[Proposal] A new type of volunteer moderator

We're looking at potentially making some changes to how things work with the volunteer moderator program here on BHW!

As the forum continues to grow, one of our biggest challenges is keeping on top of the spam and general forum housekeeping. As mentioned in a previous update, in the past 12 months we've:

• deleted over 200k posts
• locked almost 200k threads
• moved over 17k threads

That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the Community Team deals with.

We also handle Dispute Resolution, escalated reports, account investigations, finding and eliminating spam networks, and stopping fraudulent activity before it can get a foothold into the forum. On top of all that, there are plenty of things we'd like to spend more time on such as improving forum processes, community engagement, contests and rolling out new programs (like the experience program!).

The reality is that every hour we spend cleaning up spam is an hour we're not spending on those projects.

This is where volunteer moderators can make a huge difference!

The Problem - 1 Type of Moderator

At the moment, we only really have one volunteer moderator path.

If you become a moderator, you give up your ability to sell and trade on BHW.

The reason for that rule is straightforward. We want to avoid conflicts of interest and ensure moderation decisions are fair.

The downside is that it removes a lot of active and trusted members from consideration. Some of the members that know the forum inside and out, regularly report spam, and genuinely want to help. However, they can't because they don't want to give up their sales thread(s) or ability to trade.

Over the last week I've spoken with a number of members who are consistently submitting high quality reports to gauge whether a lighter moderation role would be something they'd be interested in. The response has been positive enough that I think it's worth bringing the conversation to the wider community.

What if We Had Discussion Moderators?

The idea would be to create a moderator role focused on forum housekeeping of the discussion areas while allowing these mods to continue trading and operating marketplace threads.

What Would a Discussion Moderator Do?​

Discussion Moderators would focus on the day-to-day cleanup tasks that keep the forum running smoothly.

This could include:

• Moderating non-transactional sections of the forum
• Removing spam threads and posts
• Moving threads into the correct sections
• Locking duplicate or rule-breaking threads
• Helping members understand forum rules
• Escalating more serious issues to full moderators

They would not be handling moderation queues, reports, account bans or other areas where conflicts of interest could arise.

When Would the Program Start?​

To be clear, this isn't something that's already decided.

Before any work starts, we want to understand whether members actually support the idea and whether there's enough interest from people who would be willing to volunteer for a role like this.

If there is, then we'd need to work through:

• Requirements for Discussion Moderators
• Training and onboarding
• Updates to the Moderator Handbook
• User group and permission changes
• Updates to the staff application form
• Testing everything on our development server before it goes live

One thing I do like about the idea is that it creates a clearer path for volunteers:

1. Moderator In Training
2. Discussion Moderator
3. Full Moderator
4. Becoming a Staff Member**

This path allows mods to learn the role but keep progressing if that's something they want to do.

**openings for staff members are generally offered to volunteer moderators before being posted to the wider forum and/or public.

Let Me Know What You Think​

For now, I'm mostly interested in feedback about this idea.

Would you support a Discussion Moderator role?

Would you volunteer for one?

Are there any obvious issues that haven't been brought up?

We're looking forward to your commentary on this potential new role!

This is a great idea, and I would definitely support it!

I would also be very interested in becoming a discussion moderator. I currently sell services on BHW, so having this opportunity to contribute to the community while continuing to manage my marketplace threads would be a great option.

I think this is a wonderful initiative and a positive step towards keeping the forum clean, organized, and welcoming for everyone.

One small thing I noticed: the moderator application form isn't showing on my side. Perhaps I've filled it out too many times already!

Looking forward to seeing this program move forward. Thanks for considering this idea!

Being a Mod on a fourm like this is really asset. 200% Understanding of the product is a different thing. Resolving reports and justifying them is okay.

I think this is a great initiative. I’m definitely in favour of introducing a Discussion Moderator role, and honestly, I think it’s something the forum really needs given its current state.

On another note, would it be possible to introduce a dedicated sub-forum where members can share battle-tested methods, practical guides, and workflows, perhaps through a paid subscription model?

I genuinely think this could help bring the forum back to life. Search engines and AI tools have already scraped and indexed a huge amount of information, making much of the generic content readily available elsewhere. What they can't easily replicate, however, is the real-world experience of members sharing methods they've personally tested and know actually work.

If there's a way to incentivize members to contribute this kind of valuable, experience-driven content, I think people would be willing to pay for access to it. You could even introduce a revenue-sharing model where contributors receive a percentage based on factors such as thread views, likes, engagement, or other metrics.

I believe this could create a win-win situation: members get access to genuinely useful, proven information, contributors are rewarded for sharing their expertise, and the forum gets a fresh revenue stream while encouraging more high-quality participation.

P.S. - Used AI to reframe my idea.

V said:

I think this is a great initiative. I’m definitely in favour of introducing a Discussion Moderator role, and honestly, I think it’s something the forum really needs given its current state.

On another note, would it be possible to introduce a dedicated sub-forum where members can share battle-tested methods, practical guides, and workflows, perhaps through a paid subscription model?

I genuinely think this could help bring the forum back to life. Search engines and AI tools have already scraped and indexed a huge amount of information, making much of the generic content readily available elsewhere. What they can't easily replicate, however, is the real-world experience of members sharing methods they've personally tested and know actually work.

If there's a way to incentivize members to contribute this kind of valuable, experience-driven content, I think people would be willing to pay for access to it. You could even introduce a revenue-sharing model where contributors receive a percentage based on factors such as thread views, likes, engagement, or other metrics.

I believe this could create a win-win situation: members get access to genuinely useful, proven information, contributors are rewarded for sharing their expertise, and the forum gets a fresh revenue stream while encouraging more high-quality participation.

P.S. - Used AI to reframe my idea.

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On my list of things to do, I have the Experience Program. I'm working on a different thread to talk a bit more about the framework we're thinking about and this might be an excellent part of that discussion (i.e. I agree with you).