* User Info

 
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

* Recent Posts

Re: What are you listening to? by Stelios
[July 16, 2023, 08:54:53 am]


Re: What are you listening to? by Stelios
[July 16, 2023, 08:52:34 am]


Re: What are you listening to? by Jacob
[July 12, 2023, 01:59:53 am]


Re: What are you listening to? by Dagger
[July 06, 2023, 04:11:15 pm]


Re: Cannot Register on Support Forum by Jacob
[June 01, 2023, 01:09:08 am]


Re: Cannot Register on Support Forum by SMFNew
[May 21, 2023, 10:22:14 am]


Cannot Register on Support Forum by Stelios
[May 21, 2023, 06:45:30 am]


Re: Forum Profile Signature Error by SMFNew
[January 19, 2023, 10:26:49 pm]


Re: Forum Profile Signature Error by MangoMochi
[January 19, 2023, 10:24:45 pm]


Re: Forum Profile Signature Error by SMFNew
[January 19, 2023, 01:57:05 pm]

* Poll

  • Have you noticed better loading times?
  • Dot YES! My forum loads instantly!
  • 53 (33%)
  • Dot I have much better loading times
  • 20 (12%)
  • Dot I have noticed my forum loads a tiny bit faster than before
  • 22 (13%)
  • Dot I have not noticed any changes
  • 64 (40%)
  • Total Members Voted: 150
  • View Topic

* Twitter

Keep up to date with SMFNew by following us on twitter!

Author Topic: My Complete Guide To Running A Community  (Read 5912 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline hotty

  • Member
  • Posts: 117
  • Reputation: +0/-0
  • Expierienced MyBB & SMF user.
    • View Profile
    • Hot Forum!
My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« on: April 12, 2011, 02:39:19 pm »
So, I've ran and Administrated, even Moderated big communities for about a year, maybe more.

So here is my complete guide, mentioning everything that YOU need to know, on how to run, manage, and control a big community.

Picking A Theme

Well, your theme is going to need to match the Genre of your forum.
I wont go into full detail about all the different Genres, but I.e; if your forum is a gaming forum, you're going to want a darker colour, something that resembles gaming, if it is a general chitchat forum, it's nice to have a lighter forum, it always helps to look around other forums, and get some ideas, try not to steal forums precisely though, because you want your forum to be Unique.

Picking Staff

Picking staff can sometimes be very difficult, there are different ways that different Owners tend to pick staff.
My personal way, is too watch people closely, and make sure they're active,
Some owners tend to go for Staff Applications, that's completely alright, I see no problem with this at all, however it can leave some people pretty "Butt hurt" and hence the fact that some people quit when they don't get picked, and think they should've got it because *Their application was better*
Some Owners go a step further and add a training Moderator, to train them up on a certain board that only them can see, this seems complicated in my opinion, but whatever floats your boat. :)

Forum Setup (Boards, Forums, Sections, Portal)

It doesn't hurt to have "Too many" board, but having too many of the same or similar boards, is just horrendis. What I did with my forum, is start with only a few boards, and as we got bigger, gradually build up the Forums, Sections, Boards, BUT, some Owners just keep on going, thinking of new stuff that really has no meaning, this is a big *NO NO*, there is always a limit, and at that point you need to know when to stop.

Sometimes it helps, to add alot of boards straight away, wait about 1 week - month, and delete the inactive boards, leaving the only boards that people have posted on, hence the fact that they'll probably post in it again sometime.

Try to add boards that go with your community, but also boards that are a little different, I.e, I run a community dedicated to RSPS/RS, therefore I have RSPS/RS boards, but I also have GFX boards (Graphics), which attracts GFX designers to my forum, I also have gaming boards for PS3, Xbox, COD, Tech, etc... It's always good to add in a IRL board aswell, and ALWAYS add in a Spam board, those are allways a good place for people to blow off steem, without risking getting banned, maybe it's a good idea to add no rules to the section at all; Therefore people can go their to discuss their problems, and not elsewhere, where they could get banned.

Next, sectional Moderators?; I personally do have sectional Moderators, I think they're a good idea if you have a big forum, as those Moderators allways strive towards achieving Global Moderator, and therefore do well in their own section, it also helps them because they only have THEIR section. It doesn't help having this rank if you have a small community, because you'll have more staff than members, which is never good. You've got problems if you've got more staff online that members.


Trollers/Spammers/Rule Breakers

Well, each Owner has their own conceptive to rule breakers, some Owners are very strict and will ban them on the spot for somewhat the smallest things, this is never a good idea if you have a small community, I find the best way to deal with this type of person, is to throw them a PM, ask them to stop, give them a warning or 2, and if they still don't behave, give them a 1 day ban, then a 5 day ban, then a 2 week ban, and if they come back after the 2 weeks, and are still being a noob. Ban them, perm ban, via (Host & IP)
^ However I myself try to avoid this as much as possible.

Clearing the ban list? I tend to clear my list every month or so, some Owners don't do it at all, some do it more often. I have nothing to add on this, it's personal opinions for me.

