How should I staff my forum?

[Cazzie]

Whoa: Long Post is Long.

My staff consist of myself, the admin and founder, the mod, who is the former admin of a now dead forum I used to frequent, and my graphics staff, a very awesome pixel artist.

The mod has as many powers as I can give him, because I trust him utterly and totally. I would trust this guy with my first-born child (if I had one, lol). Because he's run Proboards forums before and can find his way around the backroom better than me, and because most of the members came over from his board, and all of them think he's wonderful. In all honesty, he keeps the forum active and happy and tidy and without him I doubt we'd still be here.

The graphics guy has the power to edit/add skins/images and forum headers and footers, and he also has the ability to bump threads, because it makes testing "new posts" icons considerably easier. He has his post because, well, he's a perfectionist (in a good way). It's easier for all concerned if he can spot a problem, change it, and be done with it. As opposed to having to tell me, the me change it, then him tweak it then me change it. He's also by a long way, one of the best pixel artists I know, and the icons he makes for my forum are fantastic.

Both of them are people I knew for many years beforehand, and anybody I would think of making an admin/mod in the future would have to inspire the same kind of trust. That being said, the members of my forum are, first and foremost, a group of friends getting together to roleplay, and then they'll bring their friends, who will ring their friends, etc, etc, so the atmosphere is pretty friendly and there've been two or three incidents that warranted any further mod action than "don't do that" in the two years since we started, (and even then, there were no bans or suspensions handed out). Most of the modding revolves around bumping/locking threads, creating subforums for big roleplays and making new graphics.

I once had a problem with a mod, on an earlier forum I ran, where he would start threds about one console or another and then start posting flames about said console once anybody posted any support for it, he copypastad the same comment into every "welcome" thread, and generally made himself unpopular. Non of the members liked him, and he eventually stopped logging in. He didn't notice when he got de-modded, and he still hasn't noticed that the board is gone. I learned from that mistake.

My current board is coming up on it's second birthday, it's active (most of the time) and the members are happy. Not bad for something that started by accident... haha.

[ooglenoser]

Hmm...it seems a whole bunch of the types of RPG sites I like--fantasy and animal--almost all have the forms you fill out. I chose to have one also. Here it is:

Name of character: (The name of the character that you are trying to get a position for.)

Experience: (Any of your past experiences as a Staff Member, role-player, or any other forum member.)

Why I Am Good For the Job: (Tell why you think you will make a good Staff Member.)

Role-Playing Example: (An example of your role-playing.)

I thought this was a good idea until I got my second application from a pretty trustful member from other RPG sites (The first time I degraded the position to GMod). I sort of considered this person my friend, except they applied for Administrator. I had not planned what I would do since I know they can take over your site. Then I remembered something I saw off another site where I applied for Admin and got the positition and I checked and saw I couldn't assign member groups and stuff that could hurt the forum.

So what I did was make a fourth Staff rank, Head Administrator, they can do everything. Of course I assigned myself as a Head Admin. Then I modified the Administrator position and disabled them from doing certain things that could hurt my site.

But the person never finished there RPG character bio so they aren't an Admin yet.

Another story I have, this one guy from a couple other forums applied for GMod but I was hesitant because I saw his grammar wasn't very good and sometimes he didn't seem like he would be a good addition to the stuff. However, he did say he worked, so perhaps it wasn't some irresponsible kid. But anyway, I let him get the job but I think I am gonna warn every new Staff Member that if they mess up--delete a post that was fine or ban a member that did not do anything wrong--I will punish them depending on the severity of the misdeed; if it was something simple like moving a thread to the wrong place I will just tell them where it should have gone, if it was something more advanced like locking a thread that should not have been locked I will warn them, if they modified something out of a post that was fine then I would warn or temporarily ban them, if they deleted a post that was fine than I would ban them or give them a severe warning, if they changed some of my forum's settings for the worst, like deleted a code I had or a board or something I would ban them, if they started just being overall jerks--continuously deleting, modifying, and moving the wrong things I would either take away there Staff Position or delete their account.

