What to expect in IBM Community
In IBM Community, all first-time posts are routed to moderation regardless of how the individual group is configured. This is an IBM Community operating practice used to help prevent spam and protect content quality.
The moderation queue is reviewed Monday through Friday at least once per day, and the team clears it at least five times per week.
If your post appears to be stuck in moderation, contact your group admin or email support@communitysite.ibm.com.
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Support hours:
- Monday through Friday
- 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM MT
How moderation works in IBM Community
IBM Community supports moderation at three levels:
- Individual user moderation
- Community-level moderation
- Site-wide moderation
When content is moderated, an admin reviews it before it is visible publicly. If approved, it is published. If rejected, a reason must be provided, and the user can optionally be notified.
How posts can end up in moderation
A post, blog entry, library item, Q&A post, or idea can enter moderation for several different reasons.
1. Full Moderation is enabled
If a community is set to Full Moderation, all new content must be approved before it becomes visible.
2. Self Moderation is enabled
If a community uses Self Moderation, content goes live first, but users with access can mark it as inappropriate. That action removes it from view and sends it to moderation for admin review.
3. The author is a Moderated User
A user can be individually moderated, which means their contributions require approval before they are made available.
4. Watch Words are triggered
IBM Community can scan posts for configured Watch Words. When a match is found, the platform can either send the content to moderation for admin review or automatically replace the flagged word with asterisks.
5. A previously approved post is edited
Edited content may be checked again against moderation rules. This means a post that was already approved can return to moderation after the author saves changes.
Are first posts always moderated?
In IBM Community, yes for first-time posts. As an IBM Community operating practice, all first-time posts go into moderation regardless of the group setup.
Do edits send a post back to moderation?
They can.
When a user edits a blog post or other contribution, the moderation pipeline can run again when the content is saved. The system may re-check moderation rules such as:
- first-time contributor status
- Watch Words
- user moderation
- contribution limits
- anonymous posting rules
- community-level moderation settings
This means a post that was previously approved can return to moderation after it is edited because the updated version is evaluated again against the current moderation rules.
Why that happens
The platform does not simply trust the previously approved version. When content is edited, the updated version can be checked again to confirm it still meets moderation requirements before it remains publicly visible.
Moderation actions and rejection reasons
Admins may approve, reject, edit, or escalate moderated content based on whether it is appropriate, relevant, and safe to publish.
Content may be rejected if it:
- appears to be spam or promotional content
- is not relevant to the selected community
- includes inappropriate, offensive, or harmful language
- contains confidential, sensitive, or restricted information
- needs clarification before it can be published
- does not align with IBM Community expectations
- creates legal, privacy, security, safety, or reputational concerns
- duplicates existing content or was reposted multiple times
- includes broken, misleading, or suspicious links
When rejecting content, admins should provide a clear and professional reason so the author understands what happened and, when appropriate, how to revise and resubmit.
Where admins manage moderation
Depending on role and scope, admins can manage moderation in two places.
Community-level moderation queue
Community Admins and Super Admins can manage a specific community’s moderation queue from the community itself:
Settings > Moderation
From there, admins can preview, approve, edit, or reject content.
Site-wide moderation queue
Super Admins can manage all moderated content across the site from:
Admin > Community > Moderation > Queue
This global queue includes discussion posts, Q&A, library entries, blog posts, and ideation posts.
If your post is in moderation
If your post has not appeared yet:
Include:
- a link to the post if available
- the group name
- the date and approximate time you submitted it
- whether the content was a discussion, blog, library item, Q&A post, or idea
- whether the content was edited after submission
Summary
For IBM Community users, the key point is simple: your first post will go into moderation, even if the group itself is not fully moderated. After that, posts may still be moderated if the group uses Full Moderation, someone flags the content in a Self Moderation group, the user is individually moderated, the content triggers Watch Words, or the content is edited after approval.