My perspective from moderating and even administrating forums -
it's a lot of hard work, requiring more skills than many members realize, so I will elaborate.
The geek stuff: knowing the MySQL database, HTML, javascript, getting upgrades/fixes done quickly. You really have to have your ducks in a row. I'm sure Ian is doing all this himself.
The ads: Do you expect anyone to not only donate all their free time, AND spend hundreds of dollars to keep the site up? So put up with the ads. And thank the supporters. I laugh at people that don't understand Google ads....it will put
anything you mention frequently, including the Jets!
The people aspect: Only a tiny fraction of 1% of forums thrive....5% or less of the members make 95% of the posts.
The most critical factor in a forum is the core group of members keep it active and interesting. Unless enough members post daily, and a few assist as moderators, the forum will turn into a ghost town. Since it does not happen that often, the core members deserve a hand!
Moderation: There are styles ranging from control freaks to anything goes - both extremes are bad. It helps a lot when members resist spammers, trollers, and serial flamers. As a forum grows, it helps to know the members will become more diverse....agree to disagree - except the core topic: Go Patriots!
There will be a few members that fail to see this enormous labor of love and banter the staff satisfy them 100%...they need to invest their time and money and see how easy it is to do what Ian and the PF staff does.
Fifteen years with a very active site of 7600 individuals a day - that's another type of championship!
