Ather Forum moderation guidelines

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Forum Moderation Guidelines

This page includes rules and guidelines for community members who act as Moderators of the Ather Forum. For general guidelines on how to use the Ather Forum, check the Forum guidelines.

Table of Contents

What is the Role of a Moderator?

The purpose of this community forum is for Ather owners and enthusiasts to help each other, share feedback and learn more about Ather products & services, Electric Vehicles, and the ecosystem around it. The Guidelines for the entire community are in place to fulfill that purpose, and the job of the moderators is to keep the forum operating for its intended purpose. All moderation action is to that end. The following are guidelines on what to do as a moderator.

Users or fellow contributors that are misbehaving/making bad suggestions should also be reported in the Moderator subgroups, depending on how delicate/severe the situation is.

What to do when?

There are two types of categorical tasks as a Moderator. The first has to do with the operations of the forum and processes that help prepare a smooth experience from an operational approach. The second requires an entry-level of experience for people management.

Two explicit examples on how to tell the difference: The user is giving the wrong information about Ather products, the ecosystem, EVs…. this is where you can go in, edit the content and guide the user on what should be there is a direct and professional way.

A user is just Rude… this is when a user is affecting the safety of others on the forum and exhibits behavior that distracts from the key use of the forum - to provide user support. For situations like this, if warnings and corrections are not working, please refer to the consequences policy, and make sure a conversation happens in the moderator sub-groups.

Editing inappropriate content

The following content is considered inappropriate:

  • foul language
  • personal attacks
  • spam links
  • sensitive information (personal info, phone numbers, etc.)
  • links to executable files

Posts with inappropriate content should be edited to remove that content. Moderators will post a new comment or staff notice, to explain that inappropriate content has been removed as per Ather Forum guidelines.

Locking or deleting threads

Moderators can lock threads or remove them completely according to the following guidelines:

Locking threads

  • Topics that are not about subjects covered in the forum should be locked, after tagging the post as off-topic and adding a reply.

  • Duplicate threads should be locked after posting a reply with a link to the original thread.

  • Threads that have completely degenerated will be reported to the moderator. It will be up to the moderator to decide whether to lock the thread or not.

For topics that are about issues or asking for support

  • If a solved topic is getting new replies from other users, moderators should lock the topic and post a new comment to explain that users with similar issues should post a new question.

  • If an unsolved topic is getting new replies from other users seeking help, and the original poster hasn’t replied in the topic for some time, post a new comment and

    • explain that users with similar issues should post a new question.
    • Ask the original poster (OP) if they have resolved the issue or if they still need help.

In case of no confirmation from the OP, the moderators can mark a reply as a solution and close the thread.

Moderators who lock a thread should always post a new comment, to explain that the thread has been closed to further replies, and why (refer to Ather Forum rules and guidelines).

Deleting threads

  • In general, only spam posts in discussion forums should be deleted. Spam posts in the forum should be marked as spam (see below).

  • Moderators should delete posts that are entirely personal attacks or profanity, and deactivate users for multiple such posts (or refer to admin if in doubt).

    • Moderators will post a new reply explaining that an inappropriate post (as defined in the Ather Forum guidelines) has been deleted before removing the post/thread.
    • Moderators should also leave a record in the moderator’s subgroups that they removed a particular non-spam post.

Marking support forum posts as spam

Moderators should use the Flag button & Mark as spam for replies in the forum rather than deleting those posts. Posts marked as spam will no longer be viewable except by moderators, do not appear in Ather forum search results and are not indexed by search engines. This effectively removes spam posts from the forum.

Deactivating user accounts

  • Moderators can ask admins to deactivate accounts that are clearly used for spam purposes.
  • Moderators should report in the Moderator sub-groups and admins when deactivating any account for reasons other than spam.

Moving threads

If a thread has landed in the wrong category or sub-category, moderators should move it to the appropriate section.

Marking threads as “Solved”

Moderators can mark threads as solved when there is a solution that’s presented, even if the Original Poster does not add subsequent replies indicating that the question is solved (such as “thank you, problem fixed now” or “ok, it looks like it worked” etc.)

People, usernames, and your responsibility and safety online on this forum.

What should I do if …?

In general, this forum follows the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy as any other platform Ather Energy operates online. There are specific guidelines and rules for the usage of the community.

Any behavior that is considered toxic is anything disrespectful, disruptive, and unprofessional.

Any asynchronous communication that includes an “emotional hit and run”, if the Ather Forum is treated as a game or a stage, or any alternate universe, these toxic behaviors are not welcome in this professional environment. You can be anonymous, but you cannot be deliberately malicious or disrespectful because you are a magician, sorry.

Consequences Policy

These are the consequences if users are not following these guidelines:

Level 1: A Warning

Moderators should send a message or a warning to users that are not following the guidelines

Level 2: More Serious Warning from more than one person

Moderators should report in the Forum Moderators forum when deactivating any account for reasons other than spam.

Level 3: Deactivating a user, Banning or Temporary Ban

A user will face a temporary/permanent ban/silencing if they are violating any guidelines despite warnings from the moderators. Admins will be able to ban/silence users, and the final decision will be with the admins.

What should I do if I encounter a problem that is not covered by these guidelines?

Moderators should report in the Moderators sub-group or to admins for any other situation that is not currently covered in these guidelines. This also applies to “grey areas” or when the Moderator is in doubt whether a certain action should be taken.

Situations, where users or fellow contributors are misbehaving/making bad suggestions, should also be reported in the moderator’s subgroups or to admins depending on how delicate/severe the situation is.

How do I become a moderator?

The Ather forum moderators and admins lookout for active members who can become forum moderators. Moderators on the Ather forum are elevated as Leaders and will have a visible flair. We look for certain traits before approaching forum members to become moderators:

  1. Are they active members of the forum?
  2. Have they shown that they understand the rules and appropriate behavior on a personal level?
  3. Have they demonstrated separation from the various cliques and feuds that erupt in the forum?
  4. Are they already bringing value to the forum? Do they help people out and make people feel welcome?
  5. And finally do they work well as part of the existing team? While we’re open to a healthy debate, personality clashes can cause gridlocks and prevent anything from getting done.

Some guidelines for moderators:

Be objective

The Ather Forum guidelines are here to keep things as black and white as possible. Sometimes grey areas happen, and as a moderator, you’ll have an option. But it’s important to stay objective and keep your opinions and feelings out of the discussion. When grey areas do occur, it’s a perfect time to raise a flag with the moderator team to get a group consensus, reach out to the community manager, or even consider updating the guidelines.

Be considerate and helpful

Know the community and create a nice environment for discussion, support, and connections. It’s better to be safe than sorry and communicate through a personal message than calling people out in public. Ask forum members to treat the forum with the same respect they would a shared community resource and a place to share knowledge and interests through ongoing conversations.

Use your powers for good

The community is more important than any single individual. If a forum member, no matter what their status or privilege is, behaves in a way that goes against the community values and guidelines, they need to go. The community reputation would be at stake, and having a poor reputation, one that’s known to be toxic will lose new contributors. While you must practice fair policing, asking nicely has its limits, eventually, action has to be taken.

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