Moderation: bans and mutes
When a customer disrupts a community channel, you can mute them so they can read but not post, or ban them so they can't open the channel at all. Every penalty has a reason the customer sees and an end date and time, or it lasts forever. You can apply a penalty straight from a message in the chat or review all penalties for a channel on its Edit Channel page.
Ban or mute
| Penalty | What the customer can do | What the customer sees |
|---|---|---|
| Mute | Open the channel and read messages. They can't send messages. | When they try to send a message, a notice tells them they're muted in this channel, with your reason and when the mute ends. |
| Ban | Nothing. They can't open the channel or read its messages. | The channel stays in their channel list. When they open it, a notice tells them they're banned from this channel, with your reason and when the ban ends, instead of the conversation. |
A penalty applies only to the channel where you set it. A customer banned in one channel can still take part in your other channels.
Only you can ban or mute. Customers never see these controls.
Apply a penalty from the chat
The quickest way to act is right from the message that prompted it.
- Open Communities and select the channel.
- Click the customer's message and choose Mute or Ban.
- A notice confirms which customer, by email, you're about to mute or ban.
- Type a Reason. The customer sees this text.
- Choose how long the penalty lasts (see the next section).
- Click Mute or Ban to apply it.
For everything else about the chat, see Chatting with customers.
Choose how long it lasts
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Date and time | The penalty ends at this moment. The picker starts at one hour from now, and you can choose any future date and time. |
| Forever | Check this box to make the penalty permanent. The date and time picker disappears. You can still remove the penalty later. |
When a timed penalty ends, the customer gets their access back automatically. You don't need to do anything.
The Toki app shows end times in your local time. The notice the customer sees gives the end time in UTC, with UTC after it.
Review penalties for a channel
The Edit Channel page lists everyone who is currently banned or muted in that channel.
- Open Communities.
- In the Channels list, click the edit (pencil) icon next to the channel.
- Scroll to the Moderation section.
Each row shows the customer's Email, the penalty Type (ban or mute), the Reason, and Until: the end date and time, or "forever". Penalties that have ended drop off the list on their own.
Edit or remove a penalty
- In the Moderation section, click the customer's row.
- A notice shows the current penalty: whether they're banned or muted, when it ends, and the reason.
- Change the Reason or the duration, then click Ban or Mute to save.
- To lift the penalty right away, click Remove restriction instead. The customer gets their access back at once, and they drop off the Moderation list.
You can also reopen a penalty from the customer's message in the chat. If they already have a penalty in that channel, you see the same notice, and the new penalty replaces the old one. This is how you turn a ban into a mute, or the other way around.