👨‍💼  Moderation: Manage People in Your World

Equip Users with Safety Actions

Open or Close the World

Add an Admin

Find and Manage Users

Manage Communication

Make Announcements, Record, or Share your Screen

Use Moderation Tools to Manage User Access, Reports, and Message History

 

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What Can Users Do to Protect Themselves?

Users in Topia have a set of safety tools to support positive interactions. Encourage users to use these tools responsibly and to report any issues they encounter.

• Walk Away - Users can move away from others to disconnect video/audio.
• Block - User can Block non admins; this removes video/audio and DMs between the users.
• Report - Users can Report another user. Alerts for new Reports can be sent in real-time using Webhooks.
• Find a Moderator - Users can easily find a Moderator or admin in the world and ask for assistance. Admins of the world will have a star next to their name. This is the Admin Identifier. If admins in the world do not have a star icon next to their name, this setting has most likely been turned off. Only Managers can change this setting.
• Ask a Moderator for Help - If a user has a question they can raise their hand to alert Moderators, ask for help in the chat, or teleport to a Moderator from the Current Users list.

Note: If admins in the world do not have a star icon next to their name, this setting has most likely been turned off. Only Managers can change this setting.

 

To make the Admin Identifier Visible: 

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings  → Admins 
2. In the Settings section under Show Admin Identifier:
   • Toggle on to make the Admin Identifier  visible
   • Toggle off to hide the Admin Identifier

 

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Open or Close a World

When a world is open, users can enter (if the world requires users to log in or enter a password they will still need to meet these requirements). When a world is closed, user will not be able to enter. Worlds can be opened or closed manually or on a set schedule.

Moderators and World Admins will always be able to enter the world. If a world is closed when a Moderator or World Admin enters, they will see a prompt allowing them to open the world.

To manually Open or Close a World:

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings  → Open/Close World
2. In the Settings section under Close World:
   • Toggle on to close the world
   • Toggle off to open the world
3. You will see a popup asking you to confirm if you want to close or open the world.
   • Click the Close World or Open World button to confirm your choice.
   • Click the Cancel button to return to the previous page and leave the world in its current closed or opened state.

 

Worlds can also be set to open and close on a schedule. Open / close schedules are recurring and will automatically open and close the world based on the set schedule of days and times. The world will be closed outside of these times but you can still open it manually by following the Open or Close World steps above.

To set an Open / Close Schedule:

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings → Open/Close World
2. Under Scheduler, click  Add Time
3. Choose an open time, close time, and the days of the week

 

Note: If there are users in the world when a Moderator or Manager closes the world or the scheduled close time occurs, all users will automatically be removed from the world and will not be able to re-enter.

 

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Add an Admin

As an owner, you can assign multiple admin roles to your world.

As an owner or specific admin role, you can place someone on broadcast mode.

As an owner or specific admin role, you can ban users from your world.

 

Add Admins by Email

Follow these steps if the person you want to add is not currently in the world. 

1. Enter the world where you want to grant admin permissions
2. In the left sidebar, click World Settings → Admins
3. In the Add Admin by Email section, enter the person's email in the email address field. Be sure to use the email address associated with their Topia Account.
   • If the person does not have a Topia Account they will receive an email inviting them to create an account and alerting them that they have been added as an admin in your world
   • If the person already has a Topia Account they will receive an email alerting them they have been added as an admin in your world
4. Click the Add Admin button
5. Scroll down to the Admins section and find the person you’ve added as an Admin
   • Note: If the person you added does not have a Topia account yet, they will not appear in the Admin list until they create their account
6. Click the appropriate check box to assign them a role
7. The admin will need to log in to Topia using the email address you used to add them as an admin

 

Add Admins while in World

Follow these steps if the person you want to add is currently in the world.

