How should I staff my forum?

[∞ ConqueringWolf ∞]

A lot of mistakes that admins make when it comes to staffing their forum is by having "applications" for people to fill out and then making anyone who fills it out staff, giving staff members too much power over the forum, and in general just giving away staff positions to people they do not know and trust implicitly.

Here are some general rules about choosing staff members that should be able to help some of you from making some common mistakes that can destroy forums.

1. Do not give away staff positions to new members who ask for the position. Staff members should always come from a regular active member of your forum that has been with you for quite a while and whose behavior on your forum has been trustworthy and respectful towards others. You don't want to give a staff member position to someone who is rude to other members and in general is a bully. You also need to know they will represent your forum in a positive light.

2. Do not go overboard assigning powers to your staff members. On my own forum my mods can only lock threads and move topics. I do not give the power to delete or modify threads to any of them because I want to be able to see what the original post was before it was deleted or changed. Otherwise an unscrupulous Mod could lie about the original content to get another member in trouble and you would have no proof of it. Giving them the power to move an inappropriate topic to a secure admin board is plenty enough power to keep your forum clean of spam and obscenities. In general I don't suggest giving anyone else the power to delete boards or anything major like that either. Gmods should have no use to have to do that and it also helps that if you have a security problem with anyone else's account for any reason that you don't have to worry about your boards and categories being deleted and losing all your board content. At least it would be secure except for cracking of your own main admin account.

3. Give mod positions to active members who will be on your forum daily to perform their duties and also those who wish to help keep your board active with new content. If you have a movie review board and you assign someone to be mod of it then they should be responsible for posting reviews of movies that they have seen and keep the content of the board fresh. You wouldn't want to assign someone to be a mod of a board in which they have no interest in the content.

These are just a few suggestions which should help out when choosing staff members for your forum and hopefully keep you from running into many of the common problems that can occur from making bad staff choices.

[Artemis]

I agree with all of that. Staffing a forum should be one of those things that takes at least some time to plan out, and done carefully.

I think that staff positions should only be given to those that will actually show up to your forum many times per week. There isn't any use in having a member as staff that rarely shows up at all, because they can't do their job.

I also think that applications are a bad way to go. Giving total strangers staff positions isn't a good way to do it. It doesn't always happen, but strangers can quickly use their powers to their own advantage.

Staff should be people that the admin(s) know and trust well; people that will do their job to the best of their ability, and people that the admins can rely on while they're away, or unable to come themselves. It helps if the staff are people the admin(s) know and trust because the forum overall runs better.

Giving added powers is also a downside, I agree. Although most of the time the admin can trust the staff decisions, it's always best that the admin can oversee all actions to make sure it was the right one, and if not, they can correct the problem.

[mrsyukisohma]

Applications aren’t actually that bad, but a lot of admins make the mistake in allowing anyone to apply. The applications usually consist of about five general main questions such as your name, age, experience, etc. If you ask someone to apply for a position such as a friend, you already know their name, age, and possibly other experiences they’ve already had.

I have a good application well thought-out. You want to make sure whoever you’re assigning a position to is on the same page that you are, and they actually know what they’re doing. Though you might know this individual, it doesn’t mean they know how to staff a forum, or even have the right personality as a staff member. It’s important to find this out, and I found out by giving them an interview. I ask them questions such as, say I am giving an admin position away to a friend or member, I’d ask them something like, “If you have an idea for the forum, what will your actions be?” As I have mentioned in another thread.

Before reading the advice given about staff, I also would have blindly given the position away to anyone because assistance was needed. Now, I’ve re-thought about it thanks to Proboards. If you talk to someone frequently over the Internet, and they’re at an appropriate age, that would be the best time to ask someone. It’s always better to know the user in person rather then the Internet.

You really don’t want to overpower your staff members. I once saw a message board that had four admins and about three moderators. It was funny because the moderators couldn’t even do much. You don’t want to give the admin position out to too many members. This can be a big mistake. Do you really need four admins to run a message board? If your message board is small, there really is no need for that many admins. If anything, just apply to them as moderators or another position, but not admins. If for some reason you’re busy and you need at least two more admins to watch over the forum, that’s another case.

It helps to give more responsibility to staff members besides watching topics to make sure members are right on track. Be creative. I’ve seen message boards come up with some great ideas such as zodiac consultant where members can find out a lot of information about their zodiac animal. It gave staff members more to do and it makes them feel like they’re contributing to the site.

