mrsyukisohma
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Dec 4, 2024 7:47:24 GMT -8
mrsyukisohma
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January 1970
GUEST
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Post by mrsyukisohma on Jun 28, 2006 12:24:30 GMT -8
I agree with everything said. If you want to maintaine a happy community not only do you have to keep control of other members, but what many admins fail to do is keep control of themselves - mainly their own emotions. If you're going to constantly bash another person, others might join in, but it can prevent many from joining, of if they joined it can prevent them from posting and getting to know you. A lot of admins have the attitude, "I'll run the forum the way I want to and do what I want to because I can" without really taking any consideration for your members.
Members like SPAM boards and Rant boards, but if you want to make friends you want to come across as a friendly person. Because of those boards, depending on how you're handling it, again it can push guests/members and prevent them from joining/posting. I mean your forum might have a lot of members. I've seen boards that have a ton, yet less then half of them are posting. If that's the case, then there's a problem where you're doing or allowing another member to do something that could possibly be pushing others away. If they didn't delete their profile or whatever, they're probably there because they just like the features on the board, but are afraid to post for one reason or another.
Another way to maintain a happy community is to make your forum unique. If you copy your forum from someone else (RPG Boards are great examples) and don't make them unique in some way that has new features, you most likely won't get many members, and this has happened before for those reasons.
Admins should act mature and give a good example for other members to follow. If admins don't, you'll know what'll happen.
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UndeadDeadGuy
Junior Member
Warning: Side effects of T-virus include: death, undeath, flesh craving, and mutation. In that order
Posts: 390
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Nov 18, 2007 14:23:42 GMT -8
UndeadDeadGuy
Warning: Side effects of T-virus include: death, undeath, flesh craving, and mutation. In that order
390
March 2005
undeaddeadguy
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Post by UndeadDeadGuy on Jun 29, 2006 9:27:52 GMT -8
I agree with the avatars, but not so much with the automatic custom title. I feel custom titles should be earned, so those who receive one know they desrved it. Also, it gives people an extra incentive to be active on the forum. A shoutbox I don't reccomend, or not reccomend, I feel it is basically up to each individual forum owner whether or not they have one. I've had no problems with the shoutbox (Well apart from banned members using :  but I took care of that and it's a great way for members to communicate. As for the custom title, their fun nicknames, in massive boards like this (that won't lose members becuase 1 person got answered a little later than expected) naturally custom titles need to be earned, it's just a too larger place. I love the shoutbox on my forum. It keeps the members active and is usually full of running jokes. Occasionally we will get a flamer, but dealing with a shoutbox flamer is like dealing with one on proboards, you find out who it is and give him/her a warning. I need some advice. My forums tends to have 'lulls' in which no one is that active and it gets kind of quiet. Normally these quiet times pass in about a week or two, but they always make me nervous. Does anyone have ideas on how to keep forums from becoming quiet, or to jump start a quiet community? |
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hisroyaldudeness
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June 2006
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Post by hisroyaldudeness on Jun 29, 2006 20:15:23 GMT -8
I've had no problems with the shoutbox (Well apart from banned members using : but I took care of that and it's a great way for members to communicate. As for the custom title, their fun nicknames, in massive boards like this (that won't lose members becuase 1 person got answered a little later than expected) naturally custom titles need to be earned, it's just a too larger place. I love the shoutbox on my forum. It keeps the members active and is usually full of running jokes. Occasionally we will get a flamer, but dealing with a shoutbox flamer is like dealing with one on proboards, you find out who it is and give him/her a warning. I am the assistant admin on my friends site, and one of our other admins (we only have three) put in a shout box. We had so many problems with guest posters. I forgot what their kind of IP was, but they never stayed the same, we never tracked down the guest posting abuser. I had the shout box removed, for fear of what I have seen happen on other sites, people posting innapropriate links. I have since decided to move the shout box to a password protected board, and I only give the password to members I trust. Anyway, about rules I have. I wrote the rules for our board because my friend (the main admin) has a one track mind and forgot about making rules. Most of our rules are like, be respectful, rank up with dignity (don't post threads like "I AM A LEGEND"), don't flood, don't talk about religion or politics. Most of my rules are to help prevent members from arguing. I like to keep all of the flaming off the board, because, I was browsing a site that had flaming everywhere. There was so much, the admins were changing the names of the topics to stuff like "flaming war 202." I immediatly left because I don't want to be apart of a site like that. The only other rule that I heavly inforce is the "consider people with dial-up," because I had dial-up and hated going on the internet because of sites that were slow. Well, anyway these are my rules and sugestions for a "happier community." |
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mrsyukisohma
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Dec 4, 2024 7:47:24 GMT -8
mrsyukisohma
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January 1970
GUEST
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Post by mrsyukisohma on Jul 14, 2006 23:06:07 GMT -8
I wasn't sure where to put this, but I guess it falls under this topic. I want to encourage members here that own RPG boards to make it a rule that members need to have a certain amount of constructive posts before sending in an application. Why do I say that? You don't want to role-play with just anyone on the net for one thing. It's a good idea to see how not only will this member interact with the other members, especially the role-players, but how he or she will interact with you. You won't get along with every single member you come across because it just happens in life. Hopefully not, but don't be surprised when it comes time to ban a member. I wouldn't make the post count high, but it at least gives you a good idea of what the views are behind this person. This would apply to boards that don't have the forum completely based on role-playing. It's good to have a good balance of role-playing and a variety of discussion if you want it to remain active.
