Flagging a post for moderator attention

Documentation Using Discourse
, ,
1

:bookmark: This guide explains how to flag a post for moderator attention in Discourse, when you should use this feature, and what happens after a post is flagged.

:person_raising_hand: Required user level: All users

Flagging is an important moderation tool in Discourse. It helps maintain a civil and productive discussion environment by allowing users to report inappropriate content without derailing the conversation.

When to flag a post

Flag a post when you encounter content that:

  • Is off-topic or derails the conversation
  • Violates the community guidelines
  • Contains spam or promotional material
  • Is inappropriate or offensive

How to flag a post

  1. Locate the post you want to flag
  2. Click the flag icon (:triangular_flag_on_post:) at the bottom of the post
  3. Choose one of the following options:
    • Send a personal message to the user
    • Flag as Off-Topic
    • Flag as Inappropriate
    • Flag as Spam
    • Flag as Something Else

Flagging options
Flagging options1450Ă—944 86.9 KB

What happens after flagging

  • Moderators are notified and can review the flagged post in their flag queue
  • If no action is taken within 48 hours, all moderators receive an automatic private message
  • Posts with 3 flags are automatically hidden, but users can still view them by clicking
  • A staff member can use the “Take Action” button to hide a post immediately
  • Users whose posts are hidden due to flags receive a private message notification
  • After 10 minutes, the user can edit their hidden post to unhide it
  • If the post receives 3 more flags after editing, it will be hidden again and cannot be unhidden by editing

Consequences of receiving flags

  • New (Trust Level 0) users who have a post flagged as spam 3 times by 3 different users will have all their posts hidden
  • Users with 5 or more flags on their posts cannot reach Trust Level 3
  • Only flags from the last 100 days count towards the Trust Level 3 restriction
  • Staff-approved flags are the only ones that count towards these limits

Automatic topic closure

A topic with 12 unresolved flags from at least 5 different users will be automatically closed until moderators can review it.

:information_source: Note: The values mentioned in this guide are default settings. Administrators can adjust these in the site settings.

Last edited by @hugh 2024-07-02T05:06:31Z

Last checked by @hugh 2024-07-02T05:06:37Z

Check documentPerform check on document:
24 Likes
16

Can you tell me if it’s possible to customize these options? We would like to harmonize the list of options with our Community Guidelines, but I cannot find a setting to update this list. I thought we were able to do this. Can you confirm either way? Thanks.