# What's the difference between Admins and Mods? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 31, 2000, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136 "2000-10-31T20:32:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/1 "2000-10-31T20:32:23Z")
I know that certain people on this board (TubaDiva, CKDextHavn, Lynn Bodoni, Ed Zotti, etc.) are administrators, while others (David B, manhattan, slythe, UncleBeer, etc.) are moderators. Obviously, one diffence would be that the admins are responsible for the day-to-day running of the boards (while the mods are only content-responsible). My question, however, is this: What “powers” do the admins have on this board, that the moderators do not? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Poirot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@Poirot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poirot)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/2 "2000-10-31T20:43:45Z")
Oddly enough, I think Mods are volunteers, and can do everything on this list at the bottom of the page. Admin (sic) Options: Open / Close Thread Move Thread Delete Thread Edit Thread The actual Admins are employees of the Chicago Reader and can do those things plus the unnamed ones which require access to the machine directories, rather than just the vB software. This would include: - Making a thread into an Announcement thread - Changing a user’s name - Changing status - no posting, banning, and the undoing of those. - Fixing bugs like not getting emails when your thread is answered. - And ultimately, getting a vote on which changes get made, like new forums or disabling the Membership feature. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/3 "2000-10-31T22:00:52Z")
You’re right, except that administrators are also volunteers. And so are members of the Straight Dope Science and Advisory Board (SDSAB). Ed (and of course, Cecil) are Reader staff. None of the rest of us, though. It’s not all awful, volunteers do get a nice coffee mug. your humble TubaDiva Administrator [Edited by TubaDiva on 10-31-2000 at 04:03 PM] ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2000, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/4 "2000-10-31T23:27:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TubaDiva \* > \*\*You’re right, except that administrators are also volunteers. > > And so are members of the Straight Dope Science and Advisory Board (SDSAB). > > Ed (and of course, Cecil) are Reader staff. None of the rest of us, though. > > It’s not all awful, volunteers do get a nice coffee mug. > > your humble TubaDiva > Administrator > [Edited by TubaDiva on 10-31-2000 at 04:03 PM] \*\* Thank you **TubaDiva**. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2000, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/5 "2000-11-01T00:23:24Z")
Well, they’re not being entirely accurate. The “Moderator” was the first moderation program, but it quickly proved to have many bugs in the operation. They were replaced by the “Moderator Mark II”, also known as “Administrator”, which took over the major functions of the board. The Mark I’s were demoted to the more grueling tasks of the SDMB. Pretty soon (estimated sometime in the first quarter of 2001), the “Moderator Mark III” will be released, and the Administrators will be demoted, while the Moderators will be scrapped entirely. The Mark III will eliminate such flaws as the need for sleep, food, or drink, plus it’ll fix program glitches like “having a life”, “emotion”, and the desire for chocolate. And this entire post is pure fiction, too 😃 (Tuba’s gonna kill me one of these days). ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2000, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/6 "2000-11-01T01:18:41Z")
Just to amplify on **SPOOFE** ’s elegant summary of the situation, the beta version of Moderator Mark III _has_ been released and is currently operating in the Pit under the name “John Corrado.” It’s been a good field test so far, and ModIII seems to be doing a good job of integrating the previous version’s “Bloomberg” and “Beer” subroutines. Whether it will be able to fully integrate the “Tuba v6.0” and “Cecil” addons remains to be seen, but the prognosis is positive. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2000, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/7 "2000-11-01T05:17:16Z")
They still have to work out the “crawling in bed with Satan” bug, though. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2000, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/8 "2000-11-01T08:16:08Z")
Actually, that’s the bug that’s been screwing up the whole program this whole time. The ModIII would have been out by now if not for the CIBWS glitch. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/9 "2000-11-02T20:14:04Z")
Well, we’re never be phased out completely… We’re freeware, and NO free program ever dissapears. We’ll just end up running on ten-year old machines with a fraction of the power and double-digit baud modems 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2000, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/10 "2000-11-02T23:19:20Z")
I don’t understand why we have to be replaced at all. I, for one, am in perfectly good condition _bzzzzt_ condition \*bzzzzt \*condition _bzzzzt_ condition _bzzzzt_… ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/11 "2000-11-03T01:44:29Z")
The Mods were the guys who rode the scooters in _Quadrophenia_, and the Admins were the guys who rode the motorcycles. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-admins-and-mods/39136/12 "2000-11-03T02:35:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by waterj2 \* > They still have to work out the “crawling in bed with Satan” bug, though. That’s not a bug. That’s a _feature_.