How many moderators do you have? Compare by posts or by members?

Do you base your number of moderators on anything? By number of registered members, or by number of posts? Just "when you need more?"

I am about to start sending "gifts" to mods annually, and I don't want to reward the inactive mods the same as the active/dedicated ones. So I started wondering how many mods other folks maintain compared to site sizes.

I have a feeling there's no rule of thumb, so maybe you can reply with the following ratios and we can see if there's a pattern:

For your forum--
Number of moderators:
Number of posts: [posts/mods]
Number of Members: [members/mods]

 

I once heard an old rule of thumb that a forum moderator could reasonable be expected to moderate around 200 posts a day, or the number of moderators should roughly equal the number of daily posts divided by 200.

Certainly not a hard and fast rule, the number varies depending on the moderators,the niche and the amount of moderation that is generally needed. For example, I would imagine a webmaster forum would require a bit more moderation, than a multiple-sclerosis support forum, for example.

 

There is no exact parameter. I have seen forums with 10,000-1 (like this one) and some that do 10-1 or 100-1. Your best option is to add moderators when you feel it's right to do so. I think to prematurely add moderators without a good reasons is potentially harmful.

 

There is none, but i use my own:

When im pulling my hair out it's time for a new moderator.

You will generally know when you need another.

 

Ya, it is usually pretty clear when you need additional moderation.. If you are uncertain, your member base will usually let you know in the form of complaints about the lack of moderation.

 

Do you want administrators and/or local mods included too?

 

if your forum become popular, it must hire some mods to keep the quality of threads.

 

sometimes i give some member mod status to tie them up to the community!

 

it's danger! not recommend to anyone!
for experiential forum owners like you only.

 

I have 2 - me and some guy. He has limited acces, just banning members via the Warning System
I take care fo the rest

 

I don't think moderator status necessarily has to be linked to total posts or members. I just judge on how much the forum needs moderators. If there is a lot of spam, then more should be added. If not, then there's not really much need for other moderators.