Forum Management Scenario 1

[Truestar]

A well known community manager who has managed several large communities for about five years has recently joined your forum. Being a "professional" after five years of experience, he decides to look over your forum guidelines. He decides to post publically, quoting several lines from your guidelines, arguing with them. Giving you situations of which the guidelines have flaws. Through this, many members start to question the communities leadership, they start to question you as the administrator agreeing with this newcomer.

You are suddenly called out in this public topic and your skills as a community manager are now being doubted by several of your members.

What is your course of action?

Welcome to CA Scenarios!

This is an official idea thought out by Patrick and I. It would be appreciated if anyone who wishes to reply answer the following questions, and then optionally write a thorough explanation of your course of actions as the said questioned administrator in the above text. With your responses you may be further challenged. The goal of this topic is to exercise the many problems administrators could be put in, and how you would face them.

Questions

• Lock the topic, or respond?
  
• Contact this famous admin publically, or through private means?
  
• Throw out the questioning members, or reply?
  

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[Patrick]

On my communities, we don't allow site related comments in the forums, which is what these would fall under. So, the topic would have been removed on sight. If the administrator was disrespectful or in any way violated our guidelines, he'd be cited for that. If he was disrespectful, hopefully he wasn't so disrespectful or rude where I'd have to ban him. Assuming he wasn't, I'd contact him privately and address his suggestions.

I'd doubt his professionalism if he did something like that.
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[Thoul]

That is definitely not professional behavior. It sounds more like someone trying to sabotage the community to benefit his own.

I would remove the topic (in accordance with my guideline about handling such things privately). After, I'd send him a PM telling him the topic was removed because it violates that guideline, tell him to address such issues privately with me in the future, thank him for his comments (if they weren't rude, etc), and tell him I would take the issues he raised into consideration.

The questioning members would get the same sort of PM, if their posts merited it.
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[Triumvirate]

Yeah, I'd remove and contact privately. If he was actually trying to help I'd say thanks for his suggestions and let him know in the future that he should privately contact a staff member to assure that it is seen and doesn't require breaking any rules.

If he was disrespectful to start (well...more disrespectful than making the post in the first place) I may ban him immediately. It would depend.
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[MiroslavGlavic]

I'd lock and delete the thread then talk to the outsider admin about things. if he keeps on being disrespectful, I ban him.

[Elfen]

I Agree with Thoul. That sounds like Forum Sabotage.

I would delete the forum thread in question and suspend him with notice and warning.
First offense is 7 days, second offense is 30 days, and 3rd is 90 days. After that its a ban. Trying to circumvent the suspension by creating a new account- automatic ban for both accounts and an IPBan.

I dont like doing it, and I'm sure many others here dont either, but its something that has to be done.