1. Enter your world with the person you want to assign as an admin
2. Open the Current Users list by clicking Social Hub in the left sidebar
3. Find the person on the Current Users list by scrolling or searching their name
4. Click the star below their name. If the star is filled in, that means the user is already an admin.
5. Open the Admins list:
   • Click Go to Admins Page in the notification at the bottom left of your screen
     
     OR
   • Click World Settings in the left sidebar, then select Admins
6. Scroll down to the Admins section and find the person you just added
7. Click the appropriate check box to assign them a role

 

View the Admin List, Remove an Admin, or Change their Role

1. Enter your world
2. Click World Settings in the left sidebar, then select Admins from the menu
3. Scroll down to the Admins section to view the Admin List
4. From here you can change their admin role or revoke all admin permissions:
   • To change their role: uncheck the boxes under the respective Roles columns until their role matches the permissions they need
   • To remove them from the admin list: click Remove under the Actions column to revoke their World Admin role and all admin permissions

 

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Find and Manage Users

Moderators can view all users currently in the world or manage these users via:

The Current Users List

The Raised Hands Queue

 

Current Users List

The Current Users list shows everyone currently in the world. If there are landmark zones in the world, anyone in a landmark zone will also have the name of the landmark zone visible.

To Access the Current Users List:

1. In the left sidebar, click Social Hub → Current Users
2. You can scroll, search for someone by name, or filter by landmark zones to see everyone in that landmark zone
3. From the Current Users list, Moderators can:
   • Teleport to another person
   • Teleport a person to you
   • Send a message
   • Take safety actions (ban from chat or the world)

 

Raised Hands Queue

When a user hovers over their own video tile, they will see an option to Raise Hand . Clicking this triggers a red dot notification on the Social Hub icon and a sound alert for all users in the world.  A row with the user's name will be added to the raise hands queue in Social Hub (also visible to all users). 

Important Info about the Raised Hands Queue:

• The raise hand queue will only be present in Social Hub if there is at least 1 hand raised.
• The only way for a user to be removed from the queue is if they leave the world, lower their hand, or a Moderator lowers their hand.

 

To Access the Raised Hands Queue:

1. In the left sidebar, click Social Hub
2. If someone has a hand raised, you will see the Raised Hands Queue above the Current Users list
3. From the Raised Hands Queue, Moderators can:
   • Put the user's video on Broadcast
   • Teleport to the user's location
   • Lower the user's hand to remove them from the Raised Hands Queue
   • Lower All hands to clear the Raised Hands Queue

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Manage Communication

Moderators can control user access to video, audio, and text chat via:

Silent Mode

Camera Controls

Microphone Controls

Messaging Controls

 

Silent Mode

Silent Mode turns off all communication between users including video/audio chat and messaging in chat channels or direct message. When Silent Mode is on in a world and a Moderator joins, they will see a prompt allowing them to turn Silent Mode off.

 

To manually turn Silent Mode On or Off:

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings → General User Controls (you may need to scroll to the bottom of the list)
2. Under Silent Mode:
   • Toggle on to stop all communication between users
   • Toggle off to allow all users to communicate

 

Camera Controls

Moderators can control user cameras individually or turn video off for all users. Turning off individual user cameras comes in handy when someone might unknowingly have something in their background that they don't want others to see.

To update Camera Access for All Users in the World: 

1. Click World Settings → General User Controls
2. Under Camera Access:
   • Toggle on to allow users to freely turn their camera on or off
   • Toggle off to prevent users from turning their camera on unless turned on by an admin

Note: Admins can always freely turn their camera on or off.

 

When Camera Access is toggled on, Moderators can disable access for individual users to prevent them from using their camera. If Camera Access is toggled off, Moderators can enable access for individual users to allow those users to turn their their camera on or off freely.

To Enable or Disable an Individual Users' Camera Access:

1. Hover over the user's video tile
2. Click the Camera icon
3. In the dropdown menu:
   • Select Disable Camera to prevent the user from turning their camera on
   • Select Enable Camera to allow the user to freely turn their camera on or off

Note: If a Moderator disables a students camera access, the student will not be able to turn their camera on again until a Moderator enables their camera.

 

Moderators can also manually turn an individual user's camera off. 

To manually turn an Individual User's Camera Off:

1. Hover over the user's video tile
2. Click the Camera icon
3. Select Turn off camera

Note: The user can freely turn their camera back on after a Moderator manually turns their camera off.

 

Microphone Controls

Moderators can disable the use of microphones for all users (excluding Moderators) in a world by updating the “Microphone Access” world setting. 

