Good community guidelines do not feel like a wall of legal text. They feel like a clear answer to a simple question: How do we want to treat one another here?
Then the questions arrive. How strict should the rules be? What counts as harassment? What happens when someone breaks a rule?
I have learned that the best guidelines are not the longest ones. They are the ones people can understand before posting, use when a disagreement starts, and trust when a moderator has to make a difficult call.
This guide explains how to write them. It includes a free template, examples for common situations, and a short review checklist. Use the parts that fit your forum, membership group, Discord server, newsletter community, course, or social platform.
Quick answer: Strong community guidelines define the purpose of the space, describe expected behavior in plain language, give specific examples, explain how reports are handled, and say what action may follow a violation.
What are community guidelines?
Community guidelines are the shared rules and expectations for a group of people who interact in the same space. They can apply to a public forum, a private membership, a comment section, a live event, or a professional community.
They are different from terms of service. Terms of service are usually a formal agreement between a platform and its users. Community guidelines are more practical. They tell people how to participate and help moderators respond consistently.
A useful set of guidelines answers five questions:
•What is this community for?
•Who is it for?
•What behaviour helps the community work well?
•What behaviour is not acceptable?
•How can someone ask for help or report a problem?
A small group may need one page. A larger organization may need a short public summary plus detailed moderation procedures. The format can change, but the job is the same: make expectations visible before conflict happens.
Why clear guidelines matter
Vague rules create guesswork. One member reads “be respectful” as “never disagree”. Another reads it as “anything goes as long as I did not mean harm.” A moderator is left trying to interpret a rule after the damage is done.
Clear guidelines help in four practical ways:
1. They welcome new members. A new person can see how to contribute without studying the group’s history.
2. They reduce avoidable conflict. Examples make the boundary easier to understand.
3. They give moderators a shared standard. Decisions are less dependent on one person’s mood.
4. They build trust. People know how to report a problem and what kind of response to expect.
Major online communities use public standards for the same reason. GitHub asks members to communicate expectations clearly, moderate projects where possible, and report content that may violate policy. Mozilla’s guidelines explain expected and unacceptable behaviour, along with reporting and appeal routes.
That does not mean a small community should copy a large platform. It means the principle is proven: people participate more confidently when the rules are visible and usable.
Start with the purpose, not the prohibitions.
Before writing a list of things people cannot do, write two or three sentences about what the community is for.
A purpose statement gives every rule a reason. For example:
This is a community for independent writers who want useful feedback, honest discussion, and practical support. We welcome beginners and experienced writers. We keep criticism specific, respectful, and focused on the work.
That short paragraph already tells readers a lot. It sets the audience, the goal, and the tone. It also helps moderators make decisions later. A post can be technically polite and still be off-topic. The purpose statement gives you a way to explain why.
Ask yourself:
•What should a member be able to do here?
•What kind of conversation do we want more of?
•What should people not have to worry about?
•What is outside the community’s scope?
Do not promise more than you can provide. If you cannot offer professional advice, private case review, or 24-hour moderation, say so.
The five parts of a useful guideline
1. Welcome people clearly.
Start with a short welcome. It does not need to sound corporate. A warm opening tells people that the rules are meant to support participation, not scare them away.
Example:
Welcome. This community is a place to ask questions, share work, and learn from one another. You do not need to be an expert to take part. Please read these guidelines before posting and help us keep the space useful for everyone.
For a professional or technical group, avoid making newcomers feel they must already know unwritten rules.
2. Describe expected behavior
Tell people what to do, not only what to avoid. Positive instructions are easier to follow than a list of threats.
Useful expectations include:
•Stay close to the topic of the channel or thread.
•Explain your reasoning when giving criticism.
•Ask before sending someone a private message about a sensitive issue.
•Give credit when sharing another person’s work.
•Make room for people who have not spoken yet.
•Protect private information, including screenshots and email addresses.
•Use content warnings when a discussion may be difficult for readers.
Keep each rule specific enough to guide action. “Be nice” is too broad. “Critique the idea, not the person” gives a member something they can actually do.
3. Name unacceptable behaviour
Do not assume that your members share the same definition of harassment, spam, or discrimination. Name the behaviour plainly.
Most communities should consider addressing:
•Personal attacks, threats, and targeted harassment
•Hate speech or demeaning comments about a protected characteristic
•Repeated unwanted contact or sexual attention
•Sharing private or identifying information without permission
•Spam, scams, and misleading promotions
•Plagiarism, impersonation, or false claims of affiliation
•Deliberate disruption, dogpiling, or brigading
•Content that violates the law or the platform’s rules
You do not need a complete legal code. Cover the problems your community is most likely to face. A rule should protect people without pretending every situation can be predicted.
