Your Comment Policy is a place for you to set the tone of your community and lay a foundation for what is acceptable. They also provide a reference for making moderation decisions. If you ever need to ban a member, or remove a comment, you’ll be able to refer those members to the pre-determined community guidelines that they may have failed to follow.
What to consider
When developing community guidelines it's good to consider the type of community you're trying to cultivate. Guidelines can cover topics like:
Etiquette - "Be polite and stay on topic”. "No self-promotion". "Don't flag/downvote comments because you disagree with a user."
Expectations - "Your comment will be removed for reason X, Y, and Z"
Privacy - “Don’t post personal information"
Moderation Settings - "Comments containing links are pre-moderated". "Discussions auto-close after 7 days". (Inform users about your forum's moderation settings)
Anything else that you’d like members to keep in mind while commenting
How to add your Comment Policy
You can add your Comment Policy in your General Settings. The Comment Policy Summary is where you'll provide a quick snapshot of what is accepted/prohibited behavior. You can also add a link to your full policy on your website in the Comment Policy URL field.
Once added, your comment policy will appear formatted as below:
