Viewable Staff Room

[Cedric]

Our Member of the Month will be able to see what's going on behind the scenes on Admin Junkies. If a forum had a section that was visible to all members where staff members discuss and make decisions, but members cannot post in the topics, would this be well-received? And where members can see the staff's decision-making process and the reasons behind it. Have you come across such a feature on any forums before? Which forum would you like to see its staff room?

 

[Cory]

I've never seen a board do this until now and I would personally never do this myself. It's called the staff forum for a reason. I think even if you didn't have much you would need to remain confidential and it should still be limited to staff members. One wrong thing said in the staff forum or one leak could cause some disruption across the board, I think. A staff forum is where staff discuss member disputes, new features, changes to the board, issues that arise, etc. I see no need for members to need to know this information.

 

[Arantor]

I'd never do this, not even in the most open-ended, inclusive place; the staff room *needs* to be a place where the current staff can discuss matters about management with the expectation of privacy.

 

[Kale]

Nope. My staff forum is for staff only.

 

[an0nym0us]

The idea would be interesting if we talk about transparency, you will start a lot of debate with the members.

 

[Shortie]

I have never seen any forum that has allowed the members to have access to it but not be able to post in it. Due to what we usually discuss in the staff room which can also be troublesome members and issues we have had with members who have been banned and evaded a ban, I prefer to keep my staff forum closed off to public view and only be viewable by staff members.

 

[simonweb]

If a forum had a section that was visible to all members where staff members discuss and make decisions, but members cannot post in the topics, would this be well-received?

While I understand that this is probably well-meant and sprout from a genuine wish to be more transparent with your forum's users, I doubt it would end well. I'm not sure how your staff room is set up and what kind of guidelines you have for it. But a staff forum is generally private for a reason; it's usually there that your moderators and admins can openly talk about controversial issues, specific users, and where you can discuss and make decisions about the forum. If all that is public, I'm not sure your staff would feel comfortable being open and honest when posting in that forum.

And where members can see the staff's decision-making process and the reasons behind it.

I think it's better to just make a thoughtful topic in your announcement forum where you explain the reasoning behind your decision and where your members can react, discuss, and leave suggestions for improvements.

 

[Syntax]

I have thought about this for my own community, but the issue is that a lot of how I have the staff backend setup shows a kinda of workspace that displays things that need to get worked on, addressed, etc. with an assignable workflow (so it looks like a forum but is ran by like a software workflow system). I think it might be cool for the MOTM to see that, but also might show things that are super far planned out which may give that false sense of hope for things (if they think they are going to be coming soon).

 

[kolakube]

My only thought if I saw this implemented somewhere would be "OK, so where is the real staff forum?!" It almost sounds like a way to show members what you want them to see.

Actually kind of hilarious to think of conspiring with your moderators to create a fake staff forum as a PR campaign to coverup bad moderation policies. #ForumStrategy2023

 

[Altair]

While I understand that this is probably well-meant and sprout from a genuine wish to be more transparent with your forum's users, I doubt it would end well. I'm not sure how your staff room is set up and what kind of guidelines you have for it. But a staff forum is generally private for a reason; it's usually there that your moderators and admins can openly talk about controversial issues, specific users, and where you can discuss and make decisions about the forum. If all that is public, I'm not sure your staff would feel comfortable being open and honest when posting in that forum.
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I agree 100%.
I would never do this. I can see it ending very badly. My belief is that it should also be private for staff.

 

[Bluezone777]

I honestly believe you shouldn't say anything in a staff room that you don't want to be public or nothing that you aren't able to take the hits for if it should something said in private were to go public for whatever reason that might cause trouble for you. I don't have any issues with it as it could be interesting for someone who is not staff which is what the MotM would have to be in order to win that contest but passionate about the forum is able to get a window into just how the forum operates.

Making bad decisions is the risk you take when daring to be different and to truly stand out. If you are willing to take the risk then go for it and if it don't work out then you know and won't have to have the question of "what if" hang around forever.

 

[Heatman]

Members will never be privy to any staff information in my community. It's not a professional thing to do. This is how information gets leaked which might be used against your community. Member of the Month Award winner can have a VIP account upgrade, glowing username but never access to see how forum decisions are made.

 

[Reverie]

I think MOTM getting to see a premium area where questions can be asked and opinions can be asked for and made would be much more beneficial. While I agree it's cool for them to maybe see the backroom area of what goes into running the forum, it is mainly just for staff and what if there is discussion about certain members going on... this might be best to keep staff eyes only for.