Staff Chat Rules for Staff

ℹ️ Scope — Two Channels, One System

Staff Chat is a single system with two front-ends that stay in sync:

Web dashboard (/admin/livechat.php) — "My Status", "Active Chats", "Archives", and "Settings" tabs. Best for handling several conversations at once with a proper UI.
Discord (#live-chat) — !online / !offline to toggle your status, !respond <name> <message> to reply, !close <name> to end a chat. Best for quick replies on the go.

Every message sent from either side is mirrored to the other, and your online/offline status is shared between both — going online in one place makes you "online" everywhere. Treat both as the same job with the same rules, not two separate roles.

💞 Flirting Is Allowed — But It's Always Your Choice

Staff Chat is not a mandatory duty — you volunteer your time here because you want to, not because it's a requirement of being staff. Because of that, we allow a more relaxed, social tone than a typical support line: members (18+) may flirt, compliment you, or send you photos, and you're welcome to enjoy that side of it if and only if you want to.

OK Flirting back, complimenting a member, or having a fun/casual conversation with an adult (18+) member who initiates it — entirely your call, message by message.
MUST You are never obligated to engage this way. If you'd rather keep a conversation strictly professional, just do that — you don't owe anyone flirting, compliments, or attention, and no one should pressure you into it.
NEVER Send images of yourself (or anyone else) back through Staff Chat. Replies are text-only, always — on the web dashboard and in Discord, there's no image-sending capability for staff by design. Don't try to work around this by linking images from elsewhere either.
NEVER Ask, request, or pressure a member to send you photos. If a member chooses to share one unprompted, that's fine — soliciting it from your position as staff is not, and is treated as an abuse of your role.
NEVER Giving out your personal social media, phone number, or any way to contact you outside official staff channels — this stays true even in a flirty conversation.
If a conversation becomes uncomfortable, or a member won't respect a "no", you're free to stop engaging, redirect to a purely support tone, hand the chat to another staff member, or close it outright. You never have to justify keeping things professional.

This entire section applies to 18+ interactions only. See the next section — it is a hard, non-negotiable boundary with zero exceptions.

🧒 Minors: Zero Exceptions, No Matter What

None of the flirting/social allowance above ever applies if the person is under 18, or if you have any doubt about their age. This is the one absolute, zero-tolerance rule of Staff Chat:

NEVER Flirting, romantic conversation, compliments about appearance/body, or anything sexual with anyone under 18 — regardless of what they say, ask for, or send you.
The intake form shows the visitor's stated age — check it every time before adjusting your tone. If it's under 18, or you suspect the stated age is a lie, treat the entire conversation as a minor conversation and keep things strictly on-topic (support/help) and professional, full stop.
MUST If a minor discloses they are in danger, being groomed, or being abused (on or off this site), do not attempt to "handle it yourself" — escalate immediately to the admin team and, if appropriate, direct them to relevant emergency/support resources.
MUST If you receive a report through Staff Chat about content or behavior involving a minor (e.g. someone reporting a photo, another user's behavior, or CSAM), do not ask the reporter to describe or send the content in the chat. Direct them to the official report form, or file the report yourself using the information they gave you — never request explicit detail or media through Staff Chat itself.
NEVER Ask a user of any age to prove their age via a photo, video call, or ID sent directly to you in chat. Age verification goes through the site's official verification systems only.

Violating this rule is treated as a safeguarding failure and results in immediate removal from the staff team and a law-enforcement referral where applicable, independent of any other action taken.

🔒 Confidentiality & Data Handling

Chat conversations, and any personal details shared in them (name, age, country, etc.), are internal — don't repeat, screenshot, or share them outside the staff team, and never post them publicly.
Only discuss a specific conversation with other staff when it's relevant (e.g. handing off a case, escalating a safety concern, or asking for a second opinion) — don't share chats for entertainment or gossip.
Never use information learned in Staff Chat (address, workplace, relationship status, etc.) for anything outside resolving their request. Using it to look someone up, contact them elsewhere, or for any personal reason is a serious violation.
If law enforcement or a legal authority requests chat records, route the request to site ownership — do not respond to such requests yourself.

