# Moderators vs Staff
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [November 28, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890 "2023-11-28T21:24:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Plabforum](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Plabforum)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/1 "2023-11-28T21:24:16Z")
Can someone help me understand difference between Moderator and Staff?
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### Author:  [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/2 "2023-11-28T21:28:38Z")
The “Staff” includes moderators and administrators. “Moderator” includes only moderators.
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### Author:  [@Plabforum](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Plabforum)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/3 "2023-11-28T21:30:10Z")
Okay makes sense! And difference between Whisper and Staff notes? Are they the same thing?
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### Author:  [@jericson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jericson)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/4 "2023-11-28T21:33:21Z")
In visual form:
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### Author:  [@jericson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jericson)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/5 "2023-11-28T21:40:29Z")
Well, they are almost the opposite:
- Whispers are private conversations only visible to staff:
- Staff Notices are shown to everyone:
The screenshots don’t really tell the story. These are what staff (or whoever is configured to see Whispers) sees, but the ordinary user is only going to see Staff Notices.
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### Author:  [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/6 "2023-11-28T21:45:30Z")
By Staff notes, are you referring to this plugin: [Discourse User Notes](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-user-notes/41026)?
- Whispers are notes that you can add to posts. They are private conversations. You might be interested in the `whispers allowed groups` setting to control what group can create/see those private communications.
- Staff notes from the plugin allow the Staff to add notes to a specific user. You can look at the plugin topic for more details.
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### Author:  [@Plabforum](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Plabforum)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/7 "2023-11-28T21:49:26Z")
Yes, this gave me better understanding. What about the Staff Colour for a post, what’s the use of that?
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/8 "2023-11-28T21:53:10Z")
Staff color adds a background color to your post like [GDPR outside of the EU - #37](https://meta.discourse.org/t/gdpr-outside-of-the-eu/278349/37)
Maybe [Discourse Moderation Guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-moderation-guide/63116) also answers some of your questions
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### Author:  [@Arkshine](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Arkshine)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/9 "2023-11-28T21:55:03Z")
> [@Plabforum](#):
>
> What about the Staff Colour for a post, what’s the use of that?
To make a post stand out, it is highlighted with a background color.
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### Author:  [@Lilly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lilly)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/10 "2023-11-29T00:07:40Z")
Moderators and Admins are staff, but I don’t think Category Moderators are staff.
> [@Trust Level Permissions Reference](https://meta.discourse.org/t/trust-level-permissions-table-inc-moderator-roles/224824):
>
> bookmark This reference aims to be a comprehensive list of Discourse features, marked by Trust Level, and including the relevant admin settings which influence them. Trust Level Grid - Defaults TL = Trust Level dependant gear = Can be enabled or adjusted by an admin setting gearTL0 TL1 TL2 TL3 TL4 Category Moderator Moderator [[1]](#footnote-1091734-1) Post Replieswhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markTLwhite_check_mark[[2]](#footnote-1091734-2) Post Topic…
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### Author:  [@Plabforum](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Plabforum)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2023, 8:58am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/11 "2023-11-29T08:58:34Z")
I’m confused, could you tell me difference between Moderator and Category moderator?
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### Author:  [@HAWK](https://meta.discourse.org/u/HAWK)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2023, 9:03am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/12 "2023-11-29T09:03:39Z")
Search is your friend 😉
> [@Trust Level Permissions Reference](https://meta.discourse.org/t/trust-level-permissions-table-inc-moderator-roles/224824):
>
> bookmark This reference aims to be a comprehensive list of Discourse features, marked by Trust Level, and including the relevant admin settings which influence them. Trust Level Grid - Defaults TL = Trust Level dependant gear = Can be enabled or adjusted by an admin setting gearTL0 TL1 TL2 TL3 TL4 Category Moderator Moderator [[1]](#footnote-1091734-1) Post Replieswhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markwhite_check_markTLwhite_check_mark[[2]](#footnote-1091734-2) Post Topic…
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2023, 9:06am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/13 "2023-11-29T09:06:10Z")
There’s also a bit more info in [Understanding user statuses, roles, and permissions](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-user-statuses-roles-and-permissions/35171) that you may find useful. 👍
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### Author:  [@Jagster](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jagster)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2023, 9:54am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-vs-staff/286890/14 "2023-11-29T09:54:33Z")
Sorry kind of off topic, but nowadays it is even more friendly 😉
And at that point when CDCK will pay for us wider use of chatbot it shall be very friendly 😂