Moderator Guide

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:00 am

This guide will explain the phpBB 3.0 forum moderation controls.

Table of Contents (linked to post)

Page 1: 4.1. Editing posts
Page 1: 4.2. Moderation tools
Page 1: 4.2.1. Locking a topic or post
Page 1: 4.2.2. Deleting a topic or post
Page 1: 4.2.3. Moving a topic into another forum
Page 1: 4.2.3.1. Shadow Topics
Page 1: 4.2.4. Duplicating a topic
Page 1: 4.2.5. Announcements and stickies
Page 1: 4.2.6. Splitting posts off a topic
Page 2: 4.2.7. Merge topics
Page 2: 4.2.8. Merge posts into another topic
Page 2: 4.3. What is the “Moderation queue”?
Page 2: 4.4. What are “Reported posts”?
Page 2: 4.5. The Moderator Control Panel (MCP)
Page 2: 4.5.1. Moderation queue
Page 2: 4.5.2. Reported posts
Page 2: 4.5.3. Forum moderation

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:01 am

Moderators with privileges in the relevant forums are able to edit topics and posts, even if the forum is locked. You can usually view who the moderators are beneath the forum description on the index page. A user with moderator privileges is able to select the edit button beside each post. Beyond this point, they are able to:

DELETE POSTS
This option removes the post from the topic. Remember that it cannot be recovered once deleted.

CHANGE OR REMOVE THE POST ICON
Decides whether or not an icon accompanies the post, and if so, which icon.

ALTER THE SUBJECT AND MESSAGE BODY
Allows the moderator to alter the contents of the post.

ALTER THE POST OPTIONS - DISABLING BBCODE/SMILIES PARSING URLS ETC.
Determines whether certain features are enabled in the post.

LOCK THE TOPIC OR POST
Allows the moderator to lock the current post, or the full topic.

ADD, ALTER OR REMOVE ATTACHMENTS
Select attachments to be removed or edited (if option is enabled and attachments are present).

MODIFY POLL SETTINGS
Alter the current poll settings (if option is enabled and a poll is present).

If, for any case the moderator decides that the post should not be edited, they may lock the post to prevent the user doing so. The user will be shown a notice when they attempt to edit the post in future. Should the moderator wish to state why the post was edited, they may enter a reason when editing the post.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:01 am

Beneath topics, the moderator has various options in a dropdown box which modify the topic in different ways. These include the ability to lock, unlock, delete, move, split, merge and copy the topic. As well as these, they are also able to change the topic type (Sticky/Announcement/Global), and also view the topics logs. The following subsections detail each action on a topic that a moderator can perform.

The quick moderator tools. As you can see, these tools are located at the end of each topic at the bottom of the page, before the last post on that page. Clicking on the selection menu will show you all of the actions you may perform.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:02 am

This outlines how a moderator may lock whole topics or individual posts. There are various ways a moderator may do this, either by using the Moderator Control Panel when viewing a forum, navigating to the selection menu beneath the topic in question, or editing any post within a topic and checking the relevant checkbox.

Locking a whole topic ensures that no user can reply to it, whereas locking individual posts denies the post author any editing permissions for that post.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:02 am

If enabled within the Administration Control Panel permissions, a user may delete their own posts when either viewing a topic or editing a previous post. The user may only delete a topic or post if it has not yet been replied to.

To delete other user's posts, one must have appropriate moderator forum-based permission - CAN DELETE POSTS. Using the selection menu beneath topics allows quick removal. The Moderator Control Panel allows multiple deletions of separate posts.

Tip
Please note that any topics or posts cannot be retrieved once deleted. Consider using a hidden forum that topics can be moved to for future reference.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:02 am

To move a topic to another forum, navigate to the QUICK MOD TOOLS area beneath the topic and select MOVE TOPIC from the selection menu. You will then be met with another selection menu of a location (another forum) to move it to. If you would like to leave a Shadow Topic behind, leave the box checked. Select the desired forum and click YES.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:03 am

Shadow topics can be created when moving a topic from one forum to another. A shadow topic is simply a link to the topic in the forum it’s been moved from. You may choose whether or not to leave a shadow topic by selecting or unselecting the checkbox in the MOVE TOPIC dialog.

To delete a shadow topic, navigate to the forum containing the shadow topic, and use the Moderator Control Panel to select and delete the topic.

Note
Deleting a shadow topic will not delete the original topic that it is a shadow of.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:04 am

Moderators are also allowed to duplicate topics. Duplicating a topic simply creates a copy of the selected topic in another forum. This can be achieved by using the QUICK MOD TOOLS area beneath the topic you want to duplicate, or through the Moderator Control Panel when viewing the forum. From this, you simply select the destination forum you wish to duplicate the topic to. Click YES to duplicate the topic.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:04 am

There are various types of topics the forum administrators and moderators (if they have the appropriate permissions) can assign to specific topics. These special topic types are: GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, and STICKIES. The Topic Type can be chosen when posting a new topic or editing the first post of a previously posted topic. You may choose which type of topic you would prefer by selecting the relevant radio button. When viewing the forum, GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENTS and basic ANNOUNCEMENTS are displayed under a separate heading than that of STICKIES and normal topics.

NAOutdoors · Post by **NAOutdoors** » December 19th, 2012, 11:04 am

Moderators also have the ability to split posts from a topic. This can be useful if certain discussions have spawned a new idea worthy of its own thread, thus needing to be split from the original topic. Splitting posts involves moving individual posts from an existing topic to a new topic. You may do this by using the QUICK MOD TOOLS area beneath the topic you want to split or from the Moderator Control Panel within the topic.

While splitting, you may choose a title for the new topic, a different forum for the new topic, and also a different icon. You may also override the default board settings for the amount of posts to be displayed per page. The SPLITTING FROM THE SELECTED POST option will split all posts from the checked post, to the last post. The SPLITTING SELECTED POSTS option will only split the current selected posts.