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    Activity Logging & Monitoring

    Set up comprehensive logging to monitor your hub's health, track moderation actions, and gain insights into community activity.

    Activity Logging & Monitoring

    Comprehensive logging is essential for understanding your hub's health, tracking moderation effectiveness, and maintaining community safety. This guide covers setting up all log types and using them effectively.

    What You'll Learn

    • How to configure all five log types
    • Best practices for log channel organization
    • Using logs for community insights and moderation
    • Privacy considerations and data management
    • Automated monitoring and alert strategies

    Understanding Log Types

    InterChat provides six distinct log types, each serving specific monitoring needs:

    Mod Logs (modLogs)

    What's Logged:

    • User warnings and blacklists
    • Server blacklists and removals
    • Moderator role changes
    • Filter violations and actions
    • General moderation actions

    Why Important:

    • Track moderation team effectiveness
    • Ensure consistent enforcement
    • Document decisions for appeals
    • Identify problem patterns
    • Maintain accountability

    Best Practices:

    • Use a private channel accessible only to moderators
    • Review logs regularly for patterns
    • Document reasoning for major actions
    • Use for moderator training and feedback

    Join/Leave Logs (joinLeaves)

    What's Logged:

    • Servers joining the hub
    • Servers leaving or being disconnected
    • Connection status changes
    • Server information and timestamps

    Why Important:

    • Monitor hub growth and retention
    • Identify servers that frequently leave
    • Track connection stability
    • Understand community dynamics
    • Plan outreach and retention efforts

    Best Practices:

    • Use a channel visible to hub staff
    • Welcome new servers personally
    • Follow up on departures to understand reasons
    • Track growth trends over time

    Report Logs (reports)

    What's Logged:

    • User-submitted content reports
    • Report categories and reasons
    • Reported message content and context
    • Reporter information (anonymous to community)
    • Moderator responses and actions taken

    Why Important:

    • Essential for community safety
    • Enables rapid response to violations
    • Tracks community self-moderation
    • Identifies problem users and patterns
    • Required for public hub status

    Best Practices:

    • Respond to reports within 1 hour during active hours
    • Use a private channel for moderator team only
    • Set up role mentions for immediate notification
    • Document all report resolutions

    Appeal Logs (appeals)

    What's Logged:

    • Blacklist appeal submissions
    • Appeal status changes (pending, accepted, rejected)
    • Moderator decisions and reasoning
    • Appeal processing timestamps

    Why Important:

    • Ensure fair appeal processes
    • Track appeal success rates
    • Identify potential moderation issues
    • Maintain transparency in decisions
    • Build community trust

    Best Practices:

    • Process appeals within 24-48 hours
    • Provide clear reasoning for decisions
    • Use for moderator training on edge cases
    • Track patterns in successful appeals

    Network Alerts (networkAlerts)

    What's Logged:

    • System-wide notifications
    • Hub policy violations
    • Technical issues and outages
    • Security alerts and warnings
    • Important announcements from InterChat team

    Why Important:

    • Stay informed about system status
    • Receive critical security updates
    • Understand policy changes
    • Coordinate with other hub owners
    • Plan for maintenance and updates

    Best Practices:

    • Monitor regularly for important updates
    • Share relevant information with your team
    • Plan around announced maintenance
    • Report technical issues promptly

    Message Moderation Logs (messageModeration)

    What's Logged:

    • Messages deleted by moderators
    • Messages edited by moderators
    • Original and modified message content
    • Moderation timestamp and moderator
    • Server and channel information
    • Reason for action (if provided)

    Why Important:

    • Track all message-related moderation actions
    • Maintain accountability for content changes
    • Provide comprehensive audit trail
    • Monitor content policy enforcement
    • Document evidence for appeals and violations

    Best Practices:

    • Use a dedicated channel for message moderation
    • Review patterns for consistency
    • Document reasoning for major actions
    • Coordinate with general mod logs for context

    Setting Up Logging

    Access Logging Configuration

    /hub config logging hub:YourHubName

    This opens the logging configuration interface where you can set up all log types.

