[Debate] Member Management & Rule Enforcement

[Owlstar]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
Well, since my forums never seem to get large enough and my members never seem to stay long enough to break any rules, I haven't had to deal with it. But I would say I'm in between. I wouldn't ban a member the first time they break a rule, I would warn them. I would give them a temporary ban the second time, then a permanent the third time a rule is broken.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
As stated above, my forums don't tend to last that long. I would take into account the length of membership, however, though I wouldn't completely ignore them if they break the rules. I would give them a warning, then make the temporary ban longer so they have more time to change if they were a huge contributor to the forum. However, if they continued to break the rules, I would ban them permanently.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
I think it's good. If you are strict on one member then lenient with another, that's a big turnoff. That shows favoritism, and not many people would want to join my forum if I like one person better than another.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
Not really. I just first give a warning the first time they cause trouble, then a temporary ban, then a permanent ban.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
I think friendliness and interaction with members is definitely a must. I don't think getting cliquey is a good thing, and showing favoritism isn't either. I think that when it comes to dealing out warnings and whatnot for rule breaks, it shouldn't be handled harshly but in a nice way. So like, instead of going, "YOU WERE BAD. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED ANYMORE.", I think you should be something like, "I noticed that you did such and such. I'm going to give you a warning to not do it again." and then go on to explain what you're going to do next and such.

[Shentino]

Mar 15, 2010 0:39:54 GMT -8 Artemis said:

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)

-Are you generally strict or lenient?

I am strict but measured. I would not permit anyone to get away with breaking rules. However, punishments are light for first time offenders, and sometimes there are zeroes on the point scales.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?

Sometimes it comes in handy for establishing whether or not they knew that what they were doing was wrong.

But other than evidence of awareness, or lack thereof, I don't use membership length as an excuse to punish anyone either greater or lesser than anyone else. Everyone follows the same rules.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?

Consistency is essential. Besides being grossly unfair and lopsided if you "play favorites", people will get confused if you are capricious.

This goes double for making sure your own staff follow the same rules they are supposed to be enforcing. Playing favorites is bad enough, but having a corrupt scandal on your hands can really make people sour.

If one of my staff broke the rules, I would have them smacked just as hard as anyone else. It would also earn them demerits for dereliction of duty.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?

I would use infractions as a way of "metering" the amount of trouble a member is in. As the subject of discipline, they have a right to know how much trouble they are in. Records are "read only" accessible to the members they concern, with the proper procedures in place to correct mistakes.

I would suspend people if they go over, and they would be on probation when they got back. Probation would serve as a multiplier factor to any infraction points they receive, and if they get suspended again before the probation is over, their suspension gets longer.

I believe that an exponentially increasing progression in suspension length will quickly wipe out troublemakers.

I reserve permanent bans for unforgivable offenses like account hacking, willfully violating proboards TOS, ban evasion, using the forum to commit a crime.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?

Who knows?

Apart from setting a good example and making sure that members know how to behave properly (clear and easy to understand policies, plus good conduct from the staff), it's a question of human psychology.

[-!Freedom Wings!-]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
Ah, I think I'm somewhat both. I'm lenient to understand that some people make mistakes, and even the most experienced members can make a error or two. However when people cross the lines (Such as bashing Politics/Race/Religions/Beliefs or someone just being generally rude all the time), it becomes somewhat annoying. I am extremely strict when it comes to things and times like that.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
To be honest...not really. I don't expect for you not to make mistakes, since everyone does. But when you are a lengthy member and you keep doing it, and people have warned you...probably not.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Consistency is good. I love it. I try to be as consistent as possible, though not to make a image, or to make myself be more "member-like" or "admin-like". I am that way in real life.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
If you mean the little warning bar? I've never used it. Never. I pretty much tell someone you broke the rules. It's outlined in my rules. If you didn't read them too bad.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
This is a hard question...because really there is no "Right" way to run a forum. To me, I've been told I'm way too strict, my word counts are too high, and that I'm just a rule hound. I don't know how to tell people that it's rules. Rules to keep the forum on line. Rules to keep people having fun.

[pauldaf44]

Are you generally strict or lenient?
Hmm this is a difficult one especially as I haven't actually had to test myself yet. To be honest it depends on the rule broken. Some things just get edited and no further action others will result in warnings or bans.

Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
No all members get exactly the same treatment. There are more rules for moderators but the normal rules still apply to them.

Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Consistency is of the utmost importance. I know that if I saw somebody getting away with something I had been banned for I would be rather annoyed. So I wont do it to others.

If you have a warning system, how does it work?
I haven't had to use it yet but this is how its laid out.

For serious breaches only

1st offence - PM sent by moderator.

2nd offence - Official warning

3rd offence - 1 month ban

4th offence - permanent ban

I have a system that insists that moderators are to discuss the severity of an offence in a private board before deciding to implement a warning or ban. I feel that by using consensus from a team that decisions made will utimalty be fair and unbiased

What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
I think you need to be friendly and active on the forum in discussions. But rules and warnings should be written in a proffesional manner. You should always stick to your guns as if people think they can push you around or that you wont care about it they will act inapropriatly.

