rodinman
12-27-2007, 05:13 AM
I watch the forums and post as I feel I need or want to. Lately it seems as if the senior members are bashing the newbies way to much. I can understand that it gets old seeing the same posts about the 1.1.2 unlock etc. but unless your computer has some new option that forces you to read those posts, it is your option to read them or not. The level of users varies and not everyone is an expert or iphone god. In fact, we all were newbies at some point in this game. There is no need to flame, cuss or otherwise insult newbies that may ask redundant questions. The search feature is at best poor. The guides in some cases are overly technical. It is the newbies that keep this game alive. It is the newbies that buy your sims, unlock apps etc. Remember that when you are bashing a guy next time. A wise man said once "if you have nothing nice to say, dont say anything at all." Where would this and other sites be if all there was here was a bunch of people that knew it all? It enrages me to see smarta$$ comments to newbies. One of the biggest issues a site faces is growth. It grows beyond its ability to moderate the members. Most often a site starts out with a certain number of staff and then the growth happens they do not keep up by adding staff. The bigger the site gets the worse the attitudes of staff gets. I challenge anyone to dispute this. The new people are more apt to donate to a sites expenses if they are treated with respect. I donate to several sites that have treated me with respect when I first started out. How many donators are actually experts that are not on staff? How many donators are newbies just starting out? I know first hand what it takes to run a large site. the server bill for a site like this runs in the hundreds each month. 99% of the sites are not paid for by the owners out of their pocket, they need donators, sponsors or they sell a product to the members.
Here is a sample of a mods handbook:
Mod Team Handbook for DarkMatters
Expectations, Encouragements and Powers for the FDM Mod Team .
Expectations:
-Interest in the DarkMatters site and Clans. All members of the mod team are firstly and most importantly expected to show and exhibit an active interest in the forum. You've gotta be excited! This means that you exhibit good amounts of posting, energy and presence. This is probably the most important expectation from any of the Mod Team members as sincere interest exhibits itself through posts and presence. If a Mod Team member is seen to begin losing interest in the site, whereby through diminished posting and presence, we would ask that they then realize this and, themselves, assess their active role here as a member of the Mod team. Mod Team Members must realize that the role of the mod team is an active one and is based entirely upon an active presence. If your interest begins to change, please be honest about your role and how this affects our expectations of you as a member of this team and speak to an Admin as soon as you can. Regarding Clans, Mod Team Members, if playing within DarkMatters sponsored games, must play as a member of one of the D.a.r.k. Clans.
-Comportment as a member of the Mod team. Mod comportment (behaviour) must be exemplary if not model. Members of the team are expected to follow the rules regarding behavior and attitude that reflects well on the site, and sets an example for all of the community to follow. Especially when dealing or posting on other sites regarding any of the games and/or subject matter that our own site deals with, the “hat” of FDM Mod Team never comes off and all members of this team should see themselves as diplomats of our community, bearing in mind that all actions and posts that they produce elsewhere are a reflection of the honor code and reputation of DarkMatters.
-On topic discussions. It's important that the Mod Team follow the course of threads to make sure that threads remain on topic without undue spamming and/or hijacking.
-Knowledge of the Rules and enforcement. FDM Mod Team members are expected to know the rules as outlined here. They are expected, as well, to enforce the rules diligently and fairly while preserving the dignity of members and upholding the friendly tone of our community.
-New posts have to be read thoroughly
-Links checked
-Avatar and sig sizes scrutinized
-Movies dutifully watched for evolnesses
...with a special eye towards
-illegal
-distasteful
-disallowed content as specified within our rules
-pornography
- and/or advertising links or content.
Courage and compassion is key here. It’s easy to point out a broken rule, but much more of a challenge to do it diplomatically while preserving the dignity of a member. A friendly but firm pat on the back shows members what they've done that was against our rules, but also gives them the message that we value their patronage and their continued presence on our boards. Let's look for as many win wins as possible!
Encouragements:
Welcomes. We strongly encourage all members of the FDM Mod team to be aware of all new member registrations and to warmly welcome them to the site. This is a great way to make the introduction of yourself as a member of the team and shows hospitality and warm wishes to new and nervous members who make that first introductory post. This may be taken so far as to send out a personal pm to a new member if something in their profile interests you personally and express a personal welcome this way.
