Commonalities between forums whos owners you run into around admin boards?

Wow that was a long title, eh? The default theme thread made me think of this topic.

It seems most of us are get around forums for forum admins and there always seems to be some commonalities as in forum owners who hang out on the forum admin circuit and those that don't.

For instance I don't think I've ever come across someone's board from one of the admin sites that didn't have a customized style. It seems like our boards are more likely to be modded.

On the other hand when I run across a large board for instance with the default theme I always wonder why I've never met the owner out and about on the circuit.

What about you?

 

I've never noticed that. I know these two particular owners who I have a good relationship with on their forums. We usually "bump" into each other on different sites, nothing like an Admin forum, but webmaster, gaming, etc. We use different usernames, but we all know who is who.

 

I've noticed most on AA are small forum owners, or exceptionally nice, usually both. And they care, want to improve, or help others.

I've also noticed the few that say hello a few times after they fill up their sig line and home page then leave. There are other types as well.

I'd say that was most of what I've noticed. I don't hang out on other admin forums.


Of course that is forgetting the recent vb issues.

 

I think it's only natural that those of us who hang out on forums like AA are really into our sites and constantly striving to make it better. We see things other admins have done through AA and other admin sites which gives us ideas for our own site. I think a lot of those really big boards have long been sold to companies or individuals who don't really have the time or need to frequent admin sites, this is just my view from what I've noticed on various admin sites over the years.

 

Personally, I see better quality forums owned by people that go to admin type forums, especially compared to the kinds owned by people you see on sites like vBulletin.org. I also often notice the same rough community of people on the admin sites in general... not just here, but most regulars are usually members of multiple admin and webmaster type forums. Oh, and... most people who go to these forums seem a bit more serious about their websites than many people who don't.

 

I think the type of people (us) who visit many admin-type forums share some common traits/characteristics that make it common for us to bump into each other at various other websites:

1. Desire/Need for help
   1. Many participants of admin-related forums first find and join the forum because they need help with something. Whether it be a coding question, a question about how to handle a situation, help with graphics, etc. they are there to seek advice and help.
2. Open-mindedness and willingness to hear/implement new ideas/views/opinions
   1. A lot of us like to browse and peruse webmaster forums in order to be introduced to differing views and ways of handling things. Sometimes we discover new ways of doing something and replace our own methods with ones that somebody else may have recommended. It's basically an open forum and way of exchanging ideas.
3. Desire to help others by sharing your (perhaps extensive) knowledge
   1. Many of us have extensive knowledge in certain fields and thrive by sharing our knowledge with others and helping to educate. We spend time helping others, sharing what we know, offering advice, and help them to become better webmasters.

Those are the three common characteristics that I think a lot of us share, although I am sure there are more.

In my opinion, the forum admins you don't see on AA and other webmaster forums perhaps:

• Don't have the time to visit forums other than their own
• Aren't interested in improving their site
• Think they have no room for improvement, or that they do everything good enough
• Aren't aware of external resources and webmaster forums.

 

i come on admin forums because i like to be able to share my experiences, have advice on things from a non biased point of view, and talk about things to people who will understand

 

I think there is another type of person you do not see on forum admin sites. Those that have been around for a long time, and just get burned out answering the same questions. No offense to anyone, and it may come off a bit snobbish, but you can only answer questions like "how do I start my forum" so many times before you get tired of answering.

I'm going on 10 years now, and I've gotten burnt out a few times. I just take a break, and am usually ready to go after a few months. Very few admin type sites are visited in that time. Usually its more general webmaster sites, private sites, and non-admin sites.

I know a few others who get burnt out also and take breaks. Some return, some do not, others may just lurk.