The Trust Level System

User trust levels are a way of:

  • Sandboxing new users in our community so that they cannot accidentally (or intentionally!) hurt themselves, the forum, or other users while they are learning what to do.

  • Granting experienced users more rights so that they can help maintain and moderate the community they generously contribute so much of their time to.

To find out your current trust level, you can head over to badges, and scroll all the way down under ‘Trust Level’. If their is a check mark beside a badge, you have been granted that Trust Level

Here is the transition:

(0. New) → (1. Basic) → (2. Member) → (3. Regular) → (4. Leader)

:point_down:Each of these different types of trust levels are described below :point_down:

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New (0)

ProjectVanlife does not quite trust new users yet, as they are visitors who just created an account, still learning the community norms and the way our forum works. Whether accidentally, or intentionally, new users can cause problems in our community.

We also want to hide any so-called “advanced” functionality from new users to make the User Interface less confusing for them and gently land them on the deeper UI as they get more experienced.

Thus, new users’ abilities are restricted for safety – both theirs and yours.
The first 100 (or so) users will be automatically promoted to Basic Trust Level 1

Users at trust level 0 cannot…

  • Send private messages to other users

  • “Reply as new topic” via Link button (UI removed)

  • Flag posts

  • Post more than 1 image

  • Post any attachments

  • Post hyperlinks in a post

  • Have actual links in the ‘about me’ field of their profile (will be silently and temporarily converted to plain text)

  • Mention more than 2 users in a post

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Basic (1)

If a user sticks around long enough to read a bit, we now trust them as a basic user.

You can get to trust level 1 by…

  1. entering at least 5 topics

  2. reading at least 30 posts

  3. spend a total of 10 minutes reading posts

Users at trust level 1 can…

  • use all core forum functions

  • Upload images and attachments

  • Edit wiki posts

  • Flag posts

  • Have all ‘New (Level 0)’ user restrictions removed

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Members (2)

Members who keep coming back to the forum, and have participated long enough to earn complete citizenship.

You can get to trust level 2 by…

  • visiting at least 15 days, not sequentially

  • 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 limit increased by 1.5 ×

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Regular (3)

Regulars are the most active readers and reliable contributors over long periods of time.

You can get to trust level 3 by…

This is time and activity based, unlike the previous levels.
In the last 100 days you…

  • must have visited at least 50% of days

  • must have replied to at least 10 different topics

  • of topics created in the last 100 days, must have viewed 25% (capped at 500)

  • of posts created in the last 100 days, must have read 25% (capped at 20k)

  • 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

*These likes must be across a minimum number of different users (1/5 the number), and across a minimum number of different days (1/4 the number). Likes cannot be from PMs.

All of these must be true.

Unlike other trust levels, you can lose trust level 3 status. If you dip below these requirements, whether from flagging or the passage of time, you will be demoted to ‘Member (Level 2)’. 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 private “frequent flier’s lounge” category only visible to users at trust level 3 and higher

  • have all their links followed

  • spam flags cast on ‘Trust Level 0’ user posts immediately hide the post

  • flags cast on TL0 user posts in sufficient diversity will auto-silence the user and hide all their posts

  • make your own posts wiki

  • Daily like limit increased by 2 ×

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Leader (4)

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.

You can get to trust level 4 by…

  • Being manually selected as leader/moderator after showing continuous leadership skills!

  • We plan on running elections in the future for users to be selected as Leaders

Users at trust level 4 can…

  • edit all posts

  • pin/unpin topic

  • close topic

  • archive topic

  • make topic unlisted

  • Split and merge topics

  • Daily like limit increased by 3 ×

What do you think about our Trust Level System?

  • I like it
  • I dislike it
  • I think it’s annoying
  • I think it needs improvements (pm @henrycooper to give your suggestions)

0 voters

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