    Create Dedicated Log Channels

    Recommended Channel Structure:

    📁 Hub Management
  ├── #hub-reports (Private - Reports)
  ├── #hub-modlogs (Private - Mod Logs)
  ├── #hub-appeals (Private - Appeals)
  ├── #hub-activity (Staff - Join/Leaves)
  ├── #hub-alerts (Staff - Network Alerts)
  └── #hub-messages (Private - Message Moderation)

    Channel Permissions:

    • Private channels: Only moderators and above
    • Staff channels: Moderators, managers, and trusted staff
    • Public channels: Generally not recommended for logs

    Configure Each Log Type

    For each log type:

    1. Select the appropriate channel
    2. Configure role mentions (optional but recommended)
    3. Test the configuration
    4. Document the setup for your team

    Set Up Role Mentions

    For Critical Logs (Reports):

    • Create a @Hub Moderators role
    • Add all active moderators
    • Configure mentions for immediate notification

    For Important Logs (Mod Logs, Appeals):

    • Use manager-level roles for oversight
    • Consider time zone coverage
    • Balance notification frequency with alert fatigue

    Log Channel Organization

    Channel Naming Conventions

    Clear, Descriptive Names:

    • #hub-reports - User-submitted reports
    • #hub-modlogs - Moderation actions
    • #hub-appeals - Blacklist appeals
    • #hub-activity - Server joins/leaves
    • #hub-alerts - System notifications
    • #hub-messages - Message moderation (deletions/edits)

    Alternative Naming Schemes:

    • By priority: #critical-logs, #important-logs, #info-logs
    • By audience: #mod-only, #staff-logs, #admin-alerts
    • By function: #safety-logs, #growth-logs, #system-logs

    Permission Management

    Hub Moderators Should Access:

    • ✅ Report logs (essential for safety)
    • ✅ Mod logs (track team actions)
    • ✅ Appeal logs (handle appeals)
    • ⚠️ Join/leave logs (optional, for context)
    • ❌ Network alerts (usually not needed)

    Permissions to Grant:

    • View Channel
    • Read Message History
    • Send Messages (for responses)
    • Add Reactions (for acknowledgment)

    Hub Managers Should Access:

    • ✅ All log types
    • ✅ Full message history
    • ✅ Channel management permissions
    • ✅ Role mention configuration

    Additional Responsibilities:

    • Monitor log channel health
    • Ensure proper moderator access
    • Review logging effectiveness
    • Coordinate with hub owner on issues

    Hub Owners Should Access:

    • ✅ All log types with full permissions
    • ✅ Configuration and setup control
    • ✅ Analytics and trend analysis
    • ✅ Strategic decision making based on logs

    Strategic Use:

    • Long-term trend analysis
    • Policy and rule adjustments
    • Moderator team performance review
    • Hub growth and retention planning

    Using Logs Effectively

    Daily Monitoring Routine

    Morning Check (5 minutes):

    1. Review overnight reports - respond to urgent issues
    2. Check for new servers joining/leaving
    3. Scan mod logs for unusual activity
    4. Review any network alerts

    Evening Review (10 minutes):

    1. Comprehensive report log review
    2. Assess daily moderation effectiveness
    3. Follow up on pending appeals
    4. Plan next day priorities

    Weekly Analysis

    Growth and Retention:

    • Track server join/leave patterns
    • Identify successful retention strategies
    • Understand departure reasons
    • Plan outreach and improvement efforts

    Moderation Effectiveness:

    • Review mod log patterns and trends
    • Assess response times to reports
    • Identify training needs for moderators
    • Celebrate successful interventions

    Community Health:

    • Analyze report frequency and types
    • Track repeat offenders and patterns
    • Assess filter effectiveness
    • Plan policy adjustments

    Monthly Strategic Review

    Data-Driven Decisions:

    Server Growth Tracking:

    • New servers per month
    • Retention rate (servers staying 30+ days)
    • Peak activity periods
    • Geographic and demographic trends

    Key Questions:

    • What attracts servers to join?
    • Why do servers leave?
    • Which servers become most active?
    • How can we improve retention?

