[Debate] Why do you want to be an admin?

[Tedd]

I am a admin because i like to spend time to customize my forum to make it look good for my members and i thoroughly like when members give me good feedback when i have spent many hours coding my forum.

[Forever Sunshine]

Oct 4, 2012 15:18:51 GMT -8 Wester Drumlins said:

I have been an Admin on 2 forums and asked to be on a few others, but I was already too busy.

After helping other people run their forums for over 8 years I just got tired of all the BS that happens on forums, or if the "owner" has some rules and ideas you don't really agree with, or their ego gets so inflated their head is about to explode, it is time to move on.

It's very refreshing to have your very own forum.

Totally agree with this!

[seang1992]

I became an admin for a few reasons. The previous forum that I was on started out great, but over time it gathered a number of abusive and vile people, the admin of the forum appeared less and less and the forum grew very static. I felt by creating my own forum i could ensure that the site was moderated correctly, that changes/problems were acted on in a timely manner, that the site was promoted in the correct way (I have a fair bit of experience in digital marketing) and that it continued to improve and grow.

[ron2]

I just would want create forum based on the animated series and i know how work with forum system,how can create posts and forum categories. On the some forums which i create,i was a admin and moderator and web designer. Of course if you are alone admin have some problems:
1-this is create interesting topics,2-this is give ban for the user who broken behavior and 3-this is make web design for the forum boards.

[* protego admin!]

I would rather me an admin and member of my own sites.
Mostly due to some sites I have been on have had terrible admins who were there to socialize and play favorites.
If I am doing something I am open to my members making suggestions and changing it for them.
If I wasn't an admin I wouldn't be able to do so.
Besides I like changing the site and meeting people! So being an admin works well for me!

[~ anna ~]

I've been an admin for almost 8 of the 10 years I've been role playing and even though I started off not understanding a lot of things, in time I had taught myself how to become a good admin (just like you would become a great manager in a job - with time and training). I think I started off becoming an admin from a group of friends on a site that died, we all started a forum together and then because there were too many fingers in the pie, it became difficult at the time to try and please everyone. I then had the opportunity to make some boards myself, even though they weren't entirely successful, I had stuck with my one site (now been there for 10 years almost). It has been through some inactive periods, had to revive it a few times, but it's been a great way for me to release stress from every day life, meet people - I have some of the best people I know because of being online. I stuck with the HP RPG Forum, because I loved Harry Potter and I loved the characters and generally liked playing the ones which were usually taken on other sites. So having my own forum allowed me to have free range on characters, and play them well without pressures of admins.

I also love creating. I am a people pleaser, and love to get good feed back from something awesome that I've done. That's generally because in my RL, I don't get that. So it's satisfying to know that I can make others happy when they come to my site. I do have admins, who have been on the site for a while, they are like minded and mature, and I get along with them. They all follow the same rules, and it's reassuring to know that they can support me when things get tricky with members and vise versa. I don't like telling people what to do, but I have a way of getting what I need in order to run a smooth forum. I tend to be a 'try it once' and see if it works, and if it doesn't, change it. I think because of this and being consistent with advertising and being pleasant to new members (even though some times they can be painful just like customers!) it pays off and at the end of the day, I'm happy that I have something that I've poured my heart and soul into.

[ozwizard1]

Oct 23, 2012 3:53:41 GMT -8 Forever Sunshine said:

Oct 4, 2012 15:18:51 GMT -8 Wester Drumlins said:

I have been an Admin on 2 forums and asked to be on a few others, but I was already too busy.

After helping other people run their forums for over 8 years I just got tired of all the BS that happens on forums, or if the "owner" has some rules and ideas you don't really agree with, or their ego gets so inflated their head is about to explode, it is time to move on.

It's very refreshing to have your very own forum.

Totally agree with this!

 Absolutely. I got tired of posting to build up other people's forums then getting dumped when the membership increased. The old ego is never really in check.

[Dr Bigglesworth]

The first reason I made a forum was for me and my friends, little did I know they each made a forum too on different providers. We still all hang out together on the three forums that remain. So now I have my forum to have fun, and learn how to code.... which isn't going well

[Akadeanna Hawk]

I became an admin because there are some sites that I do that some don't like with dragonriders of pern I don't have a dragon color limit while some have only 5 (the canon) or 10 at the most. Another major reason I've become an admin as more and more sites are going to one character per account, and fewer are allowing all characters on one account, and like one or 2 will allow you to chose whether you do one character per account or allow all your characters on one account. I have become one of the rare ones who allow players to chose whether to do all on separate accounts (one character per account) or all on one account.

[Heathenpride]

I actually found myself being an admin accidentally oddly enough.

I was among a user-base of 200,000+ members on another forum for online car racing and put up a post about how I was sick of entering online lobbies (on the PS3) and finding myself in races with either complete fools or "alien" drivers who could drive online for a team representing the universe, that's how fast they are.

I would either get rammed off the road or lapped and neither of those are fun, not when I raced seldom.

So I posted a thread in that forum asking for like-minded folks who also had limited time to devote to such a hobby, A casual group of people to race online.

Well, that escalated quickly...

I would have been happy with ten replies but that thread was quickly over 1000 posts and before long we had weekly races, monthly endurance events and I even have a team that has competed in a 24hr event the past two years. That event, by the way, is one that we have now taken ownership of and we will run the next one in 2014.

So it became apparent that with more members getting involved we needed our own 'space' online. The forum we were on did not have any admin functions for group leaders and, in addition, I was advised by the sites owner that the group section (which had limited functionality) we were using was soon to be terminated which forced my hand.