4. Show examples
Examples remove ambiguity. They also help moderators explain a decision without turning every case into a philosophical debate.
For a writing group, you might write:
Usually okay: “The opening is strong, but the middle moves too quickly for me. Could you add one scene that shows the character’s decision?”
Not okay: “This is terrible. You clearly do not understand storytelling.”
For a professional networking community:
Usually okay: “I work on a similar product. May I send you a short overview?”
Not okay: Copying a sales pitch into every discussion or sending repeated messages after someone says no.
Use “usually” rather than “always” when context matters. Repetition after someone asks for it to stop can change the meaning of a message.
5. Explain reporting and enforcement.
People need to know what to do when a rule is broken. Give them one clear reporting route. It may be a report button, an email address, a private form, or a message to the moderation team.
Then explain the possible response. A simple process might be:
1. A moderator reviews the report and relevant context.
2. The moderator may ask questions or request more information.
3. The team may remove content, limit participation, issue a warning, suspend an account, or take no action.
4. Serious cases may be escalated to the platform, event organiser, or appropriate authorities.
5. If possible, the person affected can request a review of the decision.
Do not guarantee a specific outcome. Promise to take reports seriously, protect privacy as far as possible, and apply the rules consistently.
Free community guidelines template
Copy, edit, and make this fit your space. Replace the bracketed text before publishing.
Welcome to [Community Name].
This community is for [describe the audience and purpose]. We want this to be a place where members can [list two or three useful activities]. You do not need to be an expert to participate.
Our expectations
Please:
•Stay relevant to the topic and use the right channel or category.
•Be respectful, including when you disagree.
•Critique ideas and work without attacking people.
•Share accurate information and identify opinions as opinions.
•Credit other people’s work and ask permission before reposting private material.
•Protect personal information. Do not publish someone’s private details or messages without consent.
•Use accessible language and provide context for images, videos, and links where possible.
•Follow the rules of [platform name] and the law.
Not allowed here
We do not allow:
•Threats, harassment, hate speech, or targeted abuse
•Discrimination based on identity, background, ability, or any protected characteristic
•Spam, scams, impersonation, or repeated unwanted promotion
•Doxxing or sharing private information without permission
•Plagiarism or knowingly misleading claims
•Sexual content or other material that is outside this community’s purpose
•Attempts to evade moderation or encourage others to disrupt the community
How to report a problem
Report a concern through [reporting method]. Include a link, screenshot, or short description if it is safe to do so. You do not need to confront the person involved. Reports are reviewed by [moderation team or role]. We will handle information privately where possible, but we cannot promise absolute confidentiality.
What may happen after a violation?
Depending on the situation, we may ask for a change, remove content, limit access, issue a warning, suspend participation, or permanently remove an account. We consider context, severity, repetition, and any risk of harm. Serious issues may be escalated to the platform or relevant authorities.
Questions and updates
Questions about these guidelines can be sent to [contact]. We may update the guidelines when the community changes. The current version was updated on [date].
A short version for a signup page
Long guidelines are useful, but new members may first see a checkbox or welcome message. Use a short version there:
Be respectful. Stay on topic. Do not harass, spam, impersonate, or share private information. Give credit to other people’s work. If something feels wrong, report it to [contact]. Read the full community guidelines before participating.
Link the short version to the full page. Do not hide important rules behind a tiny link that nobody can find.
My personal failure: writing rules nobody could use
One failure I see often in community work is also the kind of mistake I would make: writing rules that sound responsible but do not help anyone decide what to do.
The draft might say “maintain a positive environment”, “respect diverse viewpoints”, and “avoid inappropriate content”. Every sentence sounds reasonable. None tells a member whether a sharp critique is allowed, whether a promotional link is acceptable, or how to report a problem.
The lesson is simple: a rule is not finished when it sounds good. It is finished when a real person can use it in a real situation.
A practical test is to take ten recent conversations and apply the draft. Could two moderators reach a similar decision? Could a new member understand the boundary without asking a friend? If not, add an example or replace the vague phrase with observable behaviour.
This is also where opinions should be labelled as opinions. My preference is to allow disagreement when it serves the community’s purpose. Your community may need a stricter approach. State that choice clearly.
How to make guidelines fair to different people
A rule can be neutral in wording and still be difficult for some people to follow. Think about language, disability, culture, time zones, and different levels of experience.
Practical improvements include:
•Use short paragraphs and descriptive headings.
•Avoid unexplained slang and insider references.
•Do not require fast replies unless the activity truly depends on speed.
•Give people more than one way to participate when possible.
•Add captions or transcripts to important video and audio.
•Write useful alternative text for meaningful images.