But now, thanks to this thread, I will try to be more careful when choosing Staff Members, maybe I will add something to my form stating that you have to have a certain amount of posts or have been on the site for a certain amount of time before you can apply.

Anyway, thanks.

P.S. By the way my site is:

www.arthoncastle.proboards57.com

just to let you know.

[Support KL]

May 31, 2006 15:31:55 GMT -8 ∞ ConqueringWolf ∞ said:

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.

I agree, but sometimes you are out of luck if the staff turns out to be a bunch of traitors, who befriend you and destory the entire forum. Then you do not have any way to get revenge of those traitors. However, if your staff members are actually your family members or close friends whom you sincerely know, and they betray you, then you may get revenge on them in the real world. Of course, you will probably all apologize, because that's what families and friends do.

[wildmaven]

Oct 15, 2008 22:13:15 GMT -8 anskee said:

I really, really need help badly. I am a newby at this forum stuff but I got alot figured out through trial and testing. Now I have opened my board and are adding many friends. I really want one particular lady as a moderator but how do I add her?

I started a new group but there's like no where to actually add someone. Please help me! And explain it so I can understand it. I may have a high IQ but I'm still really dumb in many areas.

Please help me!

For problems and questions with your board, please post in our Support Board.

[.(:>o); The Flying Penguin]

While I do have a lot of staff members, I know most of them personally. We are all best friends and are admins, so I am very happy with that. As for the other staff members, they have limited powers, but they have been on the site for months and I trust them very well.

I doubt there would ever be a situation when you know a member for months and trust them and then when they have staff powers they totally turn against you. If that were to happen though, that would really stink.

That's why I only give limited powers, which is what I stress to ALL administrators.

[Rag_Doll]

I totally agree. I think it's quite naive of admins to give staff positions to the first person who comes along. Obviously one person can't handle everything, so it's understandable to want help. But it's certainly best to wait for the most qualified person to come around. That way, you know your board is in good hands.

[Ben]

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.

What's the point in assigning all your staff "duties" to do on the forum when they have powers? Of course their duty is to moderate their forum but of course be themselves. If they're a moderator, they only need to show their moderation presence when its needed. I go on quite a unique forum of a Webhosting company and they have many moderators there, and there is practically no differentiation between the moderators and members. You can't even see who the moderators are sometimes - they join in discussions just like regular members, and they aren't obliged to start new discussions as part of their moderation role. I thought moderators are there to erm... moderate? I think the content-creation part is somewhat down to the administrators particularly. Course, this may differ to RPG forums.

[muffilippstikk]

I think that the applications are not needed until you get to know the person. I prefer more of a personality approach. Whenever there is a member that tells me that they are interested in becoming a mod (or something of the sort) I watch how they act toward other people on the site. If they respect myself as well as everyone else on the site then I give them an application. What I really look for is something that is well developed and that shows me how much they wont the position. It wouldn't be worth giving them staff powers if they abused them.

The only powers I really give to mods is "Lock Threads" and "Move Threads" and "Bump Threads." After an unfortunate encounter with a staff member that destroyed my board I decided it was best that I don't give staffers much power. If they need something to be done they can PM me and I will be more than happy to do so when I can.

My current board is going to be something that I can enjoy without the worry I had of my last board.

[LoiterBug™ ?]

I used to have my "best friend" in real life as my other co-admin on almost every site i made especially when i first started.
But seeing as how she started to ignore and treat me badly and not even bother looking at my sites when she would immediately join and admin her boyfriend's forums, i've been trying to admin my own sites on my own.
However, with my most recent site i've realized how hard it is. So I've appointed one of my very close online friends that I've been talking to ever since I first started rping.
We talk on AIM and MSN so I know much about her and she knows how I want my sites run. I trust her completely. But if i would need a third staff member, i would do that fill out the form and prove to me that you can do it.
Even then, Missy and I will be the only ones with all admin powers.
The third staff member would be a global moderator with the basics just to keep track of threads and things. No assigning member groups or sending Mass PMs.

