Moderators

[zippysmom]

I just have a suggestion that might take a load off of you. On other message boards I've been to, there were moderators. I think it would be a good way to reduce spam and other unwanted posts. Not saying there is a major problem on this forum.

I also think it would be a good way to make people feel important.

[Percy's Mom]

There are moderators. Very very hard working moderators that keep this forum running pretty smoothly. If you see someone whose name is in bright green, you've found one of us. The moderators/administrators include myself, Susan9608, VoodooJoint, Ly&Pigs, salana, and CavySpirit. CavySpirit is also the owner of the forum.

[zippysmom]

oh, I thought you were like owners. sorry.

[Ly&Pigs]

I like this post! It gave me a good laugh. VoodooJoint and I are both Moderators and Administrators. CavySpirit (or as we like to call her, T), is the head Admin/Owner. Susan, Percy's Mom and Salana are just our playtoys who we make do all the work. Hehehehehe. Muahhhhhhahahaaaaaaa!!!!!

[zippysmom]

I kind of meant moderators for each topic or category.

[Percy's Mom]

Was there spam and unwanted posts you were referring to? Between the six of us, we have everything as under control as possible without making the forum feel like a prison ward. If you find something that you're concerned about, feel free to send a private message to any of the moderators and administrators.

[VoodooJoint]

Too many cooks ruin the soup. Just as too many mods ruin the forum.

You have too many mods and it becomes a wierd power play which leads to no one wanting to be the bad guy and ignoring problems on the forum. I see it happen all the time on another cavy forum I read. There are so many mods and admin and gurus and "fairy dancing magical rule enforcers" that the forum is a jumbled mess of crap where nothing seems to get done and a member, no matter how awful of an animal neglector he is, actually has to start threatening mods to get kicked off the forum.

There is actually an admin on that other site that feels that making people actually write legible posts takes away from the "fun" therefore they have at least one member there that seems to speak their own hybrid language that may be English but is so hard to understand in writing that it may as well be martian.

Nope, we have enough mods here and if ever we feel like we are falling behind we'll call up a new one.

[PiggieMom]

Originally Posted by VoodooJoint

There are so many mods and admin and gurus and "fairy dancing magical rule enforcers" that the forum is a jumbled mess of crap

I love you VJ! I about split a gut when I read that.

[cookie_gal]

Originally Posted by VoodooJoint

Too many cooks ruin the soup. Just as too many mods ruin the forum.

You have too many mods and it becomes a wierd power play which leads to no one wanting to be the bad guy and ignoring problems on the forum. I see it happen all the time on another cavy forum I read. There are so many mods and admin and gurus and "fairy dancing magical rule enforcers" that the forum is a jumbled mess of crap where nothing seems to get done and a member, no matter how awful of an animal neglector he is, actually has to start thretening mods to get kicked off the forum.

There is actually an admin on that other site that feels that making people actually write legible posts takes away from the "fun" therefore they have at least one member there that seems to speak their own hybrid language that may be English but is so hard to understand in writing that it may as well be martian.

Nope, we have enough mods here and if ever we feel like we are falling behind we'll call up a ne one.

Now I would love to know which forum that is!! It sounds crazy, rather amusing to read on when bored?!? pm please and tell me?!???

[Ly&Pigs]

Cookie, if you are familiar with any of the other piggie forums then the word "guru" should give it away.

As far as the moderator team on this board, the key word is "team". We work together as a whole on the whole board. We don't have specific assignments to just one topic or area of the forum. We all work very well together to keep the board running as smoothly as possible. If one of us misses something, there is always other mods there to catch it.

[fourbwabbys]

Haha, VJ you crack me up. That is so true.

[CavySpirit]

hmmmm. I'm gone for a week and people think you guys own the place now! Goodness. You guys crack me up!

As Ly said, all moderators work across the whole forum. It's better that way. Also, not everyone is on the forum at the same time, so we really get better coverage using this model. And given that nothing really does slip through the crack, at least not for very long--usually never more than an hour or two, we have a successfully running and well-managed forum at a lower than normal ratio of moderators to members. Just because you can assign moderators to specific forums, doesn't mean you should. I think that is where way too many forum administrators go wrong. That and not providing good leadership at the top and not choosing your management team well and with care (it's not a popularity contest). Also, an administrator needs to be involved in their forum on a regular basis. A hands-off owner/administrator is also a recipe for failure. It's an art, not a science. But strong business management skills sure do help.

You can always find the list of moderators and other VIPs on the bottom of the forum home page under the last forum. http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/showgroups.php

[Sabriel]

I've seen the mod per specific forum plan only really work for forums with really diverse topics. Like Craftster is a good example since a sewing mod may not be able to do much good in the crochet forums and vice versa. But with guinea pigs you can't really specialize. You need to know about the whole hog so to speak, so it makes sense to give the mods full access since they are knowledgable about all the aspects of guinea pig care.

[PiggieMom]

Plus, when I see a problem on the forum I scroll down to the "who's online" list and look for a name in green. I'd hate to see something crazy going on in the Newbie Forum (for example) and the only mod on be Percy'sMom and say "Oh, shoot. She's the mod of the Bedding&Hay forum. Guess I have to wait until Ly is online." It just doesn't work out so nice. I love the fact that almost always I can find a mod online just in case something is getting crazy somewhere.

[cookie_gal]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

Cookie, if you are familiar with any of the other piggie forums then the word "guru" should give it away.

As far as the moderator team on this board, the key word is "team". We work together as a whole on the whole board. We don't have specific assignments to just one topic or area of the forum. We all work very well together to keep the board running as smoothly as possible. If one of us misses something, there is always other mods there to catch it.

oh THAT one (hope I'm thinking of the right one!), well despite not liking the breeding stance I think its rather well organised, very rarely see anything that needs moderating, but some other forums are chaos so I read very few.

[emoxrobot]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

Cookie, if you are familiar with any of the other piggie forums then the word "guru" should give it away.

Ha ha good clue.

[zippysmom]

This post really grew, because I was just on yesterday!

I guess you are all right. It would totally ruin the forum if people were moderators. One forum has a mod for each board, and they act all stuck up to you.