Moderators Management

[Vinspire]

Hi, I am wondering how did the big site manage the moderators team as it is kinda hard to monitor all the mod alone as an admin.

Hope to get some tips. Thanks

[SusanTN]

First step is finding the right moderators. Look for people who post a lot, post well thought out messages, are good dealing with the other users, and seem level headed and mature.  I require a minimum of 100 posts to be considered for a staff position, and some are never considered. A good moderator is also a representative of the community they are going to moderate.  Trust your natrual instincts. If you feel they won't be a good moderator, or a good fit with your team, you are probally right.

For a web site I run which is in the top 200,000 websites in the world I have:

Administrator	5 (including me as the head administrator)
Global Moderators	16
Moderator	n/a (dont' use local mods as I perfer my mods to be forums wide)
Chat Staff	14
Forum Staff	8
Links Staff	6
Wiki Staff	7

You don't have to be the only admin. If you have the forums broken up into categories hire an admin for each category. In my case I have one forum admin, and the rest are for the other site sections.

I have a Moderator actions forum where the moderators are required to report on any official actions as moderator, including official PM's. I back it up with the moderation log, the moderator activity mod, and trust in my people.

Coordination is the key. For that I use forums.

Staff Forums

Administrative staff

Administation discussions.  1490 Posts 229 Topics  Last Post on September 01, 2006, 12:37:17 AM

Child Boards: Administrative archive (Child Boards:Chat staff archive, Forum Staff Archive, Staff Lounge Archive, Wiki Staff Archive, A Removed forum archive)

Chat staff (Chat staff group and administrators only)

A place to discuss your actions, abilities, maintenance, and site policy.  173 Posts 63 Topics  Last post Yesterday at 09:20:09 AM

Child Boards: Op abilities

Forum staff (Forum staff group and administrators only)

A place to discuss your actions, abilities, and site policy.  383 Posts 137 Topics  Last post by Yesterday at 10:59:05 PM

Child Boards: Commercial posting permission, Moderator abilities

Links staff (Link staff group and administrators only)

A place to discuss your actions, abilities, and site policy.  22 Posts 12 Topics on July 16, 2006, 03:22:19 AM

Staff lounge (All staff)

A place for staff members to socialize.  753 Posts 130 Topics  Last Today at 12:16:40 AM

Child Boards: AFK, Trolls

Wiki staff (Wiki staff group and administrators only)

A place to discuss your actions, abilities, and site policy.  76 Posts 33 Topics  Last post on August 30, 2006, 04:52:48 AM

Deleted messages

This is a forum staff only board. (IMPORTANT: Please leave this to the Forum Administrator to clear out, thank you.)  262 Posts 95 Topics Last post Yesterday at 08:11:25 PM

Have clear policies in place for your staff. Make sure they know they are held to a higher standard than your sites users.  Enforce them.

Have the rules clearly defined and laid out for the users, and enforce them. It makes it easier for your moderators to moderate, and easier for you to spot any abuse.

Some useful mods


LogModAccountEdits (By me) (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=445)
LogModAccountEdits will record in the Moderation Log any account edits made by a user to any other account but their own. Currently SMF does not log account edits in the Moderation Log. This Module adds this important audit trail to the Moderation Log and records which user was edited (with a link to their account page, Display Name, and User ID). It also displays what section was edited. See the attached screenshot for a better picture of the function of this mod.

Create Topic on Report to Moderator  (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=242)
This mod is designed to create a topic in a specified board when someone reports a post to the moderators.
This feature and be turned on and off and board specified in the Features and Options area of the Admin control panel.
This also allows you to (optionally) not send emails on reports when this mod is active

Moderator Activity Report (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=345)
"Keep an eye on how long moderators/admins evade their duties!", I use it to ensure my moderator reporting requirements are fufilled

Karma Description Mod (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=192)
This mod lets you see why are your users applauding or smiting each other

Merge Double Posts (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=149)
With this mod you can Merge a double post from the same member to one post. (Only Member Posts not Guest posts.)

PM On Registration (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=387)
This mod will send a PM to users upon registration.  BBC tags are allowed.

BBC Permission Mod (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=449)
This mod will add permissions for every BBC tag. They can be changed in the global permissions for each membergroup. If a member is in a group that isn't allowed to use a tag, the tag won't be parsed. This mod also works for custom tags added in other mods.

Reason For Editing Mod (http://mods.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=349)
This mod will add a reason for editing a post that will be inputed when you edit a post and will be displayed on the << Last Edit: ... >> line. I require all of my mods to use this when editing messages in addition to logging on the Moderator abilities forum

If you have any questions let me know, I have been running a sucessful support site for the last 11 years.

[SusanTN]

Here are some examples of my forum staff policies.


Moderator duties for the forums

Staff is NOT a passive position.

