Good evening to you all. Hard to believe we launched our "Investor Controlled Discussion Forums" just 1 week today. What an amazing week it has been for all of us.

It is clear that most of you have gotten the swing of things on AGORACOM - but there is always more to learn. For example, how do you delete a post that has been reported by another member?

As such, I've put together a step-by-step process for Deleting A Post.

Deleting a post is an important and necessary part of your arsenal as you work with fellow members to keep your forums clear of bashing, profanity and spam.

However, it shouldn't be wielded lightly. For example, you must only delete posts that violate the AGORACOM 6 Rules of Use. We put a fun slant on them but please make sure you are familiar with them and kindly refer to them if you need to when deciding to delete a post.

Make no mistake about it, we are confident that all of you have the ability to make great judgements. As such, once you've decided that a post needs to be deleted, here is the process. It only takes a minute, so don't worry about the number of steps below. I've just taken extra care to be as descriptive as possible:

Removing A Message That Has Been Reported As A Violation By Another Member

Any member of AGORACOM can flag a message by selecting "Report This Message As A Violation" at the bottom of any post (red flag icon). Once a message has been reported as a violation, HUB Leaders (and only HUB Leaders) will see a red flag beside a post when looking at the list of messages.

When you see a red flag, please complete the following simple steps.

1] Go to your HUB Controls box (Underneath the button that says "You Are A President Plus") and click On "Violations"

2] You will see a list of violation(s) for the HUB

3] Locate the one you are dealing with and select "process". This wil show you a copy of the post, who posted it, who reported it and why they think it is a violation.

4] At this point you have to decide if the post should be simply deleted, or if the member should be banned. For this example, let's assume you've decided to simply delete the message and warn the offending member.

5] Scroll down to "Action" and select "warn user" from the pull-down menu.

6] Right below that is a "delete" pull-down menu. You can choose to delete either the offending post or EVERY post he has ever made. Given the fact you've decided to only delete this message and warn the member, please select "only this message".

7] You will see an automated message appear in the box titled "To Poster". This is a standard warning message sent to the offending member. However, you can add to it if you wish.

8] The box titled "To Reporter" will be empty. Feel free to type in a simple thank-you note to them for helping keep your HUB clean.

9] Scroll down to "Ban Reason" and give us a quick reason for the deletion. We need it as a reference for the future. The best thing to do is simply copy and paste the offending post as it is right inside the violation page that you are now on.

10] Hit "Save" and it is all done. The post will be deleted, the offender will be warned, points will be deducted from the offender, the reporter will be thanked and points will be earned by the reporter.

**QUESTION: WHAT IF YOU GO INTO THE VIOLATION TOOL AND DECIDE THE POST IS NOT A VIOLATION? ***

We knew you were going to ask that. In this case, we go back to STEP 5 and make one simple change:

5] Scroll down to "Action" and select "ignore violationr" from the pull-down menu.

6] Right below that is a "delete" pull-down menu. Please select "none".

7] You will see an automated message appear in the box titled "To Reporter". This is a standard thank-you message sent to the reporting member but advising you will not be deleting the post. However, you can add to it if you wish.

8] The box titled "To Poster" will be empty. You do not need to send a message.

9] As there is no ban, you do not need to fill in the box titled "Ban Reason"

10] Hit "Save" and it is all done.

That is all folks. Thanks and let us know if you have any questions.

Regards,
George