This is just an idea, not necessarily a suggestion. It may have problems and I haven't thought it through. This is a post to solicit opinions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the somethingawful.com forums (which admittedly don't have so many young users), when someone is put on probation (temp ban) a message is edited into the post that warranted the probation saying "User was put on probation for this post". This allows others to see what sort of posting is discouraged - rather than them having to interpret the rules for themselves. As it stands, the other users won't know if the post just warranted a lock/edit or if it was bad enough to warrant a warning or ban.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd like to see this on tipit when someone is warned or banned. Seeing as a mod usually intervenes and posts a message to the effect of "don't do that" it wouldn't be much effort to instead edit the user's post and add the "User was warned for this post". Not only would it serve to show other users exactly what kind of posting is discouraged, it would also be a form of minor castigation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speak your brains.

I cannot answer for the moderators, but I wanted to acknowledge your question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most posts that earn warnings are such that they must be removed from the public boards. Examples would be completely unacceptable content (links to keyloggers, offensive talk, etc), or to avoid inflammatory responses due to flaming. We don't remove posts that are simply "annoying", though sometimes moderators edit out some post content with a note from a moderator ("[Don't say XYZ in your posts. - Moderator ABC]")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I understand your curiosity and it might be instructive. However, at this point the forum rules are the place to go for ideas of what is acceptable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this sheds a bit of light on the policy, which incidentally is similar to the philosophy at other major RS fansites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for asking for dialog on this issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s.: On a personal note, been meaning to tell you how much I like your new avatar. The old one made me think you were some sort of troll, lol.

It was a giant, not a troll - a Gentle Giant more specifically :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, I know the policy on removing posts, what posts get removed and what users get warned for as I am ex-moderator. You have pointed out that it would be less useful than I anticipated because yes, some of the posts are removed. However some of them aren't - topics are locked, etc. and are still visible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other issue still stands though - if a reply is totally edited out to only include 'user was warned for this post' it does still serve as a form of castigation.

As you're aware, posts that are serious enough to receive a warning via pm are ones that are removed from public view. There really shoudn't be an entire post which is edited completely out and left in the topic. If it needs to be hidden the post should be removed. It is however not uncommon to leave a warning edited in the person's post to explain to them what is and isn't appropriate. If the comment was not that severe the post as a whole can remain. On that note, things such as naming names, giving out personal info, or the like are noted for what was removed. All reasons should be clear and listed if content was removed. The same goes for locked topics, there should be a comment left about why it was locked.

Another thing to check is the user rank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If someone has violated the rules enough to get a lengthy time out, their rank will indicate as much.

Yes, that would be good, but in the past I have noticed that sometimes no banned rank is given and sometimes it isn't taken off. Maybe that has changed now, it was just what I'd noticed in the past.

Yes, that would be good, but in the past I have noticed that sometimes no banned rank is given and sometimes it isn't taken off. Maybe that has changed now, it was just what I'd noticed in the past.

 

 

 

We're working at making these issues things of the past.