Do you ask your moderators to stick to any particular pattern of carrying out moderation task? I know of forums that are quite strict in their staff policy and they ask that moderators use 'formal' languages to carry out moderation tasks. There are also, a lot of other forums that ask that their moderators be very informal and pleasing, at the same time doing their work and stepping in when they need to (but still being informal).
We use IPS' warning system, which allows the moderator to formally warn the user with a message and leave moderation notes about the subject. Each warning immediately notifies all other staff members, and if a user accumulates more than 2 points at a time (points expire after 2 weeks), punitive actions are automatically taken.
3 Points: Staff review of the user's content for 24 hours, meaning new posts don't go public until a staff member approves of each. 4 Points: Suspended posting abilities for 3 days. 5 Points: Indefinite ban.
I had many staff that joined then left and my history isn't that good with staff over the passed. End results that I run the website on my own and I deal with it all. and like @Tucker933 mention same with IPB also
A friend's forum in the local language operates with an open policy. Anyone can post provided they are registered members. But spams are saved in an invisible board that can be seen by the mods and the admin only. And then the IP is blocked so the user cannot post again. But in their experience, the user would be using another IP and post again. It's like a cat and mouse game but eventually the cat would win and the spammer would quit after so many IPs were blocked.
And for the erring members who makes unsavory posts, they are warned with a comment on that specific thread which can be seen by all. And although the words used are decent and polite, it is still and embarrassment for the erring member.
