# Recommendations for SOGS Operators

**TL;DR**: [Appoint mods](#moderating-abuse); [keep in touch](#communication-channels); [tag your room right](#community-tags) (`#nsfw` and `#test`); [and above all, follow the rules](README.md#policy).

## Moderating abuse

**Abuse is a very real problem on Session. Make sure to appoint sufficient moderators to your Communities**.

Communities listed on our site must take care to [follow our policy](README.md#policy), which includes the [Session Terms of Service](https://getsession.org/terms-of-service).

## Communication channels

If you operate a Session Group Server, it is recommended that:

- you [have a presence in the Session Open Group Operators Community](https://sessioncommunities.online/#sogops+118d) and
- you [keep in touch with the maintainers of SessionCommunities.Online](README.md#contact-us).

**Cooperation with SOGS Operators is crucial to prevent abuse**. (As well as to enrich Session as a whole).

## Customization

### First steps

Make your Community look more legitimate by setting a name and description.

Don't know how to set up a room with a name and description? Check the [official documentation](https://github.com/oxen-io/session-pysogs/blob/stable/administration.md#creating-a-room).

Forgot to set a description? Update it like so:

```sh
sogs --rooms MY_ROOM_ID --description "New description goes here #lang:en #privacy"
```

Forgot to set a name? The following command might just save you (just replace the bits in uppercase):

```sh
sqlite3 /var/lib/session-open-group-server/sogs.db 'update rooms set name="MY_ROOM_NAME" where token="MY_ROOM_ID";'
```

### Community tags

You may insert tags at the end of your room description like so:

```This is a cool chatroom. #cool #chat #free```

The obvious benefit is searchability. However, tags such `#nsfw` or `#test` also help us automatically hide parts of the Community display:

The `#nsfw` tag hides the Community avatar and ensures visitors know your Community is not safe for work, while the `#test` tag marks a Community as "intended for testing" and hides it from our index. The `#unlisted` tag can be used for the same purpose, such as when archiving Communities.

### Language tags

Mark your Community with a language flag emoji by adding a tag of the form `#lang:CODE` at the end of your Community description.

You can use any two-letter **country code**, or any of these prepared language codes:

- `#lang:any` or `#lang:all` for 🌐,
- `#lang:en` for 🇬🇧, and
- `#lang:zh` for 🇨🇳.

### Server-wide icons

You may notice the Host column groups Communities by their host SOGS, and some SOGS are easily recognizable by a unified icon. If you also want your Communities to be linked by a recognizable icon, the requirements are easy:

- The icon must be the same as an existing Community avatar.
- The icon must be safe-for-work, i.e., no suggestive or violent material.
- Your Communities must take care to [follow our policy](README.md#policy).

Once you've chosen which of your existing Communities will share an avatar with your whole server, [contact us](README.md#contact-us).

## Diagnosing listing issues

If your Community does not appear on our list:

- first, confirm it is listed on an upstream source,
- verify it can be joined from the app,
- check in our page footer that the list has been updated recently, and
- ensure your Community [follows our policy](README.md#policy).

If your Community still does not appear on our list, [please contact us](README.md#contact-us). Note that poor connectivity may affect our ability to list Communities in regions affected by internet censorship.

## De-listing requests

We occasionally accept requests from server operators to de-list whole Community servers.

If you feel our listing would be  detrimental to your Communities — such as in cases where your Communities reveal sensitive information about your users — you may [contact us](README.md#contact-us) to request to de-list a Community server. Please note that Session Communities are not designed with private communication in mind.

De-listing requests only apply for servers we've listed manually (not when [polled from our sources](README.md#which-sources-do-you-crawl)).
To de-list individual Communities, use the `#unlisted` tag; see [Community tags](#community-tags).