Did you know, you can flag posts? Or even better, do you know what the options permit you to do?
So flagging isn’t new, we had that in vBulletin in a much more crude fashion, but in Discourse, you have all of these glorious options! So many options, it may become increasingly difficult at times to know when to use each one. So let’s take a closer look shall we?
Clicking on the 
icon, produces the following window:
So let’s approach these from top to bottom:
Off-Topic
This should be used primarily on posts that are taking a discussion off topic. They aren’t related to the original poster’s initial question/problem and are starting to detract from that person getting the help they need.
It may also be used if a topic is in the wrong Category and needs to be moved.
Another acceptable use is when a conversation doesn’t belong on the Sitepoint Forum at all and would be better suited at a different forum.
Inappropriate
As the screenshot dictates, anything offensive, abusive, or a violation of our guidelines (such as religious/political conversations or fluff – posts that are nonsensical) are not appropriate.
Spam
An advertisement, blatant self promotion, trying to sell you something, etc. Use your best judgement, as all of the ones reported as spam up to this point have been spot on. Keep up the good work!
Notify username
This will allow you to privately contact the person who wrote the post. You may want to notify them of typo, spelling mistake, or maybe ask them a question you do not want to post publicly. All of those are great use cases for using this option.
Notify moderators
Use this option for when you are not sure what to flag the post/topic as, but you feel it needs to be dealt with. Some typical use cases:
- a topic is getting heated and needs to be cooled back down before someone take it offensively,
- if sensitive information is posted in the topic/post and should be removed,
- add code tags,
- copied post/plagiarism, etc.