Page 1 of 2

become a moderator?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 5:31 pm
by shiznatix
how does one become a moderator? is it just entitled to them when the other moderators feel nessicary or what? there are a few people here who i feel post enough and look over these forums enough to be moderators for they seam to know the situation but dont have the power to improve upon it. these people (sorry if i forget someone, ill add you to the list as i see :wink:)

timvw
Roja
noobsailboat
me??? (not trying to be arrogant but im here atleast 12 hours every day)
Burrito
Skara (hes been coming up more and more often with good ideas)

i think atleast 1 or some of these people should be made moderators because of their constant support of the dev network (probebly not me because i only know some php not toooo much else) so dont think im being arrogant.

what you guys think?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 5:41 pm
by AISBERG
hello to all!
am a newbie in php (4 months learning, 1 small site in php) and here to. i have been looking around this forum and its posts for almost a month, so i don't know if my words count as much as yours, shiznatix, but.. i have the same suggestion. i saw good and helpfull replies from this peaople: timvw, Burrito and Skara.
so, as a newbie here, i gather some respect to this people!
cheers!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 5:49 pm
by shiznatix
sorry i also forgot to mention

pickle

where would be be without the guy with the 70's high school student avatar!?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 7:43 pm
by hawleyjr
With all due respect, I think the current moderators have very good control of the forums. Why add more moderators if the current moderators are doing their job?

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 8:02 pm
by Sphen001
Well, let's take another look at this.

How often do you see arguments happen on these forums? (And I mean major ones, not just insignificant ones). Very rarely. Also, most of the posts that I see these moderators make are largely to do with answering questions and/or moving posts. I rarely see the moderators actually having to step in to stop flamewars/lock topics/etc.

Just my opinion, but it seems to me that this board has more than enough moderators to handle the situation at this time. Of course, if this changes, more moderators should be added, but not until then. IME running a board, if you add moderators without real need, they become "power crazy" (and I don't mean the moderators of this board) if they don't have enough to do.

Basically, moderators should only be added when the need arises for them, and not before then

Sphen001

P.S. I don't mean to insult anyone or their ideas, it's just that in my experience, only appoint moderators when you need them.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 8:14 pm
by infolock
Moderators are added to the forums whenever a position opens. Currently we consist of enough moderators to perform all operations on these forums. Whenever a position does open up though, we basically discuss who would make a good addition to our team. As for your posts and effort you dedicate to PHPDN, trust me they do not go unnoticed. Roja, timvw, burrito, and everyone else that helps out is always on our eye for potential moderators. We just simply cannot move anyone though until a position opens up. I don't want to make this sound like some sort of corporate job, but in a way you are dedicating some valuable time and effort to the forums. We try to keep the forums as proffessional as possible, and thus we only retain x amount of moderators at a time to accurately be able to maintain the site.

Hope this answers your question :). Again, when a position opens up we will do our best to move somone up that definately deserves it rather than put someone up that doesn't do anything at all for this large community.


edit : Sphen001, i couldn't (and didn't lol) say it better :lol:

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 9:06 pm
by Roja
I'll chime in with my opinion, since I seem to do so often lately. :)

I agree with Sphen001 and infolock that there are enough moderators, and they are effective enough that we generally don't have issues.

I visit often and post often because this site gives me what few others can: A easy-to-navigate forum with intelligent people giving accurate answers. Since I got here, that hasn't changed!

I was lucky enough to be chosen for the tutorials group after I wrote a somewhat-useful tutorial, and I've felt like this site was home since.

I've butted heads a few times with some mod's, I've gone too far, and seen others go too far. But through it all, the current system worked: I always felt that there was at least one moderator that truly welcomed me to stay, so I worked at doing just that.

Thanks to that, I now respect all of the mods deeply. I'm saying so for a reason: Few people will be able to live up to that standard.

