Inline Submission and Moderation Guidelines

📋 Summary

Add clear, accessible submission and moderation guidelines directly within the Games Database interface to ensure consistency and reduce confusion.


❗ Problem

Current guidelines for submissions and moderation are difficult to find, outdated, or buried in forum posts. This leads to:

  • Inconsistent moderation decisions across contributors

  • Confusion around what is considered acceptable data or media

  • Frequent disputes over naming conventions, regions, and media types

  • New contributors struggling to understand expectations

  • Repeated mistakes that could be avoided with clearer guidance

This lack of visibility contributes heavily to moderator burnout and declining contribution quality.


💡 Proposal

Introduce inline guidelines directly within the Games Database UI, available during both submission and moderation.

  • Display contextual guidance when editing fields (e.g. Developer, Publisher, Region, Image Type)

  • Provide clear examples and best practices for common scenarios

  • Include rules for:

    • Naming conventions

    • Region tagging

    • Media categorisation

    • Handling fanart vs official assets

  • Add quick access links to full documentation where needed


🧩 Use Cases

  • A contributor adding a new game can immediately see correct naming conventions

  • A moderator reviewing media can reference guidelines without leaving the page

  • Users unsure about region tagging can quickly confirm the correct approach

  • New contributors can onboard without needing to search forum posts


📦 Benefits

  • Improves consistency and quality of submissions

  • Reduces moderation conflicts and subjective decision-making

  • Speeds up onboarding for new contributors

  • Decreases reliance on external documentation and forum discussions

  • Helps align the community around a shared standard


⚠️ Considerations

  • Guidelines should be concise and easy to scan

  • More detailed rules can be linked out to full documentation

  • Content should be regularly maintained and updated


✅ Outcome

Providing clear, inline guidance ensures contributors and moderators are aligned, reducing confusion and improving the overall quality and consistency of the Games Database.

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Upvoters
Status

Open To Community

Board
Custom icon

LaunchBox Games Database

Date

About 5 hours ago

Author

AstroBob

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