Well, seeing as we have staff hiring happening here at RPGD, I thought maybe some of you might like to know what's actually involved in some of the jobs. Reading through the applications, there's a lot of mentioning of how much we love RPGD (obviously, RPGD is love) but some confusion over what it actually takes to be a directory moderator, or community moderator... so... here's your chance to ask questions, and perhaps find out a bit about what we do as a whole.

Who I am, what I do: I'm Mousie, I'm 22 - and Australian. In addition to running Tally, for the past year (I think?) I've been a bit of a multi-moderator. My primary job is Directory Moderator, but I also dabble in Challenges (writing, graphics and Forum of the Week). I'm the moderator of the Harry Potter section of the directory.

What does it take to do my job?: Severe dedication. The directory needs cleaning out every few months or so, which means going through every single posted topic and trashing any boards that have gone inactive, deleted, are missing buttons. We also adjust those bright coloured blobs, so you know how active forums are when you look down the topics list. Outside of that, there's the forum directory submissions to keep up with - which involves looking through the sites submitted, checking to see that everything is in place - RPGD's button, skin credits, that the person who posted is the head administrator or a global moderaor, and that the person submitting has used the correct form and filled it out properly.

RPGD gets new submissions to the directory almost every day, so it's a big job! Occasionally it backs up, and the staff will have to halt submissions until we can catch up. We don't like doing this - and with a dedicated and active Directory team, we shouldn't have to.

What about support?: As we technically don't have a support team yet, I'll talk a little bit about what we have planned for that. I'll be managing the support team once the new directory team is in place (Mousie.. leave directory? Sad but true.). The Support team will be in charge of documentation submissions, support topics and the board analysis forum.

It's going to be the role of the support team to ensure that every forum that requests an analysis gets one, and that every effort is made to help solve support issues in the Help Me! forum.

So, what will it take to be in Support?: Again, dedication is a huge plus. We're looking for people with special skills, whether that is in skinning, or just general forum management, those who have written documentations are strongly encouraged to apply - as are those who have experience running very successful boards. As a member of the support team, you will be required to assist in reviewing boards, as well as sorting questions in the Help Me! forum, to make them easier to answer.

Benefits of being staff?: Look, there's plenty - and if you're willing to make the effort to do your job properly, you really can get a lot out of being staff here. It's definitely more than a change in username colour, and respect from the members - contributing to the community on a level like this is really it's own reward. I, for one, love checking out the forums that go into Forum of the Week, and it's pretty exciting for me to see the votes go up each week, and try and guess who this week's winner will be.

... well, that's all I can think of to post right now. Other staff, feel free to have your say -- we're yet to hear from Community, and Graphics is a bit of a shambles but anyone who wants to speak up for them is welcome! XD

Feel free to ask questions. This is your chance to be clear about what you're applying for (for those applying) or just to satisfy your curiosity (for those who aren't).

I am tempted to apply, since Shinli says you guys still want people for the support team - however I am wondering just how much I could bring to that role. Since I am married (well, as good as), in University and have two boards I run I am curious as to just how much this job would require and how flexible the role could be. I am on here almost every day and I always always always give lots of notice for exams and other LOA's. I cannot skin or code at all, graphics are my bane so I guess what drew me to this role was giving advice on running a board (NR is pretty well established and I have experience modding and adminning elsewhere) in forums like "Managing your RPG" and perhaps writing documentations and helping file the current ones away (I am a bit of a clean freak and like organising topics in forums :p).

I suppose I am just wondering if you think its worth me applying at all, if you would have a use for me on the support team (since you'll be team leader Mousie, I am guessing you'll have a hand in who gets hired. :p )

My aim is to have the support team as more than just coding and skinning support, so yes - there would definitely be room on the team for even someone who wasn't specifically a graphics or skinning specialist. In order to give all-round support, we do need those who understand the workings of a good community, and can advise others.

I guess what you have to ask yourself, is: are you prepared to come online, and do board analysis? That's mostly where we would use you, as well as the administrative tasks, sorting topics and keeping things neat. If you're prepared to write the odd documentation, then I definitely encourage applying. Obviously, I can't say whether or not you'll be hired, as that's a decision the staff come to as a whole, but if you believe you can put in the effort to regularly critique boards and help keep things tidy - definitely apply.

