Oct 7
What is a Community Administrator?
I think, given that this is the first "real" time this service has had a Community Administrator, I need to explain what it is. While both Seth and Ben had this title, both were also Support Team members and therefore did tickets. So the big distinction: I don't do tickets. I don't give support.
Why? Well it's not that I can't. I fully can. I just don't have the time. I'm a full time college student who works as well. I spend my weekends sleeping and doing this mostly. My social life this fall is very poor because myself and my friends are working most of the time and we can spare maybe 2 hours every 2 weeks to do anything. So it's a balance.
There's also the fact that I never was chosen for the Support team. Nor did I ever ask once I was a Community Moderator. And while I did occasionally answer tickets or give support in the forums, it was never required of me and I did it only when I had the time.
This is all an elaborate way of saying "Please don't PM me for Support". I just can't help you for many reasons. My knowledge of HTML and CSS is about 3 years old. I've really not done any web design for over 2 years. I've spent much of my time now with Math and learning Java and C++ and SQL. While the basic properties are similar, I could not easily figure out what is wrong with your board or make you a code. With themes, I have yet to find the time to read Nicola's in depth guide and learn the stuff for myself. So I stay away from that as well.
So now you must be asking, "What the heck do you do?" Good question. The word "Community" really says it all. I spend my time looking after the Community. To give you an idea, here is a typical day for me:
On Mondays during a break, I log onto a campus computer and pull up IF and meebo. Using meebo, I log in and chat with Brian first. I catch up with him on any of the previous days events and then anything that needs to be discussed for that day. I normally have that window open until about 6pm. Any issues that pop up during that time I will discuss with him.
I then check IF support for new personal messages. After I've responded to them, I check out Community Chat and Feedback for anything that requires attention. If the Report CP has something in it, that gets my first priority. After checking in there, I make sure Java Hut and Games are nice and tidy. I then go to the Staff room and make sure there isn't anything requiring attention.
That's about as far as it goes. Normally there are multiple things requiring attention. Members with feedback in the forum, Community Chat having inappropriate topics, Java Hut getting out of hand in a topic, Staff needing some information or something done etc.
On meebo, other staff might pop in and bring something to my attention or I may require their assistance with something.
Once that mess is sorted out, it's pretty much rinse and repeat. I pop onto Com Creations and Tech Chat occasionally to make sure things are fine. I then head over to support.zb to make sure there aren't any stray PMs.
This whole routine can change at any time and it depends on the day. A dull day with many staff means I can do more. A busy day where I am the sole person on can mean I do nothing but run around. Normally if I am the sole staff member on and I have the time, I stick around until someone else pops in.
Basically, I try to make the Community better. I pretty much did this as a Moderator. But now, I have a few more tools to put things in order faster. I strive to keep the staff happy, keep the forums safe and make this an enjoyable place to be around. I still run games and contests and have plenty more planned this season. But I also can do more. When you have a problem on this board that requires an admin, you go to me. When you have a problem with your board that requires speaking to a member of the management, it's best you go to Brian. He's the one that can handle restorations and all those other big issues that only Brandon or Brian can handle. I focus on helping the members of the Community here. I am on often and I try my hardest to respond fast to any problems you may have.
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9:30 AM Dec 20