ModTools Functions
This is one of the personal crib sheets used by Vee Martin, Mentor, when training new moderators. The views in this and her other two crib sheets are her own. The other two are Moderating a Post and Problematic Posts.
- A brief summary of ModTools functions
Dashboard
See ModTools#Dashboard.
Messages
Pending
Messages from moderated members - where you'll do most of your work as a mod. A pink shape with a number shows how many messages need moderating, and appears wherever something needs doing on the dashboard.
Approved
Occasionally you'll come across a message from an unmoderated member that's wrong and needs attention. Messages can be edited even once they're on the board. If an edit's needed, it's often simplest to do it yourself and let the member know, though ideally we should encourage members to do it themselves. For a minor infringement, contact the member with a standard message reminding them of the rules, e.g. reposted too soon. For a major infringement, tell the member why, e.g. offering goods for sale, and delete the post using a standard message.
Review
Where a message has been flagged by the server because it contains something questionable - a worry word, something illegal, or possible spam. Worry words are often false alarms - "balls" might mean an innocent offer of golf balls rather than anything else. If it's not a genuine worry, release the post. ModTools has good spam filters, but you'll occasionally see a spam message get through - usually where a member's email has been hacked, containing a web address that often leads to a dubious site. Use a standard message to inform the member, and delete the post if that's the case.
Edits
Fairly self-explanatory - click it to see when a member has edited their post; it then comes through this section for approval or not.
Members
Pending
Most communities auto-approve members, so you'd only use this if your community has special rules requiring investigation before approval - e.g. checking an address is within the catchment area. It's much less work for mods to auto-approve every application and pick up anyone outside the catchment area when they first post.
Approved
Shows a list of all approved members - useful for searching for someone.
Member review
Members are flagged if something about their membership looks suspicious. A pink bar explains why, with suggestions in blue at the top of the page. The most frequent case is multi-joiners - many communities don't allow joining a large number of communities, especially over a wide geographical area. Check your community's rules and fellow mods' views on this.
Chat review
Red chat reviews are for your community. These come up often, because the filters catch any mention of money, addresses, and so on - common in chat as people arrange pick-ups, compare costs, or offer petrol money. Click 'View chat' to see the context. Most of these are perfectly legitimate arrangements and should be approved (select 'Not Spam'). You can add notes to either member, or to the chat itself, where appropriate - use sparingly, or members may feel they're being watched. Mark as 'Spam' anything obviously so and not part of a genuine conversation - usually a web address on its own. Whitelisting stops a chat that keeps getting caught by the spam filters, when it's plainly legitimate, from being caught again.
One recurring issue is a member telling another that the free item has gone, but they have one to sell - against the rules, since all offers on Freegle must be free. The simplest option is to delete the chat, though you might want to tell the member first that this breaks the rules. Adding a moderator note to the chat (to the right member) before deleting it sends it straight to them, regardless of whether you've released the chat. Alternatively, send a message via a blank standard message, and mark their record as a seller.
Blue chat reviews are for other communities. Chat messages between members are sometimes sent for review. They'll always show for you if the recipient is a member of your community. You can choose whether they also show to other Freegle mods with this setting enabled, who can approve them quickly if innocent (but can't reject them) - otherwise they only show for mods on the community itself. See https://discourse.ilovefreegle.org/t/messages-delayed-in-chat-review/4633/82 for details.
Related
The on-screen instructions explain what this is about. Unless you select ignore, you can invite members to combine different email addresses where appropriate.
Stories
Some members like to share positive comments about how Freegle worked for them, which can then be published. You have editing rights.
Feedback
Shows comments members have made about the success (or otherwise) of their posts. Some communities make a point of following up unhappy members to see what could be improved.
Notes
A list of notes made about members of your community. Instructions are at the top in blue.
Events
Where members can advertise local events. These need mod approval before publication. Local communities have their own rules, but events should generally be relevant to the area, with some loose connection to reuse.
Volunteering
Should be relevant to the community's area, though there are no hard rules on other relevance. Needs mod approval before appearing on the community's Freegle page.
Publicity
Most communities have links to Facebook and other social media. These are centrally composed graphics, which may or may not be relevant to your community's area, and which go onto your community's social media pages if approved. Remember to hide them if not relevant.
Admins
Shows all Admins sent to community members in the past. Not for beginners, as it usually needs approval from all community mods. Centrally approved Admins are now also sent out periodically - you can decide whether they're appropriate for your community, choosing Approve and Send, Save Changes (to edit first), or Delete (not to send at all).
Spammers
Not really for beginners. Where reported members found to be spamming are kept, with information about them, and who's been whitelisted (exempted). Beginners should seek advice from experienced mods or their mentor if they think they've found a spammer.
Logs
Lists all actions by members and mods in your community, by message or by membership. Useful for searching who did what and when - for example what a fellow mod did while you weren't on duty, if it needs following up.
Settings
You set your own personal settings when you first use ModTools. Community settings and Standard Messages shouldn't be altered by beginners.
Teams
Information about who's who centrally. Can go out of date.
Help
Brings you here. If you can't find what you need on this page or the linked pages, ask on Discourse (click 'Us' in the top ModTools menu) to ask your question, or request more information be added here.
Chats - the speech bubble
You'll find the speech bubble at the top right of the dashboard. You can chat here to anyone in a community you're a member of. To the left of the chat window is a slot for your community's mods. We encourage members to use Chat to arrange their transactions. You'll only see a chat here if possible spam has been flagged (see Chat review above). You'll also see a copy of any message you send to a member using standard messages, though occasionally these go astray, and at present they don't appear for TrashNothing users (any reply from a TrashNothing member will, though). If a member wants to discuss your message, you can chat about it here. Chat in ModTools works the same way as on Freegle Direct, except for the spam flagging.
There are other functions you don't need to know as a beginner - some moderators never learn to use them. Look at them if you like, but don't change anything without the go-ahead from your community owner or mentor.
Discourse - the Us icon
As mentioned above, you're automatically joined as a new mod. Discourse is fairly complex and not always user-friendly. You can adjust your notification and email preferences for the various central Freegle groups, though you may find it easier to just read new messages on the web rather than tuning preferences.
VMM Aug 2020
Links
- Discourse - information and links for all the central discussion groups, offering help and support for volunteers
- Mentors' Training Manual for ModTools
- ModTools
- Recruiting, Training and Retaining
- New Group Owner Training Step 1
