Super Moderator Guide

When should you recruit a moderator?

If your forum is subject to frequent spamming, or attracts immature
visitors
Don't ignore it -- it won't go away, and don't think you can handle it all yourself. You'll soon see that people who post inappropriate topics or ads won't stop until they're challenged. And if they see that you're understaffed, they'll take advantage of it.

If your forum receives too many posts for you to read yourself
Again, don't fool yourself with this. When you start to feel overwhelmed by the number of posts that need reviewing, seek help. If you choose not to, then your guidelines will be broken without consequence, and you'll start to wonder why the forum is dying. It's also a great feeling to go on vacation and know that the forum will be well looked after while you're away.

When you feel you need a team to help you take your community to the next level
Ok, let's say you're doing fine with all the criteria above, but your forum isn't growing, and it's starting to get stale. This would be a great opportunity to make changes in the forum. Your members will enjoy the change, as it shows that you're still looking ahead, and that the forum has a future. Recruiting a moderator is a good chance to get advice from someone who's on the "outside". The moderator can supply some fresh ideas to make your forum more exciting and worthwhile for users.

How can you recruit the right moderator?

Research the potential recruit as much as possible
The best thing you can do is to find out everything you can about this person. Play the investigator: view their past topics to see how they handled adversity. Check out their profile and see what information they've included in their bio, what their favorite links are, and any other information that will give you an insight into who they really are.

Make sure you have a decent online friendship
It is a good idea to have a relationship with the potential moderator before you promote them. If you don't already know them, set aside a week to really get to know the member. You may just see a side of the member you don't want showing up in your forum. Having a friendship before you promote them also opens up a lot of communication channels. Otherwise your conversations with the member could seem awkward and almost forceful, or -- even worse -- you could experience long periods with no communication at all.

Read the recruit's posts and see how he or she handles different situations
We've discussed this breifly already, but it really is important to see how your potential recruit reacts to hostile situations. Otherwise, you could blindly recruit a moderator and wind up praying they'll handle confrontations maturely. Also, make sure they're polite, and that they welcome new members, as this shows that they care, and are willing to go the extra mile -- even if they have nothing to gain themselves.

Ask other members what they think of the possible recruit
Indirectly figure out a way to see what others think of the member. View past topics to see if other members follow the recruit and respect him or her. If the other members don't get along with your recruit, then trouble is ahead.

Email the member, ask if they'd like to be a moderator, and analyze
their reply
When you've gone through the above criteria, it's time to ask the member what they think about becoming an official leader in your forum. This could actually be a make or break criteria: many times I've received a reply with little evidence of care or interest. Phrases like "I'll give it a shot", "I'll try", and "If you want me to" are a dead giveaway that this is not the right person for the job. A winning member should show that they are honored, and would really like to help out the forum. Try your best to determine the tone in the message.

How can you control your moderators?

Set up a "Moderators' FAQ" or "Rules" page
This tip will save you lots of time answering the questions your new moderators will inevitably ask. Even if you think your set up is user-friendly, a new moderator will always ask how to edit a message, etc. You need to also create some kind of rules or guidelines page so that your moderators can learn, understand, and practice your theory of forum management. In reality, this means that they'll know when to complete small tasks like deleting, editing, and moving topics. Otherwise you'll let the moderators effectively come up with their own methods, which will create problems in the future.

Email them your expectations
Once you have elected your new moderator, email them a personal welcome letter. Show the moderator a little of your forum management theory and clearly state what you expect from him or her. Make sure it's a casual and fun letter -- you don't want to scare the new moderator away. If you have chat events or a private forum, tell the moderator how they can access these features.

Keep in constant contact with the new moderator
Make sure you're around to answer all the moderator's questions -- trust me, it's worth the hassle in the long run. Soon they will have everything figured out, and you can leave them to their duties. For the first week or so, make sure you closely evaluate how they handle their new responsibilities. Don't assume for a second that they won't abuse some power you've given them. If you think they should have done something differently in
a situation, then coolly email them. Think of this as a training period: the more time you spend on the training period, the less time you'll spend in the future.

Create an exclusive means to communicate with your moderators
One popular way to accomplish this, is through a private forum. I personally like this method, as long as the forum is hidden from other members: otherwise regular members feel they're left out. Creating a private forum is a great way to communicate your experiences to your moderators. They can post questions, ideas, problems and so on. It's also a good way to discuss future plans, and by doing this, your moderators will feel more involved with the site and its future.