How Admin Etiquette Can Effect Your ProBoard

[HoudiniDerek]

Jan 25, 2008 4:08:55 GMT -8 Lucky. C said:

Wow, good opinions you guys have. Yes, Admin's Etiquette is very important in running a forum. Here are some of my tips to be a good admin:

Do not be rude to your members. Well, it's pretty self explanatory but rudeness can reduce members *shrugs*

Guide your members nicely, especially new members who haven't got used to Proboards or forums before. Do not blame them when they post in wrong board. When they do that, just say "Sorry, you've posted in the wrong board. You can post in board A for this kind of topic". Then end the sentence with a smiley showing your kindness.

If the member is new to all those things, you can also say "If you still have any trouble with this forum, just PM me or other staffs". It's better than saying "Hey stupid, do you know what this board is for? If you can't use forums, then you shouldn't have joined." Now that's rude. Just don't do that to your members OK.

Maybe that's all. What do you guys think?

The second one is definitely true and it is something I do. I try and point them or link them to the right spot or PM them and tell them the problem and see if they will do the edit themselves. Usually a friendly reminder works better and they end up policing themselves from then on or asking questions before posting.

[Kami]

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 completely. The staff of the site I'm proud to staff on, as well as my other sites - we are all regular members first, and put on the 'admin' robe only when dealing with things like profile acceptance, or problem members.

Also, I agree with what you're saying, that how staff carries itself outside of their own site affects member sign ups. I've been told by a few of our members that they joined through my adverts here, and because I seemed like such a nice person. ( j/k )

This was very, very well said. <3

[harcotalk]

Jan 25, 2008 4:08:55 GMT -8 Lucky. C said:

Do not be rude to your members. Well, it's pretty self explanatory but rudeness can reduce members *shrugs*

Heavy-handed admin/moderators can easily chase away new members. Sometime you have to give new people a second (third, fourth?) chance if they make rookie mistakes on your board. New members don't always know the SOP for your board and some of their mistakes are perfectly honest. So it's definitely best to deal with new members politely and not start YELLING!!! at them for rookie mistakes.

[disaster]

May 31, 2006 15:59:52 GMT -8 Artemis said:

This is a topic I can easily relate to. I've seen forums that ban people just for disagreeing with the admin.

Similar things have happened to me. Once, I wanted to form a clique on a board that was at the top of the social heirarchy, like the admin's clique. The admin wouldn't let me create the clique because she didnt want one 'like hers' at the school(it was school based). I think admin should be open to ideas on their forum and shouldn't have restrictions because he or she wants to have the greatest character.

[~Macabre Daze~]

Wow, what a great thread!
I'm not always around here to chat with you all, but I do try and read up on the topics that interest me or catch my eye. Usually I'm stuck on my own forum whenever I am online, so unless I am in need of a code or support, I tend to forget to visit here. But every time I've come in for support, staff members here are right on top of things, communicating with me the whole time. I am extremely grateful for that. Special thanks to Craig and Pearson for all the assistance in the craziness that is MD. Their help has not gone unnoticed, by myself and my members. But I digress.

I've had MD up for 2 years now. It's going wonderfully. I do my utmost to keep my members happy. I RP with as many of them or their characters as I can. I talk openly with them. A lot of them are aware of things I suffer and deal with in real life. It's amazing how much we all have in common when we get talking in the CBox, outside of the game. Most of us are very close by now. I truly care about all my members, and what's going on in their lives. They know that. I'm around almost daily to check up on things, play, do admin stuff, and just to talk to my people. I treat them as individuals, with respect and courtesy. We've all gotten to where we immediately accept with open arms our new members. All my staff has shown amazing amounts of support to helping our newer folks out around the board.
I've said before on MD that I am aware I cannot make everyone happy all the time, but I strive for a pleasant middle ground. I give them the freedom to make their own choices and do a lot on the forum, so long as they treat everyone else with respect. That's key, and basically the only rule on MD. Treat others with at least some level of civility, even if you despise them. It doesn't need to be splashed publicly all over my board that so-and-so doesn't like Person X. I am there to resolve interpersonal issues between members the best I can. I try to get each to see from the others perspective. The beauty of the forum is that so many different people from all over the world, of all nationalities, beliefs, etc, can come together for the hell of it and just have fun.
I try my darnedest to be the best admin I can be for my members, and for the good of the forum. I am real and straight forward with my members. I am silly and goofy when the time calls for it. And I am always there to listen to them, regardless of what they need or want to talk about. Everyone needs to vent once in awhile, and if your admin won't listen to you or doesn't care, it's a bit sad, in my opinion. So, even if its not board related, I am there for my members as much as I can be. It truly helps.
There's no butt-kissing because I'm the admin, they like me, and I adore them. Thank the gods. I'm not into the kiss ups. I don't need that. I need honesty and respect, which is no more than I ask to be shown to my other members. They appreciate what I do on the forum to make it pretty, add to the play, and so on. They are eager to help if something unsavory pops up. Right now, I couldn't be happier with our little community on MD, and reading this I realize what a major part I play in that fact.
There wouldn't be a forum without my members, and that is something I always try to keep forefront in my mind.