Trollers?
I myself have got a big troller on my forum, he's a friend of mine, and I know how to deal with him perfectly, I tell him, he can troll; in a funny and NOT abusive way, if he's abusive when he trolls, he's outa here. And he followed my words, trolls are never good if they're abusive.


Being active/Bringing Members/Keeping Members

Being active is a hard thing to maintain in a forum upbringing, you have a few members, they post, not very often? They get bored and leave, new members don't join because their is nobody active? This is a serious problem, and I found the perfect solution, here we go.

Being active, I found the best way to get a member active, is to simply throw them a PM, say to them, "Thank you, I appreciate your activeness, I realise we don't have alot of members, and thanks for keeping active, I have high hopes for you at this forum, keep it up",
BOOM. He will be happy about this so much that he'll probably post even more, little does he know you've sent the exact same message to the other 2 active people, so suddenly, they're posting more? :)

Now, keeping them interested is a different matter, it's kind of easy at the start, you can post polls where they all vote and interact with each other, you can do daily updates/announcments (Worked with me, as I did over 50 in a month, and I've got ana ctive, successful forum) this will keep them entertained and they'll want to stay and keep active. :)

Bringing members is a whole different matters, I'm not happy to say that I didn't do it legitimatly. I hacked a RSPS with 400+ players and told them to go to my forum, not my best moment, but hey it worked. I also contacted quite a few RSPS's about banner4banner, it's an easy thing, you both put each others banners up for traffic to each others site. It works. Trust me.

Or you can go the extra mile and invest money into advertisement on big forums. Like mine (I sell cheap banners for RSPS's on my homepage) And it works!







That's all I can think of; there is more, but those are the main ones.
Hope I helped with this.

P.s I can confirm these all work, go to my forum and see for yourself, (My forum has been open a little over a month, and I started with no money, no supporters, and alot of experience, click Here to see what I've done

Thanks for reading.
Pm me for any assistance u need with SMF or MyBB, I am expierienced and CAN help!

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter


Offline Matt

  • Friends
  • Posts: 5280
  • Reputation: +51/-5
    • View Profile
    • http://www.smfnew.com
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2011, 02:47:24 pm »
Nice job.
Matt WT - Doesn't answer support PM's

Offline hotty

  • Member
  • Posts: 117
  • Reputation: +0/-0
  • Expierienced MyBB & SMF user.
    • View Profile
    • Hot Forum!
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2011, 02:50:11 pm »
Hehe, thanks. Only took me 30 mins or so.
Pm me for any assistance u need with SMF or MyBB, I am expierienced and CAN help!

Offline hotty

  • Member
  • Posts: 117
  • Reputation: +0/-0
  • Expierienced MyBB & SMF user.
    • View Profile
    • Hot Forum!
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2011, 08:59:50 am »
I'm BlueBear on HF, and I can prove. Thanks.
Lol stuff it, I'm gonna prove, to laugh in your face.




KTHX
Pm me for any assistance u need with SMF or MyBB, I am expierienced and CAN help!

Offline Jacob

  • Community Manager
  • Support Staff
  • Posts: 2933
  • Reputation: +6/-0
    • View Profile
    • Challenging Apathy (My Site)
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2011, 10:31:45 pm »
What are you talking about?? :confused:

This is a similar article to what we had back at GamerForumz. (Oh, I do miss those days. Warriors of Gaming is nowhere near as active as GFz. :\
Jacob, Senior Support Specialist
Follow me on X! | Follow me on Mastodon!

Please don't PM me for support. Post in public so everyone can benefit!

Offline hotty

  • Member
  • Posts: 117
  • Reputation: +0/-0
  • Expierienced MyBB & SMF user.
    • View Profile
    • Hot Forum!
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2011, 02:58:38 pm »
:') sounds fun.

What do you mean what am I talking about ???
Pm me for any assistance u need with SMF or MyBB, I am expierienced and CAN help!

Offline Jacob

  • Community Manager
  • Support Staff
  • Posts: 2933
  • Reputation: +6/-0
    • View Profile
    • Challenging Apathy (My Site)
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2011, 04:48:25 pm »
The part where you said "I'm BlueBear" or whatever and provided the screenshot. :P
Jacob, Senior Support Specialist
Follow me on X! | Follow me on Mastodon!

Please don't PM me for support. Post in public so everyone can benefit!

Offline hotty

  • Member
  • Posts: 117
  • Reputation: +0/-0
  • Expierienced MyBB & SMF user.
    • View Profile
    • Hot Forum!
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #7 on: October 05, 2011, 04:39:18 pm »
The part where you said "I'm BlueBear" or whatever and provided the screenshot. :P

Argument with somebody who deleted his posts
Pm me for any assistance u need with SMF or MyBB, I am expierienced and CAN help!

Offline Jacob

  • Community Manager
  • Support Staff
  • Posts: 2933
  • Reputation: +6/-0
    • View Profile
    • Challenging Apathy (My Site)
Re: My Complete Guide To Running A Community
« Reply #8 on: October 05, 2011, 05:14:17 pm »
Ohhh. :P My bad. lol
Jacob, Senior Support Specialist
Follow me on X! | Follow me on Mastodon!

Please don't PM me for support. Post in public so everyone can benefit!

 

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal