ApplyDeskFull moderator on day one is how staff teams get a leak. A trial role with limited tools, a clock, and a second look is how grown-up servers hire.
What trial should be allowed to do
- Timeouts, warns, and ticket replies — the work you can undo.
- Read the same rules and escalation doc as everyone else.
- Not Ban Members, not Manage Roles, not access to historical tickets they were not assigned.
Say this on the application. People who only want the badge bounce. That is the filter working.
Pick a clock you will actually honour
Seven days is too short to see a weekend raid. Ninety days is long enough that nobody remembers the review. Fourteen to thirty days is the range most communities can keep in their heads. Put the date on the application record, not in a Discord reminder you will mute.
Review the trial like you reviewed the form
- Did they show up for the hours they claimed?
- Did they escalate instead of inventing policy?
- Did they recuse when a friend was in a ticket?
- Did they write logs someone else can follow?
If the answer is yes, promote to the real role in one action — do not leave them in trial because “we forgot.” If the answer is no, remove the trial role and tell them why. Silence after probation is how you grow bitter ex-staff.
Automation is for the clock, not the judgement
A bot can assign the trial role on approve and the full role when probation ends, if you have already decided they pass. It should not promote people you have not looked at. Pair a probation date with a human checklist, then let the bot do the Discord click you would otherwise miss.