I would be okay with my level of notice. I might argue about the actual rule.
In other words, I wouldn’t think it unfair. I might think it dumb.
That’s what I’m saying though, there’s no rule, in this hypothetical, you just got asked to stop doing something simply because it annoyed a mod.
There is always a rule. Everything can point back to the “don’t be a jerk” underlying rule, if someone is doing something perceived as obnoxious.
But I’m trying to be very clear here that I find value in separating out the moderator action from the underlying rule, whatever the underlying rule is.
My problem, such as it is, with creating and enforcing a rule against fonts is not the creating and enforcing part but with the substance of the rule.
My problem is the rule against fonts, which I think is a bit goofy (though I don’t care very much, I don’t think it’s a big deal, and I have no idea why I’m participating in a thread about it).
It seems your problem is not the rule against fonts (however it came to be) but the creating and enforcing part. I don’t care where the rules come from so long as there is notice before penalties. I only care if they are good rules.
That’s not unfair, as everyone is subject to that. It may be stupid, or annoying, but it’s fair.
There is a rather bizarre idea that comes up from time to time that anything that is not explicitly prohibited by the rules must be allowed. We simply can’t spell out in detail every possible way that posters may be annoying; we find the TM to be quite creative that way. 
The SD rules are not intended to be the Bill of Rights, even if some posters regard them that way.
We could, and have discussed, add a provision to the rules to disallow the excessive use of odd fonts and colors. However, we generally try to avoid incorporating new rules on what are minor issues. Given that this one comes up rather infrequently, it’s probably not worth it.
I am the GREAT and POWERFUL COLIBRI! I ORDER you to CEASE and DESIST posting in COLOR or feel my WRATH!
Hey, that felt good!
As has repeatedly been pointed out to you, some use of color or different fonts is permitted. It’s only what we judge to be excessive use that might be disallowed.
(Some posters like to apply what I call the Law of Absolutes in these cases: Just because a moderator requests that a poster stop doing something in a particular thread, that must automatically apply to all posters everywhere doing anything remotely similar now and forever AMEN. Often moderator instructions apply only to particular circumstances.)
If I had to explain it, I’d try doing it this way.
There’s different font sizes on here too…
…but if I went around, in every post, using the highest one AND MAKING POSTS LIKE THIS, HEY, HOW YOU DOING, YES, MY CAT IS FINE…
…it’s not going to be very long before people are going to basically be demanding that I stop it.
Now you may argue that using a different font color is different and less annoying, but I’d argue that it still falls under “posting under a different way by using fonts”…something that I feel is okay under one or two special circumstances, but is not okay using constantly, in all of one’s posts. In that case, I think it’s very understandable for staff to tell those people to knock it off.
It’s even more understandable to put that, and the concept itself, “don’t be annoying”, in the user agreement.
“Don’t be annoying” pretty much falls under “Don’t be a jerk”.
Seriously? The vast majority of people (at least adults) would take that as a given.
Fine. I find a few posters who have, as the bulk of their posting:
or
to be far, far more “annoying” and jerkish than a few posts in a fairly mild shade of green to be.
So can I go around telling those posters that the (literally) dozens of these turds that they drop on the board everyday are “against community standards”* and obnoxious* and annoying, and therefore jerkish behavior*?
If so, great! 
If not, why is this annoyance–that interferes with conversation–ok but posting in green egregious enough to let people junior mod about it until a mod shows up and agrees?
*Since they are
I can’t tell you how annoyed I am with you for posting that!
…oh, your font is just fine, I’m annoyed that your poor cat must have been sick and you didn’t tell us sooner. How is ol’ puss?
HA! Twickster laughs at ALL my jokes!
…at least, I think she does…STFU is another acronym meaning the same as LOL and ROFL, right?
Didn’t we have a thread almost exactly like this because someone made two words like that and everyone freaked out?
Ah, here it is, not everyone, just one mod.
The mod didn’t “freak out,” but merely reduced the font size. The poster in question didn’t even receive a note.
