What do you expect of your moderators?

[Gizzy's Girl]

I have to say, I'm a bit of a control freak where my baby (my forum) is concerned. When I first created the board, it was as part of a partnership, however, I was the only one with graphic making skills and coding know how, so the creation of the board fell to me. After that, I just became the main admin almost naturally. My co-creator was more interested in just participating than being staff, although I still have her as a co admin out of respect. After all, the idea and concept of our site was half hers.

My other two staff, one global moderator and one moderator, also take more of a back seat position. They know I like having control over the advertising, coding, affiliates, boards ect. and they're happy to mainly just welcome new members and basically keep the site active. The only thing I really ask of them is to stay active and always be welcoming, which comes naturally to them anyway, because they're all great people.

Apart from that, the only time I ask them to take more of an active role is when I'm away, either on holiday or doing exams etc. I'm never away for long, but it's mainly just keeping the site ticking over in my absence. Although they don't do an awful lot while I'm around, I know I can completely trust them to look after my baby while I'm not there. I think that's the main point of having co-staff; having people you can trust to help you. ^^

[ily 'TIL THE end]

I expect my staff to be open minded, understanding, always asking questions, consistent, not ban happy, kind not rude and respectful.

open minded - It makes things much easier if any staff team is open minded because when you get someone that posts their opinion and the staff member doesn't agree with it, they won't tell you how wrong you are, they will debate with you but in the end, they are open minded so that they just don't go locking a thread just because they didn't agree with something or the staff person was proven to be wrong in something, somehow and they didn't like it and locked the thread. I don't tolerate any sort of close minded behavior when it comes to my staff.

understanding - Sometimes people make mistakes and so then, the staff member should be understanding and not get upset and outraged for something that, in the end, could be talked through and discussed.

always asking questions - I love a curious staff member who always wants to know if they are doing the right thing, how to do this, what I think they should do or making sure that before they actually moderate, they ask questions to clear things up rather then assuming and in the end, looking like a fool. Therein, degrading the reputation of that staff member giving the idea that perhaps that staff member isn't fit for their duties.

consistent - Of course people make mistakes but generally, I want my staff to be consistent. Always making sure they are on top of everything and anything that could happen or is happening. Inconsistency just demonstrates the lack of know-how on moderating a forum.

not ban happy - I generally want to know if my staff is about to ban someone or has or wants to. Because given that way, I can see if someone is banning someone for any reason possible. For instance, if a member reported something, posted something in the wrong board or made a joke that the staff member didn't particularly like and that member is banned for it, then that staff member is not the staff member I want on my forum. That just goes to show the lack of integrity and honor in such a job. Anyone who does that is a coward, mostly doing it to get back at someone. So I don't tolerate that one bit.

kind not rude - If my staff is rude to any member at any time, then they have overstep their boundaries. No person in any sort of staff position has a right to be rude to anyone at any given time. Even those that are causing you the most trouble, still no one has a right because being rude to someone goes to show you are no better then a bully/troll. I have zero tolerance for that.

respectful - This one goes hand in hand with everything I've already typed up. I like my staff to be respectful to everyone and not giving them a hard time about anything. You can tell someone something but if you are nasty to them in any way, you are not fit to hold such a position and do not deserve it.


Now, of course, as I have already state, people make mistakes. I understand that. I give many chances to people who make mistakes but when it continuously affects other people and I see no signs of change, goodbye. That person no longer is staff. And if it's bad enough, they may be banned.

I have my staff's back. If you are accusing them of something, I will make sure it's investigated to the fullest extent. I do not betray anyone because of favoritism as I have zero tolerance for that as well. I respect my staff and show compassion to them. But if they are out of line, I will tell them and make it clear to them where they stand with me when I have to reprimand them.

[Toothless!the!Dragon]

I can understand if you are away from your computer for a period of time, and can't get to your computer, but if a mod is away for no good reason that annoys me. I also hate when you get 'hired' onto a staff team, and each person has a different job, and I end up doing my job and all of theirs. It gets tiresome, and annoying. I mean I have my own board to take care of, not just yours y'know?

