Help, please...?

Hey, I've been recently assigned the Head Administrator of a forum board (http://deceptive-reflection.proboards107.com/), and I was wondering if I could get some advice as to how to run a forum and whatnot. So, any suggestions are VERY welcome!

No two forums are the same. I'm a Mod at the SegaSaturnUK boards, we take a loose approach to the boards. Other then flames and trolls, I usually let anything go.

But I've seen some boards where the mods are quite anal. Anything that's even slightly negative is prohibited.

And then there are the NeoGeo boards, where people are almost encouraged to attack each other.

Really just run the place as you see fit. Treat the members like friends and except them to do the same to you and each other. They picked you for an Admin, so they must trust your judgement, right?

well... 'm only member of two forums...
now I don't even have time to reply here... which is my favorite one...
But I've heard of lot of people who opens lot of accounts, or just create spam to the forums...
so, maybe you should be aware of it...
I guess it depends on people... there are always immature people who only wants to fight... hidding behind their monitors..
they're so pathetic...
just try to be fair...

Dude, you're the head admin, do whatever you want!

Just don't end up like this:

Hah! I actually have a friend who's just like that! (The sensible dood, not the dood glued to the computer.)

I'm the mod of one forum(which is like 80% of it is about hentai...)
And...oh man...I was once that idiot banning guy

But yeah, like written above, just be yourself and act like a normal forum member, and be nice to everyone, that's basically enough
Of course, dealing with those "idiots" is sometimes pain in the ass

Remember we do all this forum work for fun...
it's true someone has to be aware of taking care of what people do,...
but that's sad...
if those people doesn't want to understand, they just wont listen to you, and make you have a bad time...
if the case, just ban them, and don't argue them...
if you follow their game, they will ruin your fun...

Thanks, guys! I guess I was just kinda nervous, since I've never done this stuff before.
However, I do have some members who join, but never really do anything. I want to encourage them to post, but I don't necessarily want to force them, though...

IMO, you've been put in the position of an admin because are very honest, well-trusted, and very good person.
So I think you shouldn't ban anyone unless if there is a person who really insists in annoying everyone.
after all, it's a forum, which means you would like more people to join rather than banning more +

LOL, very true.

But I want to show my members that there's more to the site than just the ChatBox (really, about half of my inactive members log on just to use the c-box...)

I think it's less then half. since im on youtube all the time i hardly get on this site.

Well, the site has been dead for about six months now, and now I'm trying to mold it into an entirely different beast it was before. Now, I want to make the site a forum to discuss story writing and the like. However, we're kinda short on people who are fluent in Java and site designing. I know some of you are just too busy to bother with it, but if you have some time to kill, could ya stop by? T.T

Quote :

However, we're kinda short on people who are fluent in Java and site designing. I know some of you are just too busy to bother with it, but if you have some time to kill, could ya stop by? T.T

Java? why you need it? it's a free forum, I think you don't need to write any codes, because everything is already provided... (I THINK )

Design: it depends on the site content and members' fav-flavor of the site (example: you CAN'T use blood-design site for girls-forums )

most (if not all) free-forums-providers give you list of free design templates. Best practice for non-designers -> 1) find a suitable template you like 2) tweak it to fit your user's flavor and site content 3) apply it (this is what we do initially when the Valis Forums were newly established)

about the forums here, it took from me around 2-3 dedicated working days working on the design! it's really such a pain plus it's boring task

Yeah, the whole design thing is what I'm talking about. Trouble is, I'm not sure what design would be suitable for a writer's forum. Plus, the last person who messed with Java on the site added some things to the site that I wish to either edit or remove. Thing is, I could easily mess up some things while doing so, which is why I wish to have at least one person capable of using Java.

Well, there are always tutorials though... And maybe I shouldn't worry about that now. I mean, I only have two members on the site (including myself).

programming: ask the same guy who screwed up the code to fix it (becuz you won't find programmer who wants to look into hundreds of files of codes and has no idea where the problem is)

design: since it's a writers forum:

1. take alook at some other writers forums, and see how the implemented their designs

2. take a ready-template, and tweak its colors and pictures to fit your needs

* I recommend (but not necessarily) a white simple design for writers, because you need to focus most of the time on the text itself, so it should be clear enough and easy to read

Ah, I see. Alright, I'll see what I can do.

Well, though it's not exactly finished, anyone who is fond of writing critically or creatively is welcome.

gszx1337 wrote:

Dude, you're the head admin, do whatever you want!

Just don't end up like this:

I want to color that in now.

this is me in a nutshell