Why people like my forum

I accidently found out

[spaceylacie]

A newbie came to my board a couple days ago and asked if there was a Yahoo group or something they could join to learn more about the topic. This new member caught royal hell from my established members.

The common consensus was that existing members enjoy "our group" because it stays on topic and has no cliques:

The most knowledgeable on the topic gets the most attention. The topic is not related to spelling/grammar... so no extra points for this.

Ideas are shared freely... it doesn't matter who posts the new idea, new member or senior member. New ideas are welcomed and built upon.

Everyone is treated equally -based on their knowledge of the forum topic- ... actually, that sums it up.

[webdude]

Sounds like you got a goo thing going there spaceylacie. I have a forum too that pretty much is the same. Getting lots of hits on it currently. On-topic is the most important. G likes it too!

[rogerd]

>>stays on topic and has no cliques

What's your secret, spaceylacey? Has this been mostly luck, or has it taken a lot of steering and moderation?

[spaceylacie]

I'm really proud of the forum. It has taken much steering and moderation, but the time has been well worth it. The TOS includes, "to prevent your message from being permanently deleted, please stay on topic".. "this forum is for discussing [our subject] and other closely related topics that would interest [fellow followers of our topic].

Luck is also involved. I happened to learn about an artsy type technique that was emerging in other countries, so decided to start a "hub" site. Everyone who knows about, or wants to learn about, the subject is welcome.

[rogerd]

That's great, I'm not surprised it took quite a bit of steering at the outset, lacie.

What I've found is that if you set a consistent tone for a period of time in a forum, you have relatively few problems - even most new arrivals grasp your expectations if they have read a bit before posting.

About the only issue becomes mob moderation when a new arrival commits some kind of transgression and six old-timers berate him/her for it. That's a credit to the standards of the forum in one respect, but not necessarily the best way to welcome a new arrival.

Consistency is really important. People will follow the rules if they perceive that everyone else is doing the same, and that violators are dealt with.

[thinkbig]

i have a forum now that is very homey to the locals and they like it alot. The only problem i see is that they are very hard to the newcomers or 'outsiders' as they see it. I of course dont like it because the newbies get offended and leave but i also cater to the regulars because they keep the board alive. Tough subject for me.

[spaceylacie]

My board doesn't cater to long term members. In fact, mods are harder on long term members than newcomers. Because they "should know better", I suppose. My main mod is an ex-prison guard, LOL. He didn't volunteer to mod, after reading many of his posts, I asked him. I am lucky to have him, other mods have followed his lead. That "luck" thing... I love it.