# Are we not allowed to use different fonts anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 29, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776 "2015-04-29T04:14:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/181 "2015-05-03T05:58:00Z")
Sorry, I shouldn’t have used the word “annoying” there, apparently. I was meaning it in a way to call someone out as being a jerk, which is against the rules. But as the way you put it, yes, it should be okay to tell others if something they’re doing is bother you, no matter what forum you’re in and whether it has to do with font color or making a topic where you just leave a link and nothing else. However, you have to also remember that it’s the mods job to decide what is allowed and what is not, you really want to be careful you don’t come across as junior modding if you ever start telling someone “You can’t do that here, because it’s annoying”. Again, it may be better to just report the post and let a mod handle it. You can’t go wrong with doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/182 "2015-05-03T06:06:30Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Well, no…just like you can’t tell people who use other fonts that they’re being jerkish or annoying unless you’re in the Pit. > > But in both cases, you can always report the post and, chances are, a mod might quickly shut down either type of behavior. Please see post 98 in this very thread where Comp\_engineer give the following instructions to posters > [@](#): > > If you do see a new user posting in an alternate font or color, please politely point out that this sort of thing goes against the culture of this board and will be considered annoying by many people here. We don’t want to punish new users just for being unfamiliar with the established culture of a board that goes back for more than a decade and a half. There are all kinds of things in the culture of this board that a newbie won’t be aware of. If they persist in their use of an annoying font or color, then please report their posts so that a moderator can step in and handle it. We’re specifically told by a mod to “politely point out that this sort of thing goes against the culture of the board and will be considered annoying”. So…am I allowed to tell the few people on the board who’s sole contribution to the boards is to post a link that this posting style is “against the culture of the board and is considered annoying”? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/183 "2015-05-03T06:11:05Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > So…am I allowed to tell the few people on the board who’s sole contribution to the boards is to post a link that this posting style is “against the culture of the board and is considered annoying”? In that case, my opinion is no. You’re better off reporting threads like that. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/184 "2015-05-03T11:02:51Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > But a note and a warning still aren’t the same, are they? The former is guidance and the latter is an infraction that goes on your permanent record, right? I didn’t think just basic moderator instructions were any big deal. You’ve asked this twice and I want to answer it definitively. You are correct. Mod notes serve as guidance to set posters on the correct path. Ignoring them may result in warnings down the road but that’s by no means assured. There’s no record of them and they’re not used for disciplinary enforcement. Honestly, like you I’ve never understood why people get so worked up over mod notes. They’re just the lightest touch of redirection for posters. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/185 "2015-05-03T12:44:41Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > They’re just the lightest touch of redirection for posters. Not in the Pit, and certainly not in GD ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/186 "2015-05-03T13:05:50Z")
Mod notes? I agree that at times I’ll come across in Great Debates strongly in a note when things are going off the rails (because it happens). I’ll take that tack when things have escalated quickly and need to be controlled quickly. But it’s still the lightest of touches in terms of long-term consequences. I’m curious in which way you think they’re not. Bearing in mind I don’t mod - or particularly read - the BBQ Pit. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/187 "2015-05-03T13:46:55Z")
It would be an entire topic. Answering you here would be a sidetrack. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/188 "2015-05-03T13:57:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > This is our community. Dear Miss Spaulding. Please note that by “our”, he means “his” and that, despite his pngoing delusional posts where he believes that he’s a mod (he is emphatically not) or the remarkably…odd…idea that he speaks for anyone in “our” community besides himself, he has no authority whatsoever (for which almost everyone else on the SDMB is very thankful, and I _do_ speak for the bulk of the SDMB on this point) and you can comfortably disregard anything he posts and doubly disregard anything where he claims to have any power/control/voice for the SDMB beyond his own. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/189 "2015-05-03T15:38:00Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Honestly, like you I’ve never understood why people get so worked up over mod notes. They’re just the lightest touch of redirection for posters. It’s because there is a certain contingent of posters here, including some mods sometimes, who want micromanage other peoples’ style of expression here, even over seemingly petty matters – this tempest-in-a-teapot about a poster who habitually posts in green being an example (aside from the reasonable complaint from color-impaired people). It’s in the same league with school teachers and principals who make a fuss over kids who come to school with hair dyed strange colors. ([Your coif has been graped by the grapist!](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/dr/hln/www/release/sites/default/files/imagecache/textarticle_640/2013/02/28/14.jpg)) It’s like the busy-body neighbors who stalk the neighborhood with a tape measure, [measuring how tall everybody’s lawns are](https://www.colourbox.com/preview/1217708-grass-height.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/190 "2015-05-03T15:54:58Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > (aside from the reasonable complaint from color-impaired people). If you actually have trouble with font colors or size, set your browser to over ride web pages and always display fonts and colors you can easily see. Fonts and colors are not a problem unless you make it one. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/191 "2015-05-03T18:14:19Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > pngoing delusional posts **Moderator Note** **Fenris** , you’ve been told repeatedly not to insult other posters in ATMB. Don’t do this again. (And before we get some rules-lawyering about this insulting the post and not the poster, saying the post is delusional presumes it was made by a delusional person, which is a personal insult. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/192 "2015-05-03T18:23:54Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Mod notes? > > I agree that at times I’ll come across in Great Debates strongly in a note when things are going off the rails (because it happens). I’ll take that tack when things have escalated quickly and need to be controlled quickly. But it’s still the lightest of touches in terms of long-term consequences. > > I’m curious in which way you think they’re not. Bearing in mind I don’t mod - or particularly read - the BBQ Pit. Thank you so much for an official response. And I sincerely apologize for posting my question twice. I’m not sure how that happened, except that on Tapatalk my replies stay in the quick post box even after I’ve submitted them. Perhaps I accidentally sent it more than once. I wasn’t trying to be pushy about this. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/193 "2015-05-03T18:31:36Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > You’ve asked this twice and I want to answer it definitively. You are correct. Mod notes serve as guidance to set posters on the correct path. Ignoring them may result in warnings down the road but that’s by no means assured. There’s no record of them and they’re not used for disciplinary enforcement. > > Honestly, like you I’ve never understood why people get so worked up over mod notes. They’re just the lightest touch of redirection for posters. To extend on this, mod notes and instructions may be issued for things that are not (yet) rules violations. Some posters seem to think that mod notes may only be issued for outright rule violations, but in fact they may be issued in order to head off problems before they occur. For example, if two posters are getting snarky with one another in GQ and things look like they are becoming heated, I’ll tell them to dial it back before anyone crosses the line. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/194 "2015-05-03T18:37:34Z")
For the record, I support most Mod interventions, since the world is full of idiots, and with out Moderation this place would suck badly. Of course I despise unfair Moderation, especially applied to my perfection. But I figure that makes me exactly like everybody else. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/195 "2015-05-03T21:01:41Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Thank you so much for an official response. And I sincerely apologize for posting my question twice. I’m not sure how that happened, except that on Tapatalk my replies stay in the quick post box even after I’ve submitted them. Perhaps I accidentally sent it more than once. I wasn’t trying to be pushy about this. No no no no no. Faithfool, you’re fine. I was saying that you deserved a response from the first one, not that you were being pushy. I appreciate the questions and the opportunity to answer it again. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/196 "2015-05-04T16:36:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > **Fenris** , you’ve been told repeatedly not to insult other posters in ATMB. Don’t do this again. > > (And before we get some rules-lawyering about this insulting the post and not the poster, saying the post is delusional presumes it was made by a delusional person, which is a personal insult. So has the rule, “attack the post and not the poster”, now been changed? Because I still see people saying that a post is “stupid” which presumes it was made by a stupid person which is a personal insult. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/197 "2015-05-04T17:22:57Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > So has the rule, “attack the post and not the poster”, now been changed? I have no idea why you would think that, since I mentioned the rule in my note. > [@](#): > > Because I still see people saying that a post is “stupid” which presumes it was made by a stupid person which is a personal insult. Intelligent people can say stupid things. If you have a problem with a specific post, report it. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/198 "2015-05-04T18:00:37Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > **Fenris** , you’ve been told repeatedly not to insult other posters in ATMB. Don’t do this again. > > (And before we get some rules-lawyering about this insulting the post and not the poster, saying the post is delusional presumes it was made by a delusional person, which is a personal insult. I will certainly follow all mod instructions, and I appreciate that it’s a note and not a warning, since it’s not remotely like previous interpretations of the “insult the post, not the poster” rule. To use one very easily found example of the sort of comment I made being _expressly_ allowed in ATMB: > [@](#): > > [Per Dex](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11300755&postcount=24) > …there is a distinction, and it’s often a fine one, between insulting the poster and challenging what the poster said. There are cases that are clear cut, and there are situations that are in that grey fuzzy area. > ACCEPTABLE: Your statement is untrue. > ACCEPTABLE: Your opinion is not endorsed by most scholars. > ACCEPTABLE: What you said is ludicrous. > NOT ACCEPTABLE: You are a liar. You’ve changed his third example since you have decided that the new interpretation is “only a ludicrous person could make a ludicrous post” And before any word-lawyering starts, it’s perfectly possible for an opinion or a post to be delusional. [Second defintion](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Delusional): “A false belief or opinion: labored under the delusion that success was at hand.” Again, I will gladly comply with this new rule and look forward to seeing what will happen when it’s applied consistently in ATMB, going forward. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/199 "2015-05-04T18:13:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Intelligent people can say stupid things. If you have a problem with a specific post, report it. Can’t sane people say delusional things? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776/200 "2015-05-04T18:41:37Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Again, I will gladly comply with this new rule and look forward to seeing what will happen when it’s applied consistently in ATMB, going forward. It’s not a new rule, of course. You have a very bad habit of coming in to ATMB to take swipes at posters that you have disagreements with. However, if you believe it to be a new rule, and that causes you to be more civil to others in this forum, it’s all to the good.😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-not-allowed-to-use-different-fonts-anymore/718776.md?page=11)