Community guidelines examples and how to write your own

Community guidelines are a group’s written rules, and the community guidelines examples below answer five questions. Why does the group exist, how should members behave, what is not allowed, what happens when a rule is broken, and who should members contact? Keep yours short, pin them where new members look first, and apply them the same way to everyone.

This guide looks at three real examples: a short set of rules, a long one and a template. It also gives a short template of our own that you can copy.

What are community guidelines?

Community guidelines are the written rules of a group: what members should do, what they should not do, and what happens if they do it anyway. They tell a new member how the group works before they post for the first time.

It helps to think of them in three parts:

• Guidelines describe the tone and behavior you want.
• Rules set clear boundaries that you can enforce.
• Standards state the values behind both.

You do not need three separate documents. One short page can do all three.

What should community guidelines include?

Good guidelines answer five questions. If a member can find all five answers on one page, the page does its job.

part	the question it answers	example line
Purpose	Why does this group exist, and who is it for?	“This group is for people who run local walking groups.”
Expected behavior	What does good participation look like?	“Share what worked for you, not only what to do.”
Not allowed	What will be removed?	“No insults, no spam, no selling in the group.”
What happens	What do you do when someone breaks a rule?	“We delete the message and tell you why.”
Who to contact	Where does a member go with a problem?	“Message one of the admins.”

Describe the behavior you want in a few positive lines, and keep the list of what is not allowed short and broad. Write it in the voice your group already uses. A friendly group should not switch to legal language for its rules.

Community guidelines examples from real communities

Three examples show how different real guidelines can look. One is very short, one is long, and one is a template.

Reddit: eight short rules

Reddit has eight numbered sitewide rules. Most open with a short command, such as “Remember the human”. Each short command is followed by one to three sentences of explanation.

Reddit also separates two layers. Each community on Reddit has its own rules, enforced by its moderators. The sitewide rules sit below them, apply to everyone and are enforced by Reddit’s admins. The enforcement list starts with a polite request to stop and ends with banning whole communities.

What to take from it: short rule names that people remember, each with one plain explanation.

Mozilla: the long version

Mozilla’s Community Participation Guidelines are a full document. The page shows Version 3.1 and the date it was last updated. They say where they apply, online and offline, and group expected behavior under short headings about being respectful, direct but professional, and inclusive.

A separate section names the behavior that will not be tolerated, such as personal attacks and threats. Another explains consequences, and another says where to send a report and who reads it. The page says the guidelines are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license and were adapted from other codes of conduct.

What to take from it: a clear way to report a problem, and a plain statement that anyone asked to stop must stop.

Sparkle on Substack: a template to copy and adapt

Sparkle on Substack published a community guidelines template for in-person or online communities and invites readers to copy and adapt it. It has ten numbered guidelines. Several deal with personal boundaries. One asks members to accept a refusal, a delay or silence as a complete answer.

Another asks members not to share screenshots or recordings of other members without permission. The last one says the organiser may remove posts or members whose behaviour goes against the guidelines.

What to take from it: rules about privacy and boundaries matter as much as rules about insults.

What are 10 rules for a community?

There is no official list of ten. These ten rules cover what most groups need:

1. Be respectful and inclusive.
2. No hate speech or discrimination.
3. Keep discussions relevant.
4. No spamming or self-promotion.
5. Protect privacy and personal data.
6. Encourage constructive feedback.
7. Report rule breaks instead of arguing.
8. No fake news or misinformation.
9. Recognize positive contributions.
10. Be open about how moderators decide.

You do not need all ten. Pick the ones that solve a problem your group has, or one you can see coming. A group of twenty neighbors needs fewer rules than a public group of thousands.

How to write community guidelines for your group

Start from what has already gone wrong, or what you expect to go wrong. A rule should solve a real problem, not an imagined one.

1. Write the purpose first. One or two sentences on why the group exists and who it is for.
2. Write each rule as one plain sentence. “No selling in the group” is clearer than “Commercial activity is discouraged”.
3. Say what happens. Name the step you will take, such as deleting the post, instead of a vague warning about consequences.
4. Name a contact. Say who to contact, and how. Every set of guidelines needs at least this.
5. Keep it short. A handful of rules that people read beats a long page that nobody opens.

