Cancer Research UK – Advanced Moderation, Revolutionised!
Strategy - Design - Development
Moderation
Mayhem
Managing a bustling online community is no easy feat, and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) was facing a growing challenge. While they had a system in place that worked, it was aging and required multiple workarounds to ensure that every post was properly moderated. With thousands of members posting, commenting, and interacting daily, CRUK’s moderation team manually reviewed every single post—not just to guard against spammers, but also to protect their members by checking for personal information exposure and assessing the poster’s state of mind. However, their limited tools meant that flagged posts sometimes slipped through the cracks or took too long to address.
CRUK needed something smarter, faster, and easier to use. They needed to stay ahead of the flood of forum posts while ensuring every user felt safe and supported. That’s where 4 Roads came in—with a game-changing solution!
Building a Smarter
Moderation Tool
At 4 Roads, we love a good challenge, and CRUK’s was right up our alley. Our mission was to create a seamless, user-friendly, and powerful Advanced Moderation Tool—a system that would take the weight off the moderators and empower them to keep the community safe.
Here’s what we did:
1. The Magic of the 4 Roads Ticket Application
We extended our existing Ticket Application to enhance CRUK’s moderation process, providing a powerful solution without needing a fully custom-built system. Whenever users created, edited, or flagged posts, a support ticket was instantly generated. Additionally, when a user creates a post, a ticket is automatically created in the application, and if another user comments on that post, a separate ticket is generated for moderators to review. Moderators now had one central hub where they could view flagged content, read excerpts, and take action with a simple click.
No more bouncing between interfaces or getting bogged down with manual tracking—everything was right where they needed it, making content review faster and easier.
2. Automation to the Rescue!
Why waste time moderating posts from non-UK users when we can automate the process? Using Fastly, we created a smart plugin that instantly flagged content from non-UK paths, automatically sending them into an unpublished state. However, posts from expats are still checked to ensure relevancy. This allowed CRUK moderators to focus on their UK community, while the system seamlessly managed international content in the background.
Additionally, we implemented another automation whereby If a moderator misses a post, the system adds a tag to the ticket after a certain number of days, flagging it for a response. This ensures that no post requiring attention is overlooked, streamlining the moderation process even further.
3. Smooth and Simple Moderation Actions
Our Advanced Moderation Tool wasn’t just about flagging content—it was about empowering moderators to take action quickly. With one-click options for closing cases, unpublishing posts, or marking content for further review, moderators could do in seconds what used to take much longer. Plus, they could track actions, collaborate on tough cases, and never worry about something slipping through the cracks.
Efficiency, Automation,
and Results!
Our Advanced Moderation Tool made an immediate impact:
100% Faster Moderation: Automating the content review process meant that moderators could respond to flagged posts twice as fast.
Fewer “Lost” Posts: With our system keeping everything in order, unresolved posts dropped by 30%, ensuring no flagged content was left unchecked.
Happier Community, Happier Moderators: With automation reducing the workload, CRUK’s team had more time to engage positively with the community, fostering a safer, more supportive environment.
Why You need
This Too!
Let’s face it—manual moderation is outdated. If your community is growing (and it should be!), you’ll quickly hit a point where traditional moderation tools simply won’t cut it anymore.
Our Advanced Moderation Tool is the perfect solution to:
Save time: Automate routine tasks and free your team to focus on high-value work.
Increase safety: Flag and manage inappropriate content faster than ever.
Boost community trust: A safer community is a more engaged community.
Think about it: No more missed posts. No more bottlenecks. Just smarter, faster moderation that keeps your community happy.
How We Can
Help You
At 4 Roads, we specialise in building custom solutions like this to make your community management simpler, more efficient, and more impactful. Ready to empower your team with the tools they need to manage your community like a pro?
Don’t let your community suffer from outdated moderation tools. If you want to supercharge your moderation like CRUK did, reach out to us at 4 Roads to see how we can help you implement the perfect solution for your needs.
Ready to make the switch? Let’s talk about how we can create a smarter, more efficient moderation system for your growing community.