If you wish to be passive it is far far easier on you (and me!) for you to not be a staff member. There is certainly nothing wrong with the decision, just differing wants than what the position calls for.

To be clear this does not mean not doing anything because it has already been done (for whatever reason), rather it is the turning a constant blind eye towards events because you would rather not deal with them. Or the desire to NOT view the forums because something might have happened that you should deal with.

Again, I don't want being staff to be a burden to any of you any more so than what the position denotes by necessity. I do not want to scare you off, nor make your stay unpleasant.

Encouraging posting:
New posts encourage new people to participate. By encouraging the posting of good content intensive messages we build traffic to the site. Increase our population, and build a reputation of excellence for this site

Applaud great messages:
When a great message is posted it's part and parcel of a moderator's duty to encourage more of the same sort. We do that by replying to it, and by applauding the poster. The reputation may not mean much, but it lets everyone else know this is a person they can rely on, even if they are not a moderator.

Remove any inappropriate content:
Such as anything that contradicts The Site Rules. Do not forget to smite the poster if you feel it is warranted

Miscellaneous:
By being a moderator you represent the staff, and the site, please behave well. You will be held to a higher standard.

Correcting the administrators when needed:
We are not infallible, We will screw up. Please do not hesitate to correct us when we need it. However once we make a decision and state that it's final, do not continue to try to change our minds.

Teamwork:
First, last and in the middle we are a team, but this is a tyranny not a democracy. Because it ensures that these forums will remain a safe and friendly environment for us all to be in. The admin staff will listen intently to anything any staff member has to say on any matter and will give it considerable weight in making our decisions.

Splitting threads:
Just a note, It is fully permissible (and encouraged) for moderators to split up threads that have gone off topic. Please use your best judgment, but if you deem it appropriate please feel free.

Staff Wiki:
Please feel free to edit the Staff wiki, any section which you feel needs it. (person's name removed) is in charge of the forum section, (persons name removed) the Chat section, and me the rest.

Removal from staff:
An administrator who removes someone from a staff position does so, irreguardless, of any personal feelings or friendships for a person. The Administrators job is to act in the best interest of the site. If an Admin feels that removing someone is in the best interst of this site, they will not hesitate to do so, even if the person in question is their best friend. It does not mean they no longer wish to be friends with you. A staff position by it's self does not denote friendship, addition/removal from staff never has anything to do with friendship. I just wanted to make sure each and every one of you know this out front. I have had to fire people I have personally loved in the past, and will probally have to do so in the future. Each staff member becomes over time one of my family, and I hate losing family.

I greatly respect the time and effort each and every staff member donates to this site. Without each of you, this site would not be here. I certainly could not run a site of this size, and magnitude, by my self. I thank each and every one of you from the heart. Do not ever think you are unappreciated.


And another staff message

NOTICE: Use of moderator abilities

All official actions by forum staff must be logged by making a post in the moderator ability forum:

This includes sending official PMs (post complete copies, (person's name removed) personal chat invitations are exempt from this requirement ), message edits: please include a before and after example of the entire message, topic moves, and topic and post deletions, and anything else you do in your official capacity and most importantly please make sure that you explain why you did whatever you did.

Once again, these reports must be posted in the Forum staff's moderator ability forum;

This requirement is NOT an indication of dissatisfaction with the staff.  It simply helps us understand what each of us is doing, and why.

Questions on Policy:
Queries and responses about site policy should be either in the forum staff forum rather than via PMs (this should save us the step of having to copy PMs), and it makes sure we all know understand what the policy is. Anything which all staff needs to be aware of should be in the staff lounge forum.

Redirect Posts:
To keep the forums clean please do not use redirect topics when you move a post, Just move the post and post in the moderator ability forum indicating that you have done so and why.

Locked Topics:
Also, A general rule of thumb, "If the user's can't respond mods shouldn't either". Please be mindful of locked topics.

Bans:
Note that banning is a last resort action. We want to see a definite log of steps tried before it reaches that point. It probably would not hurt to talk to an admin about situations you think are getting close to that point.

Editing posts:
This is to be done sparingly unless it is to correct a violation of the rules of this site. Such as drug references, excessive sexual garbage, or too much user information. Another valid use of this ability is to fix a problem in a post such as messed up BBCode, removing whitespace from messages, and so on. If you are not sure if it's acceptable just ask in here. We will clarify the policy as needed When making modifications add the reasons for making the edit  to the box at the end of the message.

This explains your reasons for making the edit both for staff, and the users of the site. Failure to add this simply leaves people puzzling over what was edited. Using the edit reason does not remove the requirement for you to post in the Moderator ability forum.

Deleting messages:
Please leave all deleted messages in the deleted messages forum. Periodically one of the administrators will go in and clean it out.

