At first glance, you may think the Bulbagarden staff structure is deceptively simpler than it actually is. Well-known among forum-goers, Moderators, Super Moderators, and Administrators are the leaders of the forum, regulating discussion and keeping the peace in the forums. Among these day-to-day duties, Bulbagarden Staff also are involved in many more complex endeavors.
Bulbagarden is run by more than 100 staff members that partake in the organization, maintenance, and moderation of the various sections; these include — but are not limited to — Bulbanews, Bulbapedia, and the Bulbagarden Forums.
Archaic is Bulbagarden’s webmaster, and served as an administrator on the original Bulbagarden.com, which was owned and maintained by Chris Kaleiki, known as Bulbasaur during his time as Bulbagarden’s webmaster. Bulbagarden.com collapsed due to server issues in early 2001, after Kaleiki moved on from the fandom. Archaic adopted the Bulbagarden name and structure, and on January 1, 2003, Bulbagarden was reopened to the public. Today, Archaic remains Bulbagarden’s dedicated webmaster.
Bulbagarden has various leaders in charge of the different parts of the forum. Bulbagarden’s Chief of Staff, evkl, is the general leader of all staff and staff-related procedures. Head Administrator Musashi presides and keeps a close eye on forum-related procedures. Bulbagarden has 3 directors — the Rule Director, Social Director, and Director of User Experience. Evil Figment carefully and painstakingly creates and fine-tunes the Bulbagarden rules, while Satoshi-kun presides over general forum social projects and operations, such as the IRC Chat. Finally, Ghost ensures that user interaction with the Bulbagarden Forums is as efficient and enjoyable as possible, keeping track of what works to make the forum experience enjoyable, and listening to user opinions and suggestions to improve the quality of the community. These jobs lay the foundation for the entire Bulbagarden Forums.
Below them in the hierarchy, there are the administrators, super moderators, and regular moderators. Moderators are denoted by the italicized font in their usernames, and manage their assigned forums; while super moderators are denoted by a bold font and partake in the management of the entire forum. Administrators, who are identified by bold and italicized font in their usernames, are ranked above all moderators and can even modify the settings and the appearance of the forum.
Apart from moderation, our moderators are involved forum projects, such as organizing contests and competitions, the planning and implementation of forums and subforums, and the writing and managing of our many guides and FAQs to ensure forum navigation and use is as easy, intuitive and user-friendly as we can make it.
Aside from forum moderators, Bulbagarden’s staff includes the many staff members behind Bulbapedia, Bulbanews, the Bulbagarden Archives and more. Our staff members also manage various site-wide projects such as National Bulbagraphic, our monthly magazine (which you are currently reading!) and Bulbacast, essentially Pokémon-related discussion which can be listed to at any time. Some of our new or updated projects include the Bulbagarden Mentor Program, which pairs older members with newer members to help our rookies learn the ropes, and revamped Social Groups, which offer members a place to engage in conversation and socialize with one another of similar topics of interest.
I hope you’ve enjoyed some insight into the roles of the Bulbagarden staff. Feel free to contact any of the many staff members if you ever need any help, assistance, or if you’re ever looking for somebody to talk to.
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