Product Description

Every day, millions of users log into their favorite online forums to keep up on the latest trends in music, politics, entertainment, and current events.

Each of these communities is led by administrators who must make tough decisions, deal with difficult users and manage the staff. Legal constraints, trolls, and technical issues can all turn the excitement of running an online community into chaos. With the right guidance, however, running forums can be a pleasure, not a chore. Patrick O’Keefe has spent years developing and managing his own online communities. Now, he shows readers how they can make their lives easier by making the right decisions about every aspect of their forums.

From developing their site to choosing the right employees, Managing Online Forums is the one book that shows site administrators how to create a safe, entertaining, and informative community that users will return to again and again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67898 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

About the Author
Patrick O’Keefe is the owner of iFroggy Network, an internet network of content, community and e-commerce sites covering various interests.

Customer Reviews

Read this book, and save yourself years of finding out the hard way!
Having been a member and moderator at Photoshopforums.com (one of Patrick's many communities) for almost a year now, and had firsthand experience with managing a content-based website of my own, I decided to read "Managing Online Forums" to gain an insight into how online communities are managed - and I wasn't disappointed!

The book really does contain a wealth of information that ranges right from the preparation work you need to do before even thinking about launching an online community, to how you can maintain and advertise the finished product. Through the way, Patrick writes about his experiences and gives a clear indication of not just how he works, but why, which for me is an extremely important factor. His honest reasons and accounts are what turn this good book into a great one!

One of my favourite parts of this book, and one that I find quite astonishing, is the publication of Patrick's hand-crafted User Guidelines that can be used free on your own forums. He also includes all the contact templates that can be used when members break the guidelines. The fact that they are free to use elsewhere is a testament to how useful this book is to anyone working with online communities. I'm sure that everyone from beginner (which is where I fall) to advanced will appreciate the detailed and accurate information that's contained inside.

One day, I'm sure I'll tinker with the idea of creating a forum to run alongside my site, a place where people can come, talk, listen and enjoy, and when that time comes, I know I'll feel much more capable knowing Patrick's book is part of my collection.

Pretty decent but skims in some bits
A very good book for those who are just starting out with online forums but I feel the author is a little overcome with his own style of forum moderating and fails to present enough examples. I particularly found the dealing with problems area weak, particularly dealing with members where it is difficult to decide whether they should stay or go.

It is good if you are starting out but if you have been moderating a forum for 12 months plus, I don't think its worth above a tenner because I would expect you would have discovered or learnt the vast majority of the stuff in the book.

I think it would be better to have a wiki for this type of thing. After all, different forums, have different requirements and different ways of achieving a harmonious result.

Fascinating
I bought this book as I am new to managing an online community for the company I work for in the UK. I found it full of extremely useful information from how to develop your site, to policing it and dealing with difficult members.

The book is easy to read, takes a common-sense approach to it's subject and is not crammed with confusing technical jargon (there's even a glossary at the back - ideal for the technophobes out there!)

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone considering setting up a forum or community site.