Moderating Policies

[PlaymoFriends Moderating Policies]

PlaymoFriends Moderating Policies Responding to Inappropriate Posts or Behaviour If a member violates the rules or guidelines, there are several options at the Moderator's disposal. It is important that they give a sense of due process by starting with the lightest sanction they feel comfortable with, and if necessary, escalating methodically. They must remember to give clear warnings, to allow for honest mistakes, and to use the action appropriate to the nature of the violation. · For a less serious violation, a Moderator will notify the person privately via e-mail or PM and explain how their behaviour or post is not within the forum guidelines, and also request that further responses of that nature not be entered. They may ask them to modify or delete part of their post if it will help retain harmony within the forum. We much prefer that situations are handled in private if at all possible, rather than by posting in the public topic itself. If the member refuses to comply with the Moderator's request, they will be issued with a formal warning and have their post amended for them. · If a Moderator is unsure exactly what course of action to take, but senses that quick removal of a post might prevent a more serious situation developing, they may temporarily split the post and move it to the Mod board. They will then send an e-mail or PM informing the poster that it has been moved and the reason why. All the Moderators can then discuss as a group whether any further action should be taken, and the post can be modified if required and restored to the original topic. · If a post is in direct and complete opposition to site policies, it will be removed permanently using the delete button. This is a serious matter and action of this sort will only be used in critical situations. If the poster has not kept a copy of his post, the Moderator may be destroying his/her only copy of the words in question. In certain situations, a Moderator might decide to e-mail the words back to the poster, including a reason why they were removed, as a firm but respectful solution to this dilemma. If the post was the first in the topic, then deleting the post may result in the removal of the entire topic. For this reason, Moderators will usually take the safer option in this situation by splitting the post and moving it out of the public view. Warnings and Suspensions · Unofficial Cautioning - From time to time the staff may send personal messages to members, cautioning them about a post that could potentially lead to problems even though no guidelines have been broken. These messages are not official warnings and will not be a mark on a member’s 'record' in regards to determining suspensions. · Warnings - Official warnings will be sent whenever a poster has violated a distinct guideline. These messages or public posts will be clearly labelled as an official warning. Three official warnings in a six month period will result in 30 days suspension from PlaymoFriends. The final official warning will clearly state that one more violation will result in a suspension. Editing Posts Posts can and will be edited if they contain words which might be deemed offensive by people of certain cultures. As per the Forum Tips page, members are expected to show good posting behaviour at all times. This includes intelligent use of the subject line. Topic titles such as "Wow," "Check this out," or "OMG" can be irritating and time-wasting for people browsing the index pages. Moderators have the right to edit subject lines which are not informative enough and will do so in order to make them clearer. Deleting Posts Posts can and will be deleted if they breach any of the rules outlined in the Member Guidelines (see items #6 and #7, in particular). Homophobic, xenophobic or racist posts will not be tolerated, nor will posts containing sexual content, whether they are direct comments or innuendo. Deleting Topics Topics can be deleted when they fall into one of the following categories: · Pointless - the topic contributes no value at all to the forum · Crosspost - the topic was posted to more than one forum · Flame baiting - the goal of the thread is to flame or start a fight · Duplicate - there is already a topic the same or very similar · Spam - the topic was advertising for a business or was thinly disguised market research · Oscene or Pornographic - the topic contains anything that is unacceptable for young children to view Topics which do not fall exactly into one of the above categories, but are deemed inappropriate due to their content or nature, can also be deleted. Locking Topics Topics can be locked under any of the following circumstances: · Off topic - discussion is going off topic, but mostly contains useful information and can not be split to form a new topic · Flaming - the topic is turning into a flame war or is showing distinct signs of degenerating · FAQ topic - the topic contains answers to frequently asked questions, which do not require further discussion Topics which do not fall exactly into one of the above categories, but are deemed to have reached the end of their useful life, may also be locked. In cases where the reason for closure is not immediately obvious, a Moderator will normally post a final message explaining the closure. Moving Topics Moderators have the ability to move topics if they think they have been posted in an incorrect area of the forum. If the topic is not obviously misplaced, but might be better suited in a different board, the Moderator may approach the poster first and discuss why they think the topic should be moved before they move it. Splitting Topics If a topic has wandered a long way from the original subject, a Moderator may decided to split the off-topic posts and use them to create a new topic. This action can be beneficial on 2 levels - it can prevent the topic starter from getting frustrated at reading so many posts unrelated to their original subject of discussion, and it can allow other members (who have overlooked it because it was 'hidden' within another entirely different topic) a chance to take part in the discussion too. Whenever possible, the Moderator responsible should personally notify the original topic starter about the split, rather than simply rely on the forum's notification system. They should also leave a link in the original topic, directing members to the new one which has been created.