Hm, I think I'll leave it for now since I am gonna be really busy for the next month or so and ShinLi needs people now. If you are still looking for people for the support team in a months time then I will definitely apply.

Thanks for the help/advice Mousie. :D

Hey guys, I'm Emma.

What I do: Well, as Community Manager I pretty much handle stuff when ShinLi can't, or if she needs another pair of hands. I get around the community and try to make myself known to people if I can (which is difficult at the moment due to time issues!). I moderate all of the forums on the board, with an emphasis on the discussion forums like MyB, Roleplay Talk and RPGD Lounging. If there's anyone stepping out of line, I'm usually the first to talk to them about it, and other staff refer any difficulties with members to me if they need help.

I dabble in most things occasionally, although I tend to avoid the Directory as the list of things that need to be done just to process one advert is huge! (You guys should really appreciate the Directory Mods.) I also have Admin CP so I deal with name changes, banning, validation, changing of the sidebar and anything else that's needed.

As manager, I'm in charge of the other community mods (woop woop!). That doesn't mean I boss them around, it means that any time they need help I'm the person they come to (unless ShinLi is handy, of course) and if they have an altercation with a member, it gets reported to me so I can sort it out. It also means that I get to poke them on occasion to make sure they're doing their jobs xD

What is needed for my job: A lot of time. Doing the daily rounds of RPG-D is very time-consuming (I spend at least 4 hours a day on RPG-D without idling) and very often I have to read through threads I really have no interest in. That's not to say I don't enjoy it - if I didn't I wouldn't do it. I have to make sure I get on every day, even if I don't have any time, because I get a lot of PMs from members who need something, or have a beef with me or another member.

I also need tact, sense and patience - none of which come naturally to me xD I'm pretty sure I'm the staff member who has had the most complaints about them and that's no doubt because of my personality, but it's also because I'm usually the one to step into situations that require careful handling. Sometimes I screw up big time, because I'm only an 18 year old girl with a lot of the world to see yet. And often doing my job involves swallowing my opinions and the words I want to say in order to achieve a compromise that works for everyone involved.

What I don't do: Come up with ideas. I'd love to, but I'm awful at it. All those beautiful and innovative ideas for new things that pop up here come from the other staff and I will never pretend to take credit for them. My talents lie in very different directions.

And I don't tell ShinLi what to do (though I do give her advice ^^).

...that's about it!

Can I improve? Oh yes I can. I love constructive criticism on what I do, especially as I can get lost sometimes (as my job isn't quite as clear-cut as the directory mods'). As the title suggests, I'm here to serve this community by interacting with you all, so any help I can get in doing that effectively would be much appreciated.

Benefits of my job: The absolute best part about being Community Manager at RPG-D is that I get to help this awesome place continue running, growing and proving that it's the best place on the Internet. It was my dedication to RPG-D that got me a staff job in the first place and it hasn't diminished over the year I've been a mod.

The other perks are getting to jump into the Admin CP, bum around in the staff lounge, tell people what to do (we all have to admit that is a definite plus of being in charge) and get to know some truly wonderful people more closely. I get my voice heard in decisions that you guys don't, I get the password to the Twitter account, mod powers in the Cbox and my name is a pretty colour!

And I get to see the new skin before you do ;)

Well, Mousie pretty much nailed it on the head when describing the responsibilities of a directory mod, so I'll keep my post short and sweet. :]

Who I am, what I do: I'm Nda. I'm 21, a full-time Graphic Design student living in metropolitan Minnesota. When I was hired last summer, I was brought on board as a directory moderator, and my main job was to sort the incoming ads and help clean out the directory. I was recently promoted to Directory Manager, so now I'll be helping out the mods with their questions and making sure they're active, organizing directory sweeps/checks, helping with the sorting/checking when needed, and taking care of different matters that may arise.

What does it take to do my job?: As Mousie stated, working with the directory takes severe dedication. Not only keeping up with the continuous flow of incoming submissions, but answering questions that applicants may have or making sure that each submission is correctly filled out and completed. As for checking the directory, we go through every single ad to check the activity and make sure our button is still up. We also update each subboard index and delete the threads of inactive boards. To do all of this takes a lot of time, so having that is important with this position.

