How do I hand over a community, or take over from an absent owner?

Every community has one owner. Communities can't be deleted, so when an owner wants to step back, ownership moves to someone else. You can hand your community over, and if an owner disappears, members can ask to take over. For everything else owners and moderators can do, see How do I moderate my community?

Hand over your community

Only the owner can hand a community over, and only to an active member.

1. Open your community, select the ⋯ menu and choose Community settings.
2. Go to Members and find the person you want to hand over to.
3. Select Hand over, then Yes, hand over to @username.

Nothing changes yet. They get a notification, and you stay the owner until they accept. Their row shows Offer pending while you wait. A community can have one offer open at a time.

Accept or decline an offer

If someone offers you a community, select the notification, or open Applications from the account menu. The offer is under Waiting on you. Select Accept or Decline.

• Accept: you become the owner, and the previous owner becomes a moderator.
• Decline: nothing changes, and the owner is told.
• If you don't answer within seven days, the offer lapses. You stay a member either way.

Withdraw an offer

Changed your mind, or want to offer it to someone else? In Community settings, go to Members. Under Ownership, select Withdraw offer, then Yes, withdraw. The person is told the offer was withdrawn.

Add or remove moderators

Under Members, select Make moderator next to a member. It takes effect right away, and they get a notification. To undo it, select Remove as moderator.

A moderator who wants to step down can open the community's ⋯ menu and select Leave community. They stop being a moderator and leave the community, and the owner is told. Only the owner can make them a moderator again.

Take over from an absent owner

If a community's owner has gone quiet, a member can ask to take it over through Community recovery. You can ask when:

• The owner hasn't appeared on nook for 30 days. Signing in, posting, replying or moderating anywhere on nook counts as appearing.
• You joined the community at least 30 days ago.
• You don't already have a request open for that community.

When you can ask, the community's ⋯ menu shows Request owner review.

1. Select Request owner review, or go to Community recovery and choose the Community.
2. Under Why is a new owner needed?, explain what happened and why you can take responsibility (20 to 4,000 characters).
3. Add anything else under Supporting details (optional), such as when the owner was last seen.
4. Select Submit recovery request.

What happens next

• The owner and the community's moderators are told, and they can read what you wrote.
• The owner has seven days. If they sign in at any point, your request ends and the community stays theirs.
• If they don't appear, the community passes to you automatically when the seven days are up. The previous owner stays on as a member.

Follow your request in Applications, under Community recovery. You can add a response there, or select Withdraw application while it's still open.

You can submit up to five applications a week, and recovery requests count toward that.