To Update Microphone Access for all Users: 

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings  → General User Controls (you may need to scroll to the bottom of the list)
2. Under Microphone Access:
   • Toggle on to allow users to mute or unmute themselves
   • Toggle off to keep users muted unless unmuted by a Moderator or World Admin

Note: When Microphone Access is off, users will see that their microphone stays muted and a tooltip will appear when they hover over their microphone explaining that microphones are disabled.

 

When Microphone Access is toggled on, Moderators can disable access for individual users to prevent them from using their mic. If Microphone Access is toggled off, Moderators can enable access for individual users to allow those users to use their mic freely.

To Enable or or Disable an Individual Student's Microphone Access:

1. Click the Speaker icon in the upper right corner of the student's video tile
2. In the dropdown menu:
   • Select Disable Microphone to prevent the student from using their mic
   • Select Enable Microphone to allow the student to freely use their mic

Note: If a Moderator disables a users microphone, the user will not be able to use their mic again until a Moderator enables their microphone.

 

To Manually Mute an Individual User's Microphone:

1. Click the Speaker icon in the upper right corner of the student's video tile
2. In the dropdown menu:
   • Select Mute for all to mute the student for everyone
   • Select Mute for me to mute the student from only your perspective

Note: If a user is manually muted, they can still unmute themselves freely.

 

Messaging Controls

Chat can be fun but sometimes a bad acting individual can spoil an entire conversation. Users as well as admins who are Moderators can work together to make sure the chats are free from unwanted dialog and address situations accordingly. 

Moderators and Admins can view all message history (including 1:1 and group direct messages) in Dashboard. Moderators can also ban individual students from using Chat Channels or Direct Messaging.

World Managers can also adjust the messaging options available inside of a world. 

• 'Everyone in World' Channel - Accessible by all users in a world regardless of where they are in the world. 

• 'People Connected to Me' Channel - Automatically creates a chat channel with everyone you are currently connected to over video chat. 
• 'Private Zones' Channel - Automatically creates a channel that can only be seen by users within a Private Zone.
• Direct Messaging - 1:1 and group text chats with friends. Only students who are a part of a chat will see these messages.

 

To Update Messaging Access for Everyone in the World:

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings  → Messaging
2. Under Direct Messaging or the chat channel (e.g. 'Everyone in World' Channel):
   
   • Toggle on to make available
   • Toggle off to prevent access

 

In any chat, clicking on the menu  icon next to the individual message gives you additional moderation options:

Your Message:

• delete the message for yourself
• delete the message for everyone who received it

 

Another Person's Message:

• delete the message for yourself
• report the user

 

The world owner or any admins with moderator privileges can also do the following:

Another Person's Message:

• delete the message for everyone who received it
• ban the user from the world
• remove the user from the world

 

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Make Announcements, Record, or Share your Screen

Moderators can use these tools to be seen and heard by everyone, capture a recording to share with others, or screenshare:

Broadcast

Record and Broadcast

Screenshare

 

Broadcast Mode

Broadcast can be used to make announcements or conduct a panel discussion in your world. When someone is Broadcasting, their video and audio can be seen by everyone in the world or to anyone nearby the presenter, depending on the Broadcast Mode selected. 

There are two Broadcast Modes:

• Broadcast All - Speak to everyone in the world at once. Great for announcements that need to be heard by everyone in the world. 
• Broadcast Near - Speak to everyone nearby (proximity-based) or everyone in a private zone. 

Note: someone who is broadcasting will still only see and hear the nine closest people, even though they may be heard and seen by more people.

 

Broadcast Your Video

Moderators, Managers, and World Owners can broadcast their own video or turn broadcast on for another user.

To Start a Broadcast:

1. Hover over your video tile
2. Click the Broadcast icon
3. Choose Turn on Broadcast - All or Turn on Broadcast - Near
4. If you are successfully broadcasting, you will receive a notification and a Broadcast icon will appear in the upper left corner of your video tile.

 

To Stop a Broadcast:

1. In the upper left corner of your video tile, click the Broadcast icon
2. If you have successfully turned off broadcasting, the Broadcast icon in the upper left corner of your video tile will disappear.

 

Broadcast Another User's Video

Moderators, Managers, and World Owners can manually place other users on Broadcast. This can be done from the other user's video tile while connected over video chat or from the Current Users list if you are not currently connected.

Note: when switching someone into broadcast mode, they may briefly go dark before the broadcast begins.

