10-20-2009, 02:32 PM
Hello everyone;
I purchased this book several months ago, and thought I would share selective chapters as to not get into legal trouble. Of course they will be small excerpts, but they contain a great deal of information.
http://www.managingonlineforums.com/
Please choose which you want me to type up. They will be in .doc files, as I will be using Microsoft Word 2007
Enjoy.
I purchased this book several months ago, and thought I would share selective chapters as to not get into legal trouble. Of course they will be small excerpts, but they contain a great deal of information.
http://www.managingonlineforums.com/
Please choose which you want me to type up. They will be in .doc files, as I will be using Microsoft Word 2007
Quote:Introduction: Is This Book for You?
- How This Book Is Organized
- Communities, Forums, and Boards
- Book Website
- After You’ve Read the Book
Chapter 1. Laying the Groundwork
- Fundamental Decisions
-- What Will Your Community Cover?
-- Whom Do You Want to Attract?
--What Will the Benefits of Your Community Be?
-- How Will You Support the Community Financially?
- What Is Your Situation?
-- Create a Brand-New Stand-Alone Community
-- Launch a Brand-New Community and Content Site at the Same Time
-- Launch a Brand-New Community as an Addition to an Existing Content Site
-- Purchase or Take Over an Existing Community
-- What Skills and Characteristics Do You Need to Have?
-- Conclusion
Chapter 2. Developing Your Community
- Choosing a Name and a Domain Name
-- Communities for New or Existing Content Sites
-- Naming a Stand-Alone Community
--- Extensions
--- Dashes and Numbers
--- Spell It Correctly!
--- Length
--- Prefixes
--- Don’t Curse!
-- Domain Name Registrars
-- Web Hosting
- Choosing Your Community Software
-- vBulletin
-- phpBB
- Basic Options
-- Software Options
--- Requiring Registration to Participate
--- Smilies
--- Flood Controls
--- Word Censors
--- Post Counts
--- Old Posts
--- Purging Accounts
-- User Options
--- Signatures and Avatars
--- Username Changing
--- User Titles and Ranks
--- Ignore List
--- Private Messaging
--- Allowing Users to Be “Invisible”
-- Setup Options
--- What Guests See
--- How Many Forums Should I Have?
--- Advertising Forums
--- Private Forums
--- Other Forums
--- Why You Don’t Want a Feedback-and-Suggestions Forum
-- Starting with Staff
- Design, Layout, and Customization
--- Don’t Just Install a Ready-Made Template
--- Designing for a Community
--- Stick to One Look
--- Customizing Your Community
---- Improve the Usability
--- Add an Important Feature
--- Add a Requested Feature
--- Make Your Job Easier
Be Smart, Be Safe
Follow the Instructions and Recommendations
Check Your File and Folder Permissions
Protect Your Admin Areas with .htaccess
Have Separate Passwords for Everything
Create a Separate Database Account for Each Database
Backup Your Database–Constantly!
Keep Your Community Software Updated
Conclusion
Chapter 3. Developing Guidelines
Guideline Ideas
What Do They Apply To?
Cross-Posting, Duplicate Threads, Etc.
Post-Count Boosting and Bumping
Styles of Communication (No CAPS!)
Advertising
Affiliate Links
Copyright
Illegal Activities
Hotlinking and Bandwidth Theft
Legal Advice, Medical Advice, Suicide Threats, Etc.
Personal, Real-Life Information and Privacy
English Only, Please
Respect
Obstructing the Flow of Discussion
Vulgar Language and Offensive Material
Freedom of Speech
Multiple Accounts
Automated Account Creation, Participation, and Scraping
Signatures
Avatars
Privilege Restrictions
Deleting Accounts and/or Posts in the Future (Leaving Your Community)
Who’s the Boss?
If You Break the Guidelines, There Are Consequences
The Guidelines Are Not All-Inclusive
We Can’t Watch It All!
Have Fun! And, If You Need Help, Let Us Know!
Real-Life Examples
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (C.O.P.P.A.)
Privacy Policy
Get Them out There!
Conclusion
Chapter 4. Promoting Your Community
You
What Is Not Considered Promotional Can Be Promotional
Preparing Your Community for Search Engines
Make Your Community Spiderable
Descriptive Page Titles
Welcome Messages
Before You Launch
Directories
Partnerships
What Can You Offer a Partner?
