Members don't respond to agree to rules

[ZandraJoi]

Good tips Kami & @loverofcatsandfooty ! I was thinking of playing by ear as well. Letting some of it ‘go’ depending on who it is.

[Kami]

Jul 17, 2020 6:29:18 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

Good tips Kami & @loverofcatsandfooty ! I was thinking of playing by ear as well. Letting some of it ‘go’ depending on who it is.

Just be wary of this. Your moderation should be consistent and you shouldn't be seen playing favourites. That is the easiest and fastest way to create a toxic community.

The rules should be enforced equally regardless of person, but you should adjust how you privately assist in a user's comprehension based on the individual.

[ZandraJoi]

Jul 17, 2020 9:39:48 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 17, 2020 6:29:18 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

Good tips Kami & @loverofcatsandfooty ! I was thinking of playing by ear as well. Letting some of it ‘go’ depending on who it is.

Just be wary of this. Your moderation should be consistent and you shouldn't be seen playing favourites. That is the easiest and fastest way to create a toxic community.

The rules should be enforced equally regardless of person, but you should adjust how you privately assist in a user's comprehension based on the individual.

Very much agree with that! I should have reworded it a bit differently when I said letting some of it 'go'.

[Dazzal]

Jul 17, 2020 9:39:48 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 17, 2020 6:29:18 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

Good tips Kami & @loverofcatsandfooty ! I was thinking of playing by ear as well. Letting some of it ‘go’ depending on who it is.

Just be wary of this. Your moderation should be consistent and you shouldn't be seen playing favourites. That is the easiest and fastest way to create a toxic community.

The rules should be enforced equally regardless of person, but you should adjust how you privately assist in a user's comprehension based on the individual.

Totally agree with this. I do not play favorites and try very hard to treat everyone equally. If I am on a forum that plays favorites, I leave/delete simple as that. Everyone on the forum should be made to feel special regardless of how many posts they put on the forum. No, I am not perfect at it, but I try. I also do not make members sign the rules, because frankly, most skim and don't take it seriously. My guidelines are simple.

[ZandraJoi]

Jul 18, 2020 10:29:18 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

Jul 17, 2020 9:39:48 GMT -8 Kami said:

Just be wary of this. Your moderation should be consistent and you shouldn't be seen playing favourites. That is the easiest and fastest way to create a toxic community.

The rules should be enforced equally regardless of person, but you should adjust how you privately assist in a user's comprehension based on the individual.

Totally agree with this. I do not play favorites and try very hard to treat everyone equally. If I am on a forum that plays favorites, I leave/delete simple as that. Everyone on the forum should be made to feel special regardless of how many posts they put on the forum. No, I am not perfect at it, but I try. I also do not make members sign the rules, because frankly, most skim and don't take it seriously. My guidelines are simple.

So when somebody doesn't obey the rule, how do YOU handle it? I think PM is best. But how long would you give them to remedy the situation? Just trying to get different perspectives

[ZandraJoi]

Another question to all, when you do edit the rules, how do you let people know? 'cos I read the rules when I join a forum but I rarely go back to it so on my end, I wouldn't know if rules have changed. Unless I'm tagged or what I did on mine, I made an announcement to let people know. I had originally deleted that after a week or so then remembered that some don't log in that often. So I just made another one.

& then if there is promotion in the signature before the 10 posts (per my rules, sorry, had too many people come in, promote & then never come back), do I delete it or PM them to give them the time to do so?

Still learning & making mistakes

[Dazzal]

ZandraJoi Yes, I PM them privately and give them the "Guideline" link and emphasize what needs to change on the forum. I just tell them that it's difficult remembering guidelines on each forum and asking them to revisit them and highlight the area.

