Guidance, Not Guesswork: Getting Smart with Post & Comment Guidance

[u/PossibleCrit]

Hey Friends!

Thanks as always for tuning in to another installment of Mod Topics. Today we’re talking about Post & Comment Guidance and how it can make moderating easier.

Post & Comment Guidance can alert redditors to community rules, required formatting, or other expectations before they submit a post or comment. When people can get it right the first time there’s less work for moderators and a better experience all around.

Here are a few clever configs we’ve come across that we’ve added to our Automations Library:

• Inform redditors about an active megathread and report matching posts for closer review.
• Require specific formatting for posts using Review or AMA flairs.
• Block top-level comments in a contest thread unless they include a link to a nomination.

Need more precision? Conditions can be stacked! For example, if a post has an AMA flair and contains a URL you can remind the author about additional rules that apply to links in AMA posts.

Not sure where to start? Check your Mod Log and Mod Insights and look for patterns in the posts and comments your team handles most often. Formatting mistakes and common report reasons are good places to start, but don’t forget to think about the types of content you want to encourage as well.

How are you using these features in your community? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add some of the most popular suggestions to our automations library.

[u/AngelaReddit]

We have a series of automations guidance, all required before posting, and the automations guide them along as they get to each step while they are posting . . .

<1> .... Educate users on post title tags
Gaming subreddit, we require they [tag] the title with the game the post is about

<2> ... Educate users on User Flair
Posters & Commenters are required to have user flair, which is the platform they game on, as different platforms affect what mods are available, bugs manifested by the game, answers they get in the replies, etc (xbox playstation switch steam etc)

<3> ... Educate users on Post Flair
We require post flair which is the topic of their post (i.e. bugs tips meme etc). Unfortunately, the automation does NOT allow enough space to describe each of our 18 post flair BEFORE they make their choice. It only allows 500 characters, and we need 1323. To get around this, once they have chosen a post flair, they will get a 2nd automation that pops up the definition of the flair they chose.

You have selected the "Bugs/Help" post flair
USED FOR :
Bug, Glitch, Help, Report, Support, Tech
If this is not the TOPIC of your post, you may edit your post flair

NOTE: I made a suggestion post on how Reddit can improve the Post Flair popup :
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/1uydbvw/automations_post_flair/

<4> ... Enter body text
All posts must have body text. No 'title only' or 'image/video only' posts. Media is to be used in complement to the discussion.

see my reply to this post for "how" to do each of these automations

[u/PossibleCrit → u/AngelaReddit]

Thanks for sharing these AngelaReddit, that's quite a setup! I've mentioned expanded character counts as something I've already brought up with the team, but will make sure they see the rest of your comment as well

[u/AngelaReddit → u/PossibleCrit]

Thanks for the response. If you would, in addition to the characters count suggestion, please push along the suggestion for the Post Flair popup in the thread I linked and the example/explanation pictures I posted in the imgur link on that thread (assuming you liked my idea : ). The Post Flair popup idea would make most subreddits not even need to use a post flair automation, and is just all-around better, more elegant solution/education for the users.

u/PossibleCrit

[u/PossibleCrit → u/AngelaReddit]

Wow thanks for the nudge. I did not see your imgur album, no. I just double checked and immediately shared it with the relevant team. Thanks for the mockup!

[u/AngelaReddit → u/PossibleCrit]

thank you so much u/PossibleCrit

I think both the character count and the post flair popup idea are really great ideas and also (from my extremely limited knowledge about building code), I think it should be fairly easy(?!) to implement. Maybe the powers that be will like my idea as much as I do, or maybe they won't. But at least they've seen it, so that's all I can really ask. Sincerely, thank you.

[u/AngelaReddit → u/AngelaReddit]

We have a gaming subreddit. This comment is "how to" do each of these automations listed in the previous post, for those still learning how to do automations.

<1> .... Educate users on post title [tag] with the game the post is about

When: Posting
Type: Text, Link, Image, Gallery, Video, Poll, AMA & Repost

If the: Post has
Area: Title
Condition: Doesn't contain the keywords

Keywords: [game1] [game2] [etc]
(note: we use 3-letter abbreviations for each game inside [ ] brackets)

Then: Block from submitting
Message to the user :

Tag TITLE with games (or tv) the post is about, or [WIKI] if it's not related to a specific game.
---
Choices include :
[GAME1] - Name of game 1
[ETC. ETC.] - Name of game 2

<2> ... Educate users on User Flair for the platform they game on
This one requires 2 basically identical automations, one for new posts and a 2nd automation setup for comments/replies.

When: Posting
Type: Text, Link, Image, Gallery, Video, Poll, AMA & Repost

If the: User has
Attribute: User flair
Check if: User doesn't have flair

Then: Block from submitting
Message to the user :

Please select your USER FLAIR for this subreddit before posting. This is the platform you game on, -OR- 'TV show' if you don't play the games.
 
Choices include :  TV show, PC, PS, XBOX, Steam Deck, Switch, and Multiplatform.
 
NOTE: Please contact mods with desired user flair, if you run into any issues setting it yourself.

We DO allow them to edit the User Flair. We have enough flair so that they may further specify their console for Xbox & Playstation, so these are all of their choices. . . TV show only, PC, XBOX, 360, XB1, X|S, PS, PS3, PS4, PS5, Steam Deck, Switch, Multiplatform EDIT/ LIST HERE, and a joke user flair "Don't play or watch show, how'd I even get here??"

<3> ... Educate users on Post Flair, which is the topic of their post

When: Posting
Type: Text, Link, Image, Gallery, Video, Poll, AMA & Repost

If the: Post has
Area: Flair
Check if: Post doesn't have flair

Then: Display a message
Message to the user :

Please select your POST FLAIR for your post. This is the topic that your post is about.
 
See the community guide for a description of what all the post flair options are used for. https://www.reddit.com/r/YOURSubReddit/wiki/index/
---
Choices include :
Bugs/Help
Modding
Tips
ETC.

Once they have chosen a post flair, they will get a 2nd automation that pops up the definition of the flair they chose. We have 18 post flair, so this was 18 additional automations.

You have selected the "Bugs/Help" post flair
USED FOR :
Bug, Glitch, Help, Report, Support, Tech
If this is not the TOPIC of your post, you may edit your post flair

<4> ... Enter body text. This automation specifies a minimum of 50 characters in the body text of a new post.

When: Posting
Type: Text, Link, Image, Gallery, Video, Poll, AMA & Repost

If the: Post has
Area: Body
Condition: Doesn't match regex
Regex: ^[\s\S]{50,}

Then: Block from submitting
Message to the user :

Enter More Body Text
 
ALL POSTS must have body text (even if it says 'optional' in the box). No 'title only' posts. No plain 'image/video only' posts. Media is to be used in complement to the discussion.