The next step for PG forums

[pagalguy]

Hello Junta,

The forum is picking up pace and I'm simply unable to keep track of the posts and moderate and direct as well as I wish I could. Simply put, the forum has outgrown me n barkha.

10K+ posts & 500 Members. The sheer size is now mind boggling and tough to manage in terms of quality/content and direction.

What I feel is that we should start having active modertors on the forums soon. What would be the 'qualification' necessary, is something I will leave to the junta here.

Most important here is the fact that we need to maintain the community feeling. For that one reason alone, its very important to choose the right set of moderators. I for one, am not very sure of taking CAT 2003. I personally don't want my not giving CAT becoming a reason for my absolute lack of interest here. Although I am still wondering if I should take CAT 2003. But rather than a question of me taking it or not, we have to move this community along.

The basis of a top notch community is its members and secondly the people who lead it. If I had been too forceful with the members, I am sure there would have been no 'community' as we see it right now. For the same reason, we need people who understand the concept and are willing to put in their time for others.

Truthfully, there won't be any special rewards to a moderator - except the fact that you will be leading one of the best places to be on the net. If you believe that and can work with us on it. Thou art welcome.

Having Co-Admins is a VERY big security issue. All admins have complete access to everything on the forum except user passwords. So as far as I see, we won't more Co-Admins unless I can secure that issue.

As always, everyone is expected to talk this issue out. What kind of moderators, specific forum moderators, behaviour expected etc etc etc.

Shoot

[pagalguy]

Addition :

Ravi asked me what kind of a job does a mod have to do.. Sheesh.. I forgot it didn't it

A moderator mainly has the following work.

If we take in Sectional Moderators - i.e A diff mod for the CAT area, another for Chit-Chat etc.. these moderators would have of read every post, delete extra posts, move posts, lock threads, reply as much as possible to every query, go to that lil extra length to make sure people see the worth in having a specific moderator.

Also I'd like such moderators to be way more active in terms of direction/future direction the forum would take. A passion to help others is a must.

Plus any other qualities you guys wanna add.

Regards,

[pagalguy]

And yes, the entire junta is supposed to reply !

[shub001]

I think ppl with cable modems are more suited to the job. what do you guys think?
For chit chat section ppl like anil or urmad come to mind.

For CAT section if azad has time, and if he is ready to be a mderator, I think that would be great.

[shub001]

I wish I had always on (cable) net conn, I would have offered my services as a moderator.

[suryasnair]

yes, cable modems are the best, but why is nobody replying?

and Azad IS the best when it comes to CAT

[bharathram_s]

Hmm..Okay..Lemme send out an official reply

PG..I can help in administration/moderation activities for the next two months atleast..No issues here..I have 24 hrs access ( at work )and I do login once every two hours or so..So that shouldn't be a problem..BTW, I visit the CAT forum more often than The Lounge...So probably u can spare me from administering the chaos that happens there ..But do let me know whenever u decide to delegate control

Regards,
Bharath

[uRmad]

The basis of a top notch community is its members and secondly the people who lead it.

yea very true pal......and as u've said having co-admins is a real big security issue....but i don't feel the forum is that big as yet to have co-admins... some requirements that i thought i could put in ...... yea mods should be able to get to the pulse of the forum...shouldn't be impulsive......n another important factor.....should be able to spare quite some time, i thought..... 'coz the number of posts r increasing by leaps n bounds........

I for one, am not very sure of taking CAT 2003. I personally don't want my not giving CAT becoming a reason for my absolute lack of interest here.

hey pg.....as u said.....not taking cat doesn't rule out anyone i guess...come to think of it...most folks around here have already got admits into one or the other colleges and are planning to take up the seats...... but this is all the more important that they stick on....... u've got ppl in fms, symbiosis, nirma, gim, xlri, icfai, and almost every other college that finds itself in any sort of list.... and yea not to forget all those sure calls from all the IIMs, spjains xlris.... all these ppl with their xp can definitely help others going in for these institutes next year.....no magazine review can beat real life xp and opinions, i guess.....

yeah mods have to face problems too....... as the activity on the board increases, so will the time reqd. to moderate..... personally, i believe in ppl moderating themselves..... this ain't any board where ppl come to date or the like..... so we do expect ppl not to post frivolous comments...... but yea....u'll still have the bad apple ...thats where a mod steps in..... and going by the trend so far, i don't think we've as yet come to a stage where we need heavy moderation...... an ocassional reminder to ppl of the need to be relevant n ack the community will suffice, i guess..... and yea.... mods should definitely not take things personally.... i've seen many good boards ruined by mods who take any small criticism very personally as flame bait... (dont c that happening here though )

Originally Posted by suryasnair

yes, cable modems are the best, but why is nobody replying?

and Azad IS the best when it comes to CAT

yea...i agree surya....azad did a wonderful job on the yahoogrps.....i've benefitted a lot from his postings there.... but with all due respect to azad, i personally think, as i've mentioned before, one has to be eclectic in his approach... i am saying this for the sole reason that for a lot of ppl at those yahoogrps...qns were not meant to the grp.....they were meant only for azad...even their subject says so.... and yea...i do accept, azad can carry on the whole cat discussion single-handedly...but to keep expecting him to reply for every posting will be very tuf , i guess.... just my thoughts.....i'd be very happy if azad agreed to become the mod.... i, for one, jumped onto the cat bandwagon very late in the day..... and personally, mebbe didnt set high targets for myself.....mebbe interaction early on with such folks might have helped me ..... ( no offense of any sort meant to anyone please)

Originally Posted by shub001

I think ppl with cable modems are more suited to the job. what do you guys think?

yeah...thats also a factor shubh..... can't discount that..

ppl....those were my thoughts as they came.....mebbe wrong on a number of things...but as i said, thats the utility of a community....u get to c diverse opinions...


on the lighter side, hey why cant we have something like /. ---meta-moderation... each member's a moderator unto himself.... is that tuf to integrate into the code??? (forgive me, but me ain't a programmer )...and pg....mebbe something of this sort ( http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html )might help.....although not all qns are relevant in this context, some definitely are... and another thing folks.... why not another forum for the ppl getting into some institute this year....sure will be fun to discuss around... whatsay???

Cheers

[uRmad]

damn....never realised that the post had become so lengthy.... <sorry>

[ravi]

Hi.

I like the idea of different moderators for the various sub-groups. this also lesens the load on the moderators and like some people have pointed out - not everybody is interested in everything.

And a moderator should be sbdy who checks the forum everyday - preferably multiple times a day

That is it abt moderators Now moving on to what the future could be like for the forum - i strongly urge all the guys who end up getting admissions to remain active - maybe in a separate sub-group (the PG alumni, as PG said yesterday ) - where people who are preparing for next year could ask Qns abt prep. , abt institutes and stuf like that. sort of like a mentoring cum counselling service i have thankfully been able 2 ask friends abt the institutes that i wanted 2 join, but that may not be possible for everybody. i think this is one way we can give back 2 this wonderful community what it has given us. This forum helped me a lot 2 maintain my focus. after every Sim, i'd hit this place and see what it had been like for the other guys. and we'd have our analysis out here b4 IMS had theirs

and how about organising the posts in a different way ? Like taking topics like "Which B-schools to apply? " and stuff like that onto a separate FAQ or sthng ? I've seen multiple threads for the same topic or the same Qns being asked agn and agn. this might dampen the enthusiasm of the guys who reply So think abt how we could do this.

I have ran out of ideas 4 now More later ( i think )

Ravi