Forum Moderation Resources

[RichardF]

Here's a basic Forumotion Guide to mod tools. When you are viewing a topic, you can see some "Quick mod tools" in the lower right-hand corner of the page. These tools can be used to delete, move, lock, split and merge topics. You also can see a "You can moderate this forum" link in the lower left-hand corner of the page. This Moderator Control Panel can be used to mass delete, move, lock, unlock, stick, announce and return to normal the selected topics. The tips shown here are based on the linked guide with updates and revisions for this forum.

Using the Quick Mod Tools

To Delete a Topic
For this you can either click the delete button below your Quick mod tools, or use your Quick mod tools drop down menu to select 'Delete this topic' and click go. It will ask you if you are sure before deleting. This totally removes the topic from your board so if it is a big one, it will affect member post counts whom have posted on the topic.

To Move a Topic
To move a topic you can either click the move button below your Quick mod tools, or select 'Move this topic' from your Quick mod tools drop down menu. You will then have to select the forum you want to move it to, and whether you want to leave a shadow topic. A shadow topic stays in the forum the post was originally made, but when clicked, opens up in the forum it has been moved to. Click yes to confirm you want to move the topic and you will be told if the topic was sucessfuly moved or not.

To Lock a Topic
To lock a topic either click the lock button below your Quick mod tools or select 'Lock this topic' from the Quick mod tools drop down menu. It will not ask you to confirm before locking it. To unlock it you can either click the lock button which will have changed to become an 'Unlock' button, or select 'Unlock this topic' from your Quick mod tools drop down menu.

To Split a Topic
You can either click the split topic button below your Quick mod tools, or you can select 'Split this topic' from the drop down menu. When splitting a topic you have two options, either splitting selected posts, or splitting from selected posts.

For splitting selected posts, you need to make a new topic title and select the forum you want to move the split posts too. You can then check the boxes to the right of each post of the topic you are splitting. Finally click 'Split selected posts'. It will show you the new title and the forum you have chosen for the new topic and ask you to confirm.

For splitting from selected posts you need to make a new topic title and select the forum you want to move the unselected posts too. You can then check the boxes of all the posts you want to KEEP as part of the topic you are splitting, and leave the posts you want to make a new topic with unchecked. Click 'Split from selected posts' button and it will show you the new title and the forum you have chosen for the new topic and ask you to confirm.

To Merge a Topic
You can either click the merge button below your Quick mod tools or select 'Merge topics' from the Quick mod tools drop down menu. The next page will tell you the title of the topic you have chosen to merge. Click the 'Select' button. You can then choose the forum of the topic you want to merge with, using the round radio button to the left of the topic that you want to merge with. The next page will again show you the topic you want to merge and now the topic you want to merge with. Click send. The resulting merged topic will have the posts sorted by date and time with their original topic headings.

To Move Some Posts to an Existing Topic
You can move some posts in a current topic to a different, existing topic in two steps. First, split the desired posts from the current topic using the Split tool. Then, merge the desired posts into the existing topic using the Merge tool.

Using the Moderator Control Panel

To access the moderator control panel, at the bottom left-hand corner of each forum you moderate is a link that says, "You can moderate this forum." Clicking it will take you into the mod control panel for that forum.

In the mod control panel you can perform some mass moderation operations - Delete, Move, Lock, Unlock, Sticky, Announcement, Normal - on any number of topics. You cannot merge or split topics in the mod control panel.

To mass delete topics in the mod control panel, check all of the topics you want to delete and then at the bottom of the list, click 'Delete' button. It will ask you if you are sure before performing the mass deletion.

To mass move topics in the mod control panel check all the topics you want to move and then at the bottom of the list, click 'Move' button. You then can choose the forum where you want to move the topics. It will let you choose whether to leave shadow topics or not and ask you if you are sure before performing the mass move.

To mass lock topics, check all the topics you want to lock. Then at the bottom of the list click the 'Lock' button.

To mass unlock topics, check all the topics you want to unlock. Then at the bottom ofg the list, click Unlock' button.

To mass stick topics, check all the topics you want to stick to the top of the forum. Then at the bottom of the list click the 'Sticky' button.

To mass announce topics, check all the topics you want to announce at the top of the forum. Then at the bottom of the list click the 'Announcement' button.

To mass normalize topics, check all the topics you want to make normal (unlocked, unstuck, unannounced). Then at the bottom of the list click the 'Normal' button.