[Pro—Poster]

How should you staff your forum?

Simple really. First, you need to need to find people that will be capable of staffing your forum. These people need to be dedicated to your forum, and they need to be capable of handling situations. For example, if a member and a member gets into an agrument and disrupts your forum, your staff should be able to handle just as well as you could. Also, you need to choose your staff on other qualities too, like being helpful and be knowing nifty tips and tricks, like photoediting and the codes of Proboards. Finally, I suggest you don't use applications at all. Personally, I believe that you should be able to decide if this person is helpful etc. etc, and then if you firmly believe that person should be a staff member, so be it and you should also decide what powers you want them to have.

Hope I helped.
-Shazza

[I ♥ Adam Lambert!]

The forum I spend most time on, we have our Admin Whits, I'm the Global Mod and she has given me every power available, and we have 1 Mod at the moment who can lock, sticky, move, delete threads/posts etc...we have also given her power across all boards and sub boards.

At the moment we only have 30 members, although we are active so maybe down the line if we get lots more members we are considering making 1 or 2 mini Mods - who will have the basic mod powers in 1 or 2 categories each.

None of us know each other in real life, all met on IMDb and I joined a forum and brought many people with me - we had a falling out and decided to leave and start our own forum so many of the members came with us and now we all all so close and very good friends and trust each other

I think our arrangement works because we have great chemistry and also we all bonded with each other, banding together against this other forum which I think made us closer. And many of us have or are meeting up in real life which will make us even closer.

Our forum may not be big yet but it's been a long 7 month labour of love for all parties involved, especially me and our admin (especially after our first forum got deleted and we had to start over and get back to what we were within 24 hours straight) and it's probably one of the most trust worthy and well organised Twilight forums around. And all our members are very happy and loyal which is great so we actually have very little moderating to do and can just hang out like everyone else and have fun

[bobdat]

Being that my forum requires maybe more mods than others, we choose staff slightly differently, but the same ideas still apply. I don't bother with applications, because there's no guarantee that person isn't lying or just trying to ruin your forum. Every mod I appoint has been active for months and is a person I genuinely like.

I don't discriminate against people who don't have IM, because helpful as it may be, I've always found a PM to be perfectly good, especially with the active kind of members my mods are. There is no reason that anyone should be prevented from becoming a mod, but there are certain things I wouldn't allow in a moderator.

Spelling and literacy are most important - members who have inadvertently broken a rule respond much better to a polite, well written message than to 'u broke a rool dumbass'. I also value high levels of activity, how well they get on with everyone else in the General section, and their ability to write long posts and use their powers properly.

If you're unsure about someone, make them a trial mod for a bit. Give them only basic powers and ask them to do certain jobs, like locking spam or flame threads or responding to questions. If that person turns out to be a power-crazed maniac, you can just remove their powers before any damage is done. If they perform well, you can allow them full moderator powers.

There are simple things like these that can allow for your staff to be much better people than you had at first considered. But you should only ever give crucial powers to people you know personally or have known for a very long time - if they fall out with you, suspend their powers immediately. They might see this as a sign of aggression, but it's better not to take the chance of them deleting anything. Generally this won't happen, so if you completely trust your co-admins, you've got nothing to worry about.

Most of all, moderators should still be members, as should all staff. The admins should be there as authority on disputes, but other than that just other people to talk to. The moderators are just trusted members who can help the other staff with their duties. I can't abide forums where the staff team think they're above the rules and the other members.

[bobdat]

[chihuahualover]

Yes I agree with all of that. You want to make sure that you actually know the person well enough to be a part of your staff.

[Michael]

Dec 26, 2008 10:08:09 GMT -8 chihuahualover said:

Yes I agree with all of that. You want to make sure that you actually know the person well enough to be a part of your staff.

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