Why a written policy helps
A comment policy does two jobs. It tells readers what the space is for before they post, which prevents some bad comments outright. And it gives whoever moderates a fixed reference, so a removal is a rule being applied rather than a personal call. Without a policy, every hard decision looks arbitrary, and readers who get removed feel singled out. With one, you can point at the line that was crossed.
Keep it short. A policy nobody reads is only slightly more useful than no policy. Aim for something a reader can skim in under a minute.
The template
Copy this, change the name and the specifics, and publish it on a page you can link from your comment area.
Comment policy
We want the comments here to be useful and welcoming. By posting, you agree to a few simple things.
Stay on topic. Comments should relate to the article. Off-topic promotion and link drops will be removed.
Be civil. Disagree with ideas, not people. No personal attacks, harassment, slurs, or threats.
No spam. Repetitive posting, affiliate spam, and content designed only to advertise will be removed and may be blocked.
Keep it legal. Do not post content that is defamatory, infringes copyright, or shares private information about others.
You own what you write. You are responsible for your comments. We may edit or remove any comment and may close comments on a post at any time.
How we moderate. Comments may be reviewed before they appear. We are not obligated to publish every comment. If yours is removed and you think that was a mistake, contact us at [your email].
Privacy. We do not track you across the web to run these comments. See our privacy page for details.
How each section maps to settings
A policy is only credible if your tools back it up. Here is how the template lines up with what a comment system should let you do.
- No spam pairs with a blocked-word filter and a spam and pending queue, so obvious junk never reaches the page.
- Comments may be reviewed before they appear is a moderation mode. Gabden offers pre-moderate everything, auto-approve, auto-approve returning verified people, or moderate only anonymous users, so you can match the promise you made in the policy.
- We may close comments on a post is a per-page rule that turns comments off on chosen URLs, useful for posts that attract nothing but arguments.
- Privacy is a claim you can only make honestly if the system does not use tracking cookies or fingerprinting. Gabden does not, which makes that line true rather than aspirational.
Tone choices
The template above is neutral. Adjust it to your site. A technical blog can be terse. A community for a hobby can be warmer and invite questions explicitly. A news site may need more detail about defamation and legal content because the risk is higher there. What matters is that the tone of the policy matches the tone you actually want in the thread.
Where to put it
Link the policy near the comment box, not buried in a footer. A one-line note like "Comments are moderated. Read our comment policy." next to the form is enough. Readers who intend to post in good faith will glance at it; readers who do not will at least have been warned before you remove them.
Keep it current
Revisit the policy when your moderation reality changes. If you start getting a specific kind of bad comment often, add a line about it. If you loosen up and switch to auto-approving returning people, make sure the policy still describes what happens. A policy that matches practice is the one that holds up when someone challenges a decision.
For the moderation side of this, our look at how spam gets filtered pairs well with a policy, and the full settings are in the docs.
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