# of Mods to # of Posts?

[Gabby]

Hi Everyone,
I have a question about number of moderators generally needed in relation to how many post per 24hr.

My other forum average was about 200 posts a day with six moderators-four mods were on all the time and did most of the moderating. The topic is controversial with a ton of drama so moderating was never easy. Because of the controversy and drama, someone basically had to be watching the forum 24/7-which was really something else. Very little spam but mostly a ton of emotional stuff and bickering. We really didn't do much moderating of posts at all-I would say about 1 in every 1000 posts got moderated if that much BUT we had to watch all the posts coming in with the exception of the fun forums such as chat. We also had to keep a very close eye on the "Whose Online" back end and caught many problems there, such as doctors and lawyers creating account as well as insurance companies, the same person creating multiple screen names from multiple computers, then answering themselves in thier own posts using a different screename just to encourage going to one doctor over the other.

I'm pretty sure this new forum will be close to about 500 post or more a day once it gets going and the topic is the same above but VERY expanded to cover multiple topics. I intend on having about 10 mods or more later on down the line.

Any ideas? Do you have any guidelines you go to for adding moderators?

I really had no intention or wanted to start another forum as I hate the hassle and drama but doing so for a family member.

Thanks so much,

Gabby

 

[RastaLulz]

I have 9 moderators (4 super moderators) with the post count differing drastically each day; 250 one day, 800 the next.

With that being said, I add moderators when I see that a section (or sections) could use help.

The moderators that I do add are the ones who:

• Don't pester me for the position.
• Show a general interest (and expertise) in the specific section that needs help.
• Are willing to help out the community by keeping it clean, and helping others.
• Have a certain level of maturity.

As for your situation, I'd see how it plays out, and if anything, ask some of your current moderators to help out on this new forum as well if they'd like to, as you know that you can trust them. If not, you could always ask a few trusted members from your current forum to help out as well. I'm not a big fan of "applications" for a moderator position as I like to get to know the person and see how they behave in general before giving someone the position.

 

[MagnusB]

I don't think you can really determine any correlation between amount of daily posts and amount of needed moderators. I would think the best bet is to just start with a few, and then add more as they are needed.

 

[lazy llama]

Really depends on the kinds of topics you cover and the type of user that you attract.

We're currently around 2800 posts per day and have 7 moderators, with most of the work being done by just 3.

Finding good mods who don't follow their own agenda is always difficult.