•Use link text that explains where the link goes.
•Avoid color alone to communicate a warning or status.
•Explain whether a rule applies to direct messages, events, and private groups.
The W3C’s guidance on accessible social media tools emphasizes that creators and audiences may use assistive technology and may need to process content at their own pace. You do not have to solve every accessibility problem in one document. Remove the barriers you can see and keep improving.
Moderation: make the process more consistent
Guidelines only work if the moderation process matches them. Create a private moderator checklist with the same questions for every report:
•What happened, and where?
• Which guideline may apply?
•Is there an immediate safety concern?
•Is this a one-time mistake, a repeated pattern, or a coordinated action?
•What context is missing?
•What response is proportionate?
•Does the affected person need an explanation or support?
•Should the decision be recorded for consistency?
Avoid public arguments about individual reports. Explain the rule and the action when appropriate, but do not expose private details to prove that moderation happened.
For small communities, two people can review serious cases when practical. A second perspective can reduce bias and make difficult decisions easier to document.
Common mistakes to avoid
Making the page too long
If the first version is twelve pages, members will not read it. Put the essentials on the public page and keep operational detail in a moderator handbook.
Banning disagreement
Healthy communities need disagreement. Focus on personal attacks, bad-faith disruption, and repeated harm rather than banning every unpopular opinion.
Promising perfect confidentiality
Reports often involve several people, platform records, or legal obligations. Say that you will protect privacy where possible instead of making a promise you cannot keep.
Forgetting to update the page
Add an owner and review date. Revisit the rules after a recurring problem, platform change, or change in purpose.
Copying another group without adapting it
GitHub, Mozilla, and other large communities can provide useful models. Their rules reflect their audiences and responsibilities. Borrow the structure, not the assumptions.
SEO and trust: make the page useful first.
A page about community guidelines should be written for members, not just search engines. Use a descriptive title, a clear meta description, readable headings, and links that help people take the next step. But do not stretch a simple policy into a bloated article to reach an arbitrary word count.
Google’s Search Central guidance says there is no preferred word count. It encourages people-first content, clear authorship, original value, and a satisfying experience. That is why this guide includes a usable template and examples instead of repeating the phrase “community guidelines” in every paragraph.
For your own site, add helpful internal links such as:
Check that those URLs exist before publishing. A broken internal link makes the policy harder to use.
FAQ: community guidelines
How long should community guidelines be?
Long enough to explain the purpose, expectations, prohibited behavior, reporting route, and possible actions. For many small communities, one to three readable pages is enough. Put detailed moderator procedures elsewhere.
Should I call them rules, guidelines, or a code of conduct?
Use the term your audience understands. “Community guidelines” sounds approachable. “Code of conduct” is common for open-source projects and events. The label matters less than the clarity of the document.
Can I use this template as-is?
Use it as a starting point, then replace every bracketed section and add rules for your actual risks. A template cannot know your audience, platform, local obligations, or moderation capacity.
Should community guidelines include legal advice?
Usually, no. Explain the behaviour expected in your space and link to your platform terms or relevant policies. If your community handles regulated, medical, financial, employment, or legal matters, ask a qualified professional to review the policy before publishing.
What should I do if a member says a rule is unfair?
Listen first. Ask what outcome they expected and whether the wording is unclear. A disagreement does not automatically mean the rule is wrong, but repeated confusion is evidence that the rule may need a clearer example or a fairer process.
How often should I review the guidelines?
Review them at least once a year and after any serious incident or major change. If the group is growing quickly, review them more often. Record the date and summarize meaningful changes so members can see what is current.
Do I need a separate privacy policy?
Community guidelines are not a replacement for a privacy policy. If you collect personal information, explain that collection in the appropriate privacy notice. In the guidelines, simply tell members not to share other people’s private information and explain how to report a privacy concern.
Final checklist before you publish
Read the page once as a new member and once as a moderator. Then confirm:
•The purpose and audience are obvious.
•Expected behaviour is written as actions, not slogans.
•Prohibited behaviour is specific.
•Examples show the difference between disagreement and abuse.
•The report route works.
•Enforcement options are realistic.
•The document explains that context matters.
•Accessibility basics are covered.
•Internal links work.
•The author, owner, and update date are visible.
•The page does not make medical, legal, or safety claims without qualified review.
Good guidelines will not prevent every conflict. That is not their job. Their job is to make the community’s values visible, give people a fair starting point, and help moderators respond with care and consistency.
Write for the person who is about to post for the first time. Write for the moderator who has to make a difficult call. If both people can understand what the community is asking of them, you have written a useful policy.
References
•Google Search Central: Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
•W3C WAI: Guidelines to Make Your Social Media Platform Accessible
