Moderation
Part of Community roles and operating routines
Defining moderator and community manager responsibilities
Define moderation authority, community management ownership and handoffs with a practical responsibility matrix.
Hold the community manager accountable for the member experience and operating plan. Give moderators authority to apply conduct rules within stated limits.
Name who answers specialist questions, handles private cases and reviews a disputed decision. One person may fill several roles, but the decisions should remain distinct.
Define decisions, not just titles
A title does little to help someone facing a live report. List what each role may decide independently, when it must consult another person and what belongs to another team.
| Situation | Moderator | Community manager | Other owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported post | Review context and take an authorised action. | Resolve an unclear rule or repeated pattern. | Safety or legal contact handles matters outside the team’s authority under the organisation’s process. |
| Unanswered question | Acknowledge or route it if assigned. | Ensure it has an owner and follow-up. | Product specialist or support team supplies an authorised answer. |
| Recurring confusion | Record examples. | Decide whether the community experience or routine needs changing. | Product or policy owner approves official guidance. |
| Disputed moderation decision | Record the rule, action and reason. | Arrange review by someone who did not make the original decision. | A senior owner handles a case outside the team’s authority. |
Adapt this division to the team's size and platform controls. Record a named owner for each route.
Set moderator authority at the action level
For each type of action, specify whether a moderator may request an edit, remove content, pause a discussion, warn a member or restrict access. Say which decisions need another reviewer and which concerns require escalation. A moderator covering a shift alone needs enough authority for routine cases.
Match permissions to that written authority. In Discourse, some content settings require administrator access. A roster title alone does not establish access to the relevant controls.
Make the manager responsible for the full path
The manager should notice gaps between teams: a question acknowledged but never answered, a private support referral without an owner, or guidance that may be outdated. They coordinate the next step and clarify what the community can promise, even when another team owns the final product or support decision.
Do not make someone the sole reviewer of their own disputed moderation action. Name an alternative reviewer.
Keep a brief record of the item, applicable rule, action, member notice and next owner. Restrict sensitive case notes to those who need them.
Check the split against difficult cases
Before adopting the roster, test it against fictional cases: a paying customer posts a personal attack, a staff answer conflicts with current guidance, or the manager is absent when a report arrives. Ask who decides, who can act in the configured platform and who receives the escalation. Revise any responsibility or permission that leaves the next shift guessing.
