Guidelines for Moderating

An unmoderated internet forum can be a messy place. This guide teaches you how to clean up the most common forum messes using WarFlagger tools.

While it is possible to use Flag:Dislike on everything objectionable, you will help the forum by being more specific.

The easiest one is Flag:Spam. If something is obviously an unsolicited, automated attempt to turn the forum into a billboard, flag it accordingly.

More problematic is incivility. Some things are straight forward: if you see namecalling, mockery or trash-talking, just give it a Flag:Inflammatory.

However, not every statement that has an inflammatory effect on a conversation should receive the Flag:Inflammatory. There are some border cases where you should consider a different response:

• The truth can hurt. Ask yourself if a comment is raising ire because it is uncomfortable, or because it is genuinely unkind in tone.
• Remember that most of us hold our opponents to a higher standard of kindness than we do our allies. For example, you might find it funny when someone mangles the name of your most loathed politician into an insult, but someone else out there will find it offensive. Hold your own side to the same standard that you use for opponents.
• Wrong isn't the same as inflammatory. If a user has made an unsupported allegation, Flag:NeedsEvidence might do more to keep the conversation flowing.
• Has the author of the comment used an abusive manner to say something that is true or worthwhile? You might double flag it. Use a positive flag such as Flag:Interesting or Flag:Agree and a negative Flag:Inflammatory. The author has said something worthwhile, but could have used a more constructive tone.

It is important that WarFlagger separate incorrectness from bad behavior. We don't want to punish people for defending ideas that turn out to be wrong. Exploration of wrong ideas will help us to understand right ideas better. It will also educate those who explore them. Bad behavior will, however, hinder exploration. This is why there are different flags for different kinds of wrong.

WarFlagger has some tools for pruning discussions that have wandered from the point. First and simplest is Flag:Offtopic. Using it does not hurt the target author's reputation. Offtopic material is not always undesirable. Some days you just want the answer to your question. Other times you enjoy following the rabbit trails. If things get flagged when offtopic, then it is possible for the user interface to visually distinguish or to filter out the offtopic. As a result, posters don't need to feel as guilty about wandering from the topic.

Similar to Flag:Offtopic is Flag:Arcane. Use it for cases where a thread of conversation is still technically on topic, but has led into hair-splitting over fine details. Those who just want a summary can skip this portion of the conversation.

When a conversation contains multiple posts that make the same point, you may flag some of them as Flag:Redundant. Place the flag on the post that you think is superfluous, and use the Reference field to point to the post that you prefer.