How ratings work

IThe short version

Every post and every project on LotusMake has a rating, and the maker chooses it when they publish. The rating decides who sees the work: a person without an account sees content rated G and PG, and anything rated beyond PG needs an account. We do not review work before it goes live, so the ratings only work when makers rate honestly and readers tell us when one looks wrong. This page says how to rate, who sees what, what happens when a rating is corrected, and how to report one.

IIThe five ratings

A maker picks one of these when they publish. Read the sentence beside each and choose the lowest rating that is still true to the work.

A rating describes what is shown, whatever the medium: photographed, filmed, drawn, animated, rendered or made with AI.

G. For everyone. Nothing a young child should not see or read: no profanity, no violence beyond the cartoonish, no sexual content, no drugs, nothing frightening.

PG. Fine for most readers, with a parent's eye for the youngest: mild language, brief or mild violence, a scary moment, a mention of alcohol or smoking. Most building, making and engineering posts are PG.

PG-13. For 13 and older: strong language now and then, moderate violence or injury (a workshop accident, a weapons project shown safely), brief non-sexual nudity, mature themes discussed plainly, drug references.

R. For adults: strong language throughout, graphic violence or injury, nudity, suggestive scenes and sexual content that is not explicit, drug use shown, intense or disturbing material.

18+. Explicit sexual content, or material whose purpose is sexual arousal, in any medium, writing included. Because of the regulations and payment restrictions that apply to it, LotusMake does not host it: a post cannot be published with this rating. Nudity, suggestive scenes and adult themes that are not explicit are rated R.

If a piece of work sits between two ratings, choose the higher one. Most work here is G or PG, and a G or PG post shows no rating chip at all, so the common case stays quiet.

IIIWho sees what

What you see depends on your band.

• Signed out. G and PG. Anything rated beyond PG needs an account. We do not ask a signed-out reader how old they are and we set no cookie for it.
• Kid. G and PG. This is also the band of an account that has not yet told us its age; it can do that from the Forge page.
• Teen. Up to PG-13. You get this band when you say you are 13 to 17 as you make your account.
• Adult. Up to R. You get this band when you say you are 18 or older.

A post above your band is not erased from a list. It appears as a short row with its title, its rating, the maker and one line that says why the rest is hidden, with a way to sign in or to tell us your age where that would help. We keep the band and the date you gave it, and no birthdate. How to stay safe here has more for readers and parents.

IVA rating is chosen at publish

A post cannot be published without a rating. The Studio puts the five guidelines above beside the choice, and a request through the API or a Forge key has to name one as well. A draft can wait for its rating, but publishing, or saving a post that is already published, needs one. A maker page has a rating of its own, which is also the rating the Studio preselects for a new post.

VWhen a rating is corrected

If a rating is set below what the work shows, an admin can correct it. This is how it goes.

• The correction is made the same day. It removes nothing and closes nothing: the post stays where it is, with its new rating.
• The maker gets a notice that names the post, the old rating and the new one, says why, and quotes the guideline of the new rating so the next one is easy to get right.
• The notice says This is not a strike. In almost every case that is all that happens, and nothing about the account changes.
• A post cannot be published with the 18+ rating here, so a correction never raises a rating to 18+. Explicit content published under a lower rating is handled as the rules page describes.
• The fifth strike within twelve months proposes a suspension. It goes through the same steps as any other: a notice, seven days to answer, and an appeal decided by a different person. We cannot promise that an account is reinstated after an appeal.

This is rule A14 on the rules page. A correction may be appealed like any action, and the Terms say how it sits beside the rest of their due process; a suspension goes through every step of it.

VIReporting a rating

Anyone with an account can report a rating that looks wrong. Choose rule A14 on the report form, say which rating you think fits, and write a line about what you saw. The select offers the five ratings.

A report is read by a person, and nothing happens because of how many there are. When three different accounts have reported the rating of one post within thirty days, the post is sent to an admin for evaluation, which means it goes to the top of the queue. The count triggers a review and never an action. The admin reads the post against the guidelines on this page and decides whether the rating stands. If it is changed, the maker is told why, as above.