I also learned never make a board with family, because you can't yell at them when they are doing their jobs without them being offended. I have multiple boards with my sister, and cousin as mods, but because I have the most experience, they sit around and do nothing blegh -_-

[``HEATHER-LICIOUS``]

On my site (s) I prefer to have:
- more experienced Rpers to be mods
- worked with proboards before.
- been on the site ling enough to know what I mean, why and the rules pretty much by heart.
- I ask for staff applications and usually the form is:

Are you a mod/ staff member on any other sites?
How long have you been role playing?
How long have you been on this site?
Ect.

[FROST BBY♥]

This is a pretty good question that I have had to think about (simply because it has been a long time since I have had my own forum hosted by Proboards).

What do I expect from my moderators or staff in general?

Holding a staff position to me means that I trust the person, either that I know the person's capabilities well beforehand or I believe that the person has the potential to hold a leading position. I hardly appointed staff members, perhaps one co-admin and two moderators at most (excluding graphic designers and code moderators). I find that staff should be a position granted only to those that I feel should be able to take on the position. How is that determined? I have my very odd ways of understanding.


As forum staff, one has the job of monitoring and helping out regular members. Thus one must be knowledgeable about the forum rules itself as well as show leadership quality. Activity is a major thing that I look at since I don't want to give someone staff powers and then have that person disappear as a result. I am usually able to decipher power hungry members from the truly helpful members (since I have been both before unfortunately). I feel that things like respect, open-mindedness, nice, hardworking, understanding, knowledgeable, organized and helpful key characteristics in staff members because truthfully, they all play an important role to what a moderator, if not a leader should have. They are qualities that can be developed and further developed upon becoming staff.

[Cuethelaugh]

I have been very lucky with the moderators I have found.

Most of them are MEMBER ELECTED which I find helps with the 'why didn't you pick me - favoritism' bid.

They're all for the most part way into web design which helps me with the technical stuff that I'm no good at. They also are constantly in contact via PM with me, by their own choice, and are very hands on when explaining or helping out new members.

I am very lucky.

[ToxicShadow]

In my case, I chose my first staff member to be someone that I knew in real life that was willing to help me out. Said person didn't know a lick about proboards, but they got the hang of things really quick since I was able to explain them in person. I can easily outline my expectations to them without any confusion, which works wonders.

The best thing I can suggest for choosing staff, is choosing someone you know fairly well. That may be someone you know in person or someone you have known online for a good amount of time. If not that, then perhaps giving the staff members a "trial period." If a staff member volunteers to do the work you ask of them, then it should be expected that they do the work as much as they are able. If they do not accomplish what needs to be done, regardless of the circumstances, then it may be a good idea to replace them or find additional staff.

[[ saga ]]

I don't expect too much of my moderators. I like them to help out in general with the site as much as they can, but if they don't, it doesn't really bother me so much. I consider the admin's to have much more of a bigger role, so therefore if they don't post as much or be as active, I find that more of a challenge. c: I'd never de - mod a person unless they hadn't been on for months and months, and there were more deserving people I thought should get that role.

[hellyearockstar]

I remember when I first began administration, a co-admin deleted every single one of my members. This admin had seemed fine. I trusted her, she did her job, and we were friendly with one another. One day she just decided to do this thing... needless to say, I'm a lot more careful about assigning staff. Anways...

A moderator should be a friend and a helper. Someone you can trust who will do what you need them to do. I don't ask too much of them, but I expect them to do what I do ask. If I've warned them twice, they can't be a moderator any longer, but I hope to still have them as a respected member. Unless, of course, they've gone and done something terrible.

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

Yes, it is true that running or helping out with a site is a volunteer job, but that's just it - it is a job, albeit still one you do for fun.

For small forums, it is not as important to have mods, let alone have them around a lot. Even for smaller forums, though, activeness should be a must, I feel. If people log-in and see that the admin is not active - especially with no explanation - joining will not seem like a good idea, in most cases.

For larger forums, it's more important that all staff is active, and helping out. Make sure it's clear what they're expected to do, and if they can't do it, then they need to be let go. It may be for fun, but there's no point in them being mods if they can't help out. Even if they're friends, there should be a line between understanding being friends, and what's necessary for the job and to keep the site running.

Either way, a post detailing what moderators should do is always a good idea.

[el oh el ya *]

Running a site by yourself can be such a drain, especially when you really just want to have fun with your characters and most of the time, the admins have the most characters (talking about just RP boards right now) I got REALLY lucky with my co-admin because she is my best friend and I can really count on her. Of course we have some issues now and then but you gotta be able to get through that.

I think that biggest problem with staff is that they just want to be staff because it looks cool. I've had staff members before that just want to post their shippings or whatever with their staff account and accept their own apps and that is about all that they do, they just want to job because it looks cool and it makes them feel powerful or something. They have to be willing to do something they have to be willing to help out where the main admin needs them.

I mostly go with the people that have been around the longest if I have to pick another staff member, someone that has shown to be active, that is always willing to help. Right now my forums is small, just starting out, we can handle everything with the two of us. If it gets bigger I might need more help but it's always a tricky thing to do.

[Sam Mitchell]

As a MOD, people except us to settle disputes between players peaceful, have a friendly and cool attitude, without getting the 'power trip' get to our heads. Maybe even help newcomers into the RP'ing society to get started and see as the forum is bot free and, most importantly, moron free.

[HoudiniDerek]

I expect my moderators to do what they are told for the most part. If they are given an area or section to moderate, I expect them to focus on that section and make sure there are no rule infractions. This means being on often enough to spot such things and make sure they are being taken care of early in the process.

Beyond that, I want my moderators to stay active or at least let me know if they have to be gone for some reason. It is one reason that I rarely have moderators. Most of the forums I am on have way too many and that causes disputes as people take sides. On any given forum, the most I have is two moderators and they have their distinct sections. It helps give them the responsibility that they are unable to pawn off on someone else. If they fail, I will give them chances, but not endless chances. A moderator is like a job: Do it right or lose it.

[CherokeeRose]

On the forum I own, I do not have a mod. I have a co-admin named Sharky, however. We have a nice group of people, but I don't want to make any more staff members. It's just easier for my to consult with her and no one else. I don't like talking to big groups of staffers about decisions. We share most of the duties. We both work on applications, advertising, and affiliating. I normally code, do graphics, manage general site upkeep, enforce rules, create/modify boards, activity checks, site contests and update/create all claims. She does site updates, threads for new site plots, OTM, and by far does more in the area that we both are supposed to do. We both contribute and get our jobs done. She's a great admin, sometimes far more proactive than me with this stuff.

• What I like my staff members to be, on any site of mine, would have to be extremely nice towards every member. They can't be rude even when we have a new member who doesn't know much, and they have to stay calm if we have a situation (I.E. trolls, spammers, just plain rude people).
  
  
• They have to get on almost every day, hopefully daily though, and be able to fufil their duties quickly and efficiently.
  
  
• I want them to be experienced in moderating and know how to work Proboards also.
  
  
• I don't want to tell them constantly about their jobs either. They should be able to remember and get it done.
  
  
• If I'm not there, they have to be able to hold up the site during my leave. They have to be trustworthy as well. I don't want to come back and see everything on my forum changed. I want to be able to entrust my site onto them if need be, whether it be a certain amount of time or forever.
  
  
• Again, on the trust note, I want to be sure that they won't steal anything from the site. That includes posts, plots, ideas, and even the way the graphics are set up or even the graphics.
  
  
• I don't want to wake up and see everyone banned.
  
  
• I don't want to see any ignorance towards any group of people or any ideas for plots. I don't mind if their views don't match someone else's, but I don't want them to start cussing out the first person who dissagrees.

[katewinsletrev]

I need my moderators to not delete anything or edit it without running it by me first. In the past they have done this and it's been a real problem. My board is kept very opening and welcoming to members and often that kind of behavior by mods creates a hostile environment.