Motivating. We encourage all members of the team to motivate the community regarding posting and presence. Ways in which this can be done is to look for posts made by shy and/or rare posters. Applaud their efforts, find constructive comments that encourage their initiative and this will inspire them in their roles as contributors.
Projects. As the site’s content is intensely community driven, we encourage all members of the Mod Team to post ideas and/or projects that they think may add to the content and/or energy of the site. Mod Team Projects like this can help us all maintain interest in the site, it’s direction and it’s further growth.
Powers:
What can the Mod Team do?
Regarding distasteful words, links and/or videos (easy catches :P): This can be edited within the post itself, with the reason, link to the rules and your name at the bottom of the post in a color that is distinct from the original post color. As we’re a small community right now, we ask that you please send a pm to the poster who’s post you have edited. This may change, however, with a much busier community.
Regarding Sig and Avatar Sizes: Please be on the lookout for avatars and sigs that break our posted sizes. If you do notice an avatar or sig that exceeds the posted limits, send a pm to the member asking them kindly to change the avatar and/or sig within two days while also sending them the link to our sig and avatar size rules.
Regarding dubious topics and/or subject matter that you are unsure of: This can be addressed by making the entire post and/or topic invisible and then next sending a pm to the member that started the post informing him of your actions and then finding another fellow member of the Mod Team to confer about this with. Two mod team members make a decision official here at this site, and if two Mods agree upon something that MOd is unsure about, the Admins will always back up the decision.
Thoughts on new members:
New Members, Your Most Important Asset
-Attempt by Needvert
New members are your most important asset. They are what make your forum a community, and are the future members that keep it going. If you perceive yourself as the most important person on your forum, you have one nice empty forum my friend. Emphasize to yourself, and to your staff members, that new members are your most important asset.
You must recognize that, THEY took interest in your community, and THEY bothered to register. What that means is that they noticed your forum, they liked it, they wanted to be a part of it. Treat them as such!
Accommodating New Members
You need to take steps to ensure that your new member will come back, and give something to the community.
1. The Introduction Section- Get one. Although it may seem repetitive, a lot of times this really breaks the ice.
The art to welcoming a member is to make your welcome message original. Look at their post, and reply with a personal comment. The new member will notice, and will feel more comfortable on your board.
2. Newbie Section- If your topic is specialized such that a newbie section would be a good idea, then create one. This will help by allowing newbies to ask questions without being shunned. Make sure that this is an absolutely no flame zone.
3. Meeting Other Members- Tell your staff, as well as seasoned members that you would appreciate if they welcomed new members, and treated them well.
4. Showing them Around- Asking them if they need help finding anything is a good idea too!
Saying "Use The Search Button" may help you lose members.
Even if your community is small, if you treat your new members like humans, and recognize that they ARE your community, you will succeed. People will come to your forum, and be happy. We will all sing and dance for you. Without members, your forum is a waste of cyber-space. So treat members well, and your community will feel like a community.
If anyone would like to challenge any points I have made please feel free to do so.
Thanks
Here is a sample of a mods handbook:
Mod Team Handbook for DarkMatters
Expectations, Encouragements and Powers for the FDM Mod Team .
Expectations:
-Interest in the DarkMatters site and Clans. All members of the mod team are firstly and most importantly expected to show and exhibit an active interest in the forum. You've gotta be excited! This means that you exhibit good amounts of posting, energy and presence. This is probably the most important expectation from any of the Mod Team members as sincere interest exhibits itself through posts and presence. If a Mod Team member is seen to begin losing interest in the site, whereby through diminished posting and presence, we would ask that they then realize this and, themselves, assess their active role here as a member of the Mod team. Mod Team Members must realize that the role of the mod team is an active one and is based entirely upon an active presence. If your interest begins to change, please be honest about your role and how this affects our expectations of you as a member of this team and speak to an Admin as soon as you can. Regarding Clans, Mod Team Members, if playing within DarkMatters sponsored games, must play as a member of one of the D.a.r.k. Clans.
-Comportment as a member of the Mod team. Mod comportment (behaviour) must be exemplary if not model. Members of the team are expected to follow the rules regarding behavior and attitude that reflects well on the site, and sets an example for all of the community to follow. Especially when dealing or posting on other sites regarding any of the games and/or subject matter that our own site deals with, the “hat” of FDM Mod Team never comes off and all members of this team should see themselves as diplomats of our community, bearing in mind that all actions and posts that they produce elsewhere are a reflection of the honor code and reputation of DarkMatters.
