Grooming/Interacting With Your Moderators

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

jean said:

improvisator said:

Members have currently abused it by attempting to force me to lock/delete their accounts, because they believed that I "wouldn't do that" to them. I hate it when that happens

Could anyone tell me what I could be doing wrong?

...and if there's a solution to rectify this problem, please tell me. I'll listen to what you have to say if it'll be somewhat helpful that is.

Thanks

~*Improvisator*~

By putting yourself in this position you leave yourself open for what comes. I know some forums that delete members because they haven't posted in a month and what you are doing is similar.

If you feel they are inactive ( I am referring to your staff) then make a decision and demote them if they fail to come up to forum standards.

I am right now in the process of deciding on a new moderator as one of the ones I have failed to comply with what we had discussed in a few emails.

I currently run my forum with myself as admin and three moderators ( one of which will be a new hire). I expect them to log in at least 2-3 times a week or more if they can and contribute to the forum with topics and policing. I expect them to act maturely and responsibly not takes sides and come to me if something causes them to feel a higher authority is needed. I don't post that much but they know I support them and know that I trust them to act in the forums best interest.

I know none of my mods personally but I feel they are loyal to me and the forum. That is all you can ask.

That's precisely what I've been doing my friend

But what angers me about all this is that they force me (not directly though), to take action by demoting them and/or deleting their accounts so that I'll end up running a dead forum (hence saying to my second-in-command "he would never do that to us" etc). I espacially hate it when a member registers and DOESN'T post at all on the forum. I mean, what's the point of registering, if you're not going to post even one thing (even if it's just a simple pm introduction)? I can understand if they go on vacation and somehow forget where they registered, but when I sent my last mass e-mail to everyone (which was I think two days ago), barely anyone bothered logging on or replying back - Typical they are to try and incline that I suck as an Admin

[rosebud]

You've brought up some interesting points I didn't think about looking into. My staff hasn't been very active. I posted a record sheet of their attendance on the boards because staff members need to be active during the week, but you brought up some good points about that.

A lot of admins do this to role-players too. Before this topic was posted I was debating about the attendance sheet. I wanted the role-players to come on for a certain amount of time during the week, but you're right.

I created a similar topic about this in General Talk. Everyone said it was okay to have role-players come on for a certain amount of time, I think even the moderators posted in there, but this post makes me think twice.

Instead of commanding a role-player or a staff member to be on for a certain amount of time, it might be a good idea to just give advice instead. Admins can let their members know that if they're a staff member, it's important to stay active. Let them know that school, work, and life off the computer is more important, but if they aren't active whereas they're only coming on once a month to carry on the position...that would be a well grounded staff team. It'd at least give them a goal where they'd think about how often they should come on, but you're not the one telling them to really. They're the ones who accomplish the activity they think they should as a moderator.

The same goes with role-players. I've come to realize that inspiration can't always come as quick as some of the admins out there. I know some admins will release a role-player if they don't reach that expectation because the role-player couldn't find the inspiration. Inspiration shouldn't be demanded. Without forcing a role-player to have inspiration or come up with ideas for a role-play, just wait for the inspiration to come.

After reading this thread, I've decided that the role-players should write preferably twice, if not, at least once a week. I won't make them responde to the role-plays, but they should be involved in the planning at least...showing some kind of effort that they're interested.

Thank you for pointing this out!

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

genuinebeauty said:

You've brought up some interesting points I didn't think about looking into. My staff hasn't been very active. I posted a record sheet of their attendance on the boards because staff members need to be active during the week, but you brought up some good points about that.

A lot of admins do this to role-players too. Before this topic was posted I was debating about the attendance sheet. I wanted the role-players to come on for a certain amount of time during the week, but you're right.

I created a similar topic about this in General Talk. Everyone said it was okay to have role-players come on for a certain amount of time, I think even the moderators posted in there, but this post makes me think twice.

Instead of commanding a role-player or a staff member to be on for a certain amount of time, it might be a good idea to just give advice instead. Admins can let their members know that if they're a staff member, it's important to stay active. Let them know that school, work, and life off the computer is more important, but if they aren't active whereas they're only coming on once a month to carry on the position...that would be a well grounded staff team. It'd at least give them a goal where they'd think about how often they should come on, but you're not the one telling them to really. They're the ones who accomplish the activity they think they should as a moderator.

The same goes with role-players. I've come to realize that inspiration can't always come as quick as some of the admins out there. I know some admins will release a role-player if they don't reach that expectation because the role-player couldn't find the inspiration. Inspiration shouldn't be demanded. Without forcing a role-player to have inspiration or come up with ideas for a role-play, just wait for the inspiration to come.

After reading this thread, I've decided that the role-players should write preferably twice, if not, at least once a week. I won't make them responde to the role-plays, but they should be involved in the planning at least...showing some kind of effort that they're interested.

Thank you for pointing this out!

lol No worries Esther. Glad you find them helpful

I'd like to think that I'm one of the generous admins of my forum, because I let them get on with their lives, whilst allowing them to believe that they can post on the forum freely, but I get furious and angry if a member that registers, DOESN'T bother to pm me or make a single post at any time. While giving me the impression that "when I'm not on, the forum will probably get spammed!!! I *must* stop this from happening!!!" Whilst I'm still grateful some of the members that post per usual, it is very suspiscious to me that they haven't logged on for over 3-4 months (even though I sent a reasonable amount of Mass E-mails). There have been times whereby I caught them on MSN messanger and asked if they would probably logon to my forum and they say they're "too busy" - GIVE ME A BREAK!!!

...and as I said before, it's just plain typical

I guess the only active members you'll find for a forum will be the ones that don't want to make a forum but don't mind joining (and posting I might add) on a forum.

~*Improvisator*~

[rosebud]

Improv, ^_^; sorry I was actually referring to the one whom started the thread. I automatically assume that when one replies the other users realize that unless that user specifically quoted someone. If I'm talking to someone specifically that's not the user who started the thread and I'm not responding to the initial user, I quote them, that's what the quotings therefore after all.

I do agree with what you said at the beginning. However, I don't agree with everything. A lot of members join because admins close off a lot of boards for that purpose - attempting to make guests join their forum. In this case a lot of guests are curious and decide to join, but if they don't post, there are many reasons for it. Not everyone has a computer at home, they didn't care for the board once they joined, etc. Sometimes it can also be approach of a staff or a member that offends a newcomer. There are different reasons for it. A lot of admins just expect people to post when they join, but that doesn't sound like a very fun forum to me if you're just expected to post. In fact the moderator addressed that issue in this thread, I believe.

[kelendria]

That's precisely what I've been doing my friend

But what angers me about all this is that they force me (not directly though), to take action by demoting them and/or deleting their accounts so that I'll end up running a dead forum (hence saying to my second-in-command "he would never do that to us" etc). I espacially hate it when a member registers and DOESN'T post at all on the forum. I mean, what's the point of registering, if you're not going to post even one thing (even if it's just a simple pm introduction)? I can understand if they go on vacation and somehow forget where they registered, but when I sent my last mass e-mail to everyone (which was I think two days ago), barely anyone bothered logging on or replying back - Typical they are to try and incline that I suck as an Admin

I have the same problem with mine, why should they still be staff if they haven't been on for months? I now have a dead forum too.
I don't know why people sign up & never post it's a mystery.
You could have the most interesting topics but still it doesn't matter.
Just know that it happen on every forum eventually, still sucks though

[pcdude]

kelendria said:

That's precisely what I've been doing my friend

But what angers me about all this is that they force me (not directly though), to take action by demoting them and/or deleting their accounts so that I'll end up running a dead forum (hence saying to my second-in-command "he would never do that to us" etc). I espacially hate it when a member registers and DOESN'T post at all on the forum. I mean, what's the point of registering, if you're not going to post even one thing (even if it's just a simple pm introduction)? I can understand if they go on vacation and somehow forget where they registered, but when I sent my last mass e-mail to everyone (which was I think two days ago), barely anyone bothered logging on or replying back - Typical they are to try and incline that I suck as an Admin

I have the same problem with mine, why should they still be staff if they haven't been on for months? I now have a dead forum too.
I don't know why people sign up & never post it's a mystery.
You could have the most interesting topics but still it doesn't matter.
Just know that it happen on every forum eventually, still sucks though

That's dead wrong. It doesn't happen on every forum.

First of all, Improvisator, I don't know what you mean by a "reasonable aomount" of mass emails, but any more than once a month is too much. People receive more junk email than they care to put up with as it is-adding your message to the mix won't make your forum more popular, to say the least. People will get tired of your continual mass e-mailings and throw them right out with the rest of the junk. Then, you say you question people when you see them on MSN Messenger-another bad move. Bothering your members outside of the forum won't make them feel inclined to visit you anytime soon. I've visited your forum-you have no where near enough members to be worried about those that don't show up often. With only 28 members you should be more worried about finding more members than about those you already have. Once you have 100+ members, then you can start worrying about those that aren't showing up-but do so conservatively! Mass e-mailing every other day won't work! The best way to deal with absent members is to simply delete their account if they don't show up within a certain period of time-say two or three months. If they are interested enough, they'll return eventually and reregister.

As far as staff are concerned, its not about how many days they are on, its about how much they contribute when they are on. If you have a mod that only comes on once a week, but is active and particpates regularly during that day, then in my opinion that mod is just as good as a mod that shows up 5 days a weeks but is only minimally active each day.

[kelendria]

It was a figure of speech, of course it doesn't happen on every forum, ok so some
Agree though that newsletters/emails should keep to a minimum, I made that mistake & learnt from it.
I personally have never bothered people through messengers (I know that wasn't directed at me, just something I hadn't thought of doing) but chatting to members otherwise can make them feel comfortable on your forum.
I too delete inactive accounts but not through a time limit, just 0 posters, every so often, I don't go crazy
Neither my Mods now are active or come on regularly

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

pcdude said:

First of all, Improvisator, I don't know what you mean by a "reasonable aomount" of mass emails, but any more than once a month is too much. People receive more junk email than they care to put up with as it is-adding your message to the mix won't make your forum more popular, to say the least. People will get tired of your continual mass e-mailings and throw them right out with the rest of the junk. Then, you say you question people when you see them on MSN Messenger-another bad move. Bothering your members outside of the forum won't make them feel inclined to visit you anytime soon. I've visited your forum-you have no where near enough members to be worried about those that don't show up often. With only 28 members you should be more worried about finding more members than about those you already have. Once you have 100+ members, then you can start worrying about those that aren't showing up-but do so conservatively! Mass e-mailing every other day won't work! The best way to deal with absent members is to simply delete their account if they don't show up within a certain period of time-say two or three months. If they are interested enough, they'll return eventually and reregister.

As far as staff are concerned, its not about how many days they are on, its about how much they contribute when they are on. If you have a mod that only comes on once a week, but is active and particpates regularly during that day, then in my opinion that mod is just as good as a mod that shows up 5 days a weeks but is only minimally active each day.

pcdude, I get what you're saying, however the only the thing you seem confused with is the reasonable amount bit.

First of all, I NEVER send out *that many* mass e-mails or pms, I infact, very rarely do that. Second of all, if you question another admin of any other dead forum currently, you'll probably get an answer such as....

"I send out mass e-mails/newsletters etc twice a month or once a week depending on updates"

As far as I for one am concerned, this *hasn't* helped one bit I'm afraid

[pcdude]

improvisator said:

pcdude said:

First of all, Improvisator, I don't know what you mean by a "reasonable aomount" of mass emails, but any more than once a month is too much. People receive more junk email than they care to put up with as it is-adding your message to the mix won't make your forum more popular, to say the least. People will get tired of your continual mass e-mailings and throw them right out with the rest of the junk. Then, you say you question people when you see them on MSN Messenger-another bad move. Bothering your members outside of the forum won't make them feel inclined to visit you anytime soon. I've visited your forum-you have no where near enough members to be worried about those that don't show up often. With only 28 members you should be more worried about finding more members than about those you already have. Once you have 100+ members, then you can start worrying about those that aren't showing up-but do so conservatively! Mass e-mailing every other day won't work! The best way to deal with absent members is to simply delete their account if they don't show up within a certain period of time-say two or three months. If they are interested enough, they'll return eventually and reregister.

As far as staff are concerned, its not about how many days they are on, its about how much they contribute when they are on. If you have a mod that only comes on once a week, but is active and particpates regularly during that day, then in my opinion that mod is just as good as a mod that shows up 5 days a weeks but is only minimally active each day.

pcdude, I get what you're saying, however the only the thing you seem confused with is the reasonable amount bit.

First of all, I NEVER send out *that many* mass e-mails or pms, I infact, very rarely do that. Second of all, if you question another admin of any other dead forum currently, you'll probably get an answer such as....

"I send out mass e-mails/newsletters etc twice a month or once a week depending on updates"

As far as I for one am concerned, this *hasn't* helped one bit I'm afraid

Well, I'm sorry that it hasn't helped you any. I must insist however that what I said is indeed helpful, whether or not it helped you. For proof of that just look at my forum. It's been in existence for just over a month and it's seen nothing but steady growth. I must be doing things the right way or else that would not be the case. It would behoove you to take my advice-after all, your methods are obviously not working. If you don't believe me, just take a good hard look at your forum.

As I suspected, you are sending far too many emails. For a forum of only 20-some members there is no way on earth you could possibly have that many updates. In my opinion, a monthly update should be far more than sufficient at this point. One hting you have to look at is that most people who would respond the way you've indicated probably have forums that are far busier than yours. You have 28 members. That's 28. Not 280. Not 2800. Just 28. You have to do things in proportion to the size of your forum. Cut the e-mails and PM's to once a month and you'll see some of your members return.

You don't seem to be quite as good at taking advice as you claim to be at giving it.

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

pcdude said:

Well, I'm sorry that it hasn't helped you any. I must insist however that what I said is indeed helpful, whether or not it helped you. For proof of that just look at my forum. It's been in existence for just over a month and it's seen nothing but steady growth. I must be doing things the right way or else that would not be the case. It would behoove you to take my advice-after all, your methods are obviously not working. If you don't believe me, just take a good hard look at your forum.

Don't get me wrong dude, I actually considered all the input you made. I just wasn't 100% sure of it that's all

The things you seem to be doing right (as far as I can see anyway) is the fact that your forum is thematic (hence a particular subject that people might be interested in), whereas mine's only general/social (possibly boring to others) OR maybe I picked a bad time to open up a forum

pcdude said:

As I suspected, you are sending far too many emails. For a forum of only 20-some members there is no way on earth you could possibly have that many updates. In my opinion, a monthly update should be far more than sufficient at this point. One hting you have to look at is that most people who would respond the way you've indicated probably have forums that are far busier than yours. You have 28 members. That's 28. Not 280. Not 2800. Just 28. You have to do things in proportion to the size of your forum. Cut the e-mails and PM's to once a month and you'll see some of your members return.

Then I'm afraid you suspected wrong my friend Like I said before if you read my other post, "I NEVER send out *that many* mass e-mails" within a month anyway. I'd get flamed back big time if I did lol (hence the reason it is sent out very rarely

Like yourself, there are others that have their own forums to go to as you probably know. I'm not in any way trying to dispute that. What I'm saying or trying to say (and Destiney's Darlings already gets my drift) is that, without any form of advertising, actual thematic-related aspect of a forum and spam-related stuff, a forum can die-out almost easily.

It's not about the member-count (as much anyway). It's about the post-count.

pcdude said:

You don't seem to be quite as good at taking advice as you claim to be at giving it.

As a matter of fact, I take advice quite well (if it proves to be helpful that is). Though (usually I must admit) it doesn't work all work all the time as I hope it should unfortunately. Maybe I assume too much <sigh>

[pcdude]

improvisator said:

The things you seem to be doing right (as far as I can see anyway) is the fact that your forum is thematic (hence a particular subject that people might be interested in), whereas mine's only general/social (possibly boring to others) OR maybe I picked a bad time to open up a forum

I agree that having a forum that focuses on a specific theme is definitely a good thing. There are far too many general forums out there, which is why your probably having a hard time. I chose a computer forum because not only is it my area of expertise, but also because there are very few similar forums on Proboards.

Like yourself, there are others that have their own forums to go to as you probably know. I'm not in any way trying to dispute that. What I'm saying or trying to say (and Destiney's Darlings already gets my drift) is that, without any form of advertising, actual thematic-related aspect of a forum and spam-related stuff, a forum can die-out almost easily.

