LK Got "Schooled" In Forum Administration 101

[LoneKiller]

Words can't express how embarrassed I am right now. I thought that I had enough experience to run my own forum. I was sorely mistaken. It is much more difficult than I had anticipated. I have decided to have the forum deleted.

I know it has only been a short time, but it turns out that I have to pay in order to get a decent chat and many enhancing features. Who the hell is going to join a forum with no chat?

It's also tough to be an administrator when the new members know more about the internet than you do.

It's embarrassing to admit. But I got in way over my head. I just don't have the knowledge and skill to be an effective administrator.
I want to apologize to the members who supported me. I'm, sorry I let you all down. I hope you all can forgive me. So, for all the members who placed bets against my success running a forum, looks like you won the bet.

 

[Rosebolt]

And what do we do when we fall down?!

Come on man, this one might have failed, but you have about 40-50 more years to live, you can make it work!!

 

[LoneKiller]

And what do we do when we fall down?!

Come on man, this one might have failed, but you have about 40-50 more years to live, you can make it work!!

I keep cranking out forums like that I don't think I'll live to see next week! lol

 

[9006]

Sorry LK but this is so funny!

I thought about joining it for about a quarter of a second: I think I made the right choice!

You pay at first but once you get members rolling in and you get decent advertisement (though not too much!) then it sort of pays for itself.

Who the hell is going to join a forum with no chat?

I've been a member on here for years and I've never used the chat. I suppose it depends on what the forums about?

Well anyway I'm sorry it never worked out - but hey; at least you tried! You could take some time to learn a bit more, then maybe try again?

Does that mean you'll be back home more??

 

[LoneKiller]

Sorry LK but this is so funny!

I thought about joining it for about a quarter of a second: I think I made the right choice!

You pay at first but once you get members rolling in and you get decent advertisement (though not too much!) then it sort of pays for itself.

Who the hell is going to join a forum with no chat?

I've been a member on here for years and I've never used the chat. I suppose it depends on what the forums about?

Well anyway I'm sorry it never worked out - but hey; at least you tried! You could take some time to learn a bit more, then maybe try again?

Does that mean you'll be back home more??

Yeah I'll be spending more time here now. You're right. I do need more experience. I really did try my best. Sent out tons of backlinks and everything.

 

[Greb]

When I was younger I tried to set up a clan forum with a friend related to a text-based game...can't recall the name, something like 2452 or something...set in the future, I'm sure. I owned a solar system in it, so yeah probably. Admittedly I was young and didn't understand much, but I do remember the forum sucking major dick and the my older friend getting pretty depressed on how it failed because aparently it was a free forum, but extremely basic, and entirely annihilated by adverts. Back then I guess the internet as a whole wasn't all that G'd up towards adblocks and stuff, either.

Anyhow, only about three or four out of about twenty clan mates managed to grin and bear it. Still a nice place to sit back and chat, and besides, I don't use the chat features on this website anyway...unless posts count as a chat feature and not just the chat application...but yeah, there's bound to be a few people who'd join man..even though you've purged it, anyway.

Consider the less people who join, the more of that person you get? lol

 

[LoneKiller]

Hi Greb. I've learned one thing. You better know your code really well. You wouldn't believe how much code is required just to adjust the forum text font.

 

[ladyforsaken]

*hugs* Jason.

I thought you were awesome building that forum. So don't give up!

 

[el Jay]

What forum software did (or do) you use? I'm probably not much better at coding than you though, as I only really know enough to get along and make little changes here and there.

I've run my own forum for over 9 years now, so if you ever need any pointers or advice, I can probably provide them. It's not a huge forum, but it has a dedicated userbase that's keeping it alive, though we could use some fresh blood if we can ever find any. As for a tip to keep a forum alive, I really don't have any. I'm pretty sure that the marginal "success" of my forum is mostly luck, and somehow capturing the hearts and minds of a few key people long enough for them to get used to the site and stay there. It's just a videogame discussion forum, so it's hardly got anything unique to offer, aside from the people and the atmosphere.

Then again, starting a forum nowadays is very different than back in 2004, especially with the prevalence of social media like Facebook. The major decline in activity my forum has seen the past 5 years correlates to the rise of social media pretty heavily, and while we're still alive, it definitely dealt a huge blow to activity and our userbase.