-On topic discussions. It's important that the Mod Team follow the course of threads to make sure that threads remain on topic without undue spamming and/or hijacking.
-Knowledge of the Rules and enforcement. FDM Mod Team members are expected to know the rules as outlined here. They are expected, as well, to enforce the rules diligently and fairly while preserving the dignity of members and upholding the friendly tone of our community.
-New posts have to be read thoroughly
-Links checked
-Avatar and sig sizes scrutinized
-Movies dutifully watched for evolnesses
...with a special eye towards
-illegal
-distasteful
-disallowed content as specified within our rules
-pornography
- and/or advertising links or content.
Courage and compassion is key here. It’s easy to point out a broken rule, but much more of a challenge to do it diplomatically while preserving the dignity of a member. A friendly but firm pat on the back shows members what they've done that was against our rules, but also gives them the message that we value their patronage and their continued presence on our boards. Let's look for as many win wins as possible!
Encouragements:
Welcomes. We strongly encourage all members of the FDM Mod team to be aware of all new member registrations and to warmly welcome them to the site. This is a great way to make the introduction of yourself as a member of the team and shows hospitality and warm wishes to new and nervous members who make that first introductory post. This may be taken so far as to send out a personal pm to a new member if something in their profile interests you personally and express a personal welcome this way.
Motivating. We encourage all members of the team to motivate the community regarding posting and presence. Ways in which this can be done is to look for posts made by shy and/or rare posters. Applaud their efforts, find constructive comments that encourage their initiative and this will inspire them in their roles as contributors.
Projects. As the site’s content is intensely community driven, we encourage all members of the Mod Team to post ideas and/or projects that they think may add to the content and/or energy of the site. Mod Team Projects like this can help us all maintain interest in the site, it’s direction and it’s further growth.
Powers:
What can the Mod Team do?
Regarding distasteful words, links and/or videos (easy catches :P): This can be edited within the post itself, with the reason, link to the rules and your name at the bottom of the post in a color that is distinct from the original post color. As we’re a small community right now, we ask that you please send a pm to the poster who’s post you have edited. This may change, however, with a much busier community.
Regarding Sig and Avatar Sizes: Please be on the lookout for avatars and sigs that break our posted sizes. If you do notice an avatar or sig that exceeds the posted limits, send a pm to the member asking them kindly to change the avatar and/or sig within two days while also sending them the link to our sig and avatar size rules.
Regarding dubious topics and/or subject matter that you are unsure of: This can be addressed by making the entire post and/or topic invisible and then next sending a pm to the member that started the post informing him of your actions and then finding another fellow member of the Mod Team to confer about this with. Two mod team members make a decision official here at this site, and if two Mods agree upon something that MOd is unsure about, the Admins will always back up the decision.
Thoughts on new members:
New Members, Your Most Important Asset
-Attempt by Needvert
New members are your most important asset. They are what make your forum a community, and are the future members that keep it going. If you perceive yourself as the most important person on your forum, you have one nice empty forum my friend. Emphasize to yourself, and to your staff members, that new members are your most important asset.
You must recognize that, THEY took interest in your community, and THEY bothered to register. What that means is that they noticed your forum, they liked it, they wanted to be a part of it. Treat them as such!
Accommodating New Members
You need to take steps to ensure that your new member will come back, and give something to the community.
1. The Introduction Section- Get one. Although it may seem repetitive, a lot of times this really breaks the ice.
The art to welcoming a member is to make your welcome message original. Look at their post, and reply with a personal comment. The new member will notice, and will feel more comfortable on your board.
2. Newbie Section- If your topic is specialized such that a newbie section would be a good idea, then create one. This will help by allowing newbies to ask questions without being shunned. Make sure that this is an absolutely no flame zone.
3. Meeting Other Members- Tell your staff, as well as seasoned members that you would appreciate if they welcomed new members, and treated them well.
4. Showing them Around- Asking them if they need help finding anything is a good idea too!
Saying "Use The Search Button" may help you lose members.
Even if your community is small, if you treat your new members like humans, and recognize that they ARE your community, you will succeed. People will come to your forum, and be happy. We will all sing and dance for you. Without members, your forum is a waste of cyber-space. So treat members well, and your community will feel like a community.
If anyone would like to challenge any points I have made please feel free to do so.
Thanks