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Guinny
New Member
A bit ditzy!
Posts: 94
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Jan 25, 2007 2:39:25 GMT -8
Guinny
A bit ditzy!
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May 2006
wendigo
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Post by Guinny on Jul 15, 2006 14:13:55 GMT -8
Ive run a fairly successful online community for about 18 months now and ive found what worked for me was to invest a little time getting to know my members. I find out who can take a bit of mickey taking.. play around with their avatars and stuff and everyone gets a laugh. of course, you have to be prepared to be on the receiving end of it as well.  tbh i think it all depends on the time you invest in your forum as a whole. keeping things interesting; adding new topics, updating regularly and adding new features when and where you can. |
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D.D
New Member
Posts: 35
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D.D
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July 2006
deexdee
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Post by D.D on Aug 5, 2006 16:26:09 GMT -8
One way is to set up a rule thread on ur general board. Its there to remind people to repect others.
Rules such as No Spamming, No flamming, No swearing etc should set in place to prevent all of those from happening.
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Diego Zelaya
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August 2006
alonendarain
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Post by Diego Zelaya on Aug 11, 2006 16:36:26 GMT -8
This is not the place for your complaints.
I believe that an admin should take all point of veiws no matter if they are good or bad. :]
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myke
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Dec 4, 2024 7:47:24 GMT -8
myke
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January 1970
GUEST
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Post by myke on Aug 12, 2006 12:54:41 GMT -8
This is not the place for your complaints. I believe that an admin should take all point of veiws no matter if they are good or bad. :] What post are you replying to? |
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Man on a Lifelong Mission
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Feb 16, 2012 13:56:47 GMT -8
Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó®
...and also proudly STRAIGHTEDGE! (Alcohol/Smoke/Drug-free)
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December 2005
improvisator
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Post by Ímþ®óvîšâ†ó® on Aug 14, 2006 0:28:09 GMT -8
I have noticed that there are quite a few communities that while they initially may receive a large amount of members and maybe even a burst of posting every so often in the end they usually end up losing activity and members quit returning to the boards. This brings up the subject of what you should have for a good community and how can you maintain it's integrity as a good community so that people will want to return. First and foremost I believe are the rules of a forum. While you want to have some rules in place to maintain order you also do not want an admin who is overly restrictive and inhibits the members from having fun and expressing their self. I have seen some forums where Admins have said no one is allowed to have images in their sigs because it is distracting and they don't like it. Now who in their right mind would really want to join a forum where you can't express yourself in your sig and you are not allowed to customize your online personality. On the flip side I have seen forums that say they have no rules, they allow guests to post anywhere, they have spam boards, flame boards, and any other kind of board there can be where trash and filth is posted on it for everyone to see. You have to maintain control and ensure everyone is having a good time while they are on your forum and no one is going to be having fun when they have to read through flame wars every day. Second I believe is what kind of interaction do you give your members with you and other forum members. Do you have a Member Of The Month? Do you have contests where they can win things like increases in their post count? Do they have something to look forward to other than a few simple random posts when they come on? I myself have a Member Of The Month contest where I display their name, affiliate banner and website if they have one, and give them an increase in their post count as well. The more interaction a member has with everyone else the more they will feel like a part of the community and enjoy being involved in it. Third and lastly do you offer your members promotions to moderators or other positions when they have demonstrated that they can conduct themselves in a proper manner that is befitting someone of Mod status? You should never make someone a mod just to make them happy or because you think you need some. You should always trust the people you make Mods, they should have demonstrated as a member that they deserve such a position with their good conduct, and use it as a reward to show that you appreciate their being a member in good standing and that you entrust them with the care of your forum. Just make sure they are not given powers that they don't need to have. These are just a few suggestions for how to keep people coming back to your forum after they have been members a while. Any thoughts or suggestions to add? I hope this heatens the topic up a bit, by displaying the dos and don't of maintaining a happy community. See if these work.. | DOs | DON'Ts | | 1. Hold weekly contests or competitions, but beforehand, allow every possible member to participate in them | 1. NEVER blow steam at members because they didn't fulfill a certain requirement you expected. They may be new at your proceedures. | | 2. Hold the ever popular member of the month contests, but only have it so that an active member gets it, not if they are kind speakers etc | 2. NEVER leave out a new member, as they could be easily startled by this, and may end up leaving your forum | | 3. Perhaps let them know that their account will lock if it's TOO in-active, that way, they'll hopefully login and/or post more on your forum | 3. NEVER force members to post every single day, as they may want to spend it on other things | | 4. Try to make suitable joke threads that aren't racial/sexist etc | 4. NEVER allow a flaming session to occur (i.e. a guest/member-viewable flaming board, as that can cause serious member-INACTIVENESS |
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kelendria
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Dec 4, 2024 7:47:24 GMT -8
kelendria
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January 1970
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Post by kelendria on Sept 20, 2006 11:31:18 GMT -8
I would suggest perhaps quietly checking out people's other interests, dealing with private matters IN private & not having favouritism.