 

[LoneKiller]

What forum software did (or do) you use? I'm probably not much better at coding than you though, as I only really know enough to get along and make little changes here and there.

I've run my own forum for over 9 years now, so if you ever need any pointers or advice, I can probably provide them. It's not a huge forum, but it has a dedicated userbase that's keeping it alive, though we could use some fresh blood if we can ever find any. As for a tip to keep a forum alive, I really don't have any. I'm pretty sure that the marginal "success" of my forum is mostly luck, and somehow capturing the hearts and minds of a few key people long enough for them to get used to the site and stay there. It's just a videogame discussion forum, so it's hardly got anything unique to offer, aside from the people and the atmosphere.

Then again, starting a forum nowadays is very different than back in 2004, especially with the prevalence of social media like Facebook. The major decline in activity my forum has seen the past 5 years correlates to the rise of social media pretty heavily, and while we're still alive, it definitely dealt a huge blow to activity and our userbase.

Thank you el Jay for your kind offer. Thank you all for your support. I'm curious to know what you all think of this this:

http://www.mangatutorials.com/forum/showthread.php?2863-Forums-Disappearing-from-the-internet

 

[Sci-Fi]

It is a hard job but the admin usually just "runs" the site while the staff (moderators) are supposed to handle the rest. As an admin you can't do it all, it quickly sucks the fun out of it. I have a site that I keep paying for that is almost inactive, people visit once in a while and post but not often. My so called staff have completely vanished from existance except for one I know their reasons for being inactive. It is a hard job and trying to find the right people who can volunteer their time is not easy either.

 

[Greb]

WORSHIP HIM, WORSHIP HIM. OBEY! OBEY!

 

[Edward W]

I ran a phpbbplanet.com forum for a few years, no cost apart from the website name I initially bought, used free hosting for the front end I added on, (so it had a nice URL).

Was popular at the time the game was, died off after, resurrected once more for a sequel and now dead again. As stated I had a couple of decent folks acting as mods during it's heyday.

A skeleton still exists, was re-tasked for a short while as a club site, now just a barren digital wasteland..... RIP FA

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

I'm sorry, Jason.

For the record, I've never owned my own forum, but I have been an admin of one. Pure hell. I can't tell you how many trolls and haters I had to sort out. I vowed never again...even if I was offered to be paid to be a moderator here, I would turn it down...no amount of money is worth that kind of hassle!

God bless the mods and admins here, believe me it isn't an easy job!

 

[Medusa's Heart]

^ Having moderated two forums, I can attest to that! People can be really mean when they've got a computer screen to hide behind. Mods and admins everywhere have my respect - theirs is largely a thankless job.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

I can get really mean when I'm a mod, too!

*hits mod ban button 20 times*

This is why nobody SANE would make me a mod or admin, lol. I'm terrible with power.

 

[LoneKiller]

Thanks again guys. And also, thanks again to those who joined in support. It was something that I wanted to try my hand at for a while now. I gave it shot, and was unsuccessful. At least I can say I gave it a try. This experience however brief, has made my respect for mods and admins go up a lot.

I don't like admitting defeat so soon, but defeat is an important factor in achieving success. I'll chill out, observe, and learn more. When I feel that I'm ready, I'll make another run. This failure is not going to beat me. It has motivated me. Even Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky had to learn many things to become successful.


All of your words mean a great deal to me. I did learn a lot about how bans and stuff work from my admin tools though. That's a plus. You'd be amazed at the things that mods and admins can do! It's like being Captain Kirk sitting in his big chair on the Enterprise, running the show!


Thanks again all!
Jason

 

[Badjedidude]

I never even went to your forum.

So you didn't disappoint me, as I had no expectations of you.

 

[Limlim]

You should... totally try again there LK. Make another forum.

 

[LoneKiller]

I never even went to your forum.

So you didn't disappoint me, as I had no expectations of you.

Thank God! I'm so glad to hear you say that Jedi. That was my biggest concern. I feel as though an immense amount of weight has been lifted off my chest!

---

You should... totally try again there LK. Make another forum.

I dunno man.
I still have much to learn.