What Can a Partner Offer You?
Buying Advertising
Link Exchanges
Contests and Giveaways
Post Exchanges and Paying People to Post
Offline Promotion
Let Your Users Promote You!
What Not to Do
Conclusion
Chapter 5. Managing Your Staff
How Should You Lead?
Communicating with Your Staff
Staff Forums
Talking Things to Death
Staff Leaks
The Chain of Command
Regular Users Who Think They Are Staff
Moderators Policing Moderators
Only One True Admin, Please
Moderation: The Process
Step #1: Recognizing Violations
Step #2: Removing Violations
Step #3: Documenting Violations and the Action Taken
Step #4: Contacting Users
Responses to Guideline Violation Warnings
Process Summary
Old Violations
Staff Guidelines
Staff Guideline Ideas
Job Duties
Behavior
Use of “Powers”
Documenting Violations and Related Issues and Notifying Members
Discussing Site-Related Issues with Members
Avoiding Controversial Discussions
Staff Forums
Interacting with Other Levels of Staff
Choosing New Staff Members
Saying Thanks and Being Available
Example Staff Guidelines
Situations Guide
Make Your Staff Stand Out
Staff Member Benefits
Choosing Your Staff
When Is It Time for a Staff Member to Move On?
Inactive Staff Members
Resignation in Good Standing
Resignation After Disagreement
Wow, I Let This Person onto My Staff?
Conclusion
Chapter 6. Banning Users and Dealing with Chaos
Real People, Real Cases
The Bad
Forum Spam Bots
That Doesn’t Look Like Spam …
Introtisements and Adverquestions
Violations in Private Messages
I’m Locked out of My Account!
Why Use of “Micro$oft/M$” Is Bad
Content Thieves and Scrapers
The Reply-to-Every-Post Guy
”Freedom of Speech”
Me vs. You
”You Are So Biased”
”I’m Creating My Own YourSite.com __________!”
When Users Say Good-Bye
Threats (… or I’m Leaving!)
… And the Worst
”Remove All of My Posts and Delete My Account!”
”Hate Him, My Minions! Hate Him!”
Admin to Users: “Attack!”
The Grand Delusion
Personal Crusades: What It All Comes Down To
Persistent Idiots
Solutions
Post Reporting System
Turning Negatives into Positives
Helpful Notices
Innovative Tools
Banning
Give Every User a Chance
Public Humiliation
When Should You Ban?
Responding to Banned Users
Lifting a Ban
Banning Methods
Banning Usernames
Temporary Bans
Banning IPs
Users Who Use the Same IP
Doesn’t That Look Like … ?
Get Creative
The System Is Down
Make It So That Only They Can See Their Posts (Global Ignore)
Simulated Downtime
Automated Banning and Point-Based Systems
Banning URLs
Contacting a User’s ISP
Conclusion
Chapter 7. Creating a Good Environment
Respect Is Everything
Welcoming New Users
Be Human, Be Fun, Be Involved
Answering Questions
Don’t Have an Attitude of Expected Knowledge
Don’t Link Users to General, Unhelpful Sites
Don’t Tell Users to Search
If a Question Has Been Asked Before
Make Your Users Feel Involved
Ask Users for Input
Announce Changes
Share Your Successes
Customer Service
When a Problem Occurs, Apologize and Explain
Responding to Bad or Rude Suggestions
How to Handle Private Contact with Users
Don’t Take It Personally
Allow All Wrath to Be Directed at You, Not Your Staff
Politics, Religion, and Other Very Controversial Discussions
Conclusion
Chapter 8. Keeping It Interesting
New Features
Newsletters and Mailing Lists
RSS Feeds and Syndication
Bots
Posting Games
Arcade Games
Contests and Giveaways
Member of the Month
Articles and Content
Chat Rooms
Awards Programs
Conclusion
Chapter 9. Making Money
Advertising
Displaying (Some) Ads to Guests Only
Start with Ads
Advertising Networks
CPM and CPC Networks
CPA Networks and Affiliate Programs
Selling Advertising
Other Ads
Ad Threads
Classifieds
Sponsorships
What Else … ?
Merchandise
Paid Memberships
Donations
Conclusion
Enjoy.