I fell into the trap of perhaps making members feel they had to post every day, only now I'm paying for it.
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pcdude
Junior Member
Posts: 270
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Feb 16, 2007 20:46:11 GMT -8
pcdude
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August 2006
pcdude
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Post by pcdude on Sept 22, 2006 12:57:48 GMT -8
In my opinion, a big part of maintaing a happy community is by making yourself accessible to your members. I make it a point to make sure that everyone knows that I am available to talk, at any time, about anything. Another thing I make it a point to do is welcome every new member. Every time a new member joins I create a thread in my off-topic forum to welcome them. I've found that getting a warm welcome makes people feel more comfortable at your forum-and as a result, they post and interact with everyone, as opposed to just lurking.
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seadove
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January 2004
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Post by seadove on Nov 2, 2006 2:32:27 GMT -8
In my forum I have decided not to maintain any written or specific rules, save for the basic rules of human diginity and decency. I have not even mentioned nor defined what I mean by that.
Until now my forum members have survived fairly well.
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Jul 27, 2007 9:48:34 GMT -8
lordparadise
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May 2006
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Post by lordparadise on Nov 2, 2006 17:24:04 GMT -8
The forum I mod has quite a lot of games and competitions working at a given time. Here's some of the things we use:
1. An interactive game or social thread on almost every board
2. A governmental system where democratic voting decides most major changes on the forum
3. Quite a bit of roleplay
4. A fanfiction board where members can express ourselves
And, lastly, we have turned the karma system into a monthly contest to get the most karma through alliances and strategy. This idea has been very successful, with the competition being surprisingly healthy and strategic rather than simply biased and based on popularity. I recommend implementing something like this, especially on a smaller-scale forum.
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pcdude
Junior Member
Posts: 270
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Feb 16, 2007 20:46:11 GMT -8
pcdude
270
August 2006
pcdude
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Post by pcdude on Nov 3, 2006 13:31:36 GMT -8
In my forum I have decided not to maintain any written or specific rules, save for the basic rules of human diginity and decency. I have not even mentioned nor defined what I mean by that. Until now my forum members have survived fairly well. In my opinion, you need at least some basic ground rules. For the time beng you might be able to get by without any rules, but as you get more members your definitley going to want to have rules in place. It'll make life much easier for you and your staff. |
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PBS Oscars: Best Debater 08
Oscars: Best New Member 2007
86462
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Dec 3, 2024 12:48:49 GMT -8
HoudiniDerek
Capital Idea!
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August 2006
houdiniderek
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 3, 2006 16:32:16 GMT -8
The forum I mod has quite a lot of games and competitions working at a given time. Here's some of the things we use: 1. An interactive game or social thread on almost every board 2. A governmental system where democratic voting decides most major changes on the forum 3. Quite a bit of roleplay 4. A fanfiction board where members can express ourselves And, lastly, we have turned the karma system into a monthly contest to get the most karma through alliances and strategy. This idea has been very successful, with the competition being surprisingly healthy and strategic rather than simply biased and based on popularity. I recommend implementing something like this, especially on a smaller-scale forum. Some of your ideas are similar to ones I use. However, I have never thought of using the karma system in such a way. If you don't mind, could you tell us how exactly it is set up? It sounds similar to SURVIVOR or the way the game ASSASSINS used to be played in the dorms.  |
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but I took care of that and it's a great way for members to communicate. As for the custom title, their fun nicknames, in massive boards like this (that won't lose members becuase 1 person got answered a little later than expected) naturally custom titles need to be earned, it's just a too larger place.
