Community Moderation Tricks and Tools

[AshleyBragg]

Hi All,

I was wanting to learn more about what other communities are doing to moderate the posts coming in. We have a filter build for competitors, smut, and negative phrases. We have a private board for mod discussions and removed posts. 

I would be interested in learning more about the systems in place for the actual moderation. Do you go into each board and read every post? Is there a way to sort the posts by unanswered or unkudoed posts? Is there a way to float an unanswered post back to the top of the feed without pinning it? - More like a boost so it is top of mind. What tools have been the most helpful?

Thanks!

[JasonHill]

@AshleyBragg

Firstly, let me make sure you are using the Unread post page. 

The link for this community would be https://community.lithium.com/t5/forums/unreadpostspage/tab/message

It shows you all the posts on the community that you personally haven't read. Much better than ducking in and out of boards to ensure you don't miss anything new....

Jason

[AshleyBragg]

@JasonHill

We weren't using this feature. That is very helpful! Is there a way to access it other than the link? I see no button or tab in this community or ours

[JasonHill]

No, but it should be the first link in your browser favourite bar @AshleyBragg. 🙂

Glad I could be helpful.

Jason

[DeannaB]

Hi @AshleyBragg

You can set up escalations alerts for unanswered posts.  More info can be found here:
Set up auto or manual escalations for unanswered topics

Regards

Deanna 

[AshleyBragg]

That is so helpful!! Thank you Deanna!

[SandyD]

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@AshleyBragg wrote:

Is there a way to float an unanswered post back to the top of the feed without pinning it? - More like a boost so it is top of mind. What tools have been the most helpful?

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Hi @AshleyBragg - One of the best ways to do this is to have a moderator respond to the post with someone like:

"That's a great question ______. Can you provide a little more detail on _____ so the community can better assist you?" 

May may ask for something as simple like a model number, or for more information on the problem.  This works really well because community members are even more likely to read a post responded to by a moderator, and shows the community you're dedicated to helping them get a response, even if your moderators are not subject matter experts. 

[LarryI]

Adding to @JasonHill's suggestion on the Unread Posts Page, there are so many more pages that can be utilized in different ways listed here: https://community.lithium.com/t5/Other-Techie-Stuff/Lithium-Platform-URLs/ta-p/32509 (All credit to @AndyK for starting this list; bookmark it and please kudo that post if you like!)

I personally did not use the Unread Posts Page when I moderated, but if I did, I would go back and do a double check through each board for sanity purposes.

In terms of moderation process as a moderator, I would review our abuse reports and filter reports to catch any obvious violations before moving in board by board to read each post. When I had handled an abuse report or filter report, I'd lock it and post to it to let other team members know that I had addressed the report. 

Additionally, we made usage of the Moderator Flag column (Board Options > "Show Moderator Flag Column") to track which posts had been read by moderators.

One last suggestion is that you can float an individual topic just for your viewing (Board Options > "Float this Topic for Current User") and that will only float/pin the topic to the top of the board for your viewing.  Noting that in case you may find that function useful for posts you want to go back to on a specific board.

There are many options to moderate in the platform, and I know I've utilized the great suggestions from @JasonHill, @DeannaB, and @SandyD when working as a moderator on Lithium before.