[thisnthat]

Whether your a forum owner or forum goer, what do you think are the best tips for choosing people to help moderate forums? How do you decide how many moderators are needed? What benefits would you give them? Which permissions would you allow them?

[WorkAtHomeGal]

I don't have my own forum but if I had a profitable forum I would want to give some of the money back to the users. The people posting and the moderators. I think people who are reliable and understand the forum rules would be a good pick and act quickly. I don't know if it is a thing or not but let's say my forum couldn't pay them in any way I would offer them a letter of recommendation to a paying forum looking for moderators.

[chikitta]

I would say a good moderator is one who understands the forum rules and who is able to bring in New ideas that will benefit everyone who uses the forum

[DreekLass]

More than a few of the forums that I posted for on PL have asked me to become a moderator. I declined, because I was just there to make paid posts, but they told me that my posts were conscientious, and delivered well, as well as interesting. I also had a presence, according to them. So those were the things that caused forum owners to ask me to be a moderator.

[FuZyOn]

A good forum moderator is a person that has experience in the web and how to moderate a website, plus he or she has to have an idea about the main theme of the forum.

[IcyFirefly]

If I own a forum and was looking for a moderator, I would like that person to have a mild temperament and neutral in thinking/feeling, plus has a keen sense of detecting plagiarism or know how to track it down.

How many moderators depend on the numbers of users the forum has! It is like a full time job, so the offer should somehow equal to the time they spent on the site.

[Decentlady]

From what I have seen and offered, I think a moderator should be given a small incentice like few points per posts or anything that a forum owner feels is appropriate. The moderator should be active and know the forum rules and where possible help in preventing spams.

[DreekLass]

If I was someone looking for a poster or member to moderate my forum, I would look for someone who is consistent in their activities. You get many posters who aren't frequently posting. They will post one day, two weeks will pass, and then they will post again. I would not want my moderator to be like that.

[thisnthat]

If I was someone looking for a poster or member to moderate my forum, I would look for someone who is consistent in their activities. You get many posters who aren't frequently posting. They will post one day, two weeks will pass, and then they will post again. I would not want my moderator to be like that.

Yes, I think I would probably try to get a member first, and an active one at that. I'd read their posts for a while to get a good sense of them as well. Things like temperament, consistency, demeanor, and helpfulness, would be important qualities.

[DreekLass]

A good forum moderator is a person that has experience in the web and how to moderate a website, plus he or she has to have an idea about the main theme of the forum.

I have near enough zero experience moderating websites or forums. But I have been approached multiple times, to be asked if I would like to be a moderator. They like to train you on the job a lot of the time, especially if they see potential.

[nangk08]

The forum moderator should understand forum rules and guidelines, should be helpful and warm in temperament and always be available to resolve issues. They should be paid an appropriate share or sum so that they can give their best and invest reasonable amount of time in the forum.

[DreekLass]

I think moderators have to be active. Way back in the day I was a member of a forum, and was made a moderator, but the other moderators were not showing up to do their jobs, so I had to kind of pick up the slack, along with the admin. With technology today, I would say that it is much easier to be a present moderator than it has been in the past.

[ReadmeByAmy]

If I am an owner of a certain forum I will choose a moderator who is a non judgmental person and had respect to the thoughts and opinions of other people. He or she should love their work and should have concern for the forum. And as an owner of a forum if I see that he/she is competent doing the job as a moderator I will surely give rewards and incentives.

[DreekLass]

If I am an owner of a certain forum I will choose a moderator who is a non judgmental person and had respect to the thoughts and opinions of other people. He or she should love their work and should have concern for the forum. And as an owner of a forum if I see that he/she is competent doing the job as a moderator I will surely give rewards and incentives.

I would have to agree with this, for sure. There have been times that I have felt like moderators have disagreed with my point of view and I have been penalized for it, which I thought was unfair. Non-judgemental moderators are great.

[Hugop]

In my opinion, moderators are needed when there is a time without moderators, meaning when I go sleep, a moderator should be on assuring that no one breaks the rules for instant action. The more the better, as long as we can trust them.

[Angie10]

I have absolutely no experience in this area, but I would also look for people who would be courteous and impartial. I'm a member of a PL forum where there used to be this moderator who seemed to take it way more seriously than she should have LOL What I mean by that is that the 'power' went to her head and she would swan about flexing her muscles, intimidating people and stuff like that. She just seemed angry at the world and would be very passive aggressive over the smallest thing, as well as patronising. I don't see her anymore, so I wouldn't be surprised it people complained about her and she was made to leave. She was just HORRIBLE!

[thisnthat]

I have absolutely no experience in this area, but I would also look for people who would be courteous and impartial. I'm a member of a PL forum where there used to be this moderator who seemed to take it way more seriously than she should have LOL What I mean by that is that the 'power' went to her head and she would swan about flexing her muscles, intimidating people and stuff like that. She just seemed angry at the world and would be very passive aggressive over the smallest thing, as well as patronising. I don't see her anymore, so I wouldn't be surprised it people complained about her and she was made to leave. She was just HORRIBLE!

The power!!! That seems just.. silly to me. I get it though. Some people really do get a power trip from the least little thing. At least she's not there to pester people any more.

Yeah, you'd really have to be careful choosing. Someone like that could do more harm than good, driving away good members. It's hard to know who to trust when you're looking to delegate some responsibility.

[DreekLass]

Some people are so pathetic lol. You're a forum moderator, not a state official lol. I have never come across moderators such as this, thankfully. But there was this one female admin who was very country and religious, and she would angrily disagree with posters on a discourse forum of all forums.

[thisnthat]

Some people are so pathetic lol. You're a forum moderator, not a state official lol. I have never come across moderators such as this, thankfully. But there was this one female admin who was very country and religious, and she would angrily disagree with posters on a discourse forum of all forums.

If I felt strongly about something (and was the owner) I would probably jump in. I wouldn't do it angrily, although I have been known to participate in some heated debates. As long as people don't act a fool, I think it's good.

I have heard that some owners will actually ban you or give you a bad rating though, if they don't agree with your opinion. I think that is just wrong. Don't have a discussion forum if all you really want is an echo chamber.

[Angie10]

Some people are so pathetic lol. You're a forum moderator, not a state official lol. I have never come across moderators such as this, thankfully. But there was this one female admin who was very country and religious, and she would angrily disagree with posters on a discourse forum of all forums.

Hehe I know! She really was on a serious power trip and lost all sight of exactly what she was there to do. Instead of diffusing potentially explosive situations, she was there stirring the pot or provoking people! It was just weird and so sad to watch LOL

--- 03 Aug 2016, 17:39 ---

Some people are so pathetic lol. You're a forum moderator, not a state official lol. I have never come across moderators such as this, thankfully. But there was this one female admin who was very country and religious, and she would angrily disagree with posters on a discourse forum of all forums.

If I felt strongly about something (and was the owner) I would probably jump in. I wouldn't do it angrily, although I have been known to participate in some heated debates. As long as people don't act a fool, I think it's good.

I have heard that some owners will actually ban you or give you a bad rating though, if they don't agree with your opinion. I think that is just wrong. Don't have a discussion forum if all you really want is an echo chamber.

Yes, I totally agree; debates are healthy, and the trick is in how you do it! I think it's very important as a moderator to put your points across without intimidating the very people you're meant to moderate and help feel at home within the forum. With this particular moderator, I started to make it a point to ignore and FREEZE her out. I'm sure she could feel the cold front all the way from Botswana to wherever she was hehe