[Official] Forum Moderating Guidelines

[Booper Scooper]

Forum Moderating 101

Introduction
hecko! This thread is mainly focused on new moderators who don't really know that much about how to 'Moderate' on the forums. I have made a guideline that goes into basic commands you would use on the forums for the rest of your time being a Moderator and eventually going further. Take this advice from an Admin, if you really want to go further into the staff team (such as going for Senior Mod), you would want to know more things about the forums (and in-game, of course), but the forums is where it's all at (ban appeals, applications, reports, etc). 
 

Basic Command Usage
Let us begin. Let's say you were to want to close a thread, and you don't really know how you would go about it. The first thing you would want to do is go the thread, then you would want to go to the 'Moderation Actions' tab at the top or bottom of the thread itself. 

You would then click the drop-down button and it presents you a list of commands you would want to use. 

In this scenario, you want to LOCK the thread, so you would then click on the 'LOCK' button. (Note: If the thread is closed, then you would see the option to open it. Do not go around opening/closing thread without someone's permission. This can lead to punishments.)

Now, onto MOVING threads. You would click the 'Move' button. Then, you would want to select the destination forum and just check on 'Move'.
Do not leave redirect links unless you feel it's absolutely necessary for players to find the new location.

 

Warnings
To warn a player, you can simply click on their warning level on their profile. 

By doing that, you would be brought to a simple little menu and then you would give your reasons why you are warning a person (Other) or choose one of the predetermined warns and the correct amount of points will be set automatically. 

You can also warn a player for their post. Clicking on a user's profile via the post you want to report them for will issue a warn related to that specific post.

 

Banning

Banning players is a lot different than before. With Invision Forums, bans are permanent and should only be issued by Administrators. As a moderator, you can temporarily suspend a user's account or posting privileges by issuing a custom warn. If a member reaches 10 warn points, they will be suspended for the following 7 days. If they reach 20 warn points, they will be suspended for one month. Use the warn system in the event you need to suspend someone's posting privileges, and if a ban is absolutely necessary, contact an Admin. 

To issue a custom warn, choose the "OTHER" option inside the warns page, and provide a valid reason, and 100 points for a week or 200 points for one month. If you need help with this or not sure how long to suspend a user for, contact an Admin. 
 

Forum Moderating Guideline RULES (DO's and DO NOT's)

DO punish users who break our forum rules. Rules are located here: https://titsrp.com/showthread.php?tid=1847
DO read over the forum guidelines to figure out the punishments you can hand out 
DO contact a senior moderator or higher if you need help with punishing someone on the forums
DO use common sense when moderating on the forums.

DO NOT break our own forum rules. As a moderator, you're teaching the rules and enforcing them. You will be punished if you break a rule.
DO NOT randomly close threads, make sure you actually have an idea of what's going on with the thread before closing it.
DO NOT ban/warn other staff members the same rank as you or higher ranking than you. Tell a higher up before taking matters into your own hands. 
DO NOT ban/warn players for dumb reasons. Ex: "aheur forum warning is cool"
DO NOT delete important threads, such as stickied threads (listed in 'Important Threads') or threads such as the MOTD.
DO NOT close/delete reports/ban appeals on you. Ask a higher up to deal with it.
DO NOT make FORUM ANNOUNCEMENTS. You should have NO REASON to do this as a Moderator.
DO NOT edit a user's profile. You really shouldn't have a reason to do this unless their forum tag is racist or so.
DO NOT over-kill a warn or ban. (Ex: Warning someone for 6 months for 50% for harassment is RIDICULOUS. Don't do it.)

 

Staff Application Commenting Rules (DO's and DO NOT's)

DO comment on staff applications. Commenting on staff applications is one of the main things you do as a moderator on the forums and it is best to give your own opinions as to why you would want someone to be a staff member or not.

DO give a good reason as to why you wouldn't want someone to be staff. Saying "-1 he smells bad" or JUST "-1" will have your post deleted. (This also goes for +1s and Neutrals (+/-), don't just comment a rating. Actually, type so other people can have a good reason to rate their application too. Your opinion is very crucial when accepting/declining staff apps.

DO make sure to check over their gametracker. This logs their activity and we do want to have active ONLY staff members on the team. Our gametracker is located here: https://www.gametracker.com/server_info/208.103.169.23:27015/ (Just scroll down and click the button that says "VIEW ALL PLAYERS AND STATS". PS: Their gametracker goes by STEAM NAME so put in their current steam name.)

DO deny moderator applications where a user does not have the right amount of hours to be able to apply.

DO NOT bandwagon. If you have your own opinion, then please do put it on the application. If someone starts yelling at you for putting your own opinion or so then they will be talked to.

DO NOT be bias. +1ing your friend just because you are friends with them is NOT okay. 

DO NOT accept moderator applications. As a moderator, you cannot promote them. The higher ups will tend to that.

DO NOT deny moderator applications that seem bad to you. Just put your response to their application.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by F___
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