How much or how many staff do you think should be employed on a site? Like, is there a ratio? Have at least one moderator for every X amount of members you have?
What is everyone else's take on this? What do you think is he proper amount?
Nah, never. When my forum was still around, I added people to contributors team based on their knowledge on the main subject of the forum, and moderators when one fellow administrator and I couldn't handle things on our own. In another forum I work on, new moderators are added when a section is getting more alive and needs people to take care of it.
I find it hard to say the exact amount. It depends on what you expect from the staff members.
there isn't really a proper amount but more staff would be required as the forum grows (in terms of activity/more content to moderate). I know some people who go by the staff:ratio thing, and this does apply. Too many staff and very few members doesn't really work out, since there would hardly any work to do. That's my take on the matter. 😛
I always hate when people overpopulate their forums with staff. For instance, I just reopened Tune Junkies. I have two admins and one moderator. Ideally, I would like to hire another Moderator when the time is right, but it's perfect right now.
However, it's completely different for each kind of forum. When you look at Forum Promotion, there are tons of staff, but they all serve different jobs.
You just don't want your staff to be outnumbering your active member base 😛
As many staff as necessary, no more and no less, I know that some forum-owners believe they had to assign jobs to members to let them know that they are important to the community, and it's not necessary, and that's what things like "Elite" groups are for.
I believe it depends on the activity level on your site, including how many members you have overall. If it's a very active site with at least 50 active members, I feel that at least 3 or 4 moderators should be added with about 2 or 3 admins. If the forum is brand new, the only staff member that should be present is the site owner, until there are at least 10 or 11 members registered. Though these rules go for any niche besides promotional forums, I feel those need around 2 or 3 packagers when the forum is brand new, about 2 reviewers, 2 moderators and administrators. Once the forum grows more staff should be added.
I never have a set ratio. I just do what feels right based on how much of the forum content I can get through on my own. If I cannot get to everything then another member of staff may be needed.
