I'm doing some consulting work for a non-profit group that's considering adding a message board to their website. One of their concerns is how much staff time it will consume.

I know how much time I spend on my board, but the board is huge and I don't want the hours I spend to scare them off!

So I'm curious how much time others devote to it, and how it varies with the size/amount of traffic the board has.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Erin
http://www.chronicleforums.com

IMO, at least one person should devote at least two 30 minute sessions on the community daily. During this time its important to not only check the board for standards or rule violations but also to respond to posts without any replies or that are otherwise not properly answered. Of course the busier the community the longer that might take.

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Steve
Moderator - UBB™Central's Advanced UBB.classic™ Forum

BowlingFans.com™ | BowlingCommunity.com™
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I agree with that guesstimate...what I've seen is that, like a garden, communities grow more quickly in direct proportion with the amount of time spent giving them TLC.

I have a hobby board that I administer, for a group of around 100 people. The board is less than 1 year old, and I'd say I spend about 30 mins per day checking posts, helping people who can't log in for some reason, or starting topics to get things going.

If it's ongoing, you could also tell them that you'd have a more solid idea of the hours it will take after the first week. You never know the types of users you will be running into.. could be completely different crowds, from newbies to tech gurus!!