# Blocking "Obama" & "Hillary" in thread titles **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 8, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186 "2008-06-08T00:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/1 "2008-06-08T00:40:38Z")
Is there any way to block all threads who’s titles contain the words Obama or Hillary. I don’t have any posters blocked, but I sure in the Hell would jump at any method to block those threads that have multiplied like chicken pox on a kid. What happened to politics are for Great Debates? Can the religious discussions spread to everything else too? Anybody that knows how to block the stuff please speak up. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/2 "2008-06-08T03:00:55Z")
1. Read the thread title. 2. Decide whether or not to open the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/3 "2008-06-08T11:45:01Z")
[QUOTE=Muffin] 1. Read the thread title. 2. Decide whether or not to open the thread. [/QUOTE] I’m seeing this response a lot lately, and I don’t think it’s very constructive or helpful. The OP, myself, and several others are getting annoyed at the sheer number of threads about Obama/Clinton/McCain, and it’s past the point where GD is now the “US Politics” forum and it’s spilling over into other areas as well. It’s a valid complaint, and one that I think needs something done about it. YRMV, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/4 "2008-06-08T11:56:14Z")
I was going to list all the threads on the subject on the first page in every forum. I decided to post this instead of a pitting. It can’t even just bleed into other forums, it has to splatter and cover every forum like a suicide victim with cut wrists. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/5 "2008-06-08T11:58:40Z")
…hey, look on the bright side; there’s only five more months to go! 😃 I’ve said before that I wish there was an Ignore Thread feature. I realize you can just not read the thread, but you can’t keep threads you don’t want to read from clogging up the results of the New Posts search, and at only one search every five minutes, it gets pretty tiresome. But there’s a silver lining; at least us thick Yanks are finally thinking about our elections more rather than watching a couple of soundbites, reading a couple of bumperstickers, then believing we’re making an informed choice. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/6 "2008-06-08T12:12:44Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] I’ve said before that I wish there was an Ignore Thread feature. [/QUOTE] There is an Ignore Thread feature. It’s called Your Discretion. What’s coming across from this thread is about more than just ignoring threads. It’s about suppressing them. It isn’t just that you don’t want to open the threads. It’s that you don’t want the threads to be there. I hate that this may sound like reminding kids during crayon time that there are other people in the room who are using the crayons too, but it may very likely be that whatever it is you want to discuss would have no appeal outside a few of you, and I doubt you’d want your discussion suppressed just because it’s not something I’m interested in. As to discussions being in other forums, that’s what the other forums are for. Rants go in the Pit, even if they’re about a presidential candidate. MPSIMS seems like the perfect place for light, puffy conciliatory stuff. There’s a major US election going on, and it’s the nature of the thing that people want to discuss it. And so Muffin’s advice is spot on, as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/7 "2008-06-08T12:26:12Z")
Start your own GD thread about something you find more interesting. It’s free-market competition among threads here. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/8 "2008-06-08T12:34:49Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] I hate that this may sound like reminding kids during crayon time that there are other people in the room who are using the crayons too, but it may very likely be that whatever it is you want to discuss would have no appeal outside a few of you, and I doubt you’d want your discussion suppressed just because it’s not something I’m interested in. [/QUOTE] Depends how many threads there are on the subject. If every thread in GQ or IMHO suddenly became about firearms, I’d completely understand your opposition to (and desire to supress) all the threads on the subject. I think it’s well past time we had a “Politics” forum, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/9 "2008-06-08T13:06:09Z")
Meh. Bush-Gore 2000. Bush-Kerry 2004. Obama-Clinton 2008. This too shall pass. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/10 "2008-06-08T13:10:05Z")
First, a reminder that snarky or insulting response are NOT permitted in this forum. The poster has asked a legit question, and there’s no call for snide comments. **Harmonious Discord** , I’ve added quote marks to your title to make it a little more clear. I suspect people were reading it and thinking it was in the wrong forum 😉 However, as far as I am aware, there is no mechanism for blocking threads based on some keywords. Some one more adept than I might know more. We do go through periods when one forum or another gets overwhelmed by some current event. We had this in Cafe Society when the first LORD OF THE RINGS movie opened. We get it in Great Debates when there’s a U.S. Presidential election (sadly, rarely do elections in Canada get many threads; even fewer for an election in, say Japan.) There’s not much to do but weather it out, I’m afraid. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/11 "2008-06-08T19:30:24Z")
I put it here for discussion and not to let it be a pitting thread. There was the faint hope we could set an ignore threads with this word option. Even if it uses a script on my computer is fine with me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/12 "2008-06-08T19:36:06Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] There is an Ignore Thread feature. It’s called Your Discretion. What’s coming across from this thread is about more than just ignoring threads. It’s about suppressing them. It isn’t just that you don’t want to open the threads. It’s that you don’t want the threads to be there. [/QUOTE] Where has the OP suggested that others should be prevented from viewing the threads? He appears to just be asking for a way of filtering threads so that any that contain keywords that indicate that the thread is of no interest would be invisible **to the OP**. That way someone with no interest in the goings on down there would see a somewhat more varied [del]US Politics[/del] Great Debates forum. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/13 "2008-06-08T22:38:12Z")
