Trust levels
Permissions here are earned by reading and participating, not granted on request. Five levels, TL0 to TL4, each with what it unlocks and exactly how it is reached.
The point of a trust system is that moderation scales without staff having to read everything. Someone who has read a thousand posts and been thanked for fifty of them can be given tools that a first-day account cannot. None of this is status — the levels are plumbing, and the site deliberately has no leaderboard.
- TL0
New
Everyone starts here. There is no waiting period before you can post.
- Post topics and replies
- Two links per post, one image per post
- Cannot flag, cannot send private messages
New accounts have reduced link and image allowances because that is where spam lives, not because we assume anything about you.
- TL1
Basic
Read at least 30 posts across at least 5 topics, and spend a total of 10 minutes reading. Most members reach this on their first visit.
- Unlimited links and images
- Flag posts for staff attention
- Send private messages
- Use the tag autocomplete
This is a reading threshold, not a posting one. It exists so that the flag queue is used by people who have seen how the site works.
- TL2
Member
Visit on 15 separate days, reply in at least 3 topics, read at least 100 posts, receive at least 1 like and give at least 1.
- Invite others to a topic
- Two likes above the daily base allowance
- Edit your own posts indefinitely
- Apply existing tags freely
Reaching TL2 is the point at which most members stop feeling like visitors. If someone welcomes you here, they earned a badge for it.
- TL3
Regular
Over the last 100 days: visit on at least 50% of days, read at least 25% of new topics, receive likes from at least 20 different members, and have no active suspension.
- Edit community wiki posts
- Create new tags
- See and act on the review queue
- Recategorise and retitle topics
- Ten likes above the daily base allowance
TL3 is calculated on a rolling window, which means it can be lost by going quiet and regained by coming back. That is deliberate: wiki editing should belong to people who are currently reading.
- TL4
Leader
By staff invitation only. There is no metric. We look for a long record of good judgement, particularly in disagreement, and a habit of explaining decisions rather than asserting them.
- Edit any post
- Act on flags directly
- Close, unlist and split topics
- Grant a small set of manual badges
- See the staff category
Leader actions appear in the public moderation log exactly as staff actions do. There is no private tier on this site.
Groups are separate
Trust level is automatic. Groups — pharmacists, analytical chemists, clinicians, wiki editors, the journal club — are not. Those are self-declared or invited, are visible on a member's profile, and confer no moderation powers. There are 16 of them.