User trust Levels

This post was based off of (and most of it was stolen from) the original post on Discourse Meta here.

As documented in Community Building on the Web.

User trust levels are a way of…

  • Sandboxing new users in our community so that they cannot accidentally (or intentionally!) hurt themselves, the forum, or other users while they are learning what to do.
  • Granting experienced users more rights so that they can help maintain and moderate the community they generously contribute so much of their time to.

The User Trust Levels we offer:
0 (New) → 1 (Basic)2 (Member) 3 (Regular)4 (Leader)

New (0)

Discourse does not quite trust new users yet, as they are visitors who just created an account, still learning the community norms and the way your forum works. Whether accidentally, or intentionally, new users can cause problems in your community.

We also want to hide any so-called “advanced” functionality from new users to make the UI less confusing for them and gently land them on the deeper UI as they get more experienced.

Thus, new users’ abilities are restricted for safety – both theirs and yours.

Users at trust level 0 cannot…

Send private messages to other users
Reply as new topic in the right gutter (UI removed)
Flag posts
Post more than 1 image
Post any attachments
Post more than 2 hyperlinks in a post
Have actual links in the ‘about me’ field of their profile (will be silently and temporarily converted to plain text)
Mention more than 2 users in a post

Basic (1)

If a user sticks around long enough to read a bit, Discourse now trusts them as a basic user.

They can get to trust level 1 by…

  • entering at least 5 topics
  • reading at least 30 posts
  • spend a total of 10 minutes reading posts

Users at trust level 1 can…

  • use all core Discourse functions
  • Upload images and attachments if enabled
  • Edit wiki posts
  • Flag posts
  • have all new user restrictions removed

Member (2)

Members keep coming back to the site, and have participated long enough to earn complete citizenship.

They can get to trust level 2 by…

  • visiting at least 15 days, not sequentially
  • casting at least 1 like
  • receiving at least 1 like
  • replying to at least 3 different topics
  • entering at least 20 topics
  • reading at least 100 posts
  • spend a total of 60 minutes reading posts

Users at trust level 2 can…

Use the “Invite others to this topic” button for one-click onboarding of new users to participate in topics
Invite outside users to PMs making a group PM
Daily like limit increased by 1.5 ×

Regular (3)

Regulars are the most active readers and reliable contributors over long periods of time.

They can get to trust level 3 by…

This is time and activity based, unlike the previous levels. In the last 100 days…

  • must have visited at least 50% of days
  • must have replied to at least 10 different topics
  • of topics created in the last 100 days, must have viewed 25%
  • of posts created in the last 100 days, must have read 25%
  • must have received 20 likes, and given 30 likes.*
  • must not have received more than 5 spam or offensive flags (with unique posts and unique users for each, confirmed by a moderator)
  • must not have been suspended
  • These likes must be across a minimum number of different users (1/5 the number), across a minimum number of different days (1/4 the number). Likes cannot be from PMs.

All of these must be true.

Unlike other trust levels, you can lose trust level 3 status. If you dip below these requirements, whether from flagging or the passage of time, you will be demoted to Member. However, in order to avoid constant promotion/demotion situations, there is a 2-week grace period immediately after gaining Trust Level 3 during which you will not be demoted.

Users at trust level 3 can…

  • recategorize and rename topics
  • access a private “frequent flier’s lounge” category only visible to users at trust level 3 and higher
  • have all their links followed (we remove automatic nofollow)
  • spam flags cast on TL0 user posts immediately reach the action threshold
  • make their own posts wiki (that is, editable by any TL1+ users)
  • Daily like limit increased by 2 ×

Leader (4) aka Admins + Mods

Leaders are regulars who have been around forever and seen everything. They set a positive example for the community through their actions and their posts. If you need advice, these are the folks you turn to first.

They can get to trust level 4 by…

Manual promotion only at the moment!

In the future, look closely at quality?

ExplicitQuality = min(1.0, contributionValue(LikesRecievedCnt) * LikesWeight + contributionValue(BookmarksRecievedCnt) * BookmarksWeight + contributionValue(FavoritesRecievedCnt) * FavoritesWeight + contributionValue(RepliesCnt) * RepliesWeight + contributionValue(AvgTopicRepliesCnt) * TopicRepliesWeight)

Look also at site and topic promotion: invites, accepted invites, external links followed?

Election process?

Users at trust level 4 can…

  • edit all posts
  • pin/unpin topic
  • close topic
  • archive topic
  • make topic unlisted
  • Split and merge topics
  • Daily like limit increased by 3 ×

Moderators

When you’re not answering questions in the forums, you might be testing new features or advocating for product changes. DreamFactory Mods are Top Contributors, but not all Top Contributors are DreamFactory Mods. Mods are meant to be mostly made up of Community, and non DreamFactory employee, members.

Some qualities you have as a DreamFactory Mod:

  • Helpful: Each DreamFactory Mod answers thousands of questions to educate and help others, to foster community engagement, and to influence the future of DreamFactory’s products.
  • Knowledgeable: DreamFactory Mods are trusted partners, connecting regularly with DreamFactory to stay in-the-know about new and improved product features.
  • Technical: DreamFactory Mods know the ins and outs of DreamFactory’s products. Many Mods specialize in a specific product, while others share their expertise across several forums (and sometimes across several languages)
  • Provide help and advice to new comers, help forum newbies, and anyone interested in learning more.

Becoming a Mod is invite only. If your interested in learning more, or want to be considered, please PM @AlexBowen. Our team monitors the Forum closely and extends invitations to those who emanate the Moderator attitude as identified above.