How often should an admin visit his (or her) forum?

Discussion in 'Managing Your Online Community' started by moneymakingmom, Jun 6, 2011.

  1. Kaiser

    Kaiser Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2010
    Messages:
    6,744
    Likes Received:
    1,132
    I agree with everything you have said, your forum is doing great with the amount of posts it has achieved for the time it has been open. I did the same when AdminBB was in its early stages. I would be online for atleast 7 hours a day then constantly creating threads and advertising, and generally just improving it by always adding new things. Has really helped as I dont have to worry as much now as its standing on its own feet now, and I just have to make sure it stays like that.
     
  2. Soulwatcher

    Soulwatcher Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2011
    Messages:
    111
    Likes Received:
    26
    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    As a admin I feel that its important to create new topics. But I also think you have to be careful on how many you create. You don't want your forum to have a bunch of no reply posts. And you also don't want it to look like your pulling the entire load of the forum.
     
    moneymakingmom likes this.
  3. Soulwatcher

    Soulwatcher Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2011
    Messages:
    111
    Likes Received:
    26
    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    The admin that you never see on a forum usually has multiple forums and are only in it for the money. I have a small forum and I had a really busy day last week. New threads and posts were coming in so fast that as soon as I would answer one. Three new posts were posted, it lasted like that for a hour. I could only imagine how hard it must be to run a busy forum.
     
    moneymakingmom likes this.
  4. Kaiser

    Kaiser Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2010
    Messages:
    6,744
    Likes Received:
    1,132
    That happens alot here on AdminBB, and we are not even that big compared to other forums.
     
    moneymakingmom likes this.
  5. Joe.

    Joe. Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2009
    Messages:
    112
    Likes Received:
    55
    An admin should be on everyday. There should be at least 2 admins to make this possible. Like if I feel like taking a couple days off, I know Jazzy will be there. If she feels like taking a couple days off, I will be there.
    Either way, admins should show interest in their community. Posting and engaging in conversation. Admins that just "work behind the scenes" are really making up excuses not to be active & probably are losing interest in their forum. Forums need maintenance but its not a full time job.
     
    Darthmaul and Kaiser like this.
  6. Kaiser

    Kaiser Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2010
    Messages:
    6,744
    Likes Received:
    1,132
    I agree, its the same with me and Ashley.S. I know if I am gone he is there to keep things running, and vice versa. We do the best we can. Admins are the backbones of communities, if they dont do their jobs then it wont be long until the forums die off.
     
    Ashley.S. likes this.
  7. Darthmaul

    Darthmaul Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2010
    Messages:
    141
    Likes Received:
    16
    Location:
    Mustifar
    Great way to put it theezy ;)
     
  8. Matthew

    Matthew Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2004
    Messages:
    144
    Likes Received:
    27
    I believe an admin should be around enough to understand the communities needs, enough that the member's feel like they can depend on the admins to be there when they need them, and also enough to do all the behind the scenes work.

    At the BARE minimum, at least 2-3 hours.
     
  9. Chris Grigg

    Chris Grigg Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 24, 2010
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    11
    I think that the forum owner/admin should at least visit once per day. Since they are the main reason the whole forum started, I believe they should contribute to the forum the most by visiting and posting daily.
     
  10. Joe.

    Joe. Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2009
    Messages:
    112
    Likes Received:
    55
    2-3 hours in the life of the forum
    or per day? lol
     
  11. Mr.Hazey

    Mr.Hazey Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2011
    Messages:
    135
    Likes Received:
    73
    When I ran a forum, I was on daily and made sure I was active all the time, it is one of the seeds for success.
     
    Kaiser and Ashley.S. like this.
  12. SpacewardAsh

    SpacewardAsh Lurking From Space

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2011
    Messages:
    211
    Likes Received:
    683
    Location:
    Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
    First Name:
    Ashley
    Yea, as many have said, if the admin is not there, then no one will join/post because people will think that you don't care about the community or that it's completely inactive
     
  13. cpvr

    cpvr Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2009
    Messages:
    3,219
    Likes Received:
    823
    An administrator should try to visit their community as often as possible. Some communities don't have too many active administrators, but they have active staff members that help the admin out. Personally, I believe an administrator should be on their community as much as their time commites, that way, their community can grow with the help of the admin. Its great to see administrators stirring discussion with users, and keeping things flowing.
     
    Ashley.S. likes this.
  14. Kaiser

    Kaiser Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2010
    Messages:
    6,744
    Likes Received:
    1,132
    I completely agree and that's what I have done since day one, it has obviously worked out in the end. It is and still is worth it, I don't regret the time I put into AdminBB to get it to where its at today, just my work has made it alot harder for me.
     
  15. Mr.Hazey

    Mr.Hazey Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2011
    Messages:
    135
    Likes Received:
    73
    Agree with you real life can sometimes get in the way.
     
  16. Kaiser

    Kaiser Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2010
    Messages:
    6,744
    Likes Received:
    1,132
    Yea, life can get in the way in which at one point I didn't come on for 3 months because of personal reasons.
     
  17. Mr.Hazey

    Mr.Hazey Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2011
    Messages:
    135
    Likes Received:
    73
    I closed The Hazey when it was a forum due to real life issues if not it would have still been going to day, don't it suck when real life gets in the way:D
     
  18. Kaiser

    Kaiser Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 15, 2010
    Messages:
    6,744
    Likes Received:
    1,132
    It does suck, and TheHazey was great when it was a forum. Much better then phpbbcommunities, which has gone downhill since the time you sold it.
     
  19. Mr.Hazey

    Mr.Hazey Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2011
    Messages:
    135
    Likes Received:
    73
    You don't want to hear my thoughts on phpbbc trust me, wish I never started it in the first place or sold it for that matter. The Hazey was great and still get pms now about re-starting it.
     
  20. SpacewardAsh

    SpacewardAsh Lurking From Space

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2011
    Messages:
    211
    Likes Received:
    683
    Location:
    Falmouth, Cornwall, UK
    First Name:
    Ashley
    You probably should if your heart was in the right place to do so, I wish I had joined it as I heard so many great things about it. You probably would have been best taking a back seat and letting someone else trustful run it, whilst you still owned it or something. Ow well, I guess shit happens and we all have to move on and get on with things, etc.

    Anyways, back on topic: How long should an admin visit their forum?
     

Share This Page