[bedbugshowland]

thanks...for...sharing...

[achamo]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
I'm usually lenient- I don't let things go unnoticed, of course, but I only give warnings when it's neccessary.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
To some degree. I'm a little easier on people that have already proved themselves to be good members and I think they've just forgotten or misunderstood a rule. I also try to be nicer to new members and give them the benefit of the doubt. Basically, I'm most wary of the middle ground- members that have had time to read the rules, but still might show to be rule-breakers.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Consistency is good. It shows that you're unbiased toward people you know personally.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
I don't have much of a system- I just give however much I think the rule broken deserves, and if it reaches a high number, it's a ban.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
I try to be friendly to members- I have been intimidated by the rank bar in other sites that says "Administrator", and I don't want to do that to people. I also think that you should be consistent and not let rule-breaking go unnoticed, though.

[duecalione]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
I believe I am somewhere in the middle. If they break the rules, then they get punished. BUT, I'm not harsh with the punishments. I am only harsh when they do it repeatedly, just to see what limits they can push. But normally I have a good system. Now, as for my rules, they are pretty easy going, happy rules normally. I try my best to keep them light hearted while still getting the message across. And no, when compared to many other sites, I normally have very lenient rules.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
No. They broke the rules, they should be dealt with the same way as a new member.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
I believe that it is a good thing. If you consistently show how awesome of an admin you are, if you consistently talk to everyone, consistently do your best, then THAT is a great thing.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
Well, if they break a rule, I will send a PM, hey, I don't know if you realized, but you broke a rule. I don't quite say it like that, but I try to keep it light-hearted. And I'll ask if they didn't mean to, and normally they don't, it's usually by accident. Plus, they never do it again, so that is a sure tell-tale sign that shows they didn't mean to. =) BUT if they do it again, I'll give them another light-hearted warning. I mean, I'll sometimes forget I broke a rule, and I'll forget that rule, and I'll accidentally break it. again. So yeah. If they do it again, I'll give a forceful warning, which is something like this: "Hey, I would honestly appreciate it if you could stop breaking this rule. That is is there for a reason." If they do it again, I deal out the punishment. Punishments vary because of the rule. If the rule is something like a signature size, then I'll take off there signature and tell them they can't have one for a week. If it's bullying people, I'll suspend them for like 3 days. If they do it again (any rule), then the punishment gets harsher. Yes, I am probably very lenient with my warning system. A lot more nicer than many sites I've been on.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)
Well, the best that works for me is to be honest. Talk to everyone. Have fun with everyone. NO FAVORITES. Plus, they love you if you have events that are fun, and full of some sort of prizes that everyone is able to get. Not just the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place. Everybody gets something because they participated. I keep as friendly an environment as possible. =)

[MissEm]

Are you generally strict or lenient?
I am lenient, unless a member is being obnoxious (IE: continuously breaking rules).

Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Nope! And you shouldn't! Everyone should be treated the same. They signed up for the same thing the other person did. Ad far as I am concerned, you keep the drama off the forum, or you will be warned.

Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Consistency is great! If there was no consistency, then it would be chaos.

If you have a warning system, how does it work?
We give out reminders unless they repeatedly do the same thing over and over in a short amount of time.

What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
I, personally, do not know! I am still figuring out all of my management skills and working out the kinks. I think consistency is key though.

[Moda]

Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Yes, I operate a warning meter mainly for the 4 letter word which is not allowed on my forum.

I also ask members to show respect to our fellow members.
I use 4 levels each being 25% if a member gets 25% and doesn't offend agaon after3 months I remove the 25% if they do use the word a second time they go to 50% on reachibg 100% they are sin binned for 3 months.

I have to say I'm quite proud of the way my members act, sometimes it gets a bit hairy after a game that members believe some players have failed to play their part but on the whole I'm more that happy.

[Mistuh M]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
Personally I am very lenient, and within the group of admins and global mods that I work with, we as a group are incredibly lenient as well. If a member is causing any sort of commotion on the forum or making other members uncomfortable in any way, will we become strict to make sure those being reprimanded, understand that we will not turn the other way if it means rules being broken. If we allow one person to get away with it, then more will follow, and the next thing you know you have an uprising.

Though that's when it comes to registered members. With guests we are extra..sweet, because, of course, we are trying to show them that we are a great community and want them to be apart of it. But if a guest is being disruptive and bothersome, especially to the rest of the members that aren't considered staff, we step in and demand the respect everyone deserves or else they get banned from the chat box and the forum permanently. If that's the way they're acting as guests, we don't want to see how they will act as members. Though sometimes they put on a front and slip through our fingers, join and then cause trouble.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Of course. We take into consideration that we, as staff, are not the only one's who are over-protective of the forum, but we never allow older members to break the rules or go by without being reprimanded simply because they have been a member for so long. We treat all members equally, though also varying on the sort of things they do.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Very good, especially when you need to make the forum population see that as staff, you will not give special treatment to someone over another.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
We use a levels system, also depending on the degree of the infraction. We have debated whether or not to make this system visible to the entire forum, but we also would like to avoid members sticking their noses into someone else's business.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
Being apart of the member base as staff, of course. We do our best to interact on a daily basis with the members via the chat box or role playing with them, and for the most part they all seem to understand that we are still, foremost, members just like them. It is only when someone causes trouble that we buckle down, and everyone understands that as well..for the most part at least.

