The Chat Mod Rules

1. Always be polite.
	* **Never** speak of those being helped in a derogatory manner.
2. Nominate others for ops as you see fit, appoint hops as you see fit. Take note of who is trying to help and encourage and help them to spread the load around.
3. Keep axod involved in those issues which he needs to be involved.
4. Always idle in #mods. Any communications between op/hop should occur there or in private.
	* **Never** release logs from #mods.
5. Only use (h)op when needed! And de(h)op afterwards. Do not use the **VOICE** status!!

## Keeping Control

1. In #mibbit, most discussion topics are allowed, except those that explicitly violate the rules. Use discretion in moderating the discussion in #mibbit. We want users to be able to feel free to discuss anything that is civil. Religion and politics are allowed.
2. Abide by the channel rules in every way. Not doing so may cause your privileges to be revoked.
3. If a user complains about someone bothering/harassing them in PM, advise them to use the ignore function. Moderators cannot act on PMs. Moderator actions are limited to what is observed in channels.
4. Unknown, obscure links are not allowed on Mibbit through the No Advertising rules. Use common sense with this, and do not kick for YouTube or image links, or if the link pertains to the conversation, though starting with links is highly discouraged.

### Giving Out Punishment

When users break the rules for #mibbit, #chat, or #help, it is sometimes necessary to put people into a frame of mind of what they did was not allowed. As such, here is the *\*best\** way to do it *\*most\** of the times. Exceptions occur, and the method is not absolute. Do not kick a person for any reason other than the fact that they broke the rules.

* Go in the order of:
	1. Warning
	2. Kick
	3. Quiet Ban
	4. Full Ban

Warnings should be in the channel that the offense was made. Do not take them to private message. Also, they should not be numbered. Minor offenses (i.e. typing in all caps) where the action is either an annoyance or something non-obvious (not showing URLs in public), two warnings should be given before going to a kick. Be polite during the kicks.

Kicks should give the reason the person was kicked. For example, for repeatedly ignoring the warnings of typing in all caps, have the kick message be "CAPS is not allowed." For advertising, use "**Advertising is not permitted.**" Certain activities, such as racist language, do not deserve a warning, and should start with a kick.

Quiet bans are suppose to show what the other user is missing by not participating. They should not last more than an hour.

Full bans should come with a kick have the reason "Violating the Mibbit Code of Conduct". Anybody who shows pornography should automatically get such a ban. If it is found that a person is less than 13 years old, they should be kicked with reason "**Violating the Mibbit Code of Conduct (Underage user)**", banned, and an IRC OP notified. Each week, review your bans, and prune any that are no longer necessary. Do not remove other moderators bans without reasons. Arrangements for others to remove your bans can be made.

## Helping Users

1. If you are in the channel and not set away, you are expected to help.
	* If you are away, please remove your op/hop status.
	* If you are an Oper, always go by your Oper name that is listed in the MOTD.
2. Try not to interfere with another that is assisting another user.
	* If you need to address another helper, say, to point out an error, do so in private or in the staff channel..never in #help.
	* Never argue with another op or hop \*in channel\*
3. Try to point users to documentation first, but if they are unable to learn from it, show them simple examples about, say, registering a channel.
	* Examples are important. Use them copiously.
4. Use the Mibbit client as often as possible when in the #help channel. Create a widget. The experience is very helpful in assisting others.
5. Keep the help topics specifically related to the Mibbit/Widget clients and irc as it relates to Mibbit. Refer users of other clients to the appropriate forums.
	1. In #help, only discussion regarding help with the mibbit client or server is allowed. All other discussion should be taken to #mibbit, privately or another channel
6. Keep the channel to one help session only. If another needs help, take it private to avoid confusion.

## Documentation

1. Attempt to create wiki pages for new complex features.
2. Try to keep an FAQ for problems
3. Make suggestions and record user suggestions to improve Mibbit as the need arises.