A Proposed Moderation Framework
To keep this community welcoming, fair, and fun, we use a transparent moderation framework. Here’s how it works:
1. Expectations
- Everyone is expected to follow the community guidelines.
- Moderation exists to keep discussions healthy, not to police every minor disagreement.
- Our goal is to nudge people back on track before things escalate.
- If a rule is broken, moderators may issue an informal note (a reminder in the thread or via private message).
- For repeated or more serious issues, a formal warning may be applied. Warnings are recorded on your account but are not punishments by themselves.
- A formal warning is a clear signal that your behavior has crossed a line.
- Warnings stay attached to your account for moderators to reference, so repeated issues can be tracked over time.
- Formal warnings always include an explanation: what happened, which guideline was broken, and what you can do differently next time.
- If behavior continues after warnings, further action may be taken: temporary restrictions, suspensions, or in rare cases, bans.
- Escalation depends on the severity and frequency of the behavior, not on an arbitrary “three strikes.”
- Each case is reviewed individually to balance fairness with consistency.
- Members will always be told when action is taken on their account.
- Moderators aim to explain what happened and how to avoid issues going forward.
- Serious decisions may be discussed among multiple staff to avoid bias.
- Moderation discussions will be public, in a dedicated forum; all members are welcome to view, trusted members (I will link to more info on this later) will be allowed to voice opinions via replies to those threads.
- Moderators reserve the right to have private conversations on any topic via private message.
- The purpose of moderation is to protect the community—not to punish individuals.
- If you feel moderation was unfair, you can appeal by contacting staff directly.
This is an outline of what we would like to implement, but it's open to debate for now, which is why it is in the Suggestions forum. Please feel free to vote and voice any questions or concerns you may have.