[QUOTE=Canadjun] Where has the OP suggested that others should be prevented from viewing the threads? He appears to just be asking for a way of filtering threads so that any that contain keywords that indicate that the thread is of no interest would be invisible **to the OP**. That way someone with no interest in the goings on down there would see a somewhat more varied [del]US Politics[/del] Great Debates forum. [/QUOTE] That post wasn’t addressing **the OP** , just as yours wasn’t, and this one isn’t. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/14 "2008-06-08T22:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] I was going to list all the threads on the subject on the first page in every forum. I decided to post this instead of a pitting. It can’t even just bleed into other forums, it has to splatter and cover every forum like a suicide victim with cut wrists. [/QUOTE] Rather an exaggeration, I think. Regarding threads specifically about the presidential race: ATMB: 2/7 (including this one, plus one commenting on a thread in MPSIMS) CSS: 0/6 CSR: 0/2 GQ: 0/50 GD: 13/50. There are several more about other election-related or political topics. CS: 0/50 TGR: 0/50 IMHO: 0/50 MPSIMS: 4/50 BBQ: 7/31 (including one complaining about excessive attention to the US election) 26/346 = 7.5% of all threads about the presidential election. Even in the two fora with a substantial number of such threads, GD and the Pit, the totals are 26% and 22% respectively. This doesn’t seem to me to be excessive, considering we are in the middle of an election season. The only other fora where there are any at the moment are MPSIMS and ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/15 "2008-06-08T22:56:53Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Rather an exaggeration, I think. Regarding threads specifically about the presidential race: ATMB: 2/7 (including this one, plus one commenting on a thread in MPSIMS) CSS: 0/6 CSR: 0/2 GQ: 0/50 GD: 13/50. There are several more about other election-related or political topics. CS: 0/50 TGR: 0/50 IMHO: 0/50 MPSIMS: 4/50 BBQ: 7/31 (including one complaining about excessive attention to the US election) 26/346 = 7.5% of all threads about the presidential election. Even in the two fora with a substantial number of such threads, GD and the Pit, the totals are 26% and 22% respectively. This doesn’t seem to me to be excessive, considering we are in the middle of an election season. The only other fora where there are any at the moment are MPSIMS and ATMB. [/QUOTE] Well you can prove almost anything with facts then, can’t you? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2008, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/16 "2008-06-08T23:32:34Z")
Consider me a member of Those Who Doubt the Purpose of the OP Was to Ask About a Board Feature. However, even if I’m right, the responses here should be phrased as if it was such a request. After all, 1. You never know, you might be wrong, and 2. A little naivete never really hurt anyone, and 3. Hi, Opal! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/17 "2008-06-09T02:27:48Z")
I still want a way to filter. I didn’t say ban the topics. I did however think I remembered that the topics were supposed to be in great Debates. From what was put in the thread by mods it sounds like you can put it anywhere. Yes, it not eloquent. This is mostly because I’m frustrated with the flooding and other problems, and I’m letting it seep through into the posts. Probably in with the don’t post drunk they should add don’t post frustrated with high adrenaline in your system. ---
**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:** [June 9, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/18 "2008-06-09T03:07:49Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] I did however think I remembered that the topics were supposed to be in great Debates. [/quote] Only if it’s a debate about politics. Other aspects of the elections or discussion about the candidates can go elsewhere, depending on the nature of the topic. > [@](#): > > From what was put in the thread by mods it sounds like you can put it anywhere. Depends on what exactly the point of the thread is. A factual question about the election would go in GQ. A poll not involving a debate would go in IMHO. Personal feelings about the candidates would go in MPSIMS. Rants about the candidates go in the Pit. I suppose a thread like “Cast the movie about Obama’s life story” would go in Cafe Society, and "How many different words can you make out of “Barack Hussein Obama”? would go in The Game Room. 😉 However, from the list I posted above almost all the threads about the candidates at the moment are confined to Great Debates and the Pit, with a small number in MPSIMS. (The ATMB threads are not really about the election at all, but about other threads.) So I’m not really seeing the “bleeding across all forums” that you claim. If you don’t want to read about US politics, then don’t read Great Debates or the Pit. The few threads elsewhere shouldn’t be that onerous to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/19 "2008-06-09T13:38:32Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Probably in with the don’t post drunk they should add don’t post frustrated with high adrenaline in your system. [/QUOTE] I think I may steal that for a sig! 😃 Properly attributed, of course. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186/20 "2008-06-09T14:28:29Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Even in the two fora with a substantial number of such threads, GD and the Pit, the totals are 26% and 22% respectively. This doesn’t seem to me to be excessive, considering we are in the middle of an election season. The only other fora where there are any at the moment are MPSIMS and ATMB. [/QUOTE] What would seem excessive to you? 50%? Because I have to say that 26% seems pretty freaking high to me. I think you should re-visit the idea of an American Politics sub-forum of GD. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blocking-obama-hillary-in-thread-titles/452186.md?page=2)