===Section 3: Moderation and Protection=== [i]Section covers group moderation, how to protect your group from takeovers and other misconduct.[/i] [u]_________________________________________________________________________________[/u] [quote][b]Section 3 Contents:[/b] I - Security Role Editor - forum permissions II - Group Protection       II : I - How takeovers Occur, how to avoid them       II : II - Getting group back       II : III - Suffered takeover attempt / spam attack[/quote] [u]_________________________________________________________________________________[/u] [b]I[/b] - [u]Security Role Editor - related forum permissions:[/u] These permissions control a user's ability to interact in the group's forum. It is generally recommended that a pinned topic containing the group's rules is created so there is no confusion and excuse for bad behaviour. You may wish to look at how other groups have laid out their rules or the [url=http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=55733729]public forum rules[/url] for ideas. [i]Moderate Forum Pin, lock and reveal threads in the group's private forums.[/i] - [b]Pin:[/b] See group Forum {[url=http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t183/tomt117/gruntythemeforum.jpg]Image[/url]}, if you look to the right there is a box "Pinned topics". Any pinned thread {[url=http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t183/tomt117/Moderationtools.jpg]Image[/url]} will end up on the right hand side rather than in the main listings. This can be used for important threads. You may also use it to unlock archived threads (see section 4). - [b]Lock:[/b] A locked thread stops further replies (unless reopened). - [b]Reveal:[/b] A banned user's posts are hidden from public view. Clicking this allows a group moderator to see posts hidden on the page. This is down locally which means the posts are still hidden when the page is refreshed. [i]Edit Other's Posts - Edit other user's posts in addition to their own.[/i] - Allows users to modify content of all posts on the forum, including yours. Back-up important posts. [i]Delete Posts - Delete topics and individual posts.[/i] - I hate deletion and tend to never hand this out. [i]Temporary Blacklisting - Blacklist posters for short period of time.[/i] - User can ban any user that does not have full control for 3 or 7 days. [i]Blacklist Members - Complete control over the blacklist for this group.[/i] - User can ban anyone without full control for as long as they wish. They can also modify and remove bans using the "Blacklist Management" admin tool. [u]_________________________________________________________________________________[/u] [b]II[/b] - [u]Group Protection:[/u] Sadly, as with most aspects of life, there are people out there that aren't really very nice. Either they're genetically -blam!-s, nurtured -blam!-s or just plain bored. With this in mind groups are not entirely safe -- well, not safe for those without a bit of "street knowledge". This aspect of the guide looks at the threat of group takeovers/hackings/warfare and how to avoid them. [b]II : I[/b] - [u]How takeovers occur[/u] The most frequent method is for a user to join a group and slowly gain the owner's trust until they eventually give them full control, they can then boot the founder and claim the group as their own. This can be easily combated, simply: Never give out full control to people you don't completely trust - it isn't worth it. A second, less frequently used method, is finding out an admin's details and hacking their account. This is also easy to combat provided you're not foolish. The secret is to NEVER give out your WLID email to anyone. If you want people to contact you via email setup a separate email. Finally, conquerors may create an account that looks the same as another admin/moderator account (it may use a capital "i" instead of a lower case "L" for instance). They might claim they "accidentally left" or something similar, asking you to restore their privileges. Check it is them by looking at their join date, groups, post history etc. [b]II : II[/b] - [u]Getting your group back after a takeover[/u] [u][b]IMPORTANT:[/b][/u] Generally if your group is taken the site admins will not assist you in getting it back. Moderators (orange text folk) have no authority in groups whatsoever and will not be able to assist you. If you believe you have a case contact the bungie webteam or site staff (e.g. urk, DeeJ or Achronos) and explain your situation. While they may help you shouldn't expect too much; remember bungie.net is their place of work and they're not going to shy away from work to sort 'a playground squabble'. [b]II : III[/b] - [u]Suffered takeover attempt / spam attack, what should I do?[/u] - I myself have had some experience, back in '07, where I orchestrated the retaliation side after my group suffered an attempted takeover. I am not proud of it and think of group warfare as petty and stupid, however with my experience I can at least offer insight into what not to do. First thing and perhaps [b]the[/b] most important rule, [b]DON'T RETALIATE[/b] if somebody spams your group/tries to takeover. The reason is that retaliation only leads to escalation. Allow me to explain what happened in my little ordeal of '07. Initially the user attempting to takeover tried to takeover the group CompoundIntelligence (the largest group at the time). User, now moderator, x Foman123 x ignored the pathetic efforts. I on the other hand, founder of the second group targetted, did not (I was younger, less mature and less experienced). Instead I humoured the pathetic effort, which eventually resulted in a large group conflict. Retaliation gets you nowhere, my group had to be locked down for months because alts kept appearing on the member queue; it hurt member growth and lead to a lot of things that could have been avoided. [u]Steps to take:[/u] 1. Tell group moderators about the scenario so they are alert. 2. Block/ignore PM communications with offending users. 3. Lock down group if need be (closed membership). [u]What not to do:[/u] (no particular order) 1. Retaliate 2. Cry about it in the public forums 3. Run straight to the webteam/community team and give them more spam to deal with in their overflowing in-boxes. [url=/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=34357838][b]Back to Navigation[/b][/url] [Edited on 12.21.2011 11:09 AM PST]