How many forums is too many to have?

[amaule0]

I have three currently and am lucky that on one of those forums I have a bunch of create mods who can easily take over for me if they need to.

[seiji]

The criteria I use to judge if an admin is overwordked is how often they post and/or get on. As I only join role play sites an admn that's overworked would be seen to be fixing up general stuff like skins but not joining in on the actually roleplaying stuff themselves.

[onelonewolf]

This being my second post, I might seem like a newb, but, I am actually quite experienced when it comes to forum moderation and admining. I have to say that I agree with "both sides" of the coin here.

Some of you said that it depends on the admin, while others have said there is a magic number, that one admin can only handle so much. My thought is somewhat of a mixture of the two.

I believe that this really depends on the admin TO A POINT. I think, though, we can all only handle so much. I like the number 3 on this one myself--not that other people can't handle more than three forums, but I think 3 is about all one can handle without getting stressed to the point of insanity. I was once a member of 10 forums at the same time, two of which I moderated, one which was my own, and another that I was an assistant admin of. I have to say I was spread WAY to thin. I never posted to the forums I was a member of, and I spent most of my online time doing administrative type work at the forums I moderated...and my own forums never grew beyond 30 members, because I couldn't put in the time I needed.

So I like the number 3. Three forums you are dedicated to is plenty, imo. But this not only depends on the admin, but also on the members. I was recently an administrator of one forum of about 3,000 members--and that one forum was so hectic and stresfull, I wouldn't have been able to manage even being a member of another, let alone a mod or admin. So even three may be too much for someone if the forum is a rather difficult one to manage.

I would judge an admin as overworked not based on how often they post--I think too much stock is placed on post counts--but on the work they get done. If an admin is doing his or her job at a steady pace; even if that pace is a slow one, I say they are not overworked. As long as the admin is able to do their job, and keep the forum going, I don't see how they are overworked. I think saying that they are overworked if they don't come online every day, or if they have a low post count, can be insulting. Not everyone feels the need to post, so that isn't the best judgement, in my opinion. Some admins are the type that run the forum, but stay in the shadows, and personally, I see nothing wrong with that. I think the real mark of whether or not a forum admin is overworked is whether they are able to do their jobs at each of their forums. If they have to neglect any one of their forums, that is a sign that they are runing too many.

Anyway, just my thoughts on the subject. Take care folks.

~LoneWolf~

[Descent Into Darkness]

I would judge an admin as overworked not based on how often they post--I think too much stock is placed on post counts--but on the work they get done. If an admin is doing his or her job at a steady pace; even if that pace is a slow one, I say they are not overworked. As long as the admin is able to do their job, and keep the forum going, I don't see how they are overworked. I think saying that they are overworked if they don't come online every day, or if they have a low post count, can be insulting. Not everyone feels the need to post, so that isn't the best judgement, in my opinion. Some admins are the type that run the forum, but stay in the shadows, and personally, I see nothing wrong with that. I think the real mark of whether or not a forum admin is overworked is whether they are able to do their jobs at each of their forums. If they have to neglect any one of their forums, that is a sign that they are runing too many.

Very good point you have there since not every admin can come online every single day of the week. Many have jobs or families to take care of on top of their admin duties. Post count should never be a factor as to whether an admin is doing their job or not. Although I disagree with the statement that there's nothing wrong with an admin staying in the shadows and just running their forum. They should be active and be just as involved as the other members. What does it truly say about a forum if all you see in high activity are the members, but the admins sit on their butts doing nothing but making sure they stay active, making sure that the rules are being followed, etc? It says that the admin is only there to be the boss and nothing more.

How you can tell if an admin is truly overworked is when they stop doing things altogether, not even bothering to come online any longer much less to even say hello or state why they are MIA. There really is no magic number for some since many seem to be able to run 3 or more forums with huge success and are able to keep track of them. Take it from someone who runs 5 forums as well as being a member of three other forums as well.

I think it all comes down to time management honestly. As an Admin, checking up on your sites as well as being involved in not only their creation, keeping the rules in check and improving or adding or deleting necessary things, but also being involved with the other members as well. If you find that you're not able to do all of those things or feel stressed out, then perhaps it's time to take a step back and see if you really want that forum and if not, then maybe it's time to close the doors or hand it over to someone who does have the time or wants to do more with it.

[``Megara Spice]

I have to agree with a lot of things that have been said in this thread already. If an administrator is just creating sites for the sake of creating them then they really should just stop and actually dedicate their time to one or two of the sites, focus on making those sites great. I know that I, personally, have owned more than one site in the past and I am currently revamping them after having to shut them down for a while (not because I couldn't handle them or because of inactivity but because I would be unable to access the internet to actually administrate them) but some people cannot handle so many. I think that it is up to the admin to decide what they can and can't handle but anymore than 3 or 4 of one category is getting a little bit out of hand.