When I change the guidelines, I put UPDATE in the title area and announce it and give it a few days so everyone sees it. Some owners will tag regular members, so they see it. Up to you how you want to do it. (o:

[Kami]

Jul 20, 2020 8:35:06 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

Jul 18, 2020 10:29:18 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

Totally agree with this. I do not play favorites and try very hard to treat everyone equally. If I am on a forum that plays favorites, I leave/delete simple as that. Everyone on the forum should be made to feel special regardless of how many posts they put on the forum. No, I am not perfect at it, but I try. I also do not make members sign the rules, because frankly, most skim and don't take it seriously. My guidelines are simple.

So when somebody doesn't obey the rule, how do YOU handle it? I think PM is best. But how long would you give them to remedy the situation? Just trying to get different perspectives

It depends on the context of the rule broken. I am a fan of defaulting to PM since I think airing dirty laundry (so to speak) in a public arena can foster bad vibes.

However, I may also leave an in-thread comment depending on what's happening. For example, sometimes two members get a little excited and start chatting 1 on 1 in a community thread. I may @ both of them in the thread and be like, "Hey friends! Super glad y'all are getting along, but it looks like it's time to move to PM so others can get a chance to chime in". It's not "bad" per se but it does break the rules about staying on topic and not spamming responses, so it serves as a friendly reminder to them and everyone else participating. I may follow up via PM as well, but probably not unless they ignore me.

Otherwise, the default is a PM with a quick guide on what rule was broken and a link to the rules (+ any other relevant information, like an announcement or stickied thread).

Jul 20, 2020 8:42:16 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

Another question to all, when you do edit the rules, how do you let people know? 'cos I read the rules when I join a forum but I rarely go back to it so on my end, I wouldn't know if rules have changed. Unless I'm tagged or what I did on mine, I made an announcement to let people know. I had originally deleted that after a week or so then remembered that some don't log in that often. So I just made another one.

& then if there is promotion in the signature before the 10 posts (per my rules, sorry, had too many people come in, promote & then never come back), do I delete it or PM them to give them the time to do so?

Still learning & making mistakes

It depends on the changes. If I'm making errors to account for grammatical changes or typos, or if I am adjusting the format but not the content, I say nothing. No one cares or needs to know.

Otherwise, I send a PM that either:

1. Outlines what rule was changed and the context of that decision, with a quote of the new version and a link to the rules as a whole.

or

2. States that multiple rules have been changed with a link to the rules and a brief overview of the context of those changes.

And close out with a generic, "Please reach out if there are any questions" or something to that effect.

I used to make announcement threads but no longer do so for the most part. If established members aren't checking their PMs that is not my responsibility (if they're not reading their PMs / checking notifications then the chances of reading an announcement thread is low anyway), and new (as in, joined post-change) members will not have seen the old rules anyway and this the fact they used to be different is immaterial to them.

The only time I make an announcement thread is if a LOT is changing. I run a role playing forum, so if the rule change(s) change the way people interact with the game, then I'll make an announcement instead of PMing people.

[ZandraJoi]

Jul 20, 2020 8:57:50 GMT -8 Dazzal said:

ZandraJoi Yes, I PM them privately and give them the "Guideline" link and emphasize what needs to change on the forum. I just tell them that it's difficult remembering guidelines on each forum and asking them to revisit them and highlight the area.

When I change the guidelines, I put UPDATE in the title area and announce it and give it a few days so everyone sees it. Some owners will tag regular members, so they see it. Up to you how you want to do it. (o:

I like that way! Thank you

[ZandraJoi]

Jul 20, 2020 9:31:24 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 20, 2020 8:35:06 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

So when somebody doesn't obey the rule, how do YOU handle it? I think PM is best. But how long would you give them to remedy the situation? Just trying to get different perspectives

It depends on the context of the rule broken. I am a fan of defaulting to PM since I think airing dirty laundry (so to speak) in a public arena can foster bad vibes.

