Reporting is an important function of The Bell Tree Forums that allows users to notify the staff of any rule-breaking content. While we don’t publicly disclose the actions we take when a report is received, all reports are taken seriously to ensure we keep the forums a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for all members of the community.
The content can be reported in the following ways:
When you click "Report", a text box will pop up that you can fill in with the reason why you’re reporting the given content before clicking the “Report” button to send it. For any content that breaks a rule, please include what part of the rules have been broken to help assist the staff in handling it quicker. For any requests, it is up to the staff’s discretion whether or not the request should be granted.
Similar to public content, click the “Report” link at the bottom left of the offending direct message. However, we may be required to look at the full conversation in order to gather enough information to make a decision on the report. If this happens, we will direct message you to ask for permission to look at all the direct messages sent in the reported conversation, otherwise we will ask for all direct messages in that conversation to be screenshotted and sent to us. Please note that if a direct message is not reported prior to leaving the conversation, we will be unable to do anything about it.
If a user has done something off-site that you believe poses a credible risk to community safety, comfort, or inclusivity, make a thread in the Contact the Staff board. Please include all relevant screenshots and links with as much info as possible, as we need to have the proper context in order to properly pass judgement on a given case. For more information on what off-site content we will moderate against, please look at our Moderating On- and Off-site Behavior policies.
If you see any post that requires the staff's attention, whether it's a post that breaks the rules or a misplaced thread, please use the report feature as mentioned above. The staff will handle it as soon as possible. Responding to it yourself is considered mini-modding, which can cause unnecessary confusion of the forum rules or unnecessary duplicate threads.
If any instances of mini-modding are noticed by the staff, they will be deleted with a notification. A warning will only be issued after a user does multiple instances of mini-modding despite being notified to stop.
In the event you feel uncomfortable with the entire staff team seeing your post, you may PM a staff member that you trust about the question or concern you have. Please keep in mind we prefer for the Contact the Staff board to be used instead, as it ensures that the staff team is on the same page about what is being discussed and agree with the information that is being shared. Finally, if you have grievances or concerns about the conduct or behavior of a staff member, you may PM the site owner Jeremy.