Ways to get Moderators & Super Moderators (must read)

[_xXxSLASH3RxXx_]

ok.......

[Uhura!]

The way to get moderators is to have a community with people you can trust not to abuse the privilege. Generally such people will have demonstrated good judgement before, perhaps even jumped in to calm things down before they got out of hand.

They will be consistent, regular contributors, probably use a good command of the forum language and so on, and above all you have to trust them.

Generally people who ask for power are unfit to use it. People who are mod candidates prove themselves by being good members, not because they ask. Anyone who asks me for moderator status immediately goes to the bottom of the list.

I am not sure if this is always true, but in my personal experience it is. I am having a helluva time with this staff member who basically joined the forum, hung out and posted each day, and shortly after that begged for additional access instead of waiting until she had the time & posts needed to get into the private rooms. (Of course we made her wait.) After that, she begged for a job on the forum & now she is quite inadequate + unreliable. Also, she does not contribute in any real way to any of the discussions.

Recently I asked the staff members to help out by posting at least one new thread a day if they log in because right now - although people reply to threads - only a few people have been starting them. In response to my request for help starting threads, she started a thread to complain about a logo on the forum!

[_xXxSLASH3RxXx_]

The way to get moderators is to have a community with people you can trust not to abuse the privilege. Generally such people will have demonstrated good judgement before, perhaps even jumped in to calm things down before they got out of hand.

They will be consistent, regular contributors, probably use a good command of the forum language and so on, and above all you have to trust them.

Generally people who ask for power are unfit to use it. People who are mod candidates prove themselves by being good members, not because they ask. Anyone who asks me for moderator status immediately goes to the bottom of the list.

I am not sure if this is always true, but in my personal experience it is. I am having a helluva time with this staff member who basically joined the forum, hung out and posted each day, and shortly after that begged for additional access instead of waiting until she had the time & posts needed to get into the private rooms. (Of course we made her wait.) After that, she begged for a job on the forum & now she is quite inadequate + unreliable. Also, she does not contribute in any real way to any of the discussions.

Recently I asked the staff members to help out by posting at least one new thread a day if they log in because right now - although people reply to threads - only a few people have been starting them. In response to my request for help starting threads, she started a thread to complain about a logo on the forum!

Wow thats is so wrong thats.I limited & posted to people that if they beg for a Open spots for staff i'll temporaly ban them, begging is not cool.

[Arantor]

Wow thats is so wrong thats.I limited & posted to people that if they beg for a Open spots for staff i'll temporaly ban them, begging is not cool.

Interesting, since in your first post in this thread you basically invited folk to become moderators - at least that is what you appeared to be saying.

[Uhura!]

Arantor, what do you think abotu my issue?

[Arantor]

Uhuru!, I think your approach of asking staff to post new topics is generally a good one, and for the right reasons, though I've heard everything ranging from 'definitely do this' to 'definitely don't do this' in terms of advice.

If a forum with > 100 members has less than half a dozen posting, something is kind of wrong, and it means it needs more fuel for debate and discussion, hopefully that can draw in the other posters.

I've also heard suggestions of running competitions, polls, and more - which again are good ideas.

Regarding your specific member who is problematic, I'd actually suggest making her into her own little membergroup - Probationary Staff, with the fairly clear warning that if she doesn't shape up to conduct befitting a staff position, she should be removed from staff, but that's just my opinion.

[Uhura!]

Uhuru!, I think your approach of asking staff to post new topics is generally a good one, and for the right reasons, though I've heard everything ranging from 'definitely do this' to 'definitely don't do this' in terms of advice.

If a forum with > 100 members has less than half a dozen posting, something is kind of wrong, and it means it needs more fuel for debate and discussion, hopefully that can draw in the other posters.

Here are our stats:
Total Members:     107
Total Posts:    51356
Total Topics:    3219
Average posts per day:     150.75
Average topics per day:    10.01
Average online per day:     10.11

*Note: On the weekends, our forum is very quiet because we're all mothers - LOL! So, that drags the average online per day figure down.


My concern was that only certain people would start posts, but then once the posts are started everyone else hops on. I felt that this looks bad because of seeing the same names in the "started by" column wouldn't be all that appealing to new members.

The staff actually did honor my request today - some really got into it and initiated more than one thread. There was a lot more activity because of it. Noticed the difference immediately.

I've also heard suggestions of running competitions, polls, and more - which again are good ideas.

We recently had an anniversary raffle & we gave away designer handbags. It went well. We raised a couple hundred dollars from it. We're currently planning an e-Baby Shower.

Regarding your specific member who is problematic, I'd actually suggest making her into her own little membergroup - Probationary Staff, with the fairly clear warning that if she doesn't shape up to conduct befitting a staff position, she should be removed from staff, but that's just my opinion.

I was thinking of "suggesting" for her to go on a hiatus. If she doesn't bite, I may resort to that. I need to be polite. We're a mom's group ...so we're expected to be supportive & she's got personal issues which are making her previously bad behavior even worse @ this point. My ultimate goal if she doesn't shape up is to ease her out bit by bit.

[Arantor]

Sounds like you're doing everything right to me

[Uhura!]

What about our stats - how do they look to you for a forum which is 12 months old?

[Arantor]

I'd be really proud if I'd had a forum running with 51k posts on it. You're doing just great!

[Uhura!]

Thx. Moms have a lot to say - LOL!