The user trust level system is a fundamental cornerstone of our forums. Trust levels are a way of…
- Sandboxing new users in your community so that they cannot accidentally hurt themselves, or other users while they are learning what to do.
- Granting experienced users more rights over time, so that they can help everyone maintain and moderate the community they generously contribute so much of their time to.
Here are details about our trust levels, their benefits and promotion requirements:
Trust Level 0 – New
By default, all new users start out at trust level 0, meaning trust has yet to be earned. These are visitors who just created an account, and are still learning the community norms and the way our community works. New users’ abilities are restricted for safety – both theirs and yours.
(We also want to hide any “advanced” functionality from new users to make the UI less confusing for them as they gain more experience.)
Users at trust level 0 cannot …
- Send personal messages to other users
- “Reply as new topic” via Link button (UI removed)
- Flag posts
- Post more than 1 image
- Post any attachments
- Post more than 2 hyperlinks in a post
- Have actual links in the ‘about me’ field of their profile (will be temporarily converted to plain text)
- Mention more than 2 users in a post
- Post more than 3 topics
- Post more than 10 replies
- Edit their own posts after more than 24 hours
Trust Level 1 – Basic
We believe reading is the most fundamental and healthy action in any community. If a new user is willing to spend a little time reading, they will quickly be promoted to the first trust level.
Get to trust level 1 by achieving the following in the last 100 days…
- Entering at least 5 topics
- Reading at least 30 posts
- Spend a total of 10 minutes reading posts
Users at trust level 1 can…
- Use all core Discourse functions; all new user restrictions are removed
- Send PMs
- Upload images and attachments.
- Edit any wiki posts
- Flag posts
- Mute other users
Trust Level 2 – Member
Members who return to our forums over a series of weeks and have not only read, but actively participated, will be trusted with full citizenship.
Get to trust level 2 by achieving the following in the last 100 days…
- Visiting at least 15 days, (15 days total, does not mean in a row)
- Casting at least 1 like
- Receiving at least 1 like
- Replying to at least 3 different topics
- Entering at least 20 topics
- Reading at least 100 posts
- Spend a total of 60 minutes reading posts
Users at trust level 2 can…
- Use the “Invite others to this topic” button for one-click onboarding of new users to participate in topics
- Invite outside users to PMs making a group PM
- Daily like, edit, and flag limits increased by 1.5×
- Ignore other users
- Edit their own posts for up to 30 days after posting
Trust Level 3 – Regular
Regulars are the most active readers and reliable contributors over a period of months, even years. Because they’re always around. As such, they can be further trusted to help manage the community.
To get to trust level 3 by achieving the following in the last 100 days…
- Must have visited at least 50% of days
- Must have replied to at least 10 different non-PM topics
- Of topics created in the last 100 days, must have viewed 25%
- Of posts created in the last 100 days, must have read 25%
- Must have received 20 likes, and given 30 likes.*
- Must not have received more than 5 spam or offensive flags (with unique posts and unique users for each, confirmed by a moderator)
- Must not have been suspended or silenced in the last 6 months
* These likes must be across a minimum number of different users (1/5 the number), across a minimum number of different days (1/4 the number). Likes cannot be from PMs.
All of the above criteria must be true to achieve trust level 3. Furthermore, unlike other trust levels, you can lose trust level 3 status. If you dip below these requirements in the last 100 days, you will be demoted back to Member. However, in order to avoid constant promotion/demotion situations, there is a 2-week grace period immediately after gaining Trust Level 3 during which you will not be demoted.
Users at trust level 3 can…
- Recategorize and rename topics
- Access a secure category only visible to users at trust level 3 and higher
- Have all their links followed (we remove automatic nofollow)
- TL3 spam flags cast on TL0 user posts immediately hide the post
- TL3 flags cast on TL0 user posts in sufficient diversity will auto-silence the user and hide all their posts
- Make their own posts wiki (that is, editable by any TL1+ users)
- Daily like, edit, and flag limits increased by 2×
Trust Level 4 – Leader
Leaders are regulars who have been around forever and seen everything. They set a positive example for the community through their actions and their posts. If you need advice, these are the folks you turn to first, and they’ve earned the highest level of community trust, such that they are almost moderators within the community already.
Get to trust level 4 by achieving the following in the last 100 days…
- Manual promotion by staff only
Users at trust level 4 can…
- Edit all posts
- Pin/unpin topic
- Close topics
- Archive topics
- Make topics unlisted
- Split and merge topics
- Reset topic bump date
- Daily like, edit, and flag limits increased by 3×
- Any TL4 flag cast on any post immediately takes effect and hides the target post
- Can send personal messages to an email address
This trust level system leads to stronger, more sustainable communities by carefully empowering members, regulars, and leaders to curate and lead.