How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

life_enjoyer · 2013-09-03 05:06:23

Not that I want to be one. I am just curious who determines who is moderator (admin, etc.) Is it a vote or appointment or what?

Last edited by life_enjoyer (2013-09-03 05:16:31)

Allan · 2013-09-03 05:18:52

By being asked by the current team.

jasonwryan · 2013-09-03 05:48:37

Moving to Forum and Wiki issues...

rufus · 2013-09-03 06:37:10

and most of all dont piss off those two guys!

Jristz · 2013-09-03 23:14:58

Allan wrote:

By being asked by the current team.

But if for a random fact the entire team resssing from being that or ... dead ... or can't attend to the forum for a Grat amount of time??

karol · 2013-09-03 23:18:50

I doubt that you can wipe all Arch Overlords and it's not a pressing issue, so it doesn't really mater if a new team member is picked this week or the next one.

clfarron4 · 2013-09-03 23:18:54

life_enjoyer wrote:

Not that I want to be one. I am just curious who determines who is moderator (admin, etc.) Is it a vote or appointment or what?

A lot of factors that I will not list here. However, asking about it when you haven't been asked whether you would like to be one (in most cases) harms your chances.

karol · 2013-09-03 23:24:14

clfarron4 wrote:

life_enjoyer wrote:
Not that I want to be one. I am just curious who determines who is moderator (admin, etc.) Is it a vote or appointment or what?
A lot of factors that I will not list here.

Why?

clfarron4 wrote:

However, asking about it when you haven't been asked whether you would like to be one (in most cases) harms your chances.

Why would anyone be penalized for simply asking 'how to'?
"Hello, my name is John Doe, I have a decade of experience in being a mod, what do I have to do to become one on the Arch Linux forums?" seem a perfectly fine question.

jasonwryan · 2013-09-03 23:26:11

karol wrote:

I doubt that you can wipe all Arch Overlords and it's not a pressing issue, so it doesn't really mater if a new team member is picked this week or the next one.

In the event of sudden misfortune, we have all signed powers of attourney over to Allan.

Should there be some sort of catastrophe--for example, if Xyne did not maintain the taco grill properly and to the health and safety standards and this resulted in a build up of gas in the Fellow's Lounge that was then ignited by cactus when, as he is wont to do after consuming said tacos, he lit one of his incredibly noxious farts and this triggered a cataclysmic fireball that incinerated the entire mod team and all of the Fellows--then Allan would assume complete control over the boards. This, unfortunately, would quickly lead to the sort of breakage that Allan is notorious for and therefore would render the whole concept of moderation moot as no-one would be able to post anyway...

I know what you are thinking now. What if Allan was in the Lounge at the same time, wouldn't he be incinerated with the rest of you? Wouldn't you all be one charred ash heap?

Rest assured, this can't happen. Whenever he is in the Lounge, Allan wears a full body kevlar suit. He says that it is for our protection and, given the scenario outlined above, I believe him.

clfarron4 · 2013-09-03 23:28:33

karol wrote:

clfarron4 wrote:
...
Why?

Each community I've come across seems to have a different way of appointing moderators and administrators, so I'd rather not say something that might not apply wherever OP is looking.

karol wrote:

clfarron4 wrote:
However, asking about it when you haven't been asked whether you would like to be one (in most cases) harms your chances.
Why would anyone be penalized for simply asking 'how to'?
"Hello, my name is John Doe, I have a decade of experience in being a mod, what do I have to do to become one on the Arch Linux forums?" seem a perfectly fine question.

Most places where I have seen people ask about these things have ended badly.

Trilby · 2013-09-04 00:15:51

I actually opened this thread to make some sort of taco joke ... but then I couldn't stop laughing upon reading JWR's. I can't even try to compete with that.

Though I have to wonder if a variation of that scenario is just the sort of "trial by fire" that makes any candidate into a suitable mod.

Last edited by Trilby (2013-09-04 00:17:32)

clfarron4 · 2013-09-04 00:28:27

Trilby wrote:

Though I have to wonder if a variation of that scenario is just the sort of "trial by fire" that makes any candidate into a suitable mod.

That would be terrifying.

jasonwryan · 2013-09-04 00:43:33

Trilby wrote:

Though I have to wonder if a variation of that scenario is just the sort of "trial by fire" that makes any candidate into a suitable mod.

nomorewindows · 2013-09-04 00:50:05

jasonwryan wrote:

This, unfortunately, would quickly lead to the sort of breakage that Allan is notorious for and therefore would render the whole concept of moderation moot as no-one would be able to post anyway...

Running out of tacos would be a severe problem anyhow.
If the mods weren't on the forums, then the forums would go unmoderated and some topics would go on forever...Maybe if things came to the worst, Phrakture's hacker would be kind enough to fix it for us. Oh, wait a minute, that topic is still going.

Trilby · 2013-09-04 01:34:19

nomorewindows wrote:

... then the forums would go unmoderated and some topics would go on forever...

You mean, like this one.

ewaller · 2013-09-04 03:39:33

As one might guess, the moderators do have some, er, interesting off-line discussions

In an attempt to answer the original question: We keep an eye out for members who spend a fair amount of time here, have good (not necessarily perfect) technical skills, and who demonstrate a history of professional posts, who don't rise to troll bait, and who seem to have a reasonably thick skin.

fsckd · 2013-09-04 14:58:21

All you have to do is challenge a moderator to a fight. If you win, you get their title and they are shamed and expelled from the community. Don't believe me? How often do you see former mods on the forums?

donniezazen · 2013-09-04 15:36:44

Does one have to have minimum number of postings in order to become a moderator?

