HowTo: Submit a Report

Submitting a Report

One of the most valuable forum tools in today's day and age is the report feature, but sadly it's one of the most underused. Even on a forum as well staffed as TES Alliance, the moderation staff simply cannot be everywhere at once and can't bag every troll, nuke every spammer, and thump every rule breaker. We rely on the eyes of our users and their vigilant reports to help us keep TESA the happy place we all enjoy spending our time in.

The aim of this tutorial is to demystify the report feature and help users utilize this tool to it's full potential so let's get started.

How Reports Work:

When a user has something report worthy and submits a report form, an actual report appears in our report center. On the user navigation, staff members have a special notifications section that alerts them to new reports.



A user report includes the location of the report (a particular thread or post for example) based on which report button was pressed. The active report is marked as "Under Review" by the first responding staff member and investigated based on the user's statement. While staff has the ID of the reporting user, those users are not contacted and their identity is never revealed to the public, nor to a member they may report a grievance with. After the appropriate staff action is taken, the report is marked as "Completed" and is then archived.

When you click a report button anywhere on site you will be taken to the report form:



Simply fill out the text field with your message to staff, and click Submit Report to send. You do not need to take any additional action.

When to Report:

A user should report any content, user, or activity that appears to be in violation of our site rules and terms of service. Both are listed HERE for public reference. It is not necessary for a user to make a case for their report. Staff members will investigate and may close reports without action if none is actually needed. We would prefer investigating and closing reports to trolls, spammers, and malcontents running under our radar.

Where to Report:

There are several locations across the site to report from. These slides will give you references to the various buttons and an example of when to utilize that button.

Forum Posts:



Use this button to report a specific post with objectionable content. Report on the OP of the thread to report the entire thread.

Image Galleries:



Use this button to report images that violate our guidelines for images such as revealing clothing or non game related content.

Tutorial Posts:



Use this button to report objectionable or false content. We strive to keep our tutorials up to date with accurate information.

Download Pages:



Use this button to report objectionable content OR broken/missing files. Using this button will help us keep orphaned files off the site.

User Profiles:



Use this button to report this member's behavior and activity on site. Are they mouthing off in the shouty? Trolling your comments? Report them.

Private Messages:



A lot of trolls think they are free to threaten, harass, and otherwise assault users via PM and be immune to staff action based on he said she said accounts. Using this button will give staff members access to the reported PM and will allow us to see firsthand what's going on. Pirates will also use the PM system to PM you illegal materials. If two parties are caught exchanging software both are banned so report the pirate to save yourself. If you are receiving PMs of these natures report them so we can take action.

Not Sure Which Button to Use For "X"

So you come on site and spot a user with a profane User ID, or caught a lewd status update, or some racist comment in the shoutbox and you want to report, but what button do you use? The answer is easy: ANY. It's nice to have that reference link from a staff perspective, but we don't need one to take action. Click the first handy report button and make your report, we'll get the message regardless and will be able to take action.

When Not to Report:

• The report feature is not a troubleshooting hotline. If you have a question about something make a forum thread or PM an active staff member directly.
  
• The report feature is not a staff poker. Do not use the report button to ask for a name change, to have a file approved, or anything of that nature. PM instead.
  
• The report feature is not a rant box. Don't post a long winded rant about someone or something just to get it out of your system. Reports are requests for action.

Working together we can all do our part to keep TESA at her best so next time, don't hesitate over that report button, don't assume someone else will report it, click, report, and help us help you.