A template you can copy

Welcome to [group name]. This group is for [who it is for], to [what you do together].

Our rules

1. Be kind. Disagree with ideas, not with people.
2. Stay on topic in each channel. Off-topic chat goes in [channel name].
3. No selling, ads or links to your own business unless an admin agrees first.
4. Keep what members share here inside the group. Ask before you share a screenshot.
5. No insults, threats or harassment, here or in private messages.

If a rule is broken. We delete the message and tell you why in a private message. If it happens again, we may mute you, so you can read but not post. We ban anyone who harasses or threatens another member.

Questions or problems? Send a private message to [owner name] or one of the admins.

Change the brackets, drop what you do not need, and add a rule only when you need it.

How to announce, pin and enforce your rules

Rules work only if people see them. Put them in one dedicated post, mention them in your welcome message, and link to them when you act on a broken rule. Remind members of them from time to time, especially while the group is growing.

Enforce the rules the same way for everyone. Linking to the rule when you act on it shows that you follow the guidelines, not your mood.

In Groupanda, every new group starts with an Announcements channel where, at first, only the owner can post. Post your guidelines there, or in a channel of their own where you choose who can post. The owner and admins can pin a message, and it stays in the channel’s Pinned tab.

When a rule is broken, the owner and admins can delete the message, mute the member or ban them. A muted member can still read but cannot post or react, with no time limit. A ban ends the membership at once and stops the person from joining again. Members can also report a message to Groupanda or block another user. For who can do what, see our guide to roles and permissions.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between community guidelines and rules?

Guidelines describe how you want people to behave. Rules are the specific limits you enforce. You can use guidelines as the umbrella term, with rules as the part you can act on.

How long should community guidelines be?

Long enough to answer the five questions, and short enough that a new member reads them. The short example above fits into eight numbered points, while the long one fills a full page and also covers events and staff.

How often should you review your community guidelines?

Review them on a fixed schedule. Once a quarter is a good start for a new or growing group, and once a year can be enough for a settled one. Review them sooner if the same problem keeps coming up and no rule covers it.

The short version

Write a purpose line, a handful of plain rules, what happens when a rule is broken, and who to contact. Pin it where new members look first, and enforce it the same way for everyone. For channels, search, roles and joining in detail, read how Groupanda works as a group chat app.

Sources

We read these pages on 13 October 2026. Three of them are the examples above. The other three are guides by community software vendors, and they informed our own advice. Each source below gives the date the page carries, on the page or in its metadata, or says that it carries none, and the day we read it.

• Circle, 7 community guideline examples for building a respectful online space. Guidelines as the umbrella term over rules and standards, the five building blocks, and rules that solve real problems. Plain wording in your own voice, reminders while the group grows, and a quarterly review. The page says 3 June 2025; its metadata gives the same day for publication and last change. Read 13 October 2026.
• Guild, How to create Community Guidelines. Guidelines as a code of conduct, the five elements, a short list of positive behaviours, a contact as the bare minimum, and where to feature the guidelines. The page says 17 July 2023, and its metadata gives the same day for publication and last change. Read 13 October 2026.
• Bevy, Effective Community Rules Examples and How to Implement Them. Ten examples of community rules, which our list of ten draws on, pinned posts, and an annual review. No publication or update date of its own on the page or in its metadata. Read 13 October 2026.
• Reddit Rules. The eight sitewide rules, community rules enforced by moderators, and the enforcement list. No date of its own on the page or in its metadata; the dates in the page menu belong to other Reddit policies. Read 13 October 2026.
• Mozilla, Community Participation Guidelines. Where they apply, expected behavior, behavior that will not be tolerated, consequences, reporting, and the Creative Commons license. The page says Version 3.1, updated 16 January 2020. Read 13 October 2026.
• Sparkle on Substack, Community Guidelines Template. The template for in-person or online communities, ten guidelines, boundaries, screenshots, and the organiser’s right to remove posts or members. The page says 26 June 2026, and its metadata gives the same day. Read 13 October 2026.