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Community Discovery guidelines

Keep your listed community within Root's rules so it stays in Discovery.

A Discovery listing puts your community in front of everyone on Root. That reach comes with a few responsibilities for owners and moderators. These guidelines apply to the community, its channels, its apps, and any places it links to. Owners and moderators are responsible for keeping the community within them.

Root can remove a community from Discovery if it breaks these guidelines. See If Root disables your listing.

Follow the Root Community Guidelines and Terms of Use​

Listing doesn't change the rules. It makes following them more important, because far more people can see your community. Everything in the Community Guidelines applies: Be Kind, Be Rooted in Safety, Be Authentic, and Honor User Privacy.

Your moderators should handle reports made in your community, and your team should know when something needs to go to Root instead. A community that Root takes action against can be removed from Discovery.

Keep it welcoming​

People should feel safe joining from a public listing. That means:

  • No content or behavior meant to single out, bully, or harass people or other communities, on Root or elsewhere.
  • No organizing raids or group harassment.
  • No encouraging a toxic, hateful, or insulting culture, even as a joke.

Keep public spaces suitable for every Root user​

Root is open to people 16 and up. Graphic violence, gore, and sexual content are not allowed in a listed community's public spaces or in its listing.

  • The name, description, picture, and banner must be suitable for all audiences. This applies even if the community has the age restriction turned on.
  • The Community Guidelines allow sexually explicit content only inside communities with the age restriction turned on, and never in public places such as pictures and banners.

No drugs, regulated goods, or illegal activity​

  • No discussion of buying, selling, or using controlled substances.
  • No communities dedicated to regulated goods such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, or weapons.
  • Nothing that helps people break the law or harms others.

Present the community honestly​

The listing is a promise about what someone will find inside.

  • The name, description, and category must accurately describe the community. Don't pick a misleading category to show up in more searches.
  • No profanity in the name, description, or channel names.
  • No pretending to be another person, brand, game, or community.
  • No spam, scams, or communities that exist only to advertise.

Respect other people's rights​

Only use content you own or have permission to use, including the picture and banner. Don't share private information about other people or make false claims about them.

Have an active moderation team​

Someone needs to be watching. A listed community should have moderators who handle reports, enforce the community's own rules, and can be trusted by members. Keep the join throttle on so a sudden wave of new members from Discovery doesn't overwhelm them. See Limit member joins.

These guidelines build on the Root Community Guidelines and Terms of Use. If the two ever disagree, the Community Guidelines and Terms of Use apply.