Announcements:
These ARE NOT TO BE USED, making a topic sticky and/or locked will be enough. Currently announced topics are emailed out by default and until I can stop that we WILL NOT USE them.

If you have any questions please ask.



And some rules I have found useful....

We do not allow the advertising of other web sites or chats on this site with the exception of the Web Directory which is listed on the main page of this site. This prohibition includes chat, forums, and the wiki.

There are six exceptions:

1. Links listed added by the chat staff to the bot in our chat

2. Users on the chat may give other users links to their photographs and personal websites.

3. Links to the source of news stories posted In the News forum

4. You may link to your personal web site in your forum profile, and forum signature which is shown at the bottom of your forum posts.

5. Links to the event web site for more information in the Calendar of events.

6. Site staff may at their discretion provide links to other web sites, in order to provide informational resources to our users, this is a privilege I feel that they have earned. If you are interested in this ability volunteer for the Chat, Forums, Links, or Wiki.

This is done for several reasons the main one being spam prevention. It also helps us to ensure that the sites we link to are family friendly. To recommend sites for inclusion in the links area, simply find the category that the link best fits, and click the 'Add Link' text at the top of the page. You do not have to be the owner of the web site to submit it for listing.

The use of images, photos, avatars, or the posting of links; which are of a threatening tone, are obscene, are pornographic, or depicts illegal acts; will not be permitted.

The posting of messages on the chat or forums which of a threatening tone, are obscene, or depict illegal acts will not be permitted.

You should not give out personal information which may lead to your being contacted in person, by email or other means. If you chose to do so, then you also accept the accompanying risks. Aliases and the use of alternate email addresses are encouraged.

Posting commercial messages is not allowed with out prior approval which is obtained by emailing (email address removed). Our Approval will generally be denied unless the message is of something we feel would be useful to our members. Violation of this term may result in warnings, account removal, or bans ranging from 120 days to 1 year.

Any attempts to stage protests, dispute the site policy, the TOS/rules, or actions of the staff; in the public areas of this site will not be tolerated and will result in your removal. If you have issues I suggest you contact (email address removed) and not bring your issues into the public spaces on this website.

Bashing or flaming of any individual is not acceptable behavior on this web site and will not be tolerated in the slightest for any reason.

Cross posting the same message to multiple forums is not allowed. Please insure each post is of an appropriate subject for the forum it is to be posted in, we will move it if it is not in the correct area. If there are no forums your message would fit in either post it in the general discussion forum or suggest to the staff that we create a new discussion forum.

[Skipdawg]

You have that very well organized and structured. 

[SusanTN]

You have that very well organized and structured. 

Been doing it for a long long long time

[H]

bl868: Interesting rules. Although why give the announce permission if they aren't meant to use it

Vinspire: I think the mods and staff you establish depends on the size of your site. I like the staff system at Neowin.net. All mods start off by becoming a local mod in an area they are most active. After they have proved themself they then become global mods

[SusanTN]

bl868: Interesting rules. Although why give the announce permission if they aren't meant to use it

I don't but I had an admin send an announcement once because they didn't know that they were not susposed to, So I made sure to include it in the list.

My mods have to prove themselves as users before I make them a moderator. I don't feel they need further testing. So far in 11 years I havn't had a problem from doing it that way.  I am a pretty good judge of character

I have probally fired 5 staff and 1 administrator (the admin posted a users ip address, and refused to apologize when i ordered them to do so.), and had 15-20 staff resign their position over the years.

[H]

I have probally fired 5 staff and 1 administrator (the admin posted a users ip address, and refused to apologize when i ordered them to do so.), and had 15-20 staff resign their position over the years.

What sort of status do you allow for staff who have resigned because they dont have enough time?

Do you demote them to a normal member of give them a veterans badge and allow access to staff areas?

[Loverboy]

Great topic! Thanks!

[Tony Reid]

To add to this we have a little excersise that we put new mods through..

We have a couple of boards called laboratory 1 and laboratory 2 and they are of course  hidden from public view.

We then give them this short list to do..

Welcome to the moderator Laboratory

This area is for you to practice your topic manipulation abilities as moderator.

I will list some of the more common items and if you can think of more please post them in this thread.

1.) Make sure you are familiar with the advanced features of posting. If you have never posted an image, attachment, etc., please create a post here and include a URL, an image, an attachment, or anything else a post can include.

2.) Post a topic , then lock it.

3.) Post a topic , then delete it.

4.) Post a post in moderator laboratory 2, then move it to laboratory 1 and leave a redirect.

5.) Post a post in moderator laboratory 2, then move it to laboratory 1 without a redirect.

6.) Edit a post in this forum created by another mod by using the Modify button.

7.) Edit a post in this forum created by another mod by using the modify button. Notice what options you can change by using this method instead of item #6 above.

8.) Create a thread that has several posts and then try and delete the first post.

