Forum Moderation Guidelines

[Aeolus]

Hi Team, Justin's thread, while still pretty accurate, was getting sort of old.... so it’s time for an update of the guidelines on how to moderate the forums. Please read these over and post any questions/concerns. I confess, I wrote this rather hastily, so if someone has something they'd like to add or if I missed something obvious, please post it here.
__________________________________________________ _____________________________

Your role as a moderator is to maintain the quality of the forums. This is accomplished in two ways, both of which must be given attention.

1) Eliminate sub-par posting by either locking or deleting poorly made threads.

2) Encourage good posting and help cultivate new contributors. Leading by example and offering constructive criticism are the best ways to do this. We are not looking to make enemies here… if someone is trying to contribute but is falling short, help them.

General Things:

• TDC is reserved for funny/idiotic threads
• Don’t leave redirects unless it is absolutely necessary to do so… 24 hours is the max.
• When in doubt, ask in #insidescoop. There are always situations that fall in that grey area. Not every decision needs to be made by a committee, but the resource is there if you need it. However, if you are unsure about whether or not a thread should be closed/deleted, etc… a good rule of thumb is to just leave it alone. In other words, don’t be trigger happy.
• Chill. There will always be differences of opinion… even (especially?) among the staff. Let’s not take ourselves too seriously and lose sight of the goal which is providing a fun community, as well as a wealth of information, for our users.

When it becomes necessary to discipline a user, infractions are your tool of choice. Here are a few guidelines on how to utilize them effectively.

• Infract every time a user breaks a rule; it is important that we be consistent in this area. The flip side of this is that you must not infract someone if they do not break a rule. There are going to be plenty of poor quality threads that will deserve to be locked, deleted or moved to TDC… but do not hit that infraction button unless you can reference a rule violation. Instead, post in the thread, in a non-inflammatory manner, explaining why it is unacceptable. Be constructive rather than making a fool out of someone who's made a mistake. This isn’t about removing your discretion as a moderator; it is about making sure you use it within the framework of the rules which is the only way to ensure fairness. We aren’t looking to make enemies, we want contributors.
• If you want to warn a user, give a 1 point “Lurk More” or “Read the Rules” infraction. No user should receive more than one of those. Check their profile to see if they’ve been given a warning before infracting.
• Infraction messages should be explanatory, not disparaging. “MORON!” “DON’T DO THIS!” would be examples of bad infraction messages. I know it takes a bit more effort to actually explain… but that is your job. There are several boilerplate messages that are available to you that will hopefully make life easier.
• Do not infract people in Firebot; edit their posts to be more entertaining. If that is not up your alley (it usually isn’t up mine) just delete bad posts. If you notice someone habitually ruins otherwise good threads in Firebot, submit their name to have their access revoked.
• The infraction system is not to be bypassed to ban users. Obvious exceptions include advertising violations, spam attacks, etc. If someone is rubbing you the wrong way, it is because they are a bad poster. Infract their rule-breaking posts as you go along and it won’t be an issue. Administrators are exempt from this restriction.
• Profile infractions are to be reserved for non-posting related violations. Examples would include an oversized signature or perhaps the registration of multiple accounts… but there are plenty of things that might fit.

Thanks! Please post thoughts!

[Misty**]

On the multiple accounts thing - my usual response is to outright ban the alt and warn them in the ban message. If they register another alt, both accounts are banned. There is absolutely no good reason to register a second account.

[Aeolus]

Exactly. I think the profile infraction on the main account will help us keep track of which users have tried to register the second account.

[chaos**]

I'd rather you just go ahead and delete the alt (of course infractioning the original account); I think if they notice the account is missing they will get the point or register yet another account and message someone higher up complaining about their deleted account, in which you smack them.

The reason for this is because currently the system makes it hard for people who are banned to reregister and stuff. This will probably change in the future as long time banned people are figuring out how to get around it.

[Kumar]

read.

[Mekkah**]

I might come up with stuff to add/ask later. For now, read.

[Carl]

ya

[david stone]

Guess I haven't posted here. Read.

[Steelicks]

i assume the likes of pokemaster forever and ggfan are still auto ban?

[Misty**]

obviously lol

[Jumpman16**]

these are good rules

[gene]

read

[Roy]

read

[Synre]

read this a while ago but didnt post so uh

read