Report Process

This is an overview of the process we use for handling reports (tickets) - basically, everything that happens once you press the "Help/Problems/Suggestions" button.

Not all steps are used in all cases, but we detail them all here just in case.

While the system may seem daunting, it's designed to be as simple as possible to the submitting user - very few options are provided and all this magic happens behind the scenes. We include the details here in the hopes that it shows you what we do to handle these, and lets you understand where things are taking time and what is happening that you don't see.

1: Sorting

As soon as a report is submitted, it goes into the sorting queue - basically triage. A member of our support team will look at the ticket and send it off to the appropriate department.

In some cases, they may directly assign it to themselves if they are able to solve the problem. In this case, it skips right to step 3.

During peak times most reports are sorted within several hours, in off-peak it may take 6 hours or so.

2: Role queue

The reports are then listed by which role they are assigned to (for example, submission moderators) and displayed to the relevant staff members. They will then go through the list of tickets and assign individual things to themselves, taking us to the next step.

In cases where there is a simple quick resolution, the mod may immediately resolve the ticket, in which case, it's skipped straight to step 6.

3: Individually assigned

At this point, the ticket is assigned directly to a single staff member - all correspondence goes to them, and they will be personally emailed whenever an update is posted to it.

The staff member will then either mark it as a work in progress (where it stays as is), awaiting user attention (to step 4), or closed (step 6). If they are unable to handle the issue themselves (for instance, if it's a task requiring an administrator or a specialized staff member) they will escalate the ticket (see step 5).

4: Feedback

In this step the reporter is asked for more details or clarifications on the ticket - the ticket then waits in the queue until this is provided. Once a reply is made, the ticket moves back to step 3.

5: Escalation

In the event a report cannot be resolved by the staff member it's assigned to, they can escalate the ticket to a higher or more specialized role. For example, if a report is sent in on a submission where a tag is used improperly, it may be escalated to the tag administrator for a final decision.

Generally, this step immediately loops back to step 2 (role queue) and will then progress from there but with the higher role.

6: Resolved

Finally, the ticket is resolved - at this point, it's closed to further comments, and new issues should be raised in an old report. The only people able to access the old report are you, the last staff member that was assigned to it, and the report administrators (including the top level site admins).

Privacy

Generally, the contents of reports are considered private and confidential - no-one other than involved staff can see the contents of tickets, and we don't publicly state who filed what reports. Information regarding reports may be shared internally within the staff where needed for moderation purposes.