XenForo Moderation Setup: 6 Steps in the Right Order

A good xenforo moderation setup comes down to four things: moderators with the right permissions, an approval queue for new members, warnings with point thresholds, and one clear place to handle reports. This guide covers them in the order a new admin should set them up, for XenForo 2.2 and 2.3.

The short answer: four settings that do most of the work

Forum moderation does not have to be a daily fight. A few settings, chosen once, do most of the work.

1. Make real moderators, with only the permissions they need.
2. Hold new members' posts until a moderator approves them.
3. Define warnings, then let point thresholds apply the penalties.
4. Keep reports in one place and check it often.

After that, test it. Look at your forum the way a new or restricted member sees it. A setting that looks right in the Admin CP can still behave differently for them.

Create moderators with the right permissions

XenForo has two kinds of staff: moderators and administrators. They are separate roles, so making someone an admin does not make them a moderator. The Staff page in the manual explains both.

Super or forum moderator

A super moderator has their permissions in all forums by default. A forum moderator can use theirs only in the forums they are assigned to. If you can, start with forum moderators. You can widen their reach later.

Add the moderator

Adding a user to the Moderating user group does not make them a moderator. Do this instead:

1. Go to Groups & permissions > Moderators and add a moderator.
2. Pick the user and choose super or forum-specific.
3. Choose the groups to add them to and the individual moderator permissions to grant.
4. Keep Registered as their primary group.

A XenForo developer says you would generally use either group permissions or individual ones, depending on how granular you need to be. They also say XenForo sets no moderator-group permissions out of the box (source thread). The full list of moderator permissions was not checked for 2.2 versus 2.3, so read the list on your own Moderators page.

Keep the base small

If you have many moderators, one forum moderator suggests this: set the moderating group to the minimum every moderator should have, and leave the rest at No. Then give extras to individual moderators at node level. They must still be promoted to moderator (XF 2.2 thread). That is a member's advice, not the manual.

Know how permission values combine

Never always overrides. Yes grants. No does not grant. So Yes plus Never is Never, and No plus Yes is Yes. For numeric permissions, the highest value across groups wins (Permissions docs).

To confirm a user gets what you expect, open Groups & permissions > Analyze permissions. Run it for each new moderator.

Once moderators exist, they see the moderator bar at the top of the page. It gives access to the approval queue and to reported items.

Send new members' posts to the approval queue

The XenForo approval queue holds content until a moderator lets it through. It is your best defense against spam from brand-new accounts. Only users who were explicitly made moderators can reach it, so finish the previous step first. That point comes from an old XF 1.5 thread, so check it on your version.

Hold content from new members

New-member post moderation is controlled in user group permissions. Forum members say that setting "submit content without approval" to Yes turns moderation off for that group. So leave that permission unset (not Yes) for the Registered group, and new members' content will wait for approval (XF 2.2 thread). The exact menu path was not confirmed, so look in the Registered group's permissions.

Then give the permission back to people who have earned it. A forum answer says to use user group promotions for this. The exact promotion criteria were not confirmed, so pick ones that suit your forum, such as post count or time since joining.

Approve registrations too

XenForo also has a manual approval option for registrations. Approved users go through the approval queue. A bug report for 2.2.7 names the related options "Enable registration", "Enable email confirmation" and "Enable manual approval" (bug thread). Use it only if you are happy to review every sign-up.

Work the queue

A moderator can click through to the content, edit it, then approve it from the queue. A XenForo developer said so in an XF 2.1 thread.

Cut junk before it reaches the queue

Manual review works, but it takes time. Captcha questions on Posting shows a random question when members reply, start a thread, or both. You choose where it appears, and you can limit it by post count, reaction points or registration date so trusted members skip it. You can also turn it off in specific forums and show an optional hint. It adds one small step for the members it applies to, so keep the conditions tight. It needs XenForo 2.2.0 or later.

Set up warnings and point thresholds

Warnings give moderators a fair, consistent tool before they reach for a ban. Moderators apply them with the "Warn" link on content, or from the user's profile. The profile also shows current points and the total number of warnings, including expired ones (Warnings docs).

Define each warning

In the control panel, you pre-define each warning with:

• a title
• default points
• default time until the points expire
• optional user groups to add the user to while the warning is active
• default conversation settings for notifying the user

The user is told only if the moderator chooses to send a conversation when applying the warning. Ask your team to do that every time, so members know what they did and why.

Add warning actions

Warning actions trigger on a user's total points. They can ban, discourage, or add the user to extra groups. An action lasts either for a fixed time, including permanent, or while the user's points stay at or above the threshold.

Handle reports without losing them

Members flag problem posts with the report link. Moderators open reports from "Reports" in the moderator bar (XF 2.2 thread). Like the approval queue, this is for users who were explicitly made moderators.

Report statuses and assignment were not confirmed for 2.2 and 2.3, so don't build your routine around them. A simple habit works well:

1. Agree who checks reports and how often.
2. Open the reported content first, then decide.
3. Use a warning for repeat problems, not a quiet delete.

Tell members what a report is for. Short, clear rules make reports more useful.

Check what a restricted member sees

This is the step people skip. Warning groups, Never permissions and approval rules all change what a member sees. Do not guess. Look.

First, use Analyze permissions for a test user. It tells you what the permissions resolve to, but it does not show you the actual pages.

For that, Login As User is a free add-on for XenForo 2.3.0 or later. It lets permitted staff browse as another member without asking for a password. Banned, disabled, awaiting approval and similar accounts are flagged but can still be entered, so you see what a restricted member sees. Every switch is recorded in an audit log, and log retention is configurable. By default, staff re-enter their own password first, and you can change that in the add-on's options. If you run XenForo 2.2, test with a spare account instead.

Review your setup once a month

Set a monthly reminder. Ten minutes is enough.

• Run Analyze permissions on one moderator.
• Look at how long items sit in the queue and in reports.
• Check that your warning points still match how your forum behaves.
• Remove moderator status from anyone who has left.

What to do next

Start with moderators, then the approval queue. Add warnings once those two work. Then check everything as a new member would see it. For more ways to grow a healthy community, browse our forum growth posts.