# Informally Requested Policies **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 17, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286 "2003-04-17T12:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/1 "2003-04-17T12:57:03Z")
… or **Straight Dope Netiquette** Let’s see… we have: [list=1] [li][Don’t post a typo correction post unless the typo has significantly altered the meaning or understanding of your message.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=173289&perpage=40&highlight=requested&pagenumber=2) [/li][li][Don’t post an apology for double posting… we all know you didn’t mean to.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=173289&perpage=40&highlight=requested&pagenumber=1) [/li][li][Only use your canned .sig once per thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=168144&highlight=requested) [/li][li][It’s OK to thank a moderator via email. It makes their day.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=177260) [/li][li][While you don’t _have to_, it’s considered polite to respect the OP’s wishes regarding the direction of a thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=177260) [/li][/list=1] ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/2 "2003-04-17T13:11:59Z")
Here’s a tip. I informally requested a policy once. I knew the mods were busy, though. So I typed it up exactly how I thought it should look, and posted it. Sure enough, a moderator took a lot of what I said and copied it, and added a lot too, and made it a sticky. Maybe just typing up the first draft will get them started. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/3 "2003-04-17T13:13:52Z")
Oh, at the time I made the request, we had just had some pretty serious infractions that upset a few people. That probably had something to do with its quick acceptance, too. But I don’t think it can hurt to try! ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/4 "2003-04-17T15:31:39Z")
1. Send the staff whiskey and strippers, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Stephi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stephi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/5 "2003-04-17T17:22:58Z")
What kind of whiskey do you like? I’m not sending strippers though, even I have to draw the line somewhere! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/6 "2003-04-18T15:37:58Z")
Well, some of these things are not in the interest of etiquette so much, but in the interest of conserving bandwidth. And that _is_ a serious issue for us here. All the same, I see a huge difference between sanctimoniously vilifying someone for an infraction (even a medium-sized one), and informing someone of the official or unofficial policies. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/7 "2003-04-20T04:39:22Z")
I could take that two ways. 1. Don’t post a dozen followups correcting someone if they do post to correct a typo or apologize for a double post. I think that’s appropriate, given the whole reason is to reduce the bandwidth use. However, 1. You’re being a sanctimonious prig for listing these rules at all. Rules one through three are mostly to reduce bandwidth use. The boards are so terminally slow at times that any reasonable request to reduce unnecessary and superfluous posts is a good idea. Rule four was listed because there was some question as to whether the mods wanted to receive thank you posts, or if it was just clutter to their mailboxes that they would have to sort through. Rule five was also a response to a question about the OPs ability to control the content of his own thread. It is polite to comply with a request to not hijack a thread into a known territory that is related but not the point of the specific thread in question. **moriah** was just listing the results of the last few days worth of responses in one place, since these topics have been coming up repeatedly. Though I think we need to add 1. Don’t post just to correct someone else for their typo. He saw the typo but didn’t respond because of rule 1. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/informally-requested-policies/169286/8 "2003-04-20T04:51:03Z")
> [@](#): > > It is polite to comply with a request to not hijack a thread into a known territory that is related but not the point of the specific thread in question. I agree with you that that is the _polite_ thing to do. But the rules that we have say, "Don’t be a jerk’ – not “Always be polite.” If you disagree with me about the above statement, you don’t have to be polite when you disagree. Just don’t be a jerk. 😃 \*\*IrishTxLdy[/b}. you are a hoot! I wish you would post more often.