✅ What You're There To Do

OK Answer account, upload, rating, and technical questions patiently — remember most users aren't familiar with our systems.
OK Explain moderation decisions (bans, warnings, removed content) calmly and factually, citing the relevant Community Guidelines section where possible.
OK Direct users to the right tool — the report form for content issues, ban appeals for ban disputes, etc. — rather than trying to solve everything manually in chat.
OK Have genuinely friendly, welcoming conversations. A big part of this feature's value is making the community feel human and approachable — don't be curt or robotic if someone just wants to chat.
OK Say "I don't know, let me check with the team" rather than guessing on anything you're unsure of, especially moderation/legal matters.

🚫 What Not To Do

NO Making moderation promises you can't keep ("I'll get your ban removed", "I'll delete that report") — only commit to what you can actually action or escalate.
NO Arguing, mocking, or being sarcastic with a frustrated user — de-escalate, and hand off to another staff member if you're too frustrated to stay professional.
NO Sharing your own opinions on other users' appearance/ratings in a way that could be seen as favoritism or personal judgment.
NO Requesting, pressuring, or hinting for a member to send you images — see the flirting section above, this is never OK regardless of tone or rapport.
NO Using Staff Chat access to look up, message, or investigate a user for personal reasons unrelated to an actual request.
NO Closing a chat just to get rid of someone — only close a chat once the conversation has actually concluded (or it's genuinely abusive and needs shutting down).
NO Leaving yourself marked "online" indefinitely without actually being available — go offline (!offline or the web toggle) when you're stepping away for a while, rather than relying solely on the 2-hour auto-timeout.
NO "Poaching" conversations — if another staff member is actively handling a chat, don't jump in and reply unless asked to help or they're clearly unavailable.

🛠️ Using the Tools Correctly

Going online/offline

Go online only when you can actually respond in a reasonable time. If you'll be AFK for more than a few minutes, go offline.
After 2 hours online you'll get a tagged warning in Discord (and it shows as a live countdown on the web dashboard's "My Status" tab) — re-confirm with !online, the web "Go Online" button, or the new "Extend Session" button if you're still active. If you don't, you're auto-logged-off 15 minutes later.
This isn't a punishment — it exists so the "online admins" list stays accurate and members aren't left waiting on someone who's actually gone home.

Replying & closing chats

Use !respond <name> <message> in Discord, or the reply box on a chat's card in the web dashboard — both post to the same conversation and mirror to the other side. Both are text-only — there is no way to attach or send an image back to a member from either tool, by design.
Close a chat (!close <name> or the "Close Chat" button) once it's genuinely resolved. Chats also auto-close after 1 hour of no activity and move to Archives automatically — you don't need to manually clean up abandoned conversations.
Archives are read-only history — use them to check past context on a returning user, not to reopen old conversations.

⚖️ Consequences for Staff Violations

Coaching Minor process mistakes (closing a chat too early, an overly blunt tone) get direct, friendly feedback from the team lead.
Access suspension Repeated conduct issues, confidentiality slip-ups, or ignoring escalation duties result in a temporary suspension of Staff Chat access while the situation is reviewed.
Removal from staff Any romantic/sexual contact with (or solicited images from) a minor or suspected minor, sending images to a member, soliciting images from a member, sharing private conversation data outside the team, or a serious breach of trust results in immediate and permanent removal from the staff team.
Legal referral Failing to escalate known CSAM/grooming/exploitation reports, or being complicit in covering them up, is treated with the same zero-tolerance severity as committing the violation directly, and may be referred to law enforcement.

Looking for the member-facing version of these rules? Staff Chat Rules for Members →

🛡️ Staff Chat Rules — For Staff