Editor and Admin Guide to Moderation

As an Editor or an Admin, you have great and fearsome powers over ordinary mortal members. Please remember the applicable credo, “With great power comes great responsibility.” It is critical that the ability to moderate, move and delete posts is always done by the book (according to the Terms of Use) and applied fairly to all, no matter who it is. This of course means that Editors and Admin too must also follow the Terms of Use as their posts or comments will be treated the same as everyone else’s.

How to Moderate Posts and Comments

Editors and Admins have the power to moderate discussions when necessary. None of us can be here 24/7 so we should all assist each other in reviewing the latest comments (and posts in Speakers’ Corner) to keep the conversations here from being dragged into the mud.

We have done our best in The Terms of Use to make clear to members what is and isn’t acceptable expression on this site, please make sure you’re very familiar with the limitations since we don’t want to infringe on Freedom of Expression unless it definitely crosses the line.

As detailed in the Terms of Use, if a member is writing comments that are off topic and derailing an ongoing thread (if discussion on the topic has been exhausted or if there is just an occasional OT comment, no action need be taken), any Editor or Admin spotting this may move the comment to the Open Thread post in Speakers’ Corner (create an Open Thread post if a recent one doesn’t already exist).

MOVING AN OFF TOPIC OR DISRUPTIVE COMMENT FROM A THREAD:

1. In your Dashboard, click on Posts and copy the ID number for the latest Open Thread post in the Speakers’ Corner category (or if there is not a recent one, create a new Open Thread post for that day and copy the ID #).

2. Click on Comments, locate the comment you want to move and click the Move link just below it.

3. In the pop up box, enter the ID number of the Open Thread post then click OK. You’re done!

If a member is spamming, using comments to personally attack another member or baiting members just to create a conflict, any Author/Editor/Admin should delete such comments or posts then post a first and last comment asking that member to stop doing so, clearly explaining that you are an official Moderator at the site and that they need to follow the Terms of Use or their comments and posts will go into moderation for a period of time. Also, any comments or posts they made that violated the Terms of Use will be removed.

TO DELETE ABUSIVE COMMENTS :

1. In your Dashboard, click on Comments. Either scroll down to find the comment or type the member’s name in the Search box in the upper right corner to find his comments.

2. When your pointer is over a comment, the options appear. If this is a personal attack or any other hateful comment, click Delete. If it is spam, click Spam.

TURNING ON MODERATION FOR A DISRUPTIVE MEMBER:

1. In your Dashboard, click Comments, type the Member’s name in the “Search Comments Box” and enter. Copy Member’s IP Address.

2. Click on Settings – Discussion then paste the Member’s IP Address into the Comment Moderation box.

3. Click on Users. Select the check box beside the Member’s name, use the “Change role to” pull down box to select “Subscriber”, click “Change”. That’s it!

APPROVING OR DISAPPROVING OF MODERATED COMMENTS

1. When a comment is awaiting moderation, you will see an alert, a red number in a red circle next to the “Comments” menu item (the number is the amount of comments awaiting moderation). Click on “Comments to go to that screen.

2. Comments awaiting moderation are highlighted in the full list, you can review them there or click on the “Pending” link at the top of the screen to see all of and only those comments. Review the comment(s) and if it does not violate the Terms of Use, hover your cursor over the comment to bring up its menu and click “Approve”. If the comment violates the Terms of Use, click “Unapprove”.  Done!

BANNING AS A LAST POSSIBLE OPTION

After having seen the power to ban members not handled appropriately at other sites, we want to strive to avoid banning members unless absolutely necessary. As explained in the Terms of Use, our desired option is to instead use increased periods of moderation on those who continue to try to disrupt the site and show hostility towards other members. The decision to permanently ban any member who continues violating the Terms of Use despite repeated periods of moderation will be discussed among all Authors, Editors and Admin and will require a majority consensus.

One exception is trolls. They are to be banned immediately. Their only purpose is to disrupt a site, spew hatred and goad others into joining them in the gutter. We’re better than that and so are our members. Only Admin are authorized to ban any member (even a troll) so if you see a troll on the site and no Admin is around, use the procedure above to Turn On Moderation for that troll and email Admins to delete that troll.