Who moderates the community?

All registered members are able to use the “Report Abuse” function if they believe that a post is against the community registration agreement (available at <site url>/term.htm

When the Report Abuse action is taken a member of the Community or Approvals Team (see below) will decide whether to uphold the report and therefore remove the post.

The groups of individuals who can undertake further moderation actions are:

•   The Community Team.
  • Internal administrators of the Community.
•   The Approvals Team.
  • An appointed group of internal senior support team members.  Each individual has an area of responsibility within the community and reviews the documentation within.
•   The MVP group.
  • The MVP group are a team of trusted community members who have been invited to the post of Community MVP.  For more details see LANDesk Community MVP Program

Moderation Actions

These are the actions that can be undertaken by community moderators.  Further down we describe when to take which action.

• Move Discussion.  Using the “Move Discussion” function allows the moderator to move the entire thread to another area of the community. The person moving the thread must be a moderator in both communities in order for the “Move Topic” function to work.  If you are unable to move the thread where you want to, you should instead post to inform the poster where the topic should be reposted in order to get better replies.

• Branch Topic.  Use the “Branch” feature on a post to split a conversation away from its original thread. The branched topic becomes its own thread on the community where it was originally posted. Branching messages into a new discussion allows you to split off irrelevant or off-topic messages into a new line of conversation. Use the form to enter a subject for the new discussion then click "Branch to New Discussion" to create the new discussion.

• Lock Discussion.  This prevents any more replies to that discussion thread. The thread can still be viewed.  This action should only be undertaken by the Community or Approvals team.

• Edit Post.  Moderators can edit any user's message. This is done by using the "edit message" icon at the top of the message you would like to edit.  It is very rarely performed.  This action should only be undertaken by the Community Team.  Other moderators can flag a post to be edited by using the “Report Abuse” function or by contacting a member of the Community Team.

• Delete Discussion/Post.  Using the Delete Discussion/ Post button will cause that thread (and all of the messages underneath it) to be deleted. Users who earned reward points in that thread will lose their reward points. This action should only be undertaken by the Community or Approvals Team.   Other moderators can flag a post to be deleted by using the “Report Abuse” function or by contacting a member of the Community Team.

• Delete Document.  Using the Delete Document button will cause that document to be deleted.  This action should only be undertaken by the Community or Approvals Team following internal guidelines on the steps to take.   Other moderators who feel that a document is no longer of value on the Community can raise this by adding a comment to it or by contacting a member of the Community or Approvals team.

Moderation Policies

Here are the most common situations requiring moderator intervention, and what you should do about them:

• Posting to the wrong community forum:
  • Example: A user posts a question about one product in a forum about an entirely different product. It is obvious that the post belongs in a different community.
  • Action to take: Reply to the thread informing the user that you will be moving the post. Use the “move discussion” function to move the entire thread into the appropriate community.

• Non-technical related posts: 
  • Example: A user posts a new thread which is not related to products on this community at all.
  • Action to take: If it is spam see the spam and promotion section below.  If it is a misunderstanding post a reply telling the user that this forum is for product discussions only.

• Double posting: 
  • Example: A user creates identical postings.
  • Action to take: Delete the duplicate discussion(s). Leave one topic that is in the most appropriate forum to be commented on or if they are both in the same forum leave the older post.

• Posting a question already covered in a document: 
  • Example: A user creates a post in any forum which is covered in a document.
  • Action to take: Reply to the thread, stating that this question/comment is answered in the article, and provide a link to the article.  Please be careful not to make users feel uncomfortable about asking for help again.

• Spam and promotion:
  • Example: A user creates a new thread or a reply on the forums, which is a job advertisement or a business advertisement.
  • Action to take: Use the “Report Abuse” function.  The Community Team or Approvals Team will take appropriate action.

• Profanity: 
  • Example:A user posts profanity or other offensive language in any forum thread.
  • Action to take: Use the “Report Abuse” function.  The Community Team or Approvals Team will take appropriate action.

• Flaming:
  • Example: A user makes a post directly insulting any user or group of users. This is called a "Flame" post for its inflammatory tone.
  • Action to take: Use the “Report Abuse” function.  The Community Team or Approvals Team will take appropriate action.

• Illegal or malicious postings: 
  • Examples of an illegal or malicious post are:
    • A user posts their Licence key for everyone to see.
    • A user posts their Microsoft Windows serial number for everyone to see.
    • Linking to any application/utility which has viruses, trojans, or spyware attached to it.
  • Action to take: Use the “Report Abuse” function.  The Community Team or Approvals Team will take appropriate action.

• Patterns of behaviour:
  • Example: A user repeatedly posts in a way that results in their posts being flagged as abuse or deleted
  • Example 2: A users very first posting in the Community is flagged as abuse or deleted .
  • Action to take: Send a member of the Community Team the user’s name.  If the complaint is upheld their account will be removed.

• Mark thread as answered
  • Example: A thread has been answered over 4 weeks ago in a way which you believe would have resolved the query but the thread has no answer marked within it.
  • Action to take: Mark the answer which you believe is correct.

• Edit post
  • Only members of the Community Team should edit other user’s posts.  This is undertaken very rarely.

• Discretionary moderator actions:

  • No other privileges than outlined above are granted to user moderators. If you would like to moderate a post for any reason not specified above, you must first get permission from the Community Team.