We all remember The Grapist.
I’m tempted to say it in his memory, but I won’t
I’m not sure why I’m bothering with this…oh well…here goes:
A) I literally squinted at my computer screen because I was so shocked that this is still being discussed.
B) Y’all don’t know me. So I don’t appreciate my first handful of posts written in green font to be unofficially labeled as ‘jerk’ behavior. No where could that possibly fall under such a category. Had I written in green font, Comic Sans, and at the biggest font size available…then I can agree that that would be ‘jerk’ behavior.
C) While we’re on the topic of the ‘don’t be a jerk’ rule, let me just say that your forum is rampant with people who literally should win an award for that category. *And I’m not speaking about the BBQ, as I realize that such behavior is allowed in that area. So this is not a beef about the senseless thread created in my honor in the BBQ. …Particularly in the MPSIMS area I’ve been hounded, flamed, and goaded by a handful of different members about certain views I hold (this went on for a solid 48 hours with and without my presence - which begs the question: do these guys not have lives outside of SDMB?).
-You are free to express your views in a forceful manner provided you remain civil. Hate speech, insults, and purposely inflammatory remarks (i.e., trolling) will not be tolerated.-
Ooh, but they sadly have been tolerated. To the point where I’ve been absent for two full days because of it. …I totally get that I personally jumped the gun by offering up a few post contributions that revealed certain views I hold that I should have known would be ridiculed, but I posted anyway in hopes that, where my views would probably be disagreed with, they still would be respected. …Wishful thinking. I am prone to that I guess. I suppose a rule should be made about that one, too. Actually, no…perhaps wishful thinking should be thrown into the ‘don’t be a jerk’ category. …And one of your Mods made the entire situation worse by splitting off a post I made into a whole separate thread for discussion that only enabled more flaming. The post I made (which sparked the thread split) was indeed off-topic, which I quickly and publicly acknowledged in order to get the discussion back on track in order to avoid derailing. It seems your ‘don’t be a jerk’ award winners don’t value keeping topics from derailment as I do.
Bottom line: I’m not a jerk or a troll, so please don’t confuse me as one based on my original usage of green font. I’m also not asking for a posse to go round-up the real ‘don’t be a jerk’ people; I’m simply asking that you pay a little more attention to what goes on in regards to the ‘don’t be a jerk’ rule and bring down the hammer where and when it’s actually needed. - Thank you.
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.
The point is, you were asked at least twice to stop nicely, and told people you’d do it it anyways and they’d just have to put up with it. That’s why people are interpreting things the way they are.
And you aren’t helping by continually bringing it back up in a defiant tone. You still haven’t said “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cause offense.” It’s all been about how wrong we are to care. Or how bad our policies are.
This is our community. By and large, those of us who post here like it the way it is. Some of us have some complaints, but we know better than to barge in and insist that everything change. Some of us, like myself, learned the hard way, and it seems you wish to learn that way, too.
So, if you still like it here enough to hang out with us, go out, hang around, make some friendly banter, and just forget about all this. You’re comments are only making things worse.
And, yeah, don’t post anything anti-vax or pro-woo here if you don’t want a huge argument. That’s not what this board is about.
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.
Dear Miss Spaulding,
I apologize for being a jerk.
I haven’t really read most of your posts but my main complaint was font color.
Let me explain:
I read the SDMB on my laptop and smartphone, most often in bright sunlight.
Which makes a green font color almost invisible.
Which means I can’t read what you are saying.
Which means I have to go through extra efforts to see what you are saying.
Which means I am not going to bother with the effort.
I don’t know/care about other issues regarding your posts, let them stand on their own.
I will read them when I can see them.
Sincerely,
Cabin_Fever
…obviously you can’t say that its jerkish. But surely, according to the mod directives given in this thread we can say that other fonts are annoying? We’ve had a mod direct people to say “hey, we don’t do that sort of thing here” in response to people posting in other colours. If asked why and the response is “it is because it is annoying” would that then be a violation of the rules?