Moderation Policies
This post explains how moderation works on Whisk(e)y Notebook. It is a guide to our current practice, not a contract. The Terms of Service remain the binding rules.
Who moderates
Staff (admins and moderators) can act on any community content. Community stewards — members who have earned that standing through participation — can review reports, hide content, and remove severe violations. Catalog whiskey approval is a separate staff/steward path and is not decided in the forum.
What we look at
We act on reports and on anything we notice that breaks the Community Rules or the Terms: harassment, illegal or underage content, spam, impersonation, manipulated reviews or barcodes, and attempts to evade a prior action.
We do not pre-screen every post. Hosting something does not mean we endorse it. Hidden or removed content may still exist in backups or audit logs as needed for safety and disputes.
What can happen
Depending on severity and history we may:
- hide a post or comment (it leaves public view; points tied to it can be clawed back)
- remove the content entirely
- warn, restrict, or suspend an account
- ignore a report that is not a rules issue (disagreement is not a violation)
Catalog facts that other people rely on (for example a barcode already confirmed for everyone) are not always deleted when an account closes. That is explained in the Terms.
How to report
Open the post or comment and use Report. Add enough context for a steward who was not in the thread. False or retaliatory reports can themselves be a violation.
Locked official threads
Community Rules and this policy are locked. They are not the place to debate a moderation decision. If you need a human, use the contact options published for Whisk(e)y Notebook on poormansascent.com, or file a report on the specific content.
Appeals
If you believe we got a hide, removal, or account action wrong, contact support with the URL or a description of the content and what you think we missed. We will take a second look. We will not relitigate every downvote.
Safety first
Content that involves minors and alcohol, credible threats, or clear illegal activity may be removed immediately and, where required, referred to the appropriate authority. We will not preview that process in public.
These policies can change as the community grows. Material changes will be reflected here and, when needed, called out through the app — not as an open comments thread on this post.