Moderation refers to a process whereby contributors submit a contribution, but it is not displayed to their users immediately. Instead, an email is sent alerting an administrator, and the administrator then 'moderates' the posting. They make any necessary edits to the posting, and then make it public. Or, they simply delete it.

Moderation is often considered the 'nuclear option' in forum management. This is because it is 100% effective in preventing forum abuse, but, in doing so, it may end up with the forum being killed off. This is bacause, unless the administrator is always on-task, the delay caused by the morderation process will inhibit the quick ping-pong conversations where people stay online and get enthusistic.

Moderation is therefore often only used for new members of a forum, and once they have proven themselves, they are promoted to a usergroup which allows them to post directly without moderation. Of course, if they abuse their direct posting priviledges, the posting can always be edited or removed, and the user can be demoted to require moderation in future. This two-tier approach has been shown to be most effective, particularly when the 'rules' are publicied, and seen to be carried through.