# Inactive moderators and administrators
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [July 25, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333 "2012-07-25T13:48:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/1 "2012-07-25T13:48:06Z")
I noticed that one SDMB administrator, [Gaudere](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php), hasn’t logged onto the board since last December. Looking at her posting history, she only made three posts in 2011 and nine in 2010; hardly an active member, let along an administrator.
How long must a SDMB administrator or moderator be inactive before they’re removed from the staff rolls?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/2 "2012-07-25T14:03:36Z")
> [@elmwood](#):
>
> I noticed that one SDMB administrator, [Gaudere](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php), hasn’t logged onto the board since last December. Looking at her posting history, she only made three posts in 2011 and nine in 2010; hardly an active member, let along an administrator.
>
> How long must a SDMB administrator or moderator be inactive before they’re removed from the staff rolls?
There are a lot of responsibilities that don’t involve posting on the message board, I would guess.
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/3 "2012-07-25T14:07:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> There are a lot of responsibilities that don’t involve posting on the message board, I would guess.
Nor logging in?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/4 "2012-07-25T14:09:52Z")
> [@elmwood](#):
>
> Nor logging in?
Just a guess on my part. I’ve never administratored a board.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/5 "2012-07-25T14:11:32Z")
> [@elmwood](#):
>
> Nor logging in?
She might be logging in under “invisible mode”.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/6 "2012-07-25T14:13:08Z")
We don’t have specific rules about that. **Gaudere** hasn’t logged in lately but she does read the board when she’s available. **xash** has also not had a lot of time for the board lately. Some mods and admins are very active here and others aren’t. We don’t drop people from the staff automatically- it’s not like we’re losing money by having “extra” people on the staff.
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### Author:  [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/7 "2012-07-25T14:14:46Z")
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> She might be logging in under “invisible mode”.
The time would still show up under “Last Activity”, even though the dot by their posts might not be green when they’re online.
It’s really impossible to do any kind of message board administration work without logging in.
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### Author:  [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/8 "2012-07-25T14:31:03Z")
Do you have a law named after you? No? Then cut her some slack.
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/9 "2012-07-25T14:50:49Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> There are a lot of responsibilities that don’t involve posting on the message board, I would guess.
Dopers can sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough moderators and administrators stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
🆒
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/10 "2012-07-25T14:57:32Z")
> [@Loach](#):
>
> Do you have a law named after you?
I tried to [sponsor one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15161754&postcount=88), but it went nowhere thanks to overwhelming and unprecedented bipartisan opposition.
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### Author:  [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/11 "2012-07-25T17:48:06Z")
[That law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law) was around way before Gaudere.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/12 "2012-07-25T18:00:47Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#):
>
> [That law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law) was around way before Gaudere.
Interestingly, [some of the cites are not that much older](http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/forums/viewthread/168/P30/) that [the SDMB coinage.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=41684) Of course the concept itself is much older than that.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/13 "2012-07-25T18:22:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> Interestingly, [some of the cites are not that much older](http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/forums/viewthread/168/P30/) that [the SDMB coinage.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=41684) Of course the concept itself is much older than that.
There seems to have been a big spate of “new” discoveries of this law in the nineties, coinciding with the rise of internet posting: Gaudere’s Law, Hartman’s Law, McKean’s Law, Muphrey’s Law, Skitt’s Law, Wilton’s Law, etc
I say we give primary credit to Ambrose Bierce, who identified it back in the days of print.
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### Author:  [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/14 "2012-07-25T19:17:00Z")
It is still possible to read the board without being logged in, which I have on good authority is what’s happening with Gaudere. If she saw something that needed attention she would log in but mostly it’s covered by the time she sees it, our other mods are quite zealous. 🙂
Keep in mind that staffers are volunteers and people give of themselves and their time and energy as they can and as they find appropriate to what else is going on in their lives. Sometimes that amount of participation can vary depending on real-life situations and people are around more when they can do it and less when they have other obligations.
We appreciate all contributions made by our staffers.
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### Author:  [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/15 "2012-07-25T21:43:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> There seems to have been a big spate of “new” discoveries of this law in the nineties, coinciding with the rise of internet posting: Gaudere’s Law, Hartman’s Law, McKean’s Law, Muphrey’s Law, Skitt’s Law, Wilton’s Law, etc
>
> I say we give primary credit to Ambrose Bierce, who identified it back in the days of print.
Thank you. Although I was going by the one dated 1992. Well before this board. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/16 "2012-07-25T22:03:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Muphrey’s Law
Tht’s **Muphry’s Law** , not Muphrey’s.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/17 "2012-07-25T22:34:09Z")
nm
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/18 "2012-07-25T22:50:32Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> nm
Yeah-I almost took the bait, too. 😃
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/19 "2012-07-25T23:10:36Z")
I’ve noticed Gary Wombat hasn’t been around lately, either.
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### Author:  [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inactive-moderators-and-administrators/629333/20 "2012-07-25T23:15:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> We don’t have specific rules about that. **Gaudere** hasn’t logged in lately but she does read the board when she’s available. **xash** has also not had a lot of time for the board lately. Some mods and admins are very active here and others aren’t. We don’t drop people from the staff automatically- it’s not like we’re losing money by having “extra” people on the staff.
Yes, but it changes the “tone” of the board in some undefinable way.
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