9.) Create a couple of threads with more than one post in each and use the merge thread facility.

10.) Create a thread with more than one post and use the split thread.

11.) Create a post here, make it sticky, then unstick it. Notice the difference?

[SusanTN]

I have probally fired 5 staff and 1 administrator (the admin posted a users ip address, and refused to apologize when i ordered them to do so.), and had 15-20 staff resign their position over the years.

What sort of status do you allow for staff who have resigned because they dont have enough time?

Do you demote them to a normal member of give them a veterans badge and allow access to staff areas?

For the most part they return to normal user status. If their time situation changes they are generally more than welcome to return to the active staff.

I leave the staff area for active staff. I try to run my forums as I am sure Simple Machines does, professionally. Staff Lounge access for current, and retired staff is an interesting idea though, I just never considered it. See we can all learn from something like this.

For your new staff training, I would add editing messages and topics using ajax editing. Also might require them to merge two threads. Sometimes with something like Steve Irwin you can get 2 users starting different threads in multiple forums. Tracking a user, and tracking an ip.

I have a staff wiki, and a staff teamspeak server, along with a irc based staff channel. Teamspeak Comes in handy sometimes for more complex issues, saves you the cost of a call. (some of my staff are not in the US)

A few what if/how would you handle this situation is also good, gives you a glimpse into their throught processeses and you can say ok you were right on this, this, and that. But we don't generally do this and never do that.

In my post hire talk for new staff members. I try to make sure they know they don't have to try to handle every thing which comes up, in order to prove themselves. That they don't have to prove themselves to me or any other staff member. They have already proven themselves or they would never have been considered for a staff position in the first place.

[Vinspire]

bl868: Interesting rules. Although why give the announce permission if they aren't meant to use it

Vinspire: I think the mods and staff you establish depends on the size of your site. I like the staff system at Neowin.net. All mods start off by becoming a local mod in an area they are most active. After they have proved themself they then become global mods

My system is almost the same as you've mention. Once I've recruited a new staff I will give them the "Probationary Mod" status with a "local mod" power in the area they wish to be in-charge.

After they have proven themself then i will upgrade them to full mod status 

I don't but I had an admin send an announcement once because they didn't know that they were not susposed to, So I made sure to include it in the list.

My mods have to prove themselves as users before I make them a moderator. I don't feel they need further testing. So far in 11 years I havn't had a problem from doing it that way.  I am a pretty good judge of character

I have probally fired 5 staff and 1 administrator (the admin posted a users ip address, and refused to apologize when i ordered them to do so.), and had 15-20 staff resign their position over the years.

From this post, I guess firing a mods / staff is a normal thing that happened on the site all the time.

Anyway, you have such a details post list there that It will take quite a lot of my time to absorb it 

[SusanTN]

Just lost a staff member today, One of my 4 administrators,  in the hardest way possible....  They died. It was totally unexpected as she didn't tell us about her illness. She was the administrator for my forums, so I promoted the next global moderator who I felt can do the job well, handle the added stress, was well respected, and had the most posts (an indication of activity).  It's hard writing an announcement of a situation like that. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

Site succession is important and you should have a plan ready in case anything happens to you or one of your other key staff. It enables the site to survive the transition. For an section administrator, I pick the next likely candidate from the staff in the area the admin represents.

If I die, I have instructed the 4 admins to elect a replacement for me. They then become the head admin and can hire their own replacement.

Have any of you established similar plans? I intend my site to keep going and hopefully to thrive a long time after I am gone.

[SusanTN]

From this post, I guess firing a mods / staff is a normal thing that happened on the site all the time.

No it's fairly rare. But it is a large site with a large staff. Firings average one every couple of years. Firing can result from a few things:

Lying to the administrators,
Public disrespect to the staff or users of the site.
A conflict of interest
A serious violation of the site rules.
Inactivity.
Disclosure of confidential information (non-disclosed user information, stuff from the private staff forums)
Violation of Staff Policies
Activities unbecoming of a staff member. (Added specifically for Elleane below, one of my "Former" staff members)

[elleane]

Interesting.  What factors or processes are involved in your making site policy?   

[noodles-21]

Good thread, interesting 

[TANDIONO.COM]

Thanks 

[DenDen60]

I like this thread. Very interesting.  One subject that was not covered, or at least I haven't seen it, is the incentive part.

How do we get people motivated enough to do this? Do we pay them or retribute them one way or another?

Thanks

Denis

[SusanTN]

You look for the people who are already committed to the community on the site. I look for active users who post material which adds value to the site and show a modicum of intelligence and common sense. Look for people who make new forum members feel welcome, answer peoples questions, and generally make themselves stand out from the crowd.  I require forum staff candidates to have at least 100 posts before they will be considered for a staff position. Some are never considered especially if I do not feel they would mesh with the other staff, or the way I run the site.