Thanks for the helpful suggestions. We'll see what we can do about editing the messages further, but we think that in general, we try not to put too many rules about who can talk about what where. The room topics are meant as general guidelines. Someone in emotional support may slip into more social conversation after the immediate emotional needs are talked about, or maybe because the person feels more comfortable being a little bit lighter. We don't enforce those distinctions strongly.

However, if a few people are in a room like emotional support and want to talk about serious issues, while another group in the room is talking social, it's perfectly acceptable to ask the social chatters to move to the Coffeehouse or another room. In this example, the social chatters should move into another room as requested without making a big deal about it. A simple, "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize... hey guys, let's move on over to the coffeehouse."

As for getting the attention of the Community Support Team while in chat, we do not offer 24/7 free support in our community. That's just not something that's tenable, so the chances a moderator or administrator is online all the time is unlikely. And even if it shows as someone is "online," they may have already logged off (because it's a 30 minute inactivity timer on the online list).

In other words, like the rest of the community, we expect members to abide by the community guidelines. And if they don't, you're welcomed to make a note of the offending member, the date, and the time, and forward the problematic behavior to me via PM for followup. I will look into the matter privately, and your name is never mentioned in the complaint (such complaints are completely confidential).

I also always strongly encourage the use of the self-care tools we make available to all members, such as placing a member on Ignore if you're having problems with them. Or moving to another room if they are bothering you in some manner that you don't like.

All members should show the same respect to one another as they'd show to me or any other member of our community support team -- at all times. We may all come from very different backgrounds and deal with very different challenges each and every day, but that's no reason we can't treat one another as though they were a fellow human being -- which we all are.

Thanks,
DocJohn