If/when new members are needed or chosen, I hope they will be of a similar class. Until then, I recognize that the community needs frequent posters who arent neccesarily moderators, but that still care about the community.

Too many cooks in the kitchen would ruin the soup, and the soup tastes great.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 9:11 pm
by AISBERG
Roja wrote:Too many cooks in the kitchen would ruin the soup, and the soup tastes great.
Like it! Bravo!

Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 9:20 pm
by John Cartwright
Sphen001 wrote: I rarely see the moderators actually having to step in to stop flamewars/lock topics/etc.
I had a giggle about that one.. you'd be suprised on how often myself and other moderators clean up topics, move them, fix tags, etc. etc. :x

Too bad you havn't noticed. And also as mentioned before, contributing members of these forums are all very much appreciated and is duely noted. Not to give away any secrets of the admin forums but we often do have suggestions of new moderators etc.
Roja wrote:I've butted heads a few times with some mod's, I've gone too far, and seen others go too far. But through it all, the current system worked: I always felt that there was at least one moderator that truly welcomed me to stay, so I worked at doing just that.

Thanks to that, I now respect all of the mods deeply. I'm saying so for a reason: Few people will be able to live up to that standard.
Well put :wink:

Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 1:59 am
by patrikG
After reading your post, shiznatix, I have the impression that what you want is that senior members of the community are given credit for their efforts rather than being made moderators.
shiznatix wrote:there are a few people here who i feel post enough and look over these forums enough to be moderators for they seam to know the situation but dont have the power to improve upon it. these people
Moderators, as infolock, Jcart and Roja have said, have a different role on this board and posting and helping out a lot will surely put you on our radars, but it does not automatically qualify you to become a moderator.
Why should any one of the people you've suggested (who are very helpful indeed and whose names have cropped up during discussions) be made moderator? If anything they would have less time to dedicate to solving problems, they will spend a lot of time moving, editing, deleting posts, send and answer PMs to tactfully keep the forums in line with the forum rules. It is not the job of moderators to answer posts, it is to facilitate others to do so. Of course, if you're as dedicated to the forum as feyd has been, it is possible to do both.

Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 3:12 am
by timvw
In my experience the current moderators are doing a more than good job.

A while ago i was asked if i was interested in becoming a moderator, and i said no ;) I like to post when i feel like it, but don't want to have the feeling it's a full-time job ;)

Conclusion: Don't panic, they will call you when you're needed :)

Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 3:31 am
by phpScott
I only frequent a couple of boards(this being the main one) and find that this is one of the best moderated boards around, it think that comes to down to 2 things.
1)the current mods keeping an execellent eye and keeping standards up.
2)the level of professionalism that people who use this board frequently.

One day (when a position opens up) I too would like to become a mod or join one of the groups and contribute more to this forum.

As it stands now I have been around here for a couple of years on and off and when I have internet access i'm on and enjoy reading anwers to questions that I don't know as I always tuck it away in the back of my mind for future reference.

Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 7:42 am
by shiznatix
o wow this got a lot of responces real fast 8O . ya
I have the impression that what you want is that senior members of the community are given credit for their efforts rather than being made moderators
thats more what i was thinking. dont take this too seriously guys i was a lil drunk when i posted it! haha glah to hear thou that everyone enjoys the professionalism here and i do agree the moderators are doing a good job!

Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 7:47 am
by patrikG
shiznatix wrote:dont take this too seriously guys i was a lil drunk when i posted it!
That automatically disqualifies you from becoming a moderator as every single candidate has to successfully pass a breathalyzer-test. Sorry, shiznatix. ;)

But more to the point: what did you have in mind in terms of recognition for senior community members?

Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 8:23 am
by JayBird
patrikG wrote:
shiznatix wrote:dont take this too seriously guys i was a lil drunk when i posted it!
That automatically disqualifies you from becoming a moderator as every single candidate has to successfully pass a breathalyzer-test. Sorry, shiznatix. ;)
Dunno how i slipped throught the net then 8)