Documentation around actions available to moderators somewhat lacking

Product Support

AI-generated summary

SomeoneElse reports that the moderation queue in Discourse lacks sufficient documentation explaining available actions, such as “keep post and ignore flag.” While existing links to the Discourse Moderation Guide and other resources exist, they do not clarify specific queue options. mcwumbly moved the discussion to the UX category, suggesting improvements are needed for both the UI and documentation, and requested specific examples of confusing actions. SomeoneElse provided a detailed scenario involving a post flagged for AI-generated content that was actually borderline. They highlighted confusion regarding the distinction between “keep post” and “do nothing” when no error is found, and questioned the backend effects of “agree with flag,” “ignore flag,” and “disagree with flag.” Additionally, they inquired about the ability to undo actions if a misclick occurs.

1

I’m a moderator in a Discourse forum. When something appears in the queue, there are several actions available (for example, “keep post and ignore flag”). Unfortunately at the point where an action is chosen, there’s no explanation of what the options do or why I would select one over another. There are three links out, to here, here and here, but none of those contain the text “keep post and ignore flag”.

Edit: This topic is also somewhat useful, but doesn’t as far as I can see directly answer the question.

2

I moved this to Contribute > UX – feels like there may be improvements needed in both the UI itself and the docs.

Could you highlight a few of the actions you find most needing explanation?

Perhaps ones where you think, “this might be the action I’m looking for in this scenario, but I’m not quite sure”

4

Thanks - I’ll come back here the next time someone reports something for moderation…

5

… and that didn’t take long :slight_smile:

OK, a post was flagged as “something else”. The it was flagged because someone thought that it broken one of the forum rules (“don’t post AI generated content”). The post isn’t that, but does basically say “I’d ask an AI to answer that question”, so I can understand what it was flagged. It’s not a particularly helpful answer to the original question, and has been downvoted a couple of times.

I am asked “Is there something wrong with this post?”

Underneath “yes” I can choose:

  • hide post
  • keep post
  • delete post
  • edit post
  • delete post and replies

and underneath “no”

  • Keep post
  • Do nothing
  • Delete post and ignore flag
  • Delete post and replies, ignore flag

It’s a borderline answer to “is there something wrong with this post” so let’s step through the choices as if there was and then as if there wasn’t

If there was something wrong with it, then there’s not enough reason to hide or delete (there was no egregious content), so “keep post” would be logical - it’s good to keep it there as a downvoted post.

If I decide there was nothing wrong with it, what is the difference between “keep post” and “do nothing”? Maybe “do nothing” might result in it staying hidden if the reporting user was high enough in the pecking order?

Also, I see references throughout to “agree with flag”, “ignore flag” and disagree with flag". What actually happens behind the scenes when one of these options is taken?

… and a follow-up question - if I misclick, is there an easy easy to undo that?