Thanks for sharing, that helps me visualize what you have in mind quite clearly. I can understand how it would be useful having the “terms of service” treatment here, so that you can feel assured that users have at least seen the guidelines before interacting in chat.
I’m afraid we don’t have anything planned at the moment that can support that functionality exactly, though we have heard similar types of requests in the past and will consider how we might support communicating guidelines with first-time chat users. In the meantime, I have a few suggestions that might help:
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First, I would recommend creating a separate post specifically for chat guidelines. Currently, they’re located within an announcement post, which makes them harder to find by folks who are browsing your topics. You could also pin this post for greater visibility.
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You could also add the chat guidelines post to the top sidebar section, by clicking More > Customize this section.
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You might consider including a link to the chat guidelines in the “Welcome User” email template, accessible under Admin > Customize > Email.
Could you please let me know if you have questions about any of these suggestions? Happy to discuss this need further, and appreciate all you’ve shared so far!