Do any of veteran admins out there have a rule of thumb as to when to enlist moderators for forums? I'd also like to know (what if any) the etiquette would be in allowing the first outside person have limited administrative access to your precious site.
Enlist them when you need them. My golf forum with around 6,000 members has 8 moderators. My iPod forum that just passed 1,000 posts and 300 members has 0 mods. It's still new so I have enough time to do everything myself. Plus, I wouldn't want to invite anyone to be a mod until I kind of "got to know" them on the forum.
Vprp has given you very good advice in terms of when and how to choose a moderater. As to ACP access, it should be relative to the functions they need to be able perform and not give them access to critical functions. Also, if you give somebody else any ACP access make sure to back up more frequently than you otherwise would.
Exactly... enlist them only when you need them. No point in having 40 moderators in a dead forum. Makes it look a little silly IMO. This forum got it's first moderator after about 6 months.
I think 2 mods as early as possible is wise as moderators can quickly help the site grow. I would say 1 moderator per 1000 members after 3k members. This of course depends on the maturity level of the site content and members. Some boards needs heavy moderation while others are very laid back.
I'd be looking for users who show an rapport with you and have an active interest in your forum. That will take time to evolve so don't hurry the process.
Agreed... I would look for moderators you get along well with, that's going to be the most important part.