# I'm confused about the "Mouseover Test" thread **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 18, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627 "2007-04-18T14:39:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/1 "2007-04-18T14:39:19Z")
In [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=416877) thread, Ellis Dee posted an OP that I couldn’t make heads or tails of. Then there was some discussion and then Tuba gave a “not formal warning” to Sixswords for something and the thread was locked. What did Ellis Dee do? What did Sixswords do? What is Tuba telling Sixswords not to do? What did someone do that was sock-puppety? Did the OP do something that led to the “not formal warning” or was it completely unrelated? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/2 "2007-04-18T14:58:58Z")
One, this belongs in The Pit - I’ll let a mod know. Two, look at the ‘Guest’ post after **SixSwords**. That was the no-no. If you don’t see it, I’ll come back and explain. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/3 "2007-04-18T15:06:00Z")
My impression is that the thread contained, basically, coding mischief. There weren’t any violations, strictly speaking, but there were “tricks” demonstrated that a more nefarious individual could use to create more harmful havoc. Specifically, the OP uses a “hidden text” trick to make the mouseover preview text different from what appears to be the beginning of the actual post when opened. There is text at the beginning of the first post that’s invisible due to a board bug; that shows up in the preview. But it’s hidden in the actual post. Thus, it would be possible to create a thread whose preview popup reads, “Sad news, lost puppy,” or something equally heartstring-yanky, but when you open it you’re hit with giant-font obscenities. And in the middle of the thread, there’s a post containing a faked blue-line separator followed by a fabricated pseudo-post. In other words, one single message looks like two separate posts. It’s obviously a gag in this case, with the mismatched fonts, the oversized blue line, and the silly fake username, but I don’t think I need to go into detail about what kind of mayhem could be generated, however temporarily, with the technique. So it’s not as if these people were warned for actually lobbing grenades onto the boards. Rather, they were warned because they were standing next to a grenade and saying, “Uh, guys, there’s a grenade here.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/4 "2007-04-18T15:14:15Z")
Actually complaints about staff action belongs in the Pit, this is fine where it is. What I apparently didn’t make clear is that we frown upon any action that implies the creation of a sock puppet on the board, as was in this case. The fact that it was not done so as to actually create one and may even have been in a spirit of fun doesn’t matter; it’s something we’re just not happy with and don’t want people to do. It’s comparable to making up fake quotes and attaching other people’s screen names to them; we don’t like that either. I did not formally warn, just asked everyone not to do that again. Hope this makes the situation clear. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/5 "2007-04-18T16:04:46Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Two, look at the ‘Guest’ post after **SixSwords**. That was the no-no. If you don’t see it, I’ll come back and explain. [/QUOTE] Ah. [QUOTE=Cervaise] Specifically, the OP uses a “hidden text” trick to make the mouseover preview text different from what appears to be the beginning of the actual post when opened. [/quote] Ah. [QUOTE=TubaDiva] Actually complaints about staff action belongs in the Pit, this is fine where it is. [/quote] I’m glad the forum choice was okay. My intent, which I hope is clear, is not to complain about staff action, but just to find out what was going on in that thread. > [@](#): > > What I apparently didn’t make clear is that we frown upon any action that implies the creation of a sock puppet on the board, as was in this case. I totally missed the “fake” post there, so thanks to D\_Odds and Cervaise for pointing it out. Thanks, all. I’m enlightened now. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/6 "2007-04-18T17:25:51Z")
I was a bit confused also, so thanks for the info. I counted seven differences between the fake post and a real one, by the way. It’s kind of a “spot the differences between these pictures” puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/7 "2007-04-18T18:20:45Z")
The hidden text trick is what some sites call “ghosting” or ghost text - writing text that is the same color as the background, that is, white text on a white background which can be seen during highlighting the text. :o The hidden text trick is what some sites call “ghosting” or ghost text - writing text that is the same color as the background, that is, white text on a white background which can be seen during highlighting the text. :o ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/8 "2007-04-18T19:32:56Z")
[QUOTE=TubaDiva] Actually complaints about staff action belongs in the Pit, this is fine where it is. [/QUOTE] But the tagline says complaints “and other discussion”. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/9 "2007-04-19T14:46:44Z")
I chose to handle it here. It’s okay if you disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Infinite\_Levels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f475e1/32.png) [@Infinite\_Levels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infinite_Levels)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-confused-about-the-mouseover-test-thread/400627/10 "2007-04-20T19:44:26Z")
To see the “ghost text” in the original thread (and post 7 here ) press Ctrl-A, or highlight by mousing over it with the button down, like picking up Soiler text