Every day, millions of users log on to their favorite online forums and interact with others to get advice and discuss everything from the latest news and trends to their hobbies, professions, and whatever else strikes their fancy. Administrators have to lead these communities, deal with difficult users, and choose moderators. Legal constraints, spammers, and technical issues can turn the excitement of running an online community into chaos. With the right guidance, however, running forums can be a pleasure. Patrick O'Keefe has spent years developing and managing online communities. Now, he shows readers how to make the right decisions about every aspect of their forums, including: • choosing a name and domain name • picking the right software • deciding on user options like avatars and private messaging • setting guidelines and dealing with violators • ensuring that posts stay on topic • settling online disputes among users • involving users and keeping the site interesting Managing Online Forums is the one book that shows site owners and administrators how to create a safe and entertaining community that users will return to again and again.
Managing Online Forums
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Editorial Reviews
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“I feel that Managing Online Forums is a worthwhile book to buy and absorb. There are TONS of great resources in there, and lots of real world examples for you to follow. This alone makes the book a great resource to have on the shelf.” —Chris Brogan
"If you are thinking of starting a community, or are newly involved in one, this book will help you in the human side of managing the site." --Online Magazine
“While Managing Online Forums is obviously aimed at forum hosts and moderators, it can also be used to educate a general audience about online forum activity.” —Book News, Inc./SciTech News
“In his book Managing Online Forums, Patrick O’Keefe provides thoughtful, detailed recommendations on developing and enforcing guidelines based on running several thriving communities.” —Lois Kelly, author of Beyond Buzz (http://blog.foghound.com/383/)
Book Description
Every day, millions of users log on to their favorite online forums and interact with others to get advice and discuss everything from the latest news and trends to their hobbies, professions, and whatever else strikes their fancy. Administrators have to lead these communities, deal with difficult users, and choose moderators. Legal constraints, spammers, and technical issues can turn the excitement of running an online community into chaos. With the right guidance, however, running forums can be a pleasure. Patrick O’Keefe has spent years developing and managing online communities. Now, he shows readers how to make the right decisions about every aspect of their forums, including:
• choosing a name and domain name
• picking the right software
• deciding on user options like avatars and private messaging
• setting guidelines and dealing with violators
• ensuring that posts stay on topic
• settling online disputes among users
• involving users and keeping the site interesting
Managing Online Forums is the one book that shows site owners and administrators how to create a safe and entertaining community that users will return to again and again.
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More About the Author
Patrick O'Keefe is the founder of the iFroggy Network (http://www.ifroggy.com), a network of websites covering various interests. He has been managing online communities since 2000 and is the author of "Managing Online Forums," a practical guide to managing online social spaces. He has been responsible for the cultivation of communities like phpBBHacks.com, KarateForums.com and PhotoshopForums.com. He blogs about online community at ManagingCommunities.com, his favorite record label at BadBoyBlog.com and more at patrickokeefe.com.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Years of experience in one book,
By
This review is from: Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards (Paperback)
I had the opportunity to read through this book over the last week, and I'm just floored by how much good information it's got in it. This book is years of Patrick's experiences running successful forums (22 forums now, I believe!) and all the tips, tricks and wisdom he's picked up during those years. I ran a moderately successful forum years ago, and would have saved myself months of headache and heartache had I the information in this book at my fingertips back then.
The book is definitely opinionated - these are Patrick's recommendations based on his experiences, and it shows. His voice is natural, and the wording is down to earth. This isn't some theoretical treatise, but a 'from the trenches' view of what works, what doesn't, and why. The book includes many sample forms which have example language to use for welcoming members to your forum, working with moderators, dealing with abusive or disruptive visitors, and much more. They're all available on the book's website too, so you don't need to retype it all in, but can quickly customize them to fit your own needs . The one thing lacking in this book is that it doesn't go in to much detail about the major forum packages out there, so the reader who is just starting out will have to do some more research as to what packages have which features discussed in the book. Having said that, this keeps the focus of the book more on the human/people side of internet forums, and doesn't devolve in to a technical manual. I would have preferred a small feature comparison of the big forum systems out there, but I'm more of a technically-inclined person to begin with. If you're not technically inclined, you likely won't even notice the information not there. Bottom line: if you're thinking of starting a web-based community, or have one and aren't sure how to manage it, this book is a must-have. It will save you weeks, if not months, of getting up to speed and being as effective as possible with your forums.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must-Have,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards (Paperback)
If you're considering to build your own online community or forum, then this is a must-read book. Patrick O'Keefe covers everything from how to start a forum to how to develop and police it. I particularly appreciated that much of this book covers managing people rather than technology. There are lots of other books on how to physically build a site, but this one goes into depth on how to build the actual community of the site. O'Keefe advices how to recruit new members to your site without spamming other sites, and also gives good advice on how to deal with difficult members by offering a lot of examples and how he handled it. You won't have to run a site to recognize some of the difficult types that he describes.
If you're going to start a forum or community site, or if you already have and you would like advice on how to manage the human side of running a site, then I recommend that you read this. If you're not, then I think you would still enjoy reading this. You'll find out how hard it is to run a site and you might appreciate those who do a little more.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Resource for Forum Admins,
This review is from: Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards (Paperback)
Managing Online Forums is a great resource for both those starting out in the world of online forum management and seasoned veterans looking to improve and grow their online communities. The effectiveness of this book as a resource is founded upon three main strengths. The first of these is the author's experience and knowledge of the subject based upon years of administrating online forums. He knows what works and what doesn't. By tapping the author's knowledge, a forum manager can avoid wasting time and effort going in directions that are, ultimately, unfruitful. Instead, he can focus on only those things that are proven effective. Second, the book is organized in a logical sequence. It begins with suggestions on choosing a domain name and progresses through ideas on keeping an established forum interesting. Third, the book is effortless to read, avoiding technical jargon except when necessary. This effortlessness can transform into absorption, at times.
Ultimately, if you are interested in starting and running your own online community, Managing Online Forums is a great place to start. However, its usefulness does not end once a forum is up and running. As your community grows you will once again be able to reference the knowledge that exists in this book to further develop your community.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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user guidelines, promoting your community, managing your staff, private message system, duplicate threads, turnkey sites, banned user, moderator powers, announcements forum, best martial art, staff forums, advertising forum, post count, community software, duplicate posts, current staff members, user title, feedback forum, inflammatory comments Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Problem Users, Trash Bin, United States, Copyright Office, Word Association Game, Support Forums, The Sims, Ted Sindzinski, Contact Templates, Staff Guidelines Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
user guidelines, promoting your community, managing your staff, private message system, duplicate threads, turnkey sites, banned user, moderator powers, announcements forum, best martial art, staff forums, advertising forum, post count, community software, duplicate posts, current staff members, user title, feedback forum, inflammatory comments Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Problem Users, Trash Bin, United States, Copyright Office, Word Association Game, Support Forums, The Sims, Ted Sindzinski, Contact Templates, Staff Guidelines Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Surprise Me!
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