Maybe a faux pas to comment on my own post, but here's my rationale:

I've set up a hobby sharing site using Elgg--an amateur astronomy site. What bothers me is that most people join and then do nothing. I get the impression that they sign up, look around, find nothing of value then leave and never come back.  In thinking about it, I've decided that most people are used to the traditional publishing model. They've come to my site expecting to get something without putting anything in. Now, I could publish articles, tips, etc. all on my own. But, I'm not really an authority on the subject, just an interested amateur. Besides, that's not the peer-sharing that the social web is all about.

I think sites like this need a built-in way to let the community to decide who is the authority and what is the key content. And then there needs to be a built in way to get that information in front of the eyes of the rest of the info-consumers on the site.

Figuring out how to attract good content is a huge issue in the growth of a social network.

I think your comments here are very interesting.

I just tried to register for your site but never got the email confirmation.

Could you approve me?

Ah, never mind - after half an hour it arrived in my Yahoo spam folder. I'm in now.

Maybe a faux pas to comment on my own post, but here's my rationale:

I've set up a hobby sharing site using Elgg--an amateur astronomy site. What bothers me is that most people join and then do nothing. I get the impression that they sign up, look around, find nothing of value then leave and never come back.  In thinking about it, I've decided that most people are used to the traditional publishing model. They've come to my site expecting to get something without putting anything in. Now, I could publish articles, tips, etc. all on my own. But, I'm not really an authority on the subject, just an interested amateur. Besides, that's not the peer-sharing that the social web is all about.

I think sites like this need a built-in way to let the community to decide who is the authority and what is the key content. And then there needs to be a built in way to get that information in front of the eyes of the rest of the info-consumers on the site.

Figuring out how to attract good content is a huge issue in the growth of a social network.

I think your comments here are very interesting.

I just tried to register for your site but never got the email confirmation.

Could you approve me?

Ah, never mind - after half an hour it arrived in my Yahoo spam folder. I'm in now.

To me, another advantage of a seperate interface as noted above is the ability to -minimize- that interface. In other words, you can retheme it to JUST show content, in a bald, simple way. No flashy graphics. Rapid loading time means rapid response. If mods have to view the same site as users, they are limited to navigating at the same -speed- as users... which can have certain disadvantages.

Mind, I'm not suggesting levels specifically, per se. You could have a roles system with my suggestion, and name your own "levels" based on saved roles profiles.

But I still think splitting users and managers is wise for security. It works -brilliantly- in MODx.

Ah I see it now Dagorath.

What you need is a better, faster interface for management, which can list / display / edit the content faster and easier. Like better lists, grouping, sorting, filtering, multiple edits, mass operations etc. It's the administration pages. You (we) ideally need more functionality on content, users and system in this section. Like more detailed ajax listings for content, customizable columns, mass find / replace, mass delete etc with multiple selections etc. 

Actually the interface is there, it just needs more functionality which should be invented by addons for their own content. The only difference is, content pages, which normal users can see are not prohibited to management, but this can be achieved with role permissions too. And for graphics & html, we can already use a simpler, lighter theme for management.

and ... what happened with this project  ?? :-) any luck after 800 something days?