Sometimes people get fed up. I got fed up and I suppose I grew out of my forum in maturity too. I was wasting my time there, I've been developing my PHP/MySQL skills, what good is it me being there with a bunch of teenagers who scored below average on the UK National IQ test? A lot of them show no appreciation for anything that anyone does.

Basically why should I spend $180 a month running my forum when I'm having no fun with it and I'm just losing money. Even if I was making money it would suck.

I think I proved myself as an administrator well enough in the year I was given the chance to.

You have to be very, very rigorous - from the beginning on!
Only if you have rules and follow them, your members will respect you as an administrator. You must not let them do what they want! Be strict, and kick their ass if they are not behaving well.

For some reason everybody wants to be admin of a huge board with hundreds or even thousands of members. But I think the key to a successful board with a nice atmosphere is a small community And after some time, your members will discover, that your board is the best and they will do everything to be a part of it. Later on your board will be a sleeper and then you can be sure, that dozens of people want to join every day. But don't forget to be strict!

I suppose quality is more important than quantity. Take my board for example: Sure, it's not the biggest German Harry Potter Board, but I think it's definitely one of the best. And I will do everything to keep it that way.

I can't change the way a person is. It's not how they act on the forum, it's just how they are.

Sorry to be blunt, but in this case you have to get rid of them!

I found a bunch of rules on a board and I think they are very useful. Maybe you should use them on your's as well. Remember, it is your board. Nobody has the right to run it down!

############ RULES ############

This forum is for mature people of any age who want to discuss [the topic]. That means that all folks are welcome and that just about any topic is acceptable, but not all folks and not every topic.

Here's what I mean by that. Folks who are not welcome are those who come here just to cause trouble. It is my experience that tolerance of these trolls isn't helpful either to them or to the group, so they will be removed as politely as possible.

Other folks who are not welcome are those who aren't mature in their approach to the subject at hand. That means that there really isn't a place here for discussions of which character is "hot." There are other places online for that kind of discussion, and if those types of discussion are started, they will be politely removed.

Another example of an immature approach to discussing [the topic] is to use a lot of Netspeak. There is no such word as "prolly" except among kids on the Net. There is no such phrase as "N E 1" either. The word "you" has three letters, not one. I think you all know what I'm talking about here. That kind of speech is appropriate in some places and inappropriate in others. This is one of the places where it's inappropriate.

If someone insists on using that kind of immature form of expression, they will be asked politely to change their mode of speech. If they find a mature mode of expression too limiting for their style, they will have to find another forum.

Third, remember that there are people of all faiths, all philosophies, all ethnic groups, all genders and orientations, etc. in this group. If you want to say things which insult or belittle someone else's choices or beliefs, you will need to find another forum to express yourself in. There is no room for intolerance here.

Okay, I think that's it. Play nice, share, gaze in wonder, laugh a lot (even at yourself), and be willing to be wrong and to learn, and we'll do just fine.

Never give up, look at ways to improve your forum and lure more members. There is infinite possibilities.

'lure more members'

I think I lured too many.

None of you have communities that are based around gaming, mainly wrestling gaming. The hooligans come flooding in.

@Salazar: If I got rid of 70% of my active members, the others would leave with a lack of things to post in. I don't like to commit forum suicide.

Nevertheless, I would prefer to kill my board myself and not let the members do this job to make you feel that your forum sucks.

I think the topic you choose has a lot to do with how well your board will run. Wrestling fans are notoriously immature regardless of age. It shouldn't come as much of a shock.

I was just in a bad mood :/