Wrong Planet moderation policy - source please

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I'm looking for a comprehensive written source of WP moderation policy. I haven't found such document yet, but if there's any, please let me know.

The reason why I'm interested in it is that I'm moderating a Hungarian Asperger forum (Asperger.hu) as a member of a team and could very much appreciate and utilize the help it would mean not only to me but also our modest team of moderatos.

I would appreciate any help regarding moderation.

Thank you.

You might be better off making your request through a Private Message ("PM") to Alex, the developer/owner of this website.

That won't guarantee that he will share his policies with you, but it makes more sense than making the same request through a public post.

I don't know that there really is any overarching moderator policy here, things change quite a bit whenever there's a staff shakeup, and even from mod to mod within the same team. I also wouldn't count on getting a reply from Alex, whatever it is he's busy with these days doesn't seem to include WP very often.

As someone who's had a complicated relationship with the mods over the years, I can give you some strictly unofficial advice based both on what I've seen and the things that I personally think do and do not work.

I think you'll find that you need to be *really* specific when crafting your TOS, don't rely on some generic boilerplate, and try and stay away from overly subjective terms like "offensive content", "hate speech" etc, as you'll get an argument every single time you invoke those if they're not explained from the get go. Even the seemingly more specific "racist, sexist, homophobic content" needs to be broken down to explain what you mean by that, as some people are going to interpret that as a blanket prohibition of any term that could conceivably be construed as being a slur, while others will argue that context needs to be taken into account when evaluating statements.

Same thing goes for swearing; what language? Specific words? Any usage or only when used aggressively? If you use a swear filter, is it permitted to use the filtered words as they're automatically censored, or is even the blanked out form unacceptable?

Basically, assume that your target audience is a bunch of pedantic lawyers who will find every loophole, vague term, or omitted definition in whatever rules you set, so be very careful in crafting them. Partially for this reason and partially simply because I think it makes for a better forum, I'd suggest tailoring your rules as narrowly as possible, this will make things both easier on your moderators and less stifling for your members.

Don't forget to write a set of rules for your moderators as well, there's few things more frustrating for an Aspie than inconsistent rules and application thereof, so if you can get everyone on the same page from the get, you'll nip a bunch of down the line trouble in the bud.

Finally, be sure to get everyone on your team to think before they act in all but the most blatant of cases, as there is always a cost to moderator intervention, even if it's not immediately apparent. Think less about the uncritical application of the rules and more about the intent behind the rules; to make a more pleasant and productive forum for everyone. Mod intervention for petty infractions is usually counterproductive in that regard, and can foment resentment towards your team that makes their jobs much more difficult in the future. By all means jump right in for naked personal attacks, threats, spamming, disclosure of personal information, etc, but consider a lighter touch with the borderline stuff.

Basically, try not to step on your crank with the golf shoes on.

Thank you for your help. I've sent a PM to Alex (alex), now waiting for an answer.

We have a TOS that's rather detailed in comparison to what WP has, but after reading Dox's post I'm sure it can be improved by making it more specific. Internet culture is not quite at the level of WP in Hungary yet but not that bad. I have faith in the operators and moderators of our forum. Maybe some day it'll become 'the Hungarian WP'.