There are many methodologies for moderating a community, typically through code of contact or for all intents and purposes - rules.

My communities don't live by rules. I don't think our government's well-intended democracies transition perfectly to online communities, so instead, I think about the idea of [[Creating the culture you want]]. This document outlines the community I want, and the one I help guide "mine" to.

Democratic

It's not a moderator's job to decide what is right for the community, rather the community itself. This means discussion and elections before big changes, like the appointment or a new moderator or [[breaking changes]].

This extends to the small scale too. If it seems the majority of the people reacting to your behavior don't like it, cut it. Additionally, please bring common sense with you, if you think your behavior could be interpreted as negative, it probably is

Equal

Similarly when it comes to our democracy people must have a equal say. Encourage beginners ask questions, And make sure you get everybody's opinion before acting. If you are in a position of power you must use it with great responsibility.

Inclusive

When joining one of my communities, I ask you include everyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, religion, sex, gender, you get the picture. You should also embody the idea that [[no questions are bad questions]]. Let's welcome both beginners and veterans with open arms.

Friendly

Finally, we should be [[friendly to all]]. Complementing the idea of inclusivity, I hope everyone coming brings a positive mindset and is willing to laugh a bit with us. Not everything needs to be serious all the time, as long as it's overall constructive and everyone is feeling great I don't see an issue with some deviation.

A call to action

These guidelines so to speak are deliberately non-specific. This is partially to prevent [[rule lawyering]], but also to help you make the community what you want. Bring changes to the table, and don't be afraid to [[break them In a constructive way]].

Punishment

Around here, we like to [[assume good faith]]

Unless it's clear your faith is bad, we would like to ask to to cool down if needed, and then publicly have a conversation with you about

1. What went wrong
2. Then, if we decide something did go wrong
3. How can it be avoided in the future
4. How we can help you
5. What should we do if it happens again
6. Decide with you what should we do now based on:
7. What is your chat history? Are you generally constructive?
8. What is your punishment history?
9. How did this inquiry go?
10. How do affected people feel?

If it is clear you are too hot for the conversation, we might manually enforce a cool down period of 1-24 hours

If at any point it becomes clear [[beyond reasonable doubt]] that you were acting in bad faith, we might immediately take action before the conversation even happens, as a preventative measure.