Mistakes you made as an admin

[Honorem 219]

Similar to Morrigan's original post, I once did not listen to my gut and made someone a mod. Turns out that someone was very disturbing. He would 'teach members a lesson' by making up a horrible application using some of the ideas they were bouncing off each other. It wasn't those ideas that cause the app to be denied, but rather a bunch of other stuff. So I'd think it was a new member and just politely deny it. Then he'd jump in and say 'haha it was me! See I told you guys your ideas were stupid, they get denied!'. He thought it was funny, and couldn't understand why I immediately demoted him after that. Granted it only happened once, but it was a huge screw up even appointing him in the first place, because there were warning signs.

 

Another one is much more common. You'd think I would learn. I'm tired and half asleep, but I decide I want to do a bit of coding. What a mistake. I end up deleting the closing tag of some HTML, and I have to sift through for the next hour trying to fix that one little error that has broken the entire skin. 😄

[NFT47 40]

I wasn't assertive enough in my early days (when I ran boards on proboards) and let a bunch of toxic admins/members overtake my board to the point I had to close it down. My request wasn't unreasonable. I just asked them to please post on the board and not get too caught up with IC chatroom stuff. Because of the toxic climate that I had allowed to develop because of my passiveness, they were very nasty and turned on me. I was also too trusting in others and let the wrong people run things. It was a nightmare but because of that, I am very quick not to allow toxic members to stick around on my board and really make sure I am creating an enjoyable environment with dedicated members, no matter how small.

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Toastie

[Skadi 36]

I have bumped the right ad with the wrong ad banner before. I admin two sites and bump all ads the same day.

[ArizonaRaspberry 35]

I realized today that the 'rules' link in my ad has been going to the index this whole time.

 

[Sora 29]

I've definitely made a lot of the mistakes that have already been discussed. One that immediately comes to mind though:

 

Making too many changes in a short span of time. Obviously, sites need to change over time. You have to stay up to date with the times. But when you are changing/implementing something new every few weeks and surprising your members it just won't end well. Members will be understandable if that happens once or twice, but if things are constantly changing they'll leave and find a site that's more steady. I've made this mistake on an old site and saw what the inconsistency did to the members so now I try to be smart about changes and consider if it's needed, when it's needed, and if it can be potentially held back for a while.

[Camy 4]

I uh, deleted an important staff account once while doing activity check.  It was 3AM, even though I'm a nightowl.  I just didn't think about it, didn't notice it.  CUE "OH SHIT WHAT DID I JUST DO."  The rest of the staff at the time found it hilarious when I told them.  I felt so bad and embarrassed.  The members also find out and they find it hilarious too 😂

 

Fast forward 3 years later, I make jokes about it still xD

[Prophetess 137]

Since owning my first one, oh ho ho have I made some. 

The first being friends as staff. I really do love my friends. I really, really do. Just not a good idea to staff with them or have them as staff. My current staff are amazing! We've become friends over time, but it didn't start out that way.

 

at the beginning being too nice and trying to make everything YES for everyone. That didn't take long to go into the dumpster fire from whence it came.

 

Botched advertising on other sites and just shook my head when it was already set in stone (I'm so sorry to those I did that to!)

 

NOT FOLLOWING MY GUT... which is crazy since I'm a big fan of listening to my gut about everything. And I've learned painfully the lessons when I don't.

[Karebear 20]

Where to start... This is over the years... 

• Being way too accommodating to new members, that you're excited over them coming on and then they bail in 48 hours after spending the first 6 working with them on amending a creature for them and helping out with other things.
• Not trusting my gut on things
• Trusting one staff member more than others and yeah... 
• Typos in something that you just posted all across your advertising >< I was tried and knew better. 
• Letting jealousy get the better of me. 
• Getting jaded when others bail, taking things far too personal.

[Somniac 207]

My first roleplay admin experience was over a decade ago now and lasted a few years. I inherited the place, and I was so afraid to ruin what my predecessors made by changing it in any way.

 

I wish I’d grasped that just by being present and active in a place, that by nature it has changed. Not drastically, but that what I did and built in my little corner of it was enough to get people excited about things. That what the past admins left behind was never going to be the same, and that I should have leaned into that and made it my own.

[Lady Hyde 21]

I've been admining for around a decade now. The biggest mistake or flaw, I suppose, I've had is that I tend to become fire and brimstone. I've always dealt with any conflict that's arisen because (I love my boys but they're too sweet to put their foot down) and I can be exceptionally blunt. It's only been in the last few years that I've mellowed out and have gotten good at stepping away from a situation, sleeping on it, and coming back to it rather than acting on the distinct desire to skin someone alive. I can now easily say the team is well rounded and I'll go chill in my timeout box of my own accord if I feel it's necessary. 

Other mistakes are, in hindsight, found by not banning people early and letting problems fester. Honestly, banning people actually makes me queasy. 

[Agatha Harkness 59]

I've been around a long time and there's plenty of learning curve mistakes made. I didn't use the ban hammer or warning system early enough when I needed to. I could be too strict some times and too lenient the other times. I didn't hire staff when I needed some help-because I thought I could handle it all myself. I didn't talk to fellow staff when someone upset me and made me avoid my own sites. I was just trying too hard to be the perfect admin and let people get away with things to keep the membercount higher rather than doing what was best like banning or denying things. I hated saying no. I've long since stopped that and dealt with b.s immediately. I know I could be harsh and blunt, so i've had to tone down my chill levels to make things easier. I don't reply to things right away and give myself time to review things. It's much better that way. 

 

Also, I used to be super worried about shutting a site down if it wasn't working. I'd keep going despite signs it should shut down because I felt like a disappointment. However, it's fine. If you have no better option and shutting is the best choice, then I'm okay with that now. I won't try for the sake of trying if my heart isnt in it, or if things just don't work anymore. 

 

 

[min 5]

Oh my goodness, thank you for everyone who shared things. These were really cathartic and helpful for me to read. Thank you all!

[Arceus 1,082]

My biggest and most consistent mistake, BECAUSE I DONT FUCKING LEARN, is and has always been being way too nice. I'm way too fucking nice. Really. And honestly, I shouldn't suffer the fools. Just cut'er loose and move on. My god. When will I get this through my head? You solve the problem, or you leave the problem, you don't live with the problem.

Alas, the next time I'm faced with a toxic piece of shit I'll probably be way too fucking nice again. c: -cries in Spanish-

[PixieMegs 107]

On 3/3/2020 at 4:12 PM, Lady Hyde said:

Other mistakes are, in hindsight, found by not banning people early and letting problems fester. Honestly, banning people actually makes me queasy. 

 

Banning people stresses me out. I usually have the mind frame of 'let them fizzle out' or 'give it time to fix itself'. But this doesn't always work. 

 

I think my biggest and most consistent mistake if I am really bad at saying no and putting my foot down. I want everyone to be happy, but unfortunately that doesn't ever work and I've learned that the hard way. Hopefully it'll stick. 

[Ruin 1]

I've let some undesirable behavior slide before, because I sympathized with the member(s), and it came back to bite me in the butt.  I now think it's always best to nip certain behaviors in the bud if they don't conform with your rules/guidelines, regardless of the members motivations or personal issues.