Your “words to use” here are on point!
@007, FWIW, I have seen this strategy be quite effective, particularly with a sentence added to describe what reply behaviors might be more/less productive (depending on the situation), a sentence noting that “xyz” might lead to mods locking the topic, and a link to FAQs/guidelines, as long as you…
…and that those guidelines are understood and enforced consistently amongst mods and users, as @mbauman said.
- When users feel targeted for their opinion or posting personality, they get defensive if they receive even an unofficial heads up message from the same mod repeatedly, which is why consistency amongst mods is critical.
- It often helps–when true–to state in the message to a user that theirs were not the only posts flagged, removed, etc, without disclosing more details about other users.
I have seen this be effective when posts are removed or split while the topic is temporarily locked and a mod replies in the topic about why posts were moved/removed prior to reopening, once again with a link to clear guidelines.