[Matt [Malfoy250]]

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 completely agree with your statements. I consider myself to be more like Person A for several reasons. Maintaining a large forum is hard work, it's true, but you also need to be sure that you are bringing a lot to it. No one likes an inactive admin who posts once a month and always has a bad attitude, that would make just about anyone have second opinions about joining, or even considering quitting. I however, am an active member on my forum (6+ hours a day, but it is also good to organise some time for yourself as well!) and average about 25 posts per day, usually more. I am open and considerate to everyones feelings (Thats just how I am, plus I make an effort to be even nicer to everyone on my forum) and am always willing to Role Play or just talk in general. The admin is one of the most important people on a forum, for they are the sort of ro-models for everyone else. If you behave in a civilized manor with respect and kindness, than it is most likely that your members will turn out the same way.

[divna]

I really think that an admin/staff member needs to be patient and calm when dealing with problems.

Well, patience is needed when dealing with problematic members, but unfortunately, sometimes they have to be made an example of. Potential spammers and rude members need to know that the staff aren't to be walked all over.

Then again, there is a right and wrong way to deal with problematic members. If they're being completely immature, then you'll have to be the more mature person involved. Don't stoop to their level and turn on the caps lock.

This happened to me once, and you know what I did? I took a deep breath, took pinkie finger off the Caps Lock and moved the mouse away from the ban button. I came back an hour later, the member apologised, but their account was still suspended for seven days.

So, basically, members don't like staff who fire the canons if a member happens to make a mistake. I know I don't. I'd expect a staff member to be much much much more mature than that.

Other than that, I think the basic common sense is enough. Being mature, kind, friendly, patient and intelligent about your decision are just the things that admins should keep in mind.

[Remarque]

I'm an admin, and I'm always super-nice to all of my menbers. It helps that I luff them all, but I know that being nice helps people to want to sign up because I've signed up on a half-dozen boards JUST BECAUSE the admin was nice.

[angelblood]

Same here! I'm careful though because I have joined a proboard before and it turned out the admin was like a fake. She was really nice to all her members until the site grew a little bigger then... BAM! She was in our faces!... everyone like left and she begged us to stay and a few of us did. I was one of them since I beleive in second chances. Then again she blew up in our faces... like every post we made. Her board died since everyone quiet For some reason I satyed though even though the board died... Every since then the admin became nicer...

It could of been stress from having so many members to deal with and once her board was dead she sort of died with it... I never spoke to her again because one day I just came on and the site was just shut down We hadn't spoken in about two years and I learned to respect her in those years^^ I sort of looked up to her and like two years later I found her! She was on another site I was browsing at she was like a changed person! She was wicked nice, but didn't own the site, and we became like best online friends! Now we opened a site up together ;D ;D

[AnCiEntBlaZe]

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

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?

Ummm, that doesn't ONLY apply to proboards lol. Good point

[Betsu]

Im not really sure if im setting a bad example for the members of my forum i am kind of the opisite you see an admin as.

I am ditsy (yes XP) and a bit un mature at times but i bring interesting topics and information to everyone providing none spam posts on all my topics. I update everyday on allot of the new anime and manga and i also provide daily horoscopes and such.

My grammer is fairly bad but i use spell checker on all the words i can fix.

So yeah i see what your saying and i would join A~ its more fun to have a organized and authorized admin then seeing one spamming there forum when you KNOW they should be JUST a member and not own a forum.

[dynam1te]

Admin ettique is very important.

A admin needs to be a reliable and responsible person that the members of the forum can turn to when they need help, it has to be someone who gives it there all to the forum, and doesnt behave selfishly, members shouldnt have to put up with a annoying admin, and i know tha before i join a forum i look at the way the staff behave towards members.

You should remember that you shouldnt behave like a power crazed lunatic towards your members, the most you can do is ban them.

[Enchant]

Feb 2, 2008 6:02:58 GMT -8 AnCiEntBlaZe said:

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

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?

Ummm, that doesn't ONLY apply to proboards lol. Good point

Please make sure that when you post here in the discussion board that you contribute to it with your own thoughts and experiences. Thank you

[jigglytuffy™]

I became admin of the site that I'm currently admin-ing after the original one left. It didn't take me long to realize that I'm a better admin than member, seeing as though on almost every board I ever joined, I almost always ending up being a Mod. I know how to be diplomatic with my members.

The original admin was okay, but she lacked a certain something. She wasn't on as much as she should have been, whereas I can be on all the time.

When you have more than 100 members, expect there to be a great deal of PM's and hard work. Your members look up to you, expect the site to remain fresh and active, and want their admin to be available as well as open and creative.

The worst thing an admin can do is make their 'friends' moderators. Unless your friends actually know what they are doing and aren't simply just power hungry, I don't recommend it. Most members can get a feel of if you're just promoting your friends instead of those who were more deserving pretty quickly. Plus, most friendships don't last afterwards.

I really don't like conflict and my members know that I handle things quickly and efficiently. It's in the way you handle yourself as the admin. You are the center of your site. If you don't care, your members won't either. That's the way I look at it.

[SilverEyes]

Lol, I know of some admins who are in violation of the kindness rule to their members.

Anyway, I always say hello to the new people on my forum, and I like to get to know them, as it is interesting learning about different people, and a subject you both enjoy is a great topic starter.