My 2IC recommended ProBoards and here we are, we have been here for nearly a year and a half and have enjoyed every second.

I wouldn't have it any other way either. My members, staff and admin team are amazing and the fun levels, banter and general attitude of everyone is world class as is the respect we all share. We have member restrictions to 100 so we are like a big global family which is awesome. We don't always agree with each other but the respect levels in the group ensure that everyone (aside from 2 banned members in 16 months) keeps a cool head and maintains civility.

So there it is, I did not seek to be an admin but I am now! I have learned so much and will continue to do so.

I would say that I am the luckiest admin around

Cheers all

HP

[~Chantelle~]

I joined the forum business when the Harry Potter RPG was a big thing. I'd joined one out of curiosity (not knowing fully what I was getting into) but eventually figured it out and enjoyed the concept. I thought it would be fun to have my own forum, not being aware of how challenging that was. Getting members to get the forum going was a challenge, but I had a small group of members who were willing to work with me and make the forum work. I quite enjoyed the feeling of being in charge. I liked the feeling of creating something and having others who were willing to help me out (my staff). After a while the interest in my forum dwindled (both from members and myself) and I eventually closed it down as I did not have the desire to keep it going. I tried creating two other forums and despite conscientious efforts to recruit members, I couldn't get them started. I also tried a collaboration forum with another forum friend, and that turned out to be a disaster.

I eventually accepted that being an admin just wasn't for me. I felt I became too busy in real life with other things that I was more passionate about than making forums. Being an admin of a forum is a huge time commitment and as I became older and more involved in school, I simply did not have the time to devote to it. I still remained a member of forums, that way I don't need to check in everyday and post whenever I want. I much appreciate the freedom to go out and do whatever I want away from the computer and not feeling like I need to be glued to the computer minding a forum.

[Kujaroth]

The only real reason I became an admin, myself, was because... well, actually, I became an admin because I was a part of a roleplaying site which was, honestly, less than desirable. (One of their staff was incredibly rude to me about a personal issue which had nothing to do with the site, and really, their site was practically an original fiction forum rather than a site to do with an actual media as it advertised itself to be, and it was bogged down in systems in a way that was a real turn-off for me... but that's all off-topic, lol.) Between that and a few other problems with that place, I thought to myself, 'hey... if I have so many problems with that place, maybe I could make a site without all that!'

And so I rounded up a few friends and family (two of which had also been a little bit scorned by other roleplay sites =P) to be staff and voila; I was the admin of two roleplay forums, and they were my co-admins and global mods!

The other reason I became an admin was pretty simple; I wanted to see a roleplay site for what I'm passionate about, so I made one... and then I made another one. XD

Our sites haven't 100% gotten going yet or anything, but so far, we've been finding the experience quite enjoyable if a little stressful. Thankfully we all have a lot of time on our hands, or I've no doubt we'd find it a much more difficult experience. =P

So, that's pretty much it! I became an admin to do things a little differently to the ways I personally wasn't keen on, and for a place to be passionate about; and of course, to have fun and see my ideas take shape in a way they couldn't if I was a regular member of a board. That's my take on it, anyways! ^.^

[Dewers]

(All of this happened on Pokemon roleplay boards)

I never really expected to be an Admin at any point, but one day it was tossed on me so suddenly by the Admin of another forum I was on. I was the NPC Overseer at the time, and then when the Admin got too busy, they tossed the title onto me and I was put in charge. I had no idea what to do, only having replied to member threads. The job came so suddenly that I was slightly stunned, but I tried my best. I memorized all the rules and tried to run it. The site never really died.

I joined many other forums, Pokemon being my favorite, yet I found that some Admins I just didn't agree with. They were either too strict or not strict enough. Some people they would just let break the rules as if it was all right, but then others they would ban as soon as they said something wrong. I know it is hard to not play favorites, but some people just can't hide it or control it.

Then one day, I decided to make my own forum. It was trial and error, being awful with coding and all that. Yet I learned over time. I finally got the hang of it.

I supposed, in the end, I wanted to be Admin to have control over something and offer a warm, open place for people to come together and share what they have in common. It is hard to find Pokemon fans in some towns. I wanted to feel like I could own something but make it not just my own but everyone's. Some Admins I know never took suggestions or let the member body decide over major changes. I try my best to listen to all members and find a good middle ground, posting polls and asking for opinions on any changes. After all, it isn't my site. It is our site.

Those are my thoughts on the matter as a whole~ There are many more reasons, but I don't want to bore anyone too badly~ :'3

[Beyonder]

being a admin is pretty fun because you can socialize

[pawfectpets]

I became an Admin after a forum I was a Mod for died rather horribly and meanly. There weren't many active members left, but those that were didn't want to lose touch so I set up a new forum for us to keep chatting. I've not been an Admin before, so I come here a lot to look for tips, advice and inspiration! I'm not great at coding, and to be honest my members don't really expect anything fancy - I've customised the colours and I've added a banner but beyond that they're happy with a plain old forum to come and chat with the friends they've made online.
I took the things I've learnt from other forums and tried to combine the best bits; the now-dead forum I felt was far too strict and over moderated, so I have 4 common sense rules and I've yet to moderate anything apart from moving some threads that accidentally got posted in the wrong section. I try not to act like an Admin either, I post suggestions and ask for opinions on them before adding anything new, and if a member suggests something I will normally always give it a trial run rather than just saying no. I like to think of myself as a regular member that happened to make the forum.