    Action Items:

    • Adjust recruitment strategies
    • Improve onboarding processes
    • Address common departure reasons
    • Celebrate growth milestones

    Safety and Moderation Metrics:

    • Reports per month and resolution time
    • Filter effectiveness and false positives
    • Appeal rates and success rates
    • Repeat violation patterns

    Key Questions:

    • Are we catching violations effectively?
    • Is our response time acceptable?
    • Are our policies clear and fair?
    • What new threats are emerging?

    Action Items:

    • Update content filters
    • Clarify rules and policies
    • Improve moderator training
    • Enhance safety measures

    Moderation Team Analysis:

    • Actions per moderator
    • Response time consistency
    • Decision quality and appeals
    • Team coordination effectiveness

    Key Questions:

    • Is workload distributed fairly?
    • Are decisions consistent across the team?
    • Do moderators need additional training?
    • How can we improve team coordination?

    Action Items:

    • Rebalance moderator responsibilities
    • Provide targeted training
    • Improve team communication
    • Recognize outstanding performance

    Privacy and Data Management

    Privacy Considerations

    What's Logged:

    • User IDs and usernames (not personal information)
    • Message content for reported messages only
    • Server information and connection data
    • Moderation actions and timestamps

    What's NOT Logged:

    • Private conversations or DMs
    • Messages not reported or flagged
    • Personal information beyond Discord data
    • Content from non-connected channels

    Data Retention:

    • Logs are stored according to Discord's data policies
    • Hub owners can request log deletion
    • Appeals and serious violations may be retained longer
    • Regular cleanup of old, non-essential logs

    GDPR and Privacy Compliance

    User Rights:

    • Users can request information about their data
    • Users can request deletion of their data
    • Users can appeal moderation decisions
    • Users can leave hubs at any time

    Hub Owner Responsibilities:

    • Use logs only for legitimate moderation purposes
    • Protect log channel access appropriately
    • Don't share logs outside your moderation team
    • Respect user privacy and Discord ToS

    Advanced Monitoring Strategies

    Automated Monitoring

    Discord Bot Integration:

    • Set up bots to monitor log channels
    • Create automated summaries and reports
    • Alert on unusual patterns or spikes
    • Generate weekly/monthly analytics

    External Tools:

    • Export log data for analysis
    • Create dashboards and visualizations
    • Set up alerting systems
    • Integrate with other community tools

    Pattern Recognition

    Identifying Trends:

    • Seasonal activity patterns
    • Time-of-day violation spikes
    • Recurring problem users or servers
    • Successful intervention strategies

    Predictive Insights:

    • Early warning signs of community issues
    • Growth opportunity identification
    • Resource planning and allocation
    • Proactive policy adjustments

    Troubleshooting Log Issues

    Common Problems

    Logs Not Appearing:

    1. Check channel permissions for InterChat
    2. Verify logging configuration is saved
    3. Test with a known action (like a warning)
    4. Contact support if issues persist

    Missing Role Mentions:

    1. Verify role exists and has mentionable permission
    2. Check role hierarchy and permissions
    3. Test mention configuration
    4. Update role assignments if needed

    Channel Access Issues:

    1. Review channel permission overrides
    2. Check role assignments for team members
    3. Verify bot permissions in log channels
    4. Update permissions as team changes

    Best Practices Summary

    Setup Best Practices

    Channel Organization:

    • Use clear, consistent naming
    • Set appropriate permissions
    • Document setup for your team
    • Regular permission audits

    Configuration:

    • Enable all relevant log types
    • Set up appropriate role mentions
    • Test configurations thoroughly
    • Document settings and changes

    Monitoring Best Practices

    Daily Operations:

    • Consistent monitoring schedule
    • Rapid response to critical logs
    • Clear escalation procedures
    • Team coordination and communication

    Strategic Use:

    • Regular trend analysis
    • Data-driven decision making
    • Policy and procedure updates
    • Continuous improvement focus

    Next Steps

    Your hub monitoring is comprehensive! Continue optimizing with these advanced topics:

    Need help with logging setup? Join our support community to get assistance from experienced hub administrators!

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