A community, including the electronic variety, is made up of people. The proper use of AnyBoard can help create a community atmosphere where people interact with each other, share ideas, stories, humor, and more. We present here some tips to help site administrators make the most of AnyBoard in developing their own online community.
Start with a good FAQ
Many problems faced by some forums can be easily averted by an informative FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. If you want to avoid the sometimes vicious, attacking, and insulting remarks made in some forums, insist on respect for participation in your forum, and say so in your FAQ. Based on experiences of my site using AnyBoard for a few forums, including one that is the second most active on the Internet for scuba diving, the atmosphere the forum members set and insist on is the greatest deterrent to uncivil behavior. The e-mail validation feature was added to AnyBoard from my suggestion, but we haven't needed to enable it. Our atmosphere of respect does more to keep barbarians out than anything else.We also don't get the pyramid letters and other schemes posted even though some people post them to many lesser know boards on our topic. They know that such messages would be removed so they don't bother posting. Technical issues, such as how to register and modify registration information, how to delete and modify posts, and other features you enable should be included either in the FAQ or a separate Forum Features page. Be sure to explain how to use them where necessary. AnyBoard has a powerful and extensive set of features to assist you, but remember that technology aids people, it does not replace them.
Listen to your members
A good way to find out things is to ask people. You may want to ask your forum members whether certain features should be enabled and how some should be configured. You might find their opinions and yours differ. The new, integrated survey in AnyBoard, helps make this even easier. Ask their opinion when it is called for, listen to their responses, and you show your site to be responsive to their needs (much like a small town mayor).One actual example of this is when I broached the subject of having a separate forum (for underwater photography). The consensus was opposed to it. They didn't like having to look in more than one place and even mentioned another site that had done this (several forums) and how they didn't care for it. Listen to what they say.
Determine what features you truly need and want
AnyBoard can be configured in many ways, with various levels of control and access. It can be as loose as any program, allowing anonymous posts, or can restrict posts, and viewing messages, to validated, registered members only, with each message requiring approval by an administrator or moderator before it shows up on the forum. It can also be configured somewhere in between, with many features enabled for those who care to use them, but not required for those who don't. Remember the first two points (start with a good FAQ and listen to your members) in determining which features to enable for your forum.
Consider one or more moderators to assist with your forum
At the very least, moderators can help answer questions for new members of your forum, and many will welcome new members as well. It gives all members a greater sense of participation when their peers help administrate the forum. Moderators can also help with such tasks as removing duplicate posts, removing posts that violate your forum policies, the pyramid schemes and other spam that gets posted to some sites, and any other duties and powers you wish to give them. Even on many busy sites, they will have little to do (remember the good FAQ), yet it adds to the community atmosphere just to have them there.
Moderators can also help perform many administrative tasks at times when the administrator is very busy, sick, on vacation, or otherwise off-line. These and other reasons are also why you may want to have more than one moderator.
If you are changing over from some other forum program
Most people are resistant to change. They get comfortable with something and don't want to make any changes. Sometimes, however, change is both necessary and beneficial. If you have an existing forum using any other program, there are some ways to ease the transition.
Explain to your members why you are changing programs.
Common reasons are protection from crashes and losing data, preventing cross-posts, enhanced security (protecting against crackers), and additional features for their convenience and benefit. The integrated survey is just one of many such conveniences. Let them know why a change is necessary and/or desirable. If you have already had crashes and lost data, this point is emphasized.
Leave your old forum in place for at least a while. There are a few reasons to do this. They will have access to earlier messages, and they can post on the old forum if they have any difficulty in registering (if enabled or required) on your new AnyBoard powered form. Make an announcement that new threads and messages should be posted on the new forum, and that the old one will be left up temporarily. You may wish to disable posting on the old forum a short time after the new one is operational, allowing your members to read but not post to the old board.
More computer literate members may help the less experienced, making the transition easier for all and requiring less of your time. You may even find some of your members swaying the opinions of those reluctant to change. If you have been using another program for awhile and think some of your forum members will be resistant to change, you may wish to use a template to make Anyboard resemble that program, both in appearance and function. Whether you use WWWBoard, Ultimate Bulletin Board, or something else, Anyboard can come very close in matching it's look. That can make the transition easier as the new board (powered by Anyboard) will look and act much like what they are used to, so it will have some sense of familiarity and the change won't be so abrupt. You can ease them into new features and make changes gradually, letting them get accustomed to them before you make new ones. An alternative is to wow them from the start. Create your new Anyboard forum, make it look like you want (chances are you haven't been able to do that with your present program), have a Forum Features page to explain the features you have enabled, and let them see some of the reasons you are changing over. With the old forum running for awhile, they will have a transition period. However, Anyboard is so easy to use and does so much, that you may find they abandon your old program quite rapidly with no urging from you.
--modified by ER at Mon, Jan 17, 2000, 03:00:07
|
, Nov 05,1999,19:18