However, I may also leave an in-thread comment depending on what's happening. For example, sometimes two members get a little excited and start chatting 1 on 1 in a community thread. I may @ both of them in the thread and be like, "Hey friends! Super glad y'all are getting along, but it looks like it's time to move to PM so others can get a chance to chime in". It's not "bad" per se but it does break the rules about staying on topic and not spamming responses, so it serves as a friendly reminder to them and everyone else participating. I may follow up via PM as well, but probably not unless they ignore me.

Otherwise, the default is a PM with a quick guide on what rule was broken and a link to the rules (+ any other relevant information, like an announcement or stickied thread).

Jul 20, 2020 8:42:16 GMT -8 ZandraJoi said:

Another question to all, when you do edit the rules, how do you let people know? 'cos I read the rules when I join a forum but I rarely go back to it so on my end, I wouldn't know if rules have changed. Unless I'm tagged or what I did on mine, I made an announcement to let people know. I had originally deleted that after a week or so then remembered that some don't log in that often. So I just made another one.

& then if there is promotion in the signature before the 10 posts (per my rules, sorry, had too many people come in, promote & then never come back), do I delete it or PM them to give them the time to do so?

Still learning & making mistakes

It depends on the changes. If I'm making errors to account for grammatical changes or typos, or if I am adjusting the format but not the content, I say nothing. No one cares or needs to know.

Otherwise, I send a PM that either:

1. Outlines what rule was changed and the context of that decision, with a quote of the new version and a link to the rules as a whole.

or

2. States that multiple rules have been changed with a link to the rules and a brief overview of the context of those changes.

And close out with a generic, "Please reach out if there are any questions" or something to that effect.

I used to make announcement threads but no longer do so for the most part. If established members aren't checking their PMs that is not my responsibility (if they're not reading their PMs / checking notifications then the chances of reading an announcement thread is low anyway), and new (as in, joined post-change) members will not have seen the old rules anyway and this the fact they used to be different is immaterial to them.

The only time I make an announcement thread is if a LOT is changing. I run a role playing forum, so if the rule change(s) change the way people interact with the game, then I'll make an announcement instead of PMing people.

I agree ‘bout PMs. I also like your closing. Gives it a more personal touch.
Thank you for all the tips you have supplied as well

[Sylvie Brett]

I've never actually been on a forum that asks memebers to sign when they've read the rules. This is the first time I've seen it done, but I'm not saying it's wrong, everyone has their own way of doing things. Personally I wouldn't ask members to sign once they've read the rules/guidelines, but that's just my own personal preference.

The board I'm currently an active member of has a general announcement thread in their accouncement/notices section, where they post the minor up-dates to the board or minor notices, anything more substantial they create separate threads. But that's the way they've chosen to do things and it works for them. It might not necessarily work for everyone else. But maybe you could do something similar.

I was having a quick look at your board, hope you don't mind, it looks like you have multiple threads for rules. By the way I'm not telling you how to run your forum or telling you what to do, this is only a suggestion, you don't have to follow this if you don't want to, and that's totally okay. But perhaps have one thread for rules, maybe a locked post where you can up-date it yourself, and then have another thread where you indicate that you've up-dated the rules and that members can post that they've read those new additions. But like I said, it's just a suggestion and feel free to totally ignore it if you want.

[ZandraJoi]

Sylvie Brett I do have a thread for Admin updates & New features so members can keep track of what’s new.
I only had 2 threads for the Rules. One is in the Board titled Rules, About & then the second one was an Announcement to let people know I have updated those rules as of July 1. That second one has since been moved to Staff Only Archives. It may seem like there were a lot of thread for rules ‘cos that second one was an Announcement.

[Former Member]

I use an automated PM for new members, asking them to go first to the "welcome" thread and say "hello". Some do and some don't. It does annoy me slightly when they don't do it. How hard can it be to just say "hello". But I wouldn't chase them up on it.

As for rules: I have a couple of those, mainly about size of images, and keeping discussions civilized. In fact, I have put those rules in my first post of the "Welcome" thread, so that new members can read them while introducing themselves. Maybe if you do that, you can catch 2 birds with 1 stone, so to speak.