the surname and character details dictated, and there were ones that were entirely blank, with all of the details needing to be filled in by the person creating the canon. I had my character in the latter section.
Another person created the parent character based off of mine, and at least two more members joined the site to create characters that were part of that family, filling in an entire section of canons that were blank until then.

Months later, the site was shut down (for a stated "indefinite" amount of time), and my character and the related canons were no longer a part of the site-- not controlled by another person, not under adoption, not anything. The site re-opened to the public later on, and there was a new set of canon characters in the spot made beforehand, which is not a problem to me. The issue is that they have the same surname as the characters that previous members and I'd created. In fact, the entire section remains 'named after' characters that aren't part of the site anymore.

The question is, is the main admin right to leave that spot with any details belonging to the characters we made, or should they have simply blanked everything out and left it as open as it was the first time around?

----

To respond more to the actual topic, admin etiquette can totally make or break a forum. I'd joined a RP site where the main admin did things like overriding other staff decisions even when they were outnumbered and couldn't provide a good counter-argument for the override (there's a time and a place for vetoing staff ideas, but that admin kept choosing those moments arbitrarily). They also approved of members posting in threads or about issues that maintained a PG-13 rating and didn't break the ToS, only to backpedal at the first sign of disagreement from other people to retroactively punish the first member for doing something that was 'approved of' beforehand. There was also the issue of 'hidden admins', with members that were barely active on the site-- with no registered account to speak of, character or otherwise-- being privately appointed by that admin to influence decisions made on it without anyone knowing.

The lack of transparency made me quit, and that's the one thing I value the most when it comes to staff handling issues. I'm not saying that staff should have to tell the members everything that they do right down to the pixels they edited on the site banner, but as staff, they have the job of setting a good example for the rest of the site and giving members a reason to trust and be with them. Or else they won't stick around. And that's terrible. :P