I know from personal experience that RP sites can have different twists that you cannot incorporate into a particular site for whatever reason and it is for this reason I am often seen using my own ideas to create plots for internet friends who have RP sites (and cannot think of a plot), there are just so many ideas out there, but naturally i keep the best for myself. Different eras also require different boards, I find that merging eras can become too complex for Rpers, a good example of this is throwing all the HP characters from the past, present, future and such into one site, theres just too much to focus on and too many relationships to try and remember.

Basically to answer the questions;

Magic Number; there really is none but try to stick to 3 or 4 forums and no more, anymore than that and you would wear yourself thin and not dedicate the time and energy to any single forum

One Per Subject; yes, with the exception of RPG sites, unless they are too similar in nature

Symptoms of an overworked admin; snapping at members, neglecting duties, vacating the site for days or weeks at a time and leaving it in the hands of a co-admin, not rping (on rpg sites) or posting on a regular basis, lack of site improvement, pms from members being ignored for days at a time.

[aaronm]

More than one is too much for me. I'm in one, and owner of my own. Keeping track of both can be a burden on the noggin, on top of other matters offline. I'm rather thankful the one I own in is not only new, but with few members. And since there's no given time limit in regards to role-plays, I usually tend to leave one as soon as I'm all cleared up with it.

[Opal]

I have a friend who manages about 7 forums at once. I once asked her how she manages them all at once, and she responds: "Easy! I just handle one forum for each day of the week!"

Unlike my friend there, I could only focus my entire concentration on one forum only. I've been/was planning about 3 or 4 different ideas for rpgs and a couple of non-rpg forums, but the more I'd concentrate on one forum, I always seem to neglect the other ideas, so multitasking on forums isn't really my thing. Others could probably handle it, but like I said, not my thing.

=P

[aaronm]

Seven? XD Holy moses.

I once knew someone who had at least ten, but this was a long time ago. o___O

[amaranthine]

But how many forums is too many?
It depends really on the admin, but three seems like too many. Two is good, and you have plenty of time to devote to it, but splitting your time between three forums, and the activities of your daily life might be a little well, for lack of a better word, bleh.

Is there a magic number of forums per admin?
Two. Two total - one forum takes a lot of work and care, and two is stretching it. If you have a lot of time to work actively and fully on more, then do so, but I don't think anyone really needs more then two.

Do you think the maximum any admin should have is one per subject area, like one RP, one General, etc.?
Yes, excepting RPs. Coding boards are basically all the same, as are most other boards of the likes. RPs can have entirely different settings, plots, etc. for the admin to work with and make fun for members. Also, like said above, two is a good limit for them.

What criteria do you use to determine if a forum admin is overworked with too many forums?
not being as active, not fixing up all the little things and working to make the site better, when the site dies up.

[Kick-flare]

As everyone else said, it depends on the admin, at the moment i own 9 forums, all but two are works in progress.

One of those sites is bbinc which is all set up and the other is my testing site. I'm terrible for having a lot of forums that i can work on, as when i get annoyed with one as i can't get a code to work, i usually post here and move my attention onto the other forums, so i'm never out of things to do. xD admittedly i don't have normal sleep patterns so i'm up most of the night on the sites.

[Tsaharu]

I don't agree with a magic number, or a limited number that one can have when it comes to their proboards sites. I know that I have one roleplay site that I actively modify, and two that I have closed from the public that I use for layout editing for the sites that I'm a graphic designer on.

[XaviEo]

I agree with the fact that it does depend on the admin to a point.

But from what I've learnt of a year of making and killing forums and becoming over obsessed that more than 5 takes way too much time and is crazy, 3 is a good amount but 1 or 2 is the best amount of forums for an admin. I'm currently admin on 3 forums. 2 rps, one main admin and one third admin and I can give both of them a good amount of time. And one resource which I'm just getting back up and that is already stetching my limits, A LOT.

I guess some people are able to have a lot of forums at one time but I'd say more than 3 is difficult and more than 5 is crazy.

[fbmacagba]

This is a very broad question to have an exact answer. Considering most forums are global, and being global means wide variation of ideas an concepts. I think it depends on the individual, he can have as many or as little as he wants. But i think a person is limited to the number of forum that he administer depending on the size of the forum itself. Sometimes large forums even need multiple administrators to ensure smooth flow of information. i.e one admin incharge of making sure forum rules are implemented properly, one admin in charge of making sure the forum is always a medium of good information/discussion etc.

[[ saga ]]

It depends a bit on person to person, I guess. Some people might prefer to concentrate on one or two, whereas others might prefer to have more? It also depends on how much time they want to spend on proboards, rather than other activies. I, myself, am active on three, although I am considering joining another forum, unrelated to the other three, which are all on the same topic.

[hellyearockstar]

Personally, I can only handle one forum at a time. There's always one I prefer or am more involved in working on. It you can handle multiple forums, more power to you. I'd probably say that three is a maximum, but feel free to prove me wrong.