Xyne · 2013-09-04 17:48:31

jasonwryan wrote:

if Xyne did not maintain the taco grill properly and to the health and safety standards and this resulted in a build up of gas in the Fellow's Lounge that was then ignited by cactus when, as he is wont to do after consuming said tacos, he lit one of his incredibly noxious farts and this triggered a cataclysmic fireball that incinerated the entire mod team and all of the Fellows--then Allan would assume complete control over the boards. This, unfortunately, would quickly lead to the sort of breakage that Allan is notorious for and therefore would render the whole concept of moderation moot as no-one would be able to post anyway...
I know what you are thinking now. What if Allan was in the Lounge at the same time, wouldn't he be incinerated with the rest of you? Wouldn't you all be one charred ash heap?
Rest assured, this can't happen. Whenever he is in the Lounge, Allan wears a full body kevlar suit. He says that it is for our protection and, given the scenario outlined above, I believe him.

See, when I joined the mod team, I was only expecting to shuffle some forum threads and swing the occasional banhammer. Little did I know that I would soon find myself standing guard against the flatulence-heralded apocalypse of all that is good in this world. As with Ragnarok, the Breakage of Allan foretold in Arch lore is inevitable. Even if I am able to maintain the taco grill as required during my tenure, the responsibility will eventually pass to someone who falters in this task. This weight and many others are borne in silence by the mod team. Do not be so eager to step behind the curtain and know the truth of things. When the time comes, we may call upon one of you to assume this solemn duty, but know this: there is no shame in taking the blue pill. Had I known then what I know now, I may have chosen differently, but I fear that no verbal warning could adequately convey the true horror of being confined to an enclosed space with a devout taco consumer. While you may believe that the life of an Arch mod is a glamorous carousel of never-ending fun, it is in fact a mephitic hell which one suffers for the greater good.

A well-kept secret of the mod team is that TGN actually stands for "taco grill notification", and it is used to alert other mods that the grill is in a critical state. That is why topics are inconsistently TGN'd. We do not take such notifications lightly.

Now if you'll excuse me, I must attend to my duties.

headkase · 2013-09-04 18:00:45

I am a moderator over on 2K forums:

http://forums.2kgames.com/showthread.ph … -on-Linux)

And the job does have some perks, like swag, but more so it is just a normal day-to-day grind. I'd be there anyway but now I have the option to delete the spam.

It really helps if you have the correct domain knowledge for the forum you moderate. On 2K Games it's games and I know quite the bit about those so it is a good fit for myself. For being a moderator here the domain knowledge that would be best is understanding and trouble-shooting Linux. That is what would make your posts, and ability to understand what you are moderating, worthwhile.

I do not rate myself sufficiently versed in Linux in general and Arch Linux in specific to moderate these forums. I don't know if what I'm reading is crap or not, and without that the only non-glamorous job that could be done is delete the spam and enforce general order. And Arch Linux's sign-up page has a specialized question that keeps most spam down anyway.

drcouzelis · 2013-09-04 19:37:15

donniezazen wrote:

Does one have to have minimum number of postings in order to become a moderator?

There aren't any moderators past the first page of the top 50 posters: https://bbs.archlinux.org/userlist.php? … r=DESC&p=1

skanky · 2013-09-04 19:52:16

Does owning a parker and Lambretta help?

karol · 2013-09-04 19:53:36

drcouzelis wrote:

donniezazen wrote:
Does one have to have minimum number of postings in order to become a moderator?
There aren't any moderators past the first page of the top 50 posters: https://bbs.archlinux.org/userlist.php? … r=DESC&p=1

Your posts-per-day average may further increase when you become a moderator. You can still post in the off-topic threads, help other forum members out with their day-to-day Arch Linux issues, but you have to keep order on the forums on top of that.

Xyne · 2013-09-04 20:35:23

Topic count is not considered per se. The correlation appears because users are chosen to join the team only if they have established a good reputation on the forum, and this usually requires long-term activity here to show consistency in character in multiple situations.

Awebb · 2013-09-04 21:38:43

Over the past decade, I have moderated a number of message boards (all between 20k and 150k users, some of them even with this handle). I have also been in the position to be a deciding factor about who becomes a mod and who won't. There are many criteria to identify a good board, but the relevant one in this case is the "if $USER asks to be a mod, he will not be one" all good boards have. This rule might have exceptions, but if somebody shows interest in the community, turns out to be helpful, settles disputes in his own threads - a moderator is somebody who guides a discussion and keeps it on-topic - then this one will eventually be asked to formalize the responsibilities he already fulfills every day.

But in the local case, I'd start with donations and little presents.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-09-03 05:06:23

How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#2 2013-09-03 05:18:52

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#3 2013-09-03 05:48:37

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#4 2013-09-03 06:37:10

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#5 2013-09-03 23:14:58

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#6 2013-09-03 23:18:50

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#7 2013-09-03 23:18:54

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#8 2013-09-03 23:24:14

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#9 2013-09-03 23:26:11

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#10 2013-09-03 23:28:33

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#11 2013-09-04 00:15:51

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#12 2013-09-04 00:28:27

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#13 2013-09-04 00:43:33

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#14 2013-09-04 00:50:05

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#15 2013-09-04 01:34:19

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#16 2013-09-04 03:39:33

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#17 2013-09-04 14:58:21

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#18 2013-09-04 15:36:44

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#19 2013-09-04 17:48:31

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#20 2013-09-04 18:00:45

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#21 2013-09-04 19:37:15

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#22 2013-09-04 19:52:16

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#23 2013-09-04 19:53:36

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#24 2013-09-04 20:35:23

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

#25 2013-09-04 21:38:43

Re: How does one become a moderator, administrator, etc?

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