To Turn on Broadcast from the User's Video Tile:

1. Hover over their video tile
2. Click  Broadcast and choose an option:
   • Turn on Broadcast - All: they will be seen and heard by everyone in the world
   • Turn on Broadcast - Near: they will be seen and heard by everyone nearby (proximity-based) or everyone in a private zone (if the broadcaster is in a private zone)
3. To stop their broadcast, repeat steps 1 - 2 in these instructions and choose  Turn off Broadcast 
   
   OR 
   
   Have them follow the Stop a Broadcast instructions

 

To Turn On Broadcast from the Current Users list:

1. In the left sidebar, click Social Hub → Current Users
2. In the Current Users section, search or scroll to find the user you want to broadcast
3. Under their name, click Broadcast and choose an option:
   • Turn on Broadcast - All: they will be seen and heard by everyone in the world
   • Turn on Broadcast - Near: they will be seen and heard by everyone nearby (proximity-based) or everyone in a private zone (if the broadcaster is in a private zone)
4. To stop their broadcast, repeat steps 1 - 3 in these instructions and choose  Turn off Broadcast 
   
   OR 
   
   Have them follow the Stop a Broadcast instructions

 

Understanding Broadcast Conversations

Topia limits each user to seeing 10 videos at a time (one of which is your own). In general, you will see up to 9 people that are in proximity to you, but broadcasters will be prioritized over proximity. Broadcasters will always appear in the top-left of your screen.

You can see multiple broadcasters at one time. For instance, if there are two broadcasters, you will see their videos and up to 7 videos of others near you.

Broadcasters themselves will also see up to 9 videos of people near them. If other people need to communicate with the broadcaster, they can use chat or raise their hand.

 

Using a Broadcast Podium

Learn more about broadcast podiums here.

 

Record and Broadcast

When a Moderator clicks the Broadcast icon on their video tile, they will also see an option to Record and Broadcast. When you Record and Broadcast, the recording will show your perspective. Meaning if you move, the recording will follow you and playback will show what you see. However, only users also on Broadcast will have their video tile recorded. This means other users video tiles will only be captured if the user(s) are Broadcasting.

To Record while Broadcasting:

1. Hover over your video tile
2. Click the Broadcast icon
3. Choose Record and Broadcast - All or  Record and Broadcast - Near
4. If you are successfully broadcasting, you will receive a notification and a Record and Broadcast icon will appear in the upper left corner of your video tile.
5. To stop the recording, click the Record and Broadcast icon in the upper left corner of your video tile.
6. If you have successfully turned off broadcasting, the Record and Broadcast  icon in the upper left corner of your video tile will disappear.

 

Important info about Recording:

• Only users on broadcast will be included in the recording.
• If you are screensharing, you’ll need to stop screensharing before you can start a recording. You can start screensharing again after you start the recording.
• A list of your recordings will be available in Dashboard. The “Recordings” page will only be present if you are a Manager in at least 1 world. Upon launch, recordings can be downloaded and played (in an iFrame) using the Actions column.

 

Screensharing

Screenshare makes your screen visible to people you are connected to over video chat. If you screenshare while broadcasting, your screen will be visible to everyone who can see your broadcast. You can share a tab, window, or your entire screen. 

If the Share Screen icon is not available on your video tile, screensharing may be disabled in the world. Ask a Manager of the world to enable screenshare in the World Settings .

To Share your Screen:

1. Hover over your own video tile
2. Click the Share Screen icon
3. Choose tab, window, or share your entire screen. If you want to share your audio, you must choose a tab and toggle 'Share tab audio' on.

 

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Moderation Tools to Manage User Access, Reports, and Message History

If inappropriate behavior has occurred or you need to manage a user's access to your world, Moderators can use these tools:

Remove a User from the World

Ban a User

Access Reports

Access Message History

 

Remove a User 

Removing a user will instantly kick them out of the world. The user will be able to rejoin the world if the world is still open. You can think of this as a time out or a way to stop inappropriate behavior so you can reset with the user when they rejoin. 

To Remove a User from the World: 

1. Click Safety Actions in any of the following places: 
   • The user's video tile
   • The Current Users list in Social Hub
2. Choose Remove From World
3. The user will:
   • Be immediately removed from the world
   • See a prompt telling them "Something Unexpected Happened" and giving them the option to reload

 

Ban a User

Moderators in Topia have access multiple types of bans.