I think advertising is the most important thing. You can have the most thematic forum in the world, but nobodys going to come to it if they don't know its there. You have to find as many ways as possible to advertise, and then you have to use those methods as often as possible. Then, after you start getting members, you have to take a look at your advertising methods, see which have worked the best, and focus solely on those methods. This way, you don't continue to waste time with advertising methods that aren't working.

It's not about the member-count (as much anyway). It's about the post-count.

I absolutley agree. However, that post count doesn't mean a thing if no one is ineterested in what's being posted.

[Beatle Aimee]

Several things:

1. I have a seperate member group for each staff on my forum. They can pick which colour and title they want. So if I decide that they should be allowed to do something other staff can't, i don't have to worry about the other staff playing with it. Some of the member groups are funny. for example one of my mods (she's a female) asked me to make her a member group called "Supervisor Gentleman" #hihi# (supervisor is a like a mod, except with some less powers. they can move and lock threads).
2. I demote inactive mods (every once in a while I PM all staff asking to reply if they wanna stay staff) and keep their member groups in case one day they magically come back.

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

pcdude said:

I agree that having a forum that focuses on a specific theme is definitely a good thing. There are far too many general forums out there, which is why your probably having a hard time. I chose a computer forum because not only is it my area of expertise, but also because there are very few similar forums on Proboards.

Good point The reason I only created a general/social forum (in the first place), was because I didn't want to copy all those other forums that were already in motion (i.e. There's alot of Star Wars forums already available which I for one was going to base my forum on, but then I thought at first if I created it, then it'll violate ToS copyright conditions, but then just recently, I got a confirmation from Craig, that it's ok, so long as the post content and images are not exactly the same )

pcdude said:

I think advertising is the most important thing. You can have the most thematic forum in the world, but nobodys going to come to it if they don't know its there. You have to find as many ways as possible to advertise, and then you have to use those methods as often as possible. Then, after you start getting members, you have to take a look at your advertising methods, see which have worked the best, and focus solely on those methods. This way, you don't continue to waste time with advertising methods that aren't working.

The advertising bit I'm already comfortable with, though the only problem is, figuring out the interests of the guests (that'll *possibly* become members). Though in future, I'll make sure that if I do send out mass e-mails or pms for that matter, it'll only be once every 2-3 months, this'll show that even if the staff somehow forget the forum url (which has happened quite recently), then the mass e-mail should remind them of that (so long as it's not done too often lol)

pcdude said:

I absolutley agree. However, that post count doesn't mean a thing if no one is ineterested in what's being posted.

Exactly (that's about the only time post count means nothing, other than the fact that the post counts were gained from nothing other than spam posts lol)

[James Francis Ryan of Iowa]

I think this advice is very useful.But what I want to know,is that if one of your "Online Friends" was online 24/7,and you fully trust him/her,and give him/her the position as a staff member,but then he'she isn't online as much,or bairley at all,what should I do?At Conker's Base,there was this member named Yellowrombo,he was on occasialy,but now he's hardly ever on!I sent him ALOT of PMs,but were never read!Who should take his place?

[Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®]

jirachii said:

I think this advice is very useful.But what I want to know,is that if one of your "Online Friends" was online 24/7,and you fully trust him/her,and give him/her the position as a staff member,but then he'she isn't online as much,or bairley at all,what should I do?At Conker's Base,there was this member named Yellowrombo,he was on occasialy,but now he's hardly ever on!I sent him ALOT of PMs,but were never read!Who should take his place?

Usually Jirachi, you shouldn't worry about those who cannot fulfill their active duties as a moderator. You see my scenario was different because that guy I described was my best friend who I kept in contact with. What you're describing (by the sounds of it) is a member whom did a really excellent job as a staff member and has unexpectedly decided to ditch the forum. The best thing is ALWAYS keep in touch with your staff members. The time when you lose their contact, you practically lose their activeness on your forum You'll have to stop sending mass e-mails/pms all the time. Sometimes a member will start to ignore them or automatically block them. Speaking of which, one particular member I spoke to recently said the e-mail he used to register at my forum, he no longer uses it just my luck So I asked him to change it. I do not think he has currently

Alternatively, if there are others that were active similiarly to this particular member you describe, perhaps give them the staff position asking if they'll fill in for that member until you get in contact with him/her.

See if that helps jirachii

~*Improvisator*~