Before you open the doors to invite guests and potential members to explore your new forum, the rules of engagement must be set in some way. We say something because they will likely change over time as others contribute to the management and growth of your community.

Forum Rules

While the details will likely evolve, you will want to implement a basic framework of rules as soon as possible. Getting people to accept the guidelines as they join will be much easier than imposing new rules on an established community in the future. Here is a short list of suggestions to get you started:

• Rudeness, name calling, personal attacks, threats or inflammatory posts should not be tolerated.
• Repeated and redundant posting should be discouraged to increase the post count.
• No advertising, spam, solicitation or commercial self-promotion should be allowed.
• Ban discussing any illegal activity.
• Do not post lewd comments, language, or photos
• No misleading or irrelevant comments posted, stay on topic
• Do not post disturbing material (benign images that suddenly change to a screaming face)
• It is recommended to limit members to a single forum account.

While this list is by no means exhaustive, hopefully it will provide an overview of the types of forum behavior that should be monitored and controlled. For more ideas, try Googling the term “example online forum rules.”

Moderator recruitment

As your forum community grows, so will the need for additional moderators; you will know when you need help. It will be that moment when you have reached your limit on the number of threads you can monitor, questions you can answer, and disputes you can disable.

Hiring moderators is a natural progression in the growth of every healthy forum community.

While picking the right moderators is good for everyone, empowering the wrong personality can wreak unimaginable havoc. Here are some key points to consider when selecting candidates:

• Has the user contributed regularly over a period of time? Are they well informed?
• Do they have good grammar, spelling, and syntactic skills?
• Does the user have the right personality? Are they even temperate, nice, and fair-minded?
• Do they have time to commit to being moderators?

When inviting potential moderators, try to reach out to users who post a large number of quality posts and appear to be engaged with the forum. Approaching candidates can be as simple as sending them private messages and asking them to become moderators. Explain why you have considered them and clearly define their role.

Responsibilities of the moderator

Clearly defining the responsibilities of the moderator is of utmost importance. They should know what is expected of their position, as well as what decisions and activities are assigned to others. Typically, moderators are assigned a particular discussion forum or user group and are expected to perform the following functions:

• Visit the forum at least once every day
• Keep posts clean and move posts off topic to appropriate categories
• Communicate with unruly members and warn them of the consequences of disruptive behavior.
• Edit posts as necessary to conform to the forum’s content guidelines.
• Delete or move individual posts or entire threads when necessary
• Block or unblock posts as needed

Supporting your volunteer moderators once they have assumed their new roles is also critical. Make sure to communicate with them frequently, acknowledge and reward their contributions, and give them time off from time to time so they don’t run out.

Moderator conduct

To promote cohesion and decorum, moderators must be responsible for their own “code of conduct.” While similar to the general rules of the forum, the moderators’ codes of conduct are intended to preserve neutrality, authority, and confidentiality. Below is a list of suggestions for your consideration. Potential moderators must agree to:

• Be respectful to all members, including each other, and represent your forum professionally
• Be discreet and maintain confidentiality regarding moderator activities and member information
• Consider members’ feelings before hitting the submit button, both in public and private forums.
• Removal of member posts should be done only after consulting with the forum administrator or other moderators
• Resign moderator functions if there is a breach of confidentiality or if the code of conduct is not followed.

Moderation tips

Because each forum and its audience are unique, the moderation styles and guidelines will be different. Consequently, you will want to design your own strategy as it applies to your community. As an overview of forum moderation practices, the following list provides a starting point.

• Be professional: personality is good, but don’t take liberties or be lazy. Try to use correct grammar, punctuation, and capitalization when writing. The way you present yourself is reflected in your forum and people’s perceptions.
• Beware of trolls and spammers. Always be vigilant, proactively search for them, and take steps to minimize their annoying posts.
• Be on the lookout for members who abuse other members. Do not tolerate flames; Disagreements are fine, but more than that will discourage guests from joining and alienate quality members from your forum. Make sure everyone has the opportunity to participate.
• Choose forum staff carefully. Make sure the people you choose lead by example and are patient and fair.
• To expand on the previous point; Be on the lookout for troublesome forum staff. Do not allow moderators to intimidate other members or impose unnecessarily harsh penalties for violations. On the contrary, shy moderators can be just as damaging to the health of your forum.

Resume

As your forum community grows and more people join the discussion, chances are you will be surprised by the things people are saying. You are the host, so the responsibility for maintaining a functional environment rests with you. A good moderating strategy will go a long way toward achieving that goal. We hope this article has provided a solid reference for establishing a moderation plan for your community. For more tips, tricks, and strategies for creating your forum, check out our previous articles in this series. Thank you for reading!