 

All types of bans can be:

• Temporary meaning the ban is automatically lifted on a set date
• Indefinite meaning the ban remains in place until it is manually lifted

All banned users and the date they were banned appear on the Channel Bans or World Bans lists in the Dashboard. Moderators, Managers, or World Owners can remove a Channel Ban or World Ban at any time. 

 

Temporary Bans

When the ban end date is reached, the user will be automatically unbanned at midnight UTC (e.g. set the Temporary Ban date as July 1, 2025 and the student will regain access on June 30, 2025 at 5pm PDT).

 

Using Bans

To Ban a User from Chat Channels in a Single World:

1. If the user is currently in the world:
   • Click Safety Actions in any of the following places: 
     • The user's video tile
     • The Current Users list in Social Hub
   If the user is not currently in the world:
   
   • In the left sidebar, click World Settings → User Sessions (this will open Dashboard in a new tab)
   • Use the Filter Results field to search for the user by email address or Topia username (exact match required) or scroll to find them in the list (adjust date range if needed)

1. Click Ban User from Chat Channels
2. Select a Reason for the ban (e.g. threats, hate speech, inappropriate behavior)
3. Add Additional Information notes for future reference (every admin will be able to view these comments)
4. Decide if it’s a temporary ban (select an end date) or an indefinite ban (leave date blank)
5. Click Ban User to prevent the user from using Chat Channels in the world

 

To Unban a User and Allow them to use Chat Channels:

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings  → Channel Bans (opens Dashboard in a new tab)
2. Use the Filter Results field to search for the user by email address or Topia username (exact match required) or scroll to find them in the list
3. Click the  Unban User from Chat Channels icon next to the user's name
4. Once the ban is removed, the user will be able to use chat channels

 

To Ban a User from a World:

1. If the user is currently in the world:
   • Click Safety Actions in any of the following places: 
     • The user's video tile
     • The Current Users list in Social Hub
   If the user is not currently in the world:
   
   • In the left sidebar, click World Settings → User Sessions (this will open Dashboard in a new tab)
   • Use the Filter Results field to search for the user by email address or Topia username (exact match required) or scroll to find them in the list (adjust date range if needed)

1. Click Ban User from World
2. Select a Reason for the ban (e.g. threats, hate speech, inappropriate behavior)
3. Add Additional Information notes for future reference (every admin will be able to view these comments)
4. Decide if it’s a temporary ban (select an end date) or an indefinite ban (leave date blank)
5. Click Ban User to confirm the ban

 

To Unban a User and Allow them to Enter the World:

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings  → World Bans (opens Dashboard in a new tab)
2. Use the Filter Results field to search for the user by email address or Topia username (exact match required) or scroll to find them in the list
3. Click the Unban User from World icon next to the user's name
4. Once the ban is removed, the user will be able to rejoin the world

 

To View a list of World or Channel Bans:

1. In the left sidebar, click World Settings
   • Click World Bans to view all users currently banned from the world
   • Click Channel Bans to view all users current banned from using chat channels in the world

1. Dashboard will open in a new tab.
2. You will see:
   • A list of all users currently banned
   • Ban Start Date
   • Ban End Date (if the ban is temporary)
   • Reason for the ban
   • Additional Information shared when banned
   • The Moderator who banned the student
   • Actions Moderators can take
3. If you want to view the entire Ban History (all ban types) for the world, click the Ban History tab
4. From World Bans, Channel Bans, and Ban History, Moderators can:
   • Filter results by email
   • Export the World Bans, Channel Bans, or Ban History

 

User Reports

Users can report other users for any inappropriate behavior. Alerts for user reports can be automatically routed to a platform your organization uses (e.g., Slack, MS Teams, email) via Webhooks.

Reports include:

• Time of incident
• Name of user being reported
• Name of reporter (user who filed the report)
• Reason for the report (selected from a dropdown, e.g., bullying, threats, illegal activity)
• Comments added by the reporter
• World name where the incident occurred

Note: Reported messages will appear as "Dashboard" if not tied to a specific location.

 

View Message History

Admins of the world can view the messages of any student at their school, as well as channel messages. 

To Access User Direct or Group Message History: