How to contact the moderators and administrators

[Doctor Q]

How to contact the moderators or administrators depends on why you want to contact them. Methods include

• Post report
• Private Message
• Contact form
• Feedback thread

1. Post report

If you see a post that violates the forum rules, please report it by clicking the Report Post icon next to the post. See How do I report a post? for details.

Don't send a Private Message to one moderator about posts that break rules. If you try to guess which moderators are online and on duty and send a Private Message to a moderator who is not actually available, it has to wait for their return. If you send it to the wrong staff member they will forward it to the correct person, but that will also delay the reply.

The same applies to Private Messages and Visitor Messages that you report.

2. Private Message

To send a Private Message to a moderator or administrator, use the buttons on the Forum Leaders page.

Send a Private Message to a moderator or administrator in cases such as these:

• You are having a PM conversation with that moderator or administrator.
  
  
• You have a question for a particular moderator or administrator based on something they posted, such as an instruction or guideline.
  
  
• The message is a personal one not related to moderation, but to an individual who happens to be a moderator or administrator.
  
  
• The issue is touchy so you want to send it to only one particular moderator or administrator you trust most.

Do not send a Private Message in this case:

• To dispute moderation. Instead use the Contact form so that administrators can review the case independently.

3. Contact form

Use the Contact form to send a message to the administrators in cases such as these:

• You are having trouble with your account. Examples:
  • You spelled your user name wrong while registering.
  • You can't get your activation message despite following the Activation Troubleshooting steps.
  • You can't reset your password using the Lost Password Recovery Form.
  
  
• You want to report a forum problem and you require a reply.
  
  
• You want to inquire about, question, or dispute a moderation action.
  
  
• You want to inquire about forum rules or policies or ask if a thread topic would be OK. If you are in doubt about what you can post, we suggest that you ask in advance.
  
  
• You want to ask about a user name change and have already read the FAQ section: Can I change my user name?
  
  
• You want to ask about account cancelation and have already read the FAQ section: How do I cancel my account?
  
  
• You're a paid member and want to change your special user title.

To use the Contact form, log into your forum account if possible (so we won't have to ask you to verify your identity), then click the Contact Us link at the bottom of any forum page. You will be given a form to type your message.

Do not use the Contact form in these cases:

• To submit news and rumors. Instead click Got a tip for us? Share it... at the top of the home page or email webmaster@macrumors.com. We don't publish routine press releases but you can submit news that might be of interest to our editors.
  
  
• To report posts that break forum rules. Use the Post Report system instead so it'll be handled much more promptly. Exception: If you need a reply to a message about forum problems.
  
  
• To report an annoying ad. Use the Site and Forum Feedback forum instead. See What do I do about annoying ads? in the FAQ.
  
  
• To ask for help with technical problems with an Apple product. The real expertise at MacRumors can be found among our tens of thousands of helpful forum users. Browse or search the forums for an answer or start a thread with your question. See How do I post? in the FAQ.
  
  
• To inquire about advertising at MacRumors. Instead, click Advertise on MacRumors at the bottom of the home page.

Most Contact messages are answered within a day. We have more moderators than administrators and since the administrators also manage the site and forum system you may need to be patient. We reply to almost every Contact message but we ignore spam, ads, and extremely rude messages. Some answers take research, another reason for patience. For problems that require quick action or routine forum moderation, use the Report Post icon.

4. Feedback thread

We monitor the Site and Forum Feedback forum every day and it is open to all members. Start a thread if you want to bring up an issue for general discussion or post in a previous thread on the topic. The purpose of this forum is to let you ask questions, make suggestions, or ask what other people think about an issue.

Do not use the Site and Forum Feedback forum for personal moderation issues, since forum moderation is handled privately. For details, see Moderation privacy in the Moderation FAQ. If you want specifics about a particular case, use the Contact form.

[Doctor Q]

None of the methods above is appropriate for a question like "When will new MacBooks come out?" or a problem like "My iPod won't work." You should ask such questions in the forums because:

1. When we have news or rumors, we post them in news stories. We don't have extra "inside" information to give you.
2. Our forum members, as a group, are almost always a better source of answers than any single person can be. Some of our staff are quite knowledgeable, but they are part of the forum membership too, so they and others can answer questions if you post them in the appropriate forum.

And remember that you can read the FAQ, the MacRumors Guides, or search the forums to find answers to many of the questions you might have.

In rare cases, somebody needs to contact our site owner arn directly. You can do so at webmaster@macrumors.com, but only for "exceptions." You should rely on the moderators and administrators for anything they can handle. That's what they volunteered to do, to leave arn free to run the site and find you news and rumors!

* * * * *

I'm aware that some of the people who need to see this thread are not going to see it. They might be site visitors or new members who Contact Us with their Mac, iPod, iPhone, etc. questions, thinking we are an Apple help desk. They might be regular members who never bothered to read our rules, FAQ, guides, or announcements, and still don't know how things work. I'm glad the rest of you are here to see these tips.

We are here to help you and to keep MacRumors useful and enjoyable for as many people as possible. We hope this information will help you get what you need at MacRumors in the simplest and most efficient way possible.