How competent in coding should a community admin be?

I can see where some basic understanding would be a good thing. But as for it being a necessity, I just don't see it. As for myself, I'm on the "learn as I go" plan.

I think the forum software devs like having prospective customers see a technical background is not necessary.

Well, that's a yes, no?

You know my opinion, you need the knowledge, yourself or people who take care of it for you. Perhaps I see the word "Administrator" in a more technical way than you do. Maybe this is the cause for the misunderstanding in the other thread. If you had asked Community "Manager" I would have said, no.

Hatsu, walk into a hospital and ask to see the administrator. I can promise you he or she will not be in the wards emptying bedpans or in the surgical suites, conducting operations. He will be managing the day-to-day business affairs of the hospital.

Administrator = manager.

They should be able to do everything from work a browser to recompile languages on the server, naturally.

Realistically, they should at least know the basics of HTML, and maintaining the software (such as doing upgrades for forum software and whatnot). Other stuff is just makes things easier.

Even if you cannot code to save your life, I think you should have the ability to look at code and have some idea of what it's doing. The ability to edit your templates is also a must, IMHO.

Other than that if your comfortable hiring out the technical stuff then you should be good at managing.

Suppose this is my language barrier.

I don't do any of the coding on my site. I hire out for that. I don't do any of the server stuff, I hire out for that. I mainly manage my community, research SEO and see what I need to do or what I need the site to have in order for people to find relevant content in search engines, I manage people, and I manage the roadmap for the site. I feel too many site admins are stuck in the technical aspect of the site and not the community aspect. That's where I see a lot of communities failing. You don't need to know any technical stuff in order to have a successful site, just need to know how to make the community happy, how to bring attention to good content, and how to get that content found by others on the internet. You can pretty much outsource the rest of the stuff.

But...I do know how to install and upgrade software. I do know basic html and some css. Best of all, I know how to Google if I don't know how to do something

Azzid, I think you hit the nail on the thumb.

You need to be able to manage people well, because the fastest-running and best-looking forum in the world is going to be a loser if you cannot successfully deal with the people who use it.

No.

My co-owner and co-admin couldn't code a pea.

What she CAN do though, is make the right decisions for the operational wellbeing of the site, which is something *I* cannot do.

I do the coding stuff, she does the operational stuff. If I had been left to the operational stuff, my site would have closed in 2002.

A bit understanding in coding will help a lot but not necessary. Necessity for being a good admin is to see beyond the obvious and think ahead of time and plan accrodingly.

I can handle all of the HTML/CSS and server stuff (I'm a professional network admin, design is just a hobby).

I can program, though I prefer not to because its boring, so I usually get Onimua or someone else to handle it.

I think the admin should at least know their stuff Maybe not so much as to develop their own forum software but know enough to be able to break out the code and edit it to fix errors, add modifications that require editing and so on.

I hate coding with a passion. I can do it, but I'll avoid it like the plague and delve into the bowels of the core software only if I absolutely have to. This is one of the reasons why I was so overjoyed when vB went to a plug-in type system where all you had to do was upload a few files and the forum software took care of the rest of it. It's a pity that the product has.. well.. Let's say I don't use it any longer.

I remember the bad ol' days of vB 2 and 3 where I was coding and tweaking for days after an update. Hated it.

Should an admin know how to code? Nope. But they SHOULD have the rudimentary stuff down pat. Like directory structures and FTP.

I agree with many others here. While it's beneficial to have at least the basic down, it's definitely not a necessity.

I can break codes without even trying does that count? lol. I can do the basic stuff like install, upgrade, install plugins that need modifications of code. I know my way around the skin/template system mostly. Anything else, well..... google is my best friend. I got the code for a brilliant signature seperator off google .

My biggest client runs a VERY important forum and doesn't know HTML. He does have some SEO knowledge (well, more than 'some') since he was passionate about the topic, but for everything else he's having people to work with him. You need to RUN a business, not to all the work yourself. As long as you know how to hire the best people for your business, you can work at actually running the show and making the money