Staff & Contributor Role Policy

# 📜 MangaBaka Staff & Contributor Role Policy --- ## 🔄 Activity Review Every 4 months the staff reviews the activity of all members with manual roles. Metrics are pulled from the **[Team Activity page](https://mangabaka.org/data/team)**. Members can also check their own metrics there at any time to see where they stand ahead of the review. ### Activity expectation To pass the review, a minimum of **1 edit per elapsed day** is expected. If the cycle covers 120 days, at least 120 edits are required. We know this isn't a job and no one is forced to contribute daily. But those who accept a contributor or moderator role make a commitment to the team and the database. You don't have to work every day — you can reach the quota in bursts, as long as the total meets the threshold by the end of the cycle. ### Process 1. **Gather** – Activity reports for the last 4 months are pulled. 2. **Identify** – Members who fell below the minimum quota for their role are flagged. 3. **Contact** – Staff privately reaches out to each flagged member to understand their situation. 4. **Decide**: - If they commit to resuming activity → role kept, re‑evaluated next cycle. - No response or unable to maintain pace → demoted in this same cycle (Full Contributor → Veteran Contributor, Mod → Full Contributor or Alumni, as appropriate). - Serious misconduct (leaking private chats, malicious editing, vandalism, harming the team) → immediate removal without contact, no Alumni status. 5. **Promotions** – Moderators (and the Lead Mod, where applicable) debate and participate in promoting new Full Contributors or Mods. ### Review Schedule The review cycles are aligned with the calendar year, running in fixed 4‑month blocks starting in January. The review window normally spans the first full week of the relevant month (1st–7th), but **the staff may extend it by up to one additional week** if required. | Activity period | Review window | |-----------------|---------------| | Jun – Aug 2026 | 1–7 Sep 2026 | | Sep – Dec 2026 | 1–7 Jan 2027 | | Jan – Apr 2027 | 1–7 May 2027 | | May – Aug 2027 | 1–7 Sep 2027 | | Sep – Dec 2027 | 1–7 Jan 2028 | | Jan – Apr 2028 | 1–7 May 2028 | | May – Aug 2028 | 1–7 Sep 2028 | *The alignment cycle covers only June–August 2026, making it shorter than the usual 4‑month block. This ensures that all subsequent cycles start in September and follow the January‑May‑September rhythm, keeping the review calendar fully aligned with the calendar year.* --- ## 🧱 Role Hierarchy | Role | Type | Description | |------|------|-------------| | **Staff** | Manual | Original project members or those who helped shape it. Final say on decisions. | | **Lead Mod** | Manual | Bridge between staff and moderators. Coordinates, unblocks, and enforces guidelines. | | **Moderator (Mod)** | Manual | Full data management permissions. Can specialise by function and content type. | | **Full Contributor** | Manual | Edits directly without approval. Cannot delete core entities. | | **Veteran Contributor** | Auto | 1,000+ accepted submissions. Honorary title, no extra permissions. | | **Contributor 750+** | Auto | 750+ accepted submissions. | | **Contributor 500+** | Auto | 500+ accepted submissions. | | **Contributor 250+** | Auto | 250+ accepted submissions. | | **Contributor 100+** | Auto | 100+ accepted submissions. | | **Contributor 50+** | Auto | 50+ accepted submissions. | | **Normal User** | — | Submits data for approval. | | **Alumni** | Manual | Former mods, staff, or full contributors. **Commemorative role, no permissions.** | | **Advisor** | Manual | External advisor from another project. **Commemorative role, no permissions.** | | **Respective Project Member** | Manual | Someone who has helped MangaBaka in a meaningful way. **Commemorative role, no permissions.** | | **Dev** | Manual | Maintains bots, tools, scripts, site. Access to codebase reviewed by founder. May or may not hold data permissions. | --- ## 🎯 Auto Roles | Accepted submissions | Title | |----------------------|-------| | 50+ | 📄 Contributor 50+ | | 100+ | 🥉 Contributor 100+ | | 250+ | 🥈 Contributor 250+ | | 500+ | 🥇 Contributor 500+ | | 750+ | 🏅 Contributor 750+ | | 1,000+ | 🏆 Veteran Contributor | > Titles are purely honorary. **They do not grant direct editing permissions.** Auto roles are permanent and not subject to activity reviews. **Why a high submission count doesn't automatically lead to Full Contributor** Auto roles are assigned purely on the number of accepted submissions. Not everyone with a high submission count becomes a Full Contributor, and there are two common reasons for this: 1. **Personal choice** – many top contributors prefer not to take on the extra responsibility that comes with the Full Contributor role. They are happy to keep submitting data without direct editing powers, and we fully respect that. 2. **Quality over quantity** – sometimes a user has a large volume of submissions but they frequently require moderator intervention (incorrect data, missing sources, repeated mistakes). In those cases the team chooses not to offer the Full Contributor role, because it would add more overhead instead of reducing it. The auto roles remain as recognition of effort and activity, separate from the trust‑based manual roles. --- ## 📋 Manual Roles & Promotion Path ### Full Contributor - **How to obtain**: selected by staff **with the participation of moderators**, who debate and are part of the final decision. Users with 100+ accepted submissions and consistent quality are sought. - **Fast track for external moderators**: moderators from other databases (AniList, MAL, MangaUpdates, etc.) can receive the Full Contributor role directly if they are interested, without needing to meet the submission threshold. The goal is to make cross‑database data fixes smoother and encourage collaboration. - **Permissions**: edit titles, works, collections, and covers without approval. Cannot delete core entities. - **Review every 4 months**: must meet the minimum activity quota. ### Moderator (Mod) - **How to obtain**: promoted from Full Contributor with the involvement of the **Lead Mod** and the moderator team, who debate and are part of the final decision. Typically requires 1,000+ edits. - **Permissions**: full data management (merge, create, delete). Can specialise (see below). - **Review every 4 months**: must meet the minimum activity quota. ### Lead Mod - Chosen by staff from among mods. Must have expertise across all functional areas (Data, Merge, Cover, Review, Community). Coordinates the team and resolves blockers. ### Staff - Original project members or those who have helped shape it. Appointed by existing staff. --- ## 🏷️ Functional Specialisation Each mod can choose one or more focus areas. This does not restrict work elsewhere; it just indicates where they concentrate their effort. **Focus areas can be changed at any time, with no fixed schedule.** | Area | Icon | Typical tasks | |------|------|---------------| | Data Mod | 📚 | Metadata, tags, genres, authors, relations | | Merge Mod | 🔀 | Duplicate detection, merge reviews, approvals | | Cover Mod | 🎨 | Cover management, image quality | | Review Mod | 📋 | Review user submissions, reports, change requests | | Volume & Chapter Mod | 📦 | Volume‑specific metadata, chapter/page counts, edition tracking | | Staff Credits Mod | 🧑‍🎨 | Staff credits (creators, artists, authors) | | Licensing Mod | 🏢 | Title licensing and official release information | | Description Mod | 📝 | Writing, translating, editing synopses and maintaining description formatting | | Community | 💬 | Support, announcements, Discord, social media | --- ## 💡 Content Preferences Any user can indicate on their profile **which areas they'd like to contribute to** and **which content types interest them**. This is not a role and grants no permissions, but it allows staff to: - Know where to focus recruitment efforts. - Spot coverage gaps in the team. - Understand the community's general interests. - If a user is promoted to moderator, **they are primarily assigned to the areas and content types they already expressed interest in**. ### Contribution areas - **Nothing** – No interest at the moment. - **General Metadata** – Add or update general title metadata. - **Titles Categorization** – Categorise titles by language or traits. - **Uploading Covers** – Upload cover images. - **Tags Management** – Manage and maintain tags across the site. - **Volume Metadata** – Provide or update volume‑specific metadata. - **Chapter/Volume Count Updates** – Keep chapter and volume counts accurate. - **Staff Credits** – Add or verify staff credits (creators, artists, authors). - **Titles Licensing** – Share licensing or official release information. - **Description Format** – Write, translate, edit descriptions and maintain consistent formatting. - **Help improve the site** – Contribute ideas, feedback, or general assistance. ### Content types (personal preferences) | Category | Description | |-----------|-------------| | Manga | Japanese comics, black & white, read right to left. | | Comic | Western comics, superheroes, other regional styles. | | Western Doujinshi | Self‑published works from outside Asia, independent projects. | | Novel | Traditional prose fiction, Western and Japanese literature. | | Light Novel | Japanese young adult novels with manga‑style illustrations. | | Shin Bungei | Japanese literary fiction between mainstream and light novels. | | Web Novel | Published online, often serialised (Syosetsu, Wattpad…). | | Visual Novel | Interactive fiction games with text, visuals, branching narratives. | | Doujinshi | Self‑published or fan‑made works, typically from Asian circles. | | Doujin VN / Game | Self‑published visual novels, often by circles or indie creators. | | Doujinshi H | Adult self‑published doujinshi from Japan. | | Eroge | Japanese adult visual novels or erotic games. | | Pornhwa | Korean adult webtoons/manhwa with explicit themes. | | Hentai (adult manga) | Japanese adult manga (seijin) from commercial publishers. | --- ## ⏬ Demotion & Alumni Status ### Demotion for inactivity If a Full Contributor or Mod fails to meet the minimum activity quota during a cycle, **they lose the role in that same review**. Multiple cycles are not required — one is enough. The person is contacted before demotion. If they commit to resuming activity, they keep the role and are re‑evaluated next cycle. If there is no response or they cannot maintain the pace, they are dropped to the immediately lower tier (Full Contributor → Veteran Contributor, Mod → Full Contributor or Alumni, depending on the case). ### Leaving on bad terms Demotion can also be **immediate and without prior contact** when serious misconduct occurs, such as: - Leaking private team conversations. - Maliciously editing data or vandalising the database. - Behaviour that deliberately harms the working group. - Clear inability to work in a team. In these cases **there is no recognition and no Alumni status**, regardless of previous contributions. The departure is final and no commemorative role is granted. ### Alumni Alumni status is reserved for those who leave the team **on good terms**: due to natural inactivity, lack of time, or a decision to step back after contributing positively. Alumni is a permanent, commemorative role with no permissions. Alumni may request to return to the active team in the future; if accepted, they regain their previous role without repeating the full promotion process. --- ## 🌱 Closing note This policy aims to balance the needs of the project with each person's freedom. No one is obligated to contribute, but those who take on a role do so with the team's trust and the expectation that the database will move forward. At the same time, we understand that life changes, free time fluctuates, and priorities shift. The periodic review isn't a threat — it's a way to keep the project healthy and to recognise both those who stay and those who, having helped, need to let go of the pace. If you ever want to come back, the door will be open. And if you decide to stay, you have a team that values what you do.