# Etiquette for "Report post to Mod" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 27, 2002, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220 "2002-12-27T19:54:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/1 "2002-12-27T19:54:28Z")
I was wondering what, exactly, should we use this feature for. Obviously it’s there for blatant board violations, abusive behavior/language, threats, direct links to not-safe- for-work sites… but what about smaller things? -quoting full text of a song or long quotes from other sources? -screwed up coding? (Perhaps this request should be made only by the poster who screwed up) -misattributed quotes? -posts that result in horizontal scrolling? -suspected trolling (I guess this’d be OK, since it’s not done in public) I know there’s more examples I’m forgetting, but a good overview would be nice to have. Also, who exactly recieves the e-mail? Whatever mod is signed in at the time? Mod with seniority? ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/2 "2002-12-27T20:17:06Z")
Also, -screwed up/missing spoiler tag where one is needed ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/3 "2002-12-27T20:24:19Z")
Many questions about that function are answered [here (“Report this post to a moderator!”)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133543), [here (“The “Report this post to a moderator” function”)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139507), and [here (“Report this post!”)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=128700). IIRC, you should use it for anything that you think needs to be pointed out to a mod. Judgement calls abound. All mods for the forum the post is contained in are emailed. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/4 "2002-12-27T20:31:01Z")
Many questions about that function are answered [here (“Report this post to a moderator!”)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133543), [here (“The “Report this post to a moderator” function”)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=139507), and [here (“Report this post!”)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=128700). IIRC, you should use it for anything that you think needs to be pointed out to a mod. Judgement calls abound. All mods for the forum the post is contained in are emailed. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/5 "2002-12-27T20:38:30Z")
Um… Oops. Sorry. I did only hit it once. Although I previewed about 10 times. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/6 "2002-12-27T20:49:42Z")
I definitely believe that “Report this post” is the way to go if you suspect trolling or sock-puppeteering. I think it’s okay to report coding errors and stuff like that, if you think it’s actually bad enough that the mod would do something about it anyway. Moderators don’t tend to spend their time fixing little typos, as long as it’s legible. One time I used it to report my own post when I forgot a “not safe for work” warning for a link I included, and I asked a moderator to insert one. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2002, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/7 "2002-12-27T23:51:16Z")
Damn, I shoulda searched. Thanks folks. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etiquette-for-report-post-to-mod/145220/8 "2002-12-28T16:52:48Z")
But just to summarize: mods and admins are only human. We can’t see everywhere on the board, instanteously. If you see something that you think a moderator should look at, then please report it. If we look at it and decide it’s OK, at least we’ve looked. It’s very very helpful to us to have input from members.