Do's and don't's of being a new admin.

[Morgana]

This place is good and the admin does a fine job. But...(yes there is a but here) not all new or inexperienced admins do likewise. I see and witness mistakes being made on other forums. Admins need to keep their emotions in check even when feeling provoked. Some new member will wave a red flag at you just to see what you are made of. It's not trolling , rather it's psychological evaluation. Just remember that some of your members may be very sophisticted with a lot of training. They may want to know who and what the admin is on this new forum that they have just joined.

Another mistake admins make is to use locker room humor. This can be a major turnoff to your female members or indeed to your Christian and other religious members. Grow the heck up and try to act like adults if you are staff. Is that too much to ask for?

Good policy is to address concerns by members in a timely way, as this is always appreciated and can instill a sense of loyalty amongst your members.

Does anyone have anything else to add to this discussion?

If this thread is in the wrong place then staff please move it-thanks.

 

[Nomad]

You talk about controlling emotions and I totally agree. I own two forums and they are small niche forums, so I never had to deal with a lot of members. But I am administrator on multiple forums with medium to big member base and I sometimes I easily overcome with my emotions. I feel like interfering with everyone who does not agree with my point of view or trying to correct everything that I see is wrong. I think a lot of people, especially forum, admins will agree with me. For example, when I suggested to add politics and religion section on a forum where I am a moderator, the owner said I will be too tempted to participate and not many people will like my view. But he agreed to add those sections and I can see why he was reluctant to add those categories. You cannot make everyone matters, but what matters is you should try to avoid confrontation