Grooming/Interacting With Your Moderators

[Kaythara]

From observing the shenanigans of staff, it seems that the biggest problem is abuse of power, whether it's irrational punishments or favoritism. In order to prevent that, I gave my own definition for what constitutes power abuse which I posted in my forum's staff area, along with consequences. That way, they know what not to do and, because it's in plain sight of all staff members, can't legitimately plead ignorance of the rules.

However, I didn't want them to feel too restricted or as if they could be pinned down for abuse at any moment. So I also created a Complaint Etiquette for all members, outlining ways in which complaints ought to be posed. Nobody can be punished without proof of misconduct. Proof is a necessity to keep all of my members safe from false allegations and to keep my staff feeling secure as long as they remain responsible with their power.

[joam2]

Question here...what can a Moderator do on the board? I mean as admin I can alter just about anything, what sort of controls behind the scenes do moderators have on proboards?

[Snakeair]

joam2 said:

Question here...what can a Moderator do on the board? I mean as admin I can alter just about anything, what sort of controls behind the scenes do moderators have on proboards?

Moderators are people who have control over a message forum. By Default* they have the ability to delete posts/threads, lock topics (make it so no one can reply), unlock topics (if they were locked), sticky topics(make it so the topic stays at the top of the board), unsticky topics(if they were sticky, and modify any and all postings on the board (no matter who they are posted by) that they have been made a moderator of.

You can also change the moderators powers also, if you don't want them to have a certain power.

[Lamb]

Everyone who is a mod on my site I trust. My deputy headmistress knew all of them, and sent me their aims so I could talk to them. They sounded nice, and it turns out they were. I also pay my mods, not real money, but money they originally earn by posting. So they know that if they don't do their job they can get a deduction of pay. But I doubt I'll ever have to do that to any of them.

[Drewz]

There's only 2 mods at Submission Bar and myself as admin. Moderators arn't really needed, the only time any of us need to use our powers are to occasionally lock a thread and occasionally delete spam.

The only reason these people are appointed as Moderators are simply that they deserve it, not that they're needed.

[HoudiniDerek]

I guess I don't understand. If they are not needed, then how do they deserve it? I guess I don't see how that logic applies.

On my forum, my co-admin and I run things. We have a rotating mod position that goes to a loyal and active member for those times we both have to be gone, but they know it is temporary and that they have the power to lock threads and such, but little else. They are also the contact person while we are gone for things...and if too hard, kicked up to us until we get back.

As our forum grows, we might need a full-time mod, but for now, we have this as a way to test people we feel might do a good job when the time comes. However, even if they do a good job, why do they deserve it if the forum does not need it?

[Kmylove]

drewz said:

The only reason these people are appointed as Moderators are simply that they deserve it, not that they're needed.

At one point or another a moderator is needed. Sure that if you just started a board, you have very few members and activity, it's pretty pointless having moderaotrs and global moderators around. But as things grow they do become necessary. An admin can't simply be around all the time, no matter how hard he tries, so having a good mod team is of real help. Things can't be run only by one person

[Brimmy]

currently i have 2 moderators on one of my forums they are very useful aand very involved in the forum and always like a good chat with anyone. They also dont hesitate to warn or ban a member when its necessary and so they may well become g mods in the future.

[Gamoc]

That is a very good quality in a mod, one who isn't afraid to do their job. I have a couple of mods, I also have quite a bit of boards.

Don't choose someone who won't do any moderation on the forum, if they just post and that's all, they need to be a member, and that is the truth. You want a mod who will do their job the best that they can. That is something you always need to think about when choosing a new mod.

It is not wise, if you have 50 members, to have 30 of them mods, gmods, and admins, that is just something stupid to do.

[Eliy Beats]

What if you flirt with one of yur staff

[myke]

lilhack9 said:

What if you flirt with one of yur staff

Please follow the rules while posting here.

[Malfoy_jr]

I have a issue with my other admin and two of my moderators, in that they don't do any moderating or admining and aren't very active! Plus, this is an extra blow because on our roleplay board, they play the most important characters and there isn't really anyone else that can pull them off as well as they can. This means it limits our storylines too which is frustrating. I have recently appointed two more moderators and they are far more proactive than the original three all together. The thing is, we are all friends in real life and so denoting them is out of the question. It was getting very stressful with only me admining AND moderating the board by myself and couldnt manage it. The original three staff members are mostly becoming inactive and as much as I've encouraged, lured and stayed supportive to them and their real life issues, they still come on very little and do not keep in contact enough with me, even though I give them as much space as they need.

On another point - I think all boards should have a staff-only board. This is useful for staff discussions and openness between all staff and acts as support for them too.
If you can get their mobile numbers for any emergencies or get them on msn, I find this helps.

Incidentally, my relationship with the two new mods couldn't be better. They needed a lot of help and advice to start with but they are both sticklers for the rules and are learning to trust their own instincts, which has made life easier for me. I couldn't do without them, really.

[Cain]

Something similar to this happened to me recently. Our board used to have seven staff members. And only three were ever actually doing any staff business. The others were either just never around or didnt really do anything to help with the site. So what I did was I spoke with each of them individually and asked them why they thought they needed mod powers. When pressured about it they actually did admit that there was no good reason why they should continue to be moderators when there was really nothing for them to do.

Nothing really changed after I demoted them. The ones who never showed up anymore still don't show up and those that were active are still active. I think the best thing you can do is to talk with them about it and explain to them your point of view. And if they never use their mod powers then they shouldn't really miss them, should they? (It actually took some of my old staff members over a month to notice they had been demoted)

[Gamoc]

malfoyjr said:

I have a issue with my other admin and two of my moderators, in that they don't do any moderating or admining and aren't very active! Plus, this is an extra blow because on our roleplay board, they play the most important characters and there isn't really anyone else that can pull them off as well as they can. This means it limits our storylines too which is frustrating. I have recently appointed two more moderators and they are far more proactive than the original three all together. The thing is, we are all friends in real life and so denoting them is out of the question. It was getting very stressful with only me admining AND moderating the board by myself and couldnt manage it. The original three staff members are mostly becoming inactive and as much as I've encouraged, lured and stayed supportive to them and their real life issues, they still come on very little and do not keep in contact enough with me, even though I give them as much space as they need.

On another point - I think all boards should have a staff-only board. This is useful for staff discussions and openness between all staff and acts as support for them too.
If you can get their mobile numbers for any emergencies or get them on msn, I find this helps.

Incidentally, my relationship with the two new mods couldn't be better. They needed a lot of help and advice to start with but they are both sticklers for the rules and are learning to trust their own instincts, which has made life easier for me. I couldn't do without them, really.

What you need to do is get rid of the staff members that you currently have (that are inactive) and stick with these two new ones. If you don't have much contact with them, then it really won't hurt you in real life either. You can even go forward to them in real life and tell them that they do need to come onto your board or you will remove them from the staff (of course, you can say it much nicer than that, too). It makes your forum look bad to have staff that don't post a lot. The only exceptions should be that their personal life is really getting hard, in which they need to be removed until it is better again, or they are on vacation.

[Shotty2YaBody]

I commonly hire anybody who asks because my staff members never get alot of powers because im always on my forum and i can do it all myself, and not have to worry about my staff. On some forums ill hire alot of staff with every power.