[Snakeair]

I have a PB forum but it's not active. I'm posting my answers as a super moderator on a large webmaster forum.


-Are you generally strict or lenient?

I am generally strict but can be lenient if the person is brand new to the forum and has not had a chance to read all the forum rules. Usually a friendly PM right away when someone is done wrong would fix the issue at hand. If the PM was avoided then I will be strict. Can't be known for being to lenient or members will take advantage of this and the forum won't be doing that good when a moderator warns people in threads.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?

No I don't. The veteran members should be the ones setting good examples of how to communicate and help people on the forum. They won't get any freebies from me as the longer they on the forum, the more I think they have had a chance to read the rules a few times in each category. If the one member was my best friend, I'd not show him any love. The moderator or admins job is to enforce the forum's rules and the members time put in the forum should not come into play at all.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?

I believe it is good. (Eh, I'm not to sure about this)

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?

Eh, I mentioned above I don't have my PB forum active but a super mod on a forum competitor. I believe a old school PB rule was to never mention the forum competitors on here. I'm old school so not explaining about our warning system. (It has custom mod's on top of default warning system)

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?

Don't B.S. the members, always speak the truth when posting and be super friendly. You want the members to know that the forum is a friendly place to be on and as long as you obey the rules, the moderators and admins can be really helpful people. If the forum staff is always being rude in public on the forum, you not setting a good tone of a friendly community. People will leave a forum if they feel the staff are power hungry.

[The Technical Wizard @MyTech]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
Lenient
-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Yes
-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Good
-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
No set way, though once you get a 100% level, you get banned temporarily
-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum? (For example, have you found certain methods of interacting with members or giving warnings/bans that seems to work more than others?)
IDK

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
This is a rather difficult question. When you say strict, you think of someone who hounds everyone, and you know, less freedom. If you think lenient, then you think of someone who lets people get away with things. I am neither. I'm not going to hound people, but neither are they going to get away with anything. I'm not saying a couple of minor things won't be let slide every now again, but you can't let people get away with breaking rules, because then it becomes an issue.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Yes, if they're long-standing, good member, you're less likely to be more harsh on them for something. If, on the other hand, they're a newer member and have done nothing to show that this isn't a normal occurance, then you might be more harsh to make sure that this doesn't become a problem.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Yes, I do. I mean, obviously, depending on the situation, things might be a little different, but yes, I do believe that in general, it's best to be as consistent as possible across the board.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
Kami posted it on the previous page, but in general, a member commits an infraction, they are raised a level. Two more infractions is a one-week suspension. Three more infractions is a one month suspension and then three more infractions after that is a permanent ban. Things depend on the type of infraction and the seriousness, so it's not always followed to the letter.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
I find that it's important to be as active as possible, friendly, and try to be just like a normal member. You want people to think that you're approachable and that they can have fun on your site.

[Kris.P]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
I'd like to think I'm a good in-between. I'm strict when I need to be, but I generally send PMs/verbal warnings rather than the warning system to members that have broken rules.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
Usually I do. I'm pretty loyal to my members, especially ones that have grown into good friends, and the longer they've been on the forum, the less I worry about them. Newer members, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt and try to help them learn the rules quickly.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Definitely good! I do not want to be considered the type of admin that favors certain members over others in terms of dealing with broken rules or unnecessary drama.

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
In all honesty, I don't use the warning system. My warnings tend to be PMs or e-mails, whichever I'm sure the member will receive. After a few warnings, however, the member will be banned.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
Being friendly is a must! After all, a forum is usually created to connect and make friends with others who share the same interest, yes? Being open and polite, as well as being available as often as possible, are great aspects for an admin. We want everyone on the forum to enjoy being there.

[Were Wolf]

-Are you generally strict or lenient?
I am in the middle, I don't like people being racist and insulting to other people, if people do a little bit of troll, I don't really mind. I am not a fan of people advertising on my site and spamming, people can advertise there blog or YouTube channel, but not another website.

-Do you take into account the length of a person's membership when dealing with troublesome members or drama?
If someone has been around for awhile they should know the rules, for new people they should read the rules when the first join the site.

-Do you believe consistency is good or bad?
Yes, consistency is important. Every member should be treated the same, I want people to treat new guys with respect. I see on so many forums people are mean to the new guys, it makes them quit

-If you have a warning system, how does it work?
Don't have one, because my site was just created. But going to get one.

-What did you think is the best way to manage a forum?
Play games and get all the members to introduce them self, it's nice when everyone knows each other.