Report button

[Ozymandias]

"Report this Post"
By now you have probably notice the "Report this post" button that has appeared alongside all posts. This is to alert the staff about posts and users that need moderator attention immediately. Some examples would be:

• Threats against board members or public figures
• Harassment of a user by another
• Spam bots
• Hardcore pornography
• Racist, homophobic, transphobic, or misogynist insults
• Links to pirated software, movies, or music
• Solicitation of any kind of illegal activity (especially computer crimes such as hacking)
• A compromised user's account
• Egregious and persistent violations of the debating rules

The "Report this post" button is not for:

• Violations of any of the administrative rules, debating rules, posting rules, or user profile rules, with the exception of the violations listed above. It is the job of the moderators to determine if rules have been broken, not regular users.
• Requests for moderators to perform trivial fixes such as fixing a link, quote tags, typos, or double posts. It is not intended for use as a call button whenever you want a mod to move, split, merge, or lock a thread, but exceptions will be made for problems which have persisted for more than a reasonable length of time, or in instances where the mod who should have noticed is notably absent or non-responsive to PMs. Simply exercise good judgment when deciding whether to report a thread for basic forum maintenance.
• Flagging suspected "problem" users, such as a suspected sock puppet or troll. If you have a complaint or a suspicion, PM a moderator, who will then determine if an investigation is warranted. The only exceptions are commercial spammers (human or software) and users in good standing who appear to have had their accounts compromised.
• General complaints about other users, including post content, other than the exceptions listed above.
• Shits and giggles. I'm looking at you, Testing.

These rules do not apply to moderators, who can and do use the "Report" function to flag posts that lead to disciplinary action, including violations of the administrative, debating, and posting rules.

Frivolous use of the "Report" button will be punished with a warning, either informal or formal. In marginal cases or in the event of honest misunderstandings, the staff will give users the benefit of the doubt, up to a point. Users are encouraged to make use of the "Report" button in situations where serious attention is needed as soon as possible. Think of it as the board's fire alarm.

[Lagmonster]

Edited in, with Ozymandias' go-ahead, the section on using the report button for moving/locking/splitting. Generally this is a moderator decision and we prefer to make it ourselves, but we will consider it to be a valid exception if you notice something obvious (like an active thread in the wrong place) that has gone unchecked for an extended period of time due to moderator absence or unresponsiveness.

[RedImperator]

Struck the prohibition on using the report button to flag debate rule violations. Just to make the policy clear: you can use the report button on posts where another member is flagrantly violating the debating rules. Do not abuse this function. The staff will generally give users the benefit of the doubt in marginal cases, but using the report button trivially may result in disciplinary action.