Lastly, you don’t want to give your staff member’s simple positions as mentioned above somewhat. I’ve seen message board give out simple positions that an admin or other members could easily take care of such as creating forum text games in the games forum, or welcoming new members in the Introduction forum, PM’s, etc.

[Drewz]

Staff your forums with people you trust. For example, I went to WWE Chat-Room to premote my wrestling forum. Someone said they would join my forum if they could be a Moderator. I said they could only join and be a member, but being a Mod was always an option for anyone who proved themselves. He explained that he's been Mod on many forums and could help mine grow.

I still said no, and I urge that no one give out a Mod (or admin) position simply to get another member. I've posted on a few forums and I've given my Mod spot to people I know can do the job.

If you wish to reward a member for loyalty to the forum, ie sticking through the early dead stages, then making them a Mod would be fine in my books. At my forum I was in that very situation, problem was the member wasn't a great speller, grammer friendly, he swore a little and had a few more little problems. I made him Mod of a main section, and I'm starting to regret it. As a Moderator he hasn't done anything really wrong (or anything really), but as a member he's just not up to code.

I beleive making him Mod of the games section or off-topic section would have been better.

[Raven]

I believe the best way to select staff is to watch the members and see who has knowledge of what.
The member will have to be active however and if you put them as a mod in a board they have knowledge, this can help drive the content and you'll be able to keep all your boards active this way.
As if you had a design forum and you had a graphics designer, you wouldn't want to make him a mod in the general section alone (assuming the designer is willing to make graphics for the forum).
Also, choose intelligent and friendly users as moderators. You don't want a moderator who is going to scold members for no reason and flame them repeatedly, no one wants to deal with that.

[Shentino]

I came up with a rather creative way to keep bad staff out.

Instead of making them swear an oath of loyalty, or go around the internet snooping to see what sorts of rumors exist (which is not always reliable at any rate), give them an exam.

IRL, if you want to be a cop, you have to go to a police academy. Same with most any other civil service position, and it should be the same way with a forum.

By giving a staff member an examination, you can assess their competence for yourself.

This procedure has already stopped cold a foolish moderator wannabe who couldn't tell the ban stick from the lock button.

[myke]

shentino said:

I came up with a rather creative way to keep bad staff out.

Instead of making them swear an oath of loyalty, or go around the internet snooping to see what sorts of rumors exist (which is not always reliable at any rate), give them an exam.

IRL, if you want to be a cop, you have to go to a police academy. Same with most any other civil service position, and it should be the same way with a forum.

By giving a staff member an examination, you can assess their competence for yourself.

This procedure has already stopped cold a foolish moderator wannabe who couldn't tell the ban stick from the lock button.

Yeah, but nothing beats giving a trusted member a staff position. I could probably pretty much pass any ProBoard moderator exam that anyone gave to me, but that doesn't mean I can be trusted not to destroy the forum.

I'm not condemning exams, I mean they are not going to deter a member who does want to become a moderator, but the most important thing is how well you know the person, and how well you trust them.

Another thing, which I think would be more helpful then an exam, is to take them under your wing, and teach them everything you know, train them so to speak.

[mrsyukisohma]

give them an exam.

An application, I believe, would be considered the same thing. I don't know if you've read my post, but I adressed this issue. Others seem to oppose applications because they say it makes the forum "too professional" and you should know the other staff members "personally". However, just because you know the user personally, it doesn't mean they know how to take on certain staff positions if it's aside from locking and deleting topics.

There is also another problem when this occurs. There are good liars and preditors on the Internet. Someone once told me, I think he was in a similar position, and lied through his teeth.

I've given an interview out a few times. I could tell who was a good staff member and see what I was looking for, opposed to someone who wouldn't be. A girl had no problems with me, but I had her take the test, and it sounded really phoney (spelling) to me. There are times where you can tell, but there are times when you can't always.

[El ZØRRØ™ - Ron Paul in 08]

myke said:

shentino said:

I came up with a rather creative way to keep bad staff out.

Instead of making them swear an oath of loyalty, or go around the internet snooping to see what sorts of rumors exist (which is not always reliable at any rate), give them an exam.

IRL, if you want to be a cop, you have to go to a police academy. Same with most any other civil service position, and it should be the same way with a forum.

By giving a staff member an examination, you can assess their competence for yourself.

This procedure has already stopped cold a foolish moderator wannabe who couldn't tell the ban stick from the lock button.

Yeah, but nothing beats giving a trusted member a staff position. I could probably pretty much pass any ProBoard moderator exam that anyone gave to me, but that doesn't mean I can be trusted not to destroy the forum.

