XF 1.2 Reporting Improvements

A large forum will probably get a lot of reports, so in 1.2 we've tried to streamline the reporting system and make it easier for moderators to work with. Let's see what new options there are...

Reporting to a forum
Before I start, if you're one of those people that really doesn't like the default reporting system, you can turn it off and have reports create threads in a forum. If you have a workflow around this, then you can go back to using it but obviously you'll need to setup things like prefixes or workflows to define how to mark "closed" reports, etc.

If you choose this option, none of the changes that I'm listing below apply to you, so you can just ignore the rest of this message if you want. ;)

Updated reports counter
ss-2013-04-26_13-29-23.webp

The counter showing the number of outstanding reports has been updated in a few ways:
  • If a report is assigned to you, that number will be listed first (I'm assigned to 1 of the 2 open reports).
  • Once you have visited the reports list, the counter will no longer be shown in red (unless you have a report assigned to you). Whenever a report is updated (either a new open report or a new comment/action on an open report), the counter will be red again. This allows you to track changes to the reports.
  • Hovering the counter will tell you the last update time (of any open reports).
What's changed on the report list
You'll see a couple changes here:
ss-2013-04-26_13-34-01.webp

  • You can now search for reports based on the owner of the content being reported. (Searching by people reporting may be implemented in the future.)
  • A report that you're assigned to is shown in bold.
  • Reports closed recently (last 24 hours) will always be shown below the active reports list.
What's changed when viewing a report
ss-2013-04-26_13-36-01.webp

  • You'll see a user block above the report with quick access to links like editing, spam cleaning, etc.
  • The comments are now listed in oldest first order.
  • There is clarification that any comments made are only visible to other moderators.
  • You don't need to be assigned to the report to take an action with it. (If the report is assigned to someone else, you will be told this before you will see the actions to handle the report.)
  • You can assign a report to other moderators. This triggers an overlay which shows you the list of users that can actually see/handle the report.
  • When resolving or rejecting a report, you have the option to alert the reporter(s) of what action was taken, including an optional comment. (The alert does not tell the reporter which person handled the report.)
I think that's everything for now. I still see plenty of things that could be done to make moderators' lives easier in the future and we'll always be revisiting additional options.
 
Excellent, was just about to install an addon to accomplish the report forum option. Hoping now that 1.2 arrives before I officially launch my Xenfor based site.
 
When I assign myself a a report it still shows at the top in "Reported Items: 1" and my admins still think there is an open item to work on, can there be a way so that when my admins or myself assign a reported item to ourselves it shows next to the Inbox, Alerts area as 'taken'?
 
A report that you're assigned to is shown in bold.

I don't think its a good idea a) to use bold in a normal forum to show there are unread items and b) to use bold that you're assigned to report. A user interface should be unambiguously.

Generally I find the improvements very useful but suggest...
  • that the admin/moderator should get an email when something is reported (we often have urgent issues that need immediate attention), see post #19
  • a way to handle multiple reports at once (e.g. someone abusing of the reporting system)
 
that the admin/moderator should get an email when something is reported (we often have urgent issues that need immediate attention), see post #19

I do like this - currently I receive an email (as Admin) when someone reports something, lets me stay on top of nasty things if I am away from the site for whatever reason.
 
I'm not at all concerned about the development of XF. I can wait.

What pisses me off is that there aren't any add-on developers who're available.
 
I am happy and excited with all the new features and improvement Mike is announcing here but I think it still does not beat "Hello, this is Kier from Xenforo" videos :P....Just Saying....
 
Thanks Mike, still missing the one most critical feature though, an email to selected users/mods when a report is created. I have to rely on a plugin to do this at present. Emails on reports are critical because no-one can monitor their forums 24/7 and this can send notifications via phones, text etc if you set your emails up that way. Ideally an option to specify particular email addresses or users who get a report rather than just moderators by default.
 
Mike,

Is there a chance of involving/inviting reporting user in the report page, so we (staff) can further talk about the issue/problem with the user directly right there, if needed? (some time we wanted to get more information from user or just tell something). In that case, the user who reported will be able to view his own report and add further comments in the report.
 
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