Benefits of my job: I get to see all of the new boards launch! I love going through the new ads and checking out the awesome ideas and plots that members have thought up. Of course, Directory Mods also have access to the staff board, elite board, and directory mod's board. :] The benefits of being the directory manager is that I get to not only help the new staffers, but be close enough to both the admin and the mods. It's a nice little happy medium. :3

So if there are any questions about the directory or submitting an ad, they can be pm'd to me. :] I'm also thrilled to be bringing new staff on board! It'll be a lot of fun. ^-^

Alrighty, I'll put forth a question I guess! <3

I've applied and I worked on other boards in the past. Some of the key issues seemed to always be a lack of dedication and of course communication! How do you handle keeping everyone on the same page and things organized? Weekly meetings, a to do list? Do you feel like you know all of your fellow staff members very well? What is the trick? ;]

Also, can you give us any hints as to what you guys have on deck for the board? What projects can potential applicants look forward to working on, or is that a big TOP SECRET master plan? XD

Thanks guys, it's great to get a better look at what you do and who you all are. I feel like you should be asking the questions!

Communication is probably what we're best at. Especially for the directory mods, it's important to make sure that everyone knows where everyone else is checking, so there's a special 'directory mods' forum for those guys to keep each other updated. Recently, Nda and I did a complete check of the entire directory - sorting out the inactive boards, and because we did it as a team of two, rather than a full team, it meant checking sections outside of our normal area. So we had a topic claiming and confirming that we'd done bits of the directory as we went.

I plan to have the same sort of organisation for the support team, because yes - their job will be a little big, and easy to get lost in. When I was hired as a directory mod, however, one of the first things we discussed was who was going to do what - and what sections of the directory we each preferred to look at, this is a job - but there's no need to feel you won't get your say in some of what you want to do.

Do I feel like I know all of the other staff members very well? I'd say yes, I mean - as with all groups, there are people I know better, and people I don't know so well.. but it all comes down to who's online when I am. As you all know by now, we have the Elite and Staff lounges, and while the Staff Lounge tends to be for mostly work-related stuff, the Elite Lounge has become sort of a place for us to unwind, joke around and not have to worry about the world exploding around us.

So I guess we get to know the other staff, and of course, the Elites very well. And we must be pretty nice, I mean -- look at how many Elites applied! It should probably be said that a lot of the new ideas for RPGD also go through the Elites, as well as the staff - so if being staff isn't your overall idea of fun, behaving nice, helping others, contributing to the community and making postee will eventually get you into the Elite's lounge. XD

As for what we have planned for the forum, wellll... I think the biggest change will be the addition of the support team, which obviously, we had to let out for applications, but outside of that, we're not telling. In fact, we've got a few things coming that only a few of us have seen... I'm afraid you'll have to hold your horses for all that. :D

Another perk of being staff: Teasing with the good stuff. You'll be surprised though, and pleasantly, I hope..

We don't really do anything to ensure dedication, I don't think. If you paid attention, our staff list has decreased as people have lost interest or been unable to continue with their jobs and there's nothing we can do about that. Turnover is quite high when you are in a job you don't get paid for :p

But a few of us have been around for a while now and I don't think we'll be leaving for a while. It's every person's decision to be dedicated or not - but the great atmosphere and relationship between the staffies no doubt helps!

We do communicate well, I think. We're always chatting in the staff lounge or elite forum and we all have each others' IM addresses. I think part of it is that we all trust each other so if there are any issues we aren't afraid to hit each other up about it.

And Mousie already told you how the Directory works :p

*waves* HI! I have applied as community mod! ^^ I have a question or two, but I think I have the gist of the responsibilities of being Community Mod, it seems similar to being an admin to an RP.

Question 1) How do you decide JUST when someone has stepped out of bounds when it comes to their tone or attitude? I mean, it usually irks me when people are unnecessarily harsh, snarky, crude, etc, but what makes you stop and step in?

Question 2) When people get disgruntled, things can escalate quickly. What do you do when it's not exactly rule breaking, but no one cools off. Do you lock the thread or give the benefit of the doubt?

Question 3) Do you have to be Graphics Staff to make site graphics? ^_^

That's it for now. ^^