Moderator Code Of Conduct

The Moderator Code Of Conduct -

Moderators will not discuss moderation decisions with members of the forums. Any moderation decisions are final. No discussions regarding moderation issues will be entered into by our moderation team.

If any member has an issue with a moderation decision, they are more than welcome to take it up with an administrator.

Moderator discussions and votes are to be kept confidential.

Moderators must make all judgements fairly, even when dealing with friends and enemies.

Moderators must never abuse their powers, or their position of power.

Moderators must keep in mind at all times that they represent Aussie Bloggers as a whole. Posts on the main forum must therefore be calm, informative, polite and respectful.

Moderators will do their best to be helpful and courteous at all times.

Moderators must endeavour to create as welcoming an environment as possible for new members, actively supporting them where possible.

To ensure that all "sections/duties" are covered, moderators must keep others informed when they are not around temporarily, or if they feel that they are not currently in a fit state to moderate fully.

Moderators should be proactive members of the community.

Moderators are subject to the rules of the forum, as well as the moderator code of conduct. The Admin Team may moderate any member of the team if this becomes necessary.

When participating in the forums, Moderators must not use language, or act in a way that would require their own content to be moderated. That is moderators should hold themselves to an even higher standard than those they moderate; no personal attacks, no derogatory language, etc.

Moderators should work as facilitators of the community, not rulers of it. Moderated communities work when those who have the moderation power are perceived to be not only fair, but even-tempered in their way of communicating.

Moderators must not use moderator privilege on users when the moderator is engaged in debate or conversation with that user. The only exceptions to this should be in the case of Derogatory Language.

Moderators must not single out a certain person for moderation. In cases of repeat abusers, a moderator should ask another moderator to deal with that person.

Moderators should request another moderator deals with the posts of a user who is "getting under my skin."

When necessary, moderators will share private messages that they receive from members of the forum with the moderation and administration team. They will only do so if the private messages -

- refer to moderation decisions
- are abusive or offensive
- continue after the moderator has asked a forum member to stop sending them messages and the messages continue
- refer to other moderators
- attempt to play moderators off against each other

Moderators do not have to ask the permission of the sender before sharing messages that meet the above criteria. By sending such messages the board member has broken the rules of the forum and the administrators and moderators need to be made aware of any breach of the forum rules.

Moderators will ask your permission to share a message if it does not meet any of these criteria but they feel that your message needs to be heard by the moderation and administration team. If you say no, they will not share the message.

About Moderation -

Please note that the administrators and moderators of these forums are all volunteers - nobody is paid to be here. Moderators are simply here to ensure the rules are followed. If you do not like the rules here feel free to create your own set of forums.

In general our moderators operate on a "three strikes and you're out" basis.

If you break the rules once - your post will be moderated.

If you break the same rule twice - your post will be moderated and you will receive a warning via private message.

If you break the same rule three times - we may take further action which could include restricting your posting ability or banning you from the forums entirely. We would prefer not to do that, so please work with us to ensure the rules are adhered to.

Any moderation decisions are final. If you feel a mistake has been made DO NOT contact the moderators via private message for discussion of moderation issues. The moderators are all volunteers who have given up their spare time to provide a moderation service here on the forums. Any abusive messages towards a moderator may result in the immediate termination of your forum membership.

You may contact an Administrator for further discussion - If you need to contact the Admins, you can click here to use the Contact Us form on the blog.