Hold for Moderation function for Forums

[#1]

Suggestion:

It might be useful to have the ability to toggle a "hold for moderation" setting for users.   I believe moderation delays are available for blogs, but not forums presently..

How it might work:

If toggled, the member could post, and could see their submitted posts appear (perhaps greyed text) as a normal post in the conversation, but the post would not appear for other members until a moderator cleared it. 

The moderation flag would be set for the thread, and maybe some additional moderation icon to the side of the thread would appear alerting moderators that the thread contained posts that needed to be cleared.  Perhaps the post would appear greyed out, but in place for the moderators too, and it might have an "approve" button appear much like a kudo or accepted solution button appears on the right hand side of the post.  When clicked to approve, the post would become black text and normal - viewable by all.   If a mod didn't want to approve, they could use the pull down to take normal moderation actions - delete, move, etc.

The toggle function could be accomplished via a pull down, or a setting from the profile page (where mod / admin comments can be stored, along with bans displayed), or this might be done by a role that could be applied automatically or manually.

 Why I'm suggesting this:

The purpose of this idea is in the same line as another idea here which suggests auto-bans if the smut filter it triggered multple times within a certain interval.

In my case, I'm seeking alternative features that will help to curb some users that we might wish to place on probation, but not outright ban.   We have a couple members who post erratically - some of the their content is ok, and some fall in the category of profane rants, public reposting of moderators private counciling of them, etc.  Obviously short term bans may be a tactical solution, along with further moderation of their posted content, but the bans are less desireable in that it denies continued participation, even passive access to other help being provided, and moderation coverage may not be 24/7 and available moderators should not be consumed with "real time" damage control.

[#2]

Mark,

I also agree this is a great idea and it sounds like an excellent compliment to my Idea.  As you commented, I believe we are trying to curb the same behavior.  In either case, a means to apply a rank/role to slow these users down would be ideal.

[#3]

Hi Mark,

This is a better take on a request that we hear a lot.

The common request is, "We want to moderate posts before they get posted." Our common answer is that if you do so, users will not come back because they don't see their posts right away. In addition, the community does not learn to police itself, which in general is a bad thing. So we have shied away from offering that feature because it inhibits community growth.

Your take is, I think, more useful because your notion is that it's probation for certain users at certain times -- a "light ban," if you will. That strikes me as a much better use case for the feature than the general one.

We are considering it, and thank you so much for the really precise use case.

[#4]

Perhaps Potential's idea could be automated to start shunting an offending member's posts into the moderation queue automatically.

[#5]

We are considering this. Stay tuned for more updates!