Ok, I am new to the vB team, but I come from administrating a large vBulletin forum (~550,000 users) for the last 5 or so years, and in the past 2 years I have managed Internet Brands Automotive forums (approx 90 forums, some of which the largest forums out there). I thought I might do a series of blogs outlining some suggestions based on my experience which hopefully you might find helpful in expanding and growing your forum. I will start with just some basic tips/tricks, and if you find this useful, I can make some more posts and can even get into more of "heavy stuff" including the theory behind it for those that might be interested.
I will add a caveat, guiding a community is an "art form", not a science, my suggestions and advice should be used as such, there is no "cookie-cutter" approach that works, it is a lot of slow and often tedious work, but done right it can be incredibly effective to build your site/brand.
Users are your customers - keep in mind, every user that comes to your site is your customer. Even if they may not be paying you any money directly, at all times treat them as a customer, with respect, humility and "good grace".
Surround yourself with the right people - I think this applies in life as well, but on a forum, ensure you have the right people moderating/administrating it for you. Look for honesty, integrity and transparency above all else, with communication skills following shortly after. "Popularity" can be a hit and miss attribute when seeking people for leadership positions. Try to understand what they are seeking from the position too, so you can tailor it for them.
Participate - the best forums in the world are driven by a common passion. Don't be afraid to share yours.
Communicate, communicate, communicate - changing the font in your header? Adjusting your terms of service? Bringing on a new moderator? Scratching your nose? Don't be afraid to let your users know, even if they don't respond, doesn't mean they don't care.
Make it fun - doesn't matter how much a user is making you tear your hair out, take a step back before responding, everyone comes to a site for some form of enjoyment, doesn't matter what the question is, don't be afraid to dim the lights, crank up the Bon Jovi and make them enjoy it.
Integrate, don't alienate! - less on the rules for newbs, more on the feeling of making it a well worn comfy lounge chair for all. Doesn't matter the level of participation of a user/lurker, be welcoming and thankful for it.
Ban Stick - use as an absolute last resort. If you have to ban anyone, see it as a failure on your behalf to successfully integrate them in your community (and subsequently review your approach as to how you and your leadership go about welcoming/integrating users), not a failure of the users to understand the rules.
Be flexible - rules are great, they are necessary, but always put in context the level of the infraction, moderation can beget moderation
Adrian
Part 2
Community Management 101
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And it works!
I have it for almost 9 years now and we are still growing!
About time someone worded this right
- There will always be users challenging your abilities as a mod or admin.
- There will always be users not satisfied with what you created.
- There will always be users challenging your rules and question them.
- There will always be competition doing things differently.
- As soon as money is involved someone tries to interfere or even take over your site.
- If you have a bad day do not let the users know it.
- Always explain why and what you do. They CARE even if you do not get feedback.
best regards Mike
Personally I only use the Ban Hammer for Spammers, and their posts are deleted so they never show up banned. There are many ways to deal with certain individuals with out Dropping the hammer. Dropping the hammer gives the rest of the community that you are heavy handed, regardless of what that user did or said. If you doubt me visit some of the Corporate gaming forums and see how the community is turned off because someone was banned.
Disputes, do it through PM! Not publicly! This goes with the Ban hammer. Through Pm you can encourage someone who does not belong to never return with out having the community see you ban someone.
Another way to deal with them it to put them in their own special little group which only has access to certain forums where they can not interrupt the flow of the rest of the site. They do not need to know they are in a different user Group. Label it "Member." The period will probably go unnoticed unless someone points it out. PM them telling them they will be allowed full access Once they learn how to act.
Think of it this way. If a "bad user" posts publicly flaming Admin he looks disgruntled... He looks bad. As soon as you lock the thread or ban him YOU look like the bad guy... His thread will die after a bit and you can delete it with out anyone realizing.
Participation: If you have a small or new forum either change your title to member, or use a separate user names for posting and Admin. If a guest shows up and sees the ADMIN has the most posts it looks like you are busy talking to your self. I also have a separate Username for posting Articles.
Users are your Customers. Nothing more to say. Treat each and everyone as if they pay for your site.
Commotions: Always remain neutral. NEVER take a side. Slap both hands before you slap just one. Act like Mom.... It makes what is actually a slap on the hand some what comical. Send them both to their room until they know how to act.
My forums are 8 months old with 142 members and 20,000 posts and 1200+ threads. We are small and still growing, I know most of my members fairly well which gives me a slight advantage over larger forums...