I'm not condemning exams, I mean they are not going to deter a member who does want to become a moderator, but the most important thing is how well you know the person, and how well you trust them.

Another thing, which I think would be more helpful then an exam, is to take them under your wing, and teach them everything you know, train them so to speak.

The problem is most admins aren't 'trained' themselves so they can't train anyone else. That is why they will accept any mod or even gmod and admin.

[webmaren]

I would say that you should figure out who it is that you want to make a staff member for like maybe 2 months after you decide that you think you want them to be a member. Then, if it's going well for them, give an interview using IM or something that is in real-time. People who don't really know what they are doing will usually be easier to pick out if they don't have all the time they want to reply. After that, if you have this option, yu could take them to a forum that maybe is having some "issues" that you admin/gmod at, and if you can get the admin to let them have a trial run modding one of their problem boards, that would be a good idea. I would say that you should give them a week-long practical exam, then get together with all your current staff and discuss what there is to discuss. If you guys all think that they pass, then make them a md on your forum. Never give someone gmod or admin right away unless you know them from real life and trust them. If they get to be really good at it, maybe they can move up the ladder someday.

[myke]

dw02 said:

myke said:

Yeah, but nothing beats giving a trusted member a staff position. I could probably pretty much pass any ProBoard moderator exam that anyone gave to me, but that doesn't mean I can be trusted not to destroy the forum.

I'm not condemning exams, I mean they are not going to deter a member who does want to become a moderator, but the most important thing is how well you know the person, and how well you trust them.

Another thing, which I think would be more helpful then an exam, is to take them under your wing, and teach them everything you know, train them so to speak.

The problem is most admins aren't 'trained' themselves so they can't train anyone else. That is why they will accept any mod or even gmod and admin.

Yep, and that's why we're trying to teach them from doing such, and trying to teach them how to run a ProBoard.

[mmagnesium]

i have 4 admins:

Myself and three friends from school, i have all the powers obviously, but they have a few less. they can't see IP's for instance because i believe that comes under the Data Protection Act of 1990.

i have 1 global mod.

and about 8 mods.

[Snakeair]

mmagnesium said:

i have 4 admins:

Myself and three friends from school, i have all the powers obviously, but they have a few less. they can't see IP's for instance because i believe that comes under the Data Protection Act of 1990.

i have 1 global mod.

and about 8 mods.

When making people staff, it's always a good idea to have members who you can trust 100% when you are not around to run the forum according to your rules and make sure no one violates the Terms of Service. The moderators, don't always have to have the power to view IP's but it might be a good idea to let them view them. Just the Gmod's they should have the power to view IP's since they have the power to ban members and may have to do a IP search to see if any members have multiple accounts on the forum.

I'm not familiar with the data protection act though.

[charlie]

snakeair said:

I'm not familiar with the data protection act though.

Basically, the Data Protection Act protects personal data of people. It states things like data on people can only be kept for as long as necessary, and the person whose data is being used can request to have a copy of that data at any time etc. If you want to know more Snake, just pm me.


As for me, I never hand out gmod or admin positions to people I do not know. And I only hand out moderator positions to members who have been active to my forum(s) and proven themselves as model members (i.e. they havent violated any rules etc.)
Personally, I dont have much of a problem with people hiring MODERATORS they dont know very well, as long as their powers are limited to individual boards. Moderators cant do too much damage if they get out of hand. Although I do think they should be limited to one or two boards maximum to beginw tih.

As for handing out gmod positions, I only promote someone to a gmod who has been an active asset moderator for a decent period of time.

But in the end, its up to the admin, and whatever decision they make when it comes to staffing is what they are putting into the forum. If it is a member they dont know who has little experience with ProBoards, then I can hardly see why they get angry with them if they step out of line or even sabotage parts of the forum. Its their own fault for hiring them. Ive seen it happen a few times.


Chaz

[seadove]

You guys will probably laugh at me but I have come to understand so well about the proboards forum and all it's advantages (with very little disadvantages) that really you don't need any staff assistance at all!

There is only one problem that people need a mod assistance in my forum. And that is the activation key. G-d knows why but in some cases new members donot get their activation e mail in the first attempt. I found out that when you request for another one, only then do they get the activation e mail.

But that is besides the point. And there is really no fun to have a forum without staff, hah? So I appointed some not for the job of it but for the fun of it. ;D You know what I mean.... they start creating new skins, and then play around with the Karmas and all that.

And ofcourse for some security I limit their abilities. I only appoint Global Mods with the minimum of powers and there you go. ;D