“Moderator” tags are built into the vBulletin software. I don’t know how much of a change we’d have to make to the coding in order to have a custom title, but we don’t like to make ANY unnecessary coding changes. It’s important, too, for members to know who’s an admin and who’s a mod, because admins can do certain things that mods can’t.
I feel like a bit of a jerk for responding at the end when you’ve said we’re done here, but I find this really funny.
We have the “report post” button for a reason. The idea that a mod should read an entire thread every time they have to make a minor comment in it is kind of… cruel. Especially an American Idol thread. Hee hee.
Just imagine the uproar if they’d been bugs from the planet Klendathu.
Well, I never mentioned anything about Administrators. I was talking about Moderators. Based on the most common definition of a Moderator, it seems to be quite different from what many Moderators do here. If you’re going to “moderate” threads, it seems counter-intuitive for a Moderator to hurl insults and get into name-calling with the lesser folk here.
It was semi-reasonable when a Mod would do the whole [removes Mod hat] thing to seperate personal opinion from “official” actions. Now even that is a rare sight. When the Mods have the power to hand out official warnings as they see fit, while publicly displaying bias towards certain Dopers, it seems they are Arbiters. Not Moderators.
Just saying. I’d never step on your toes, Lynn. It would only double the time I’d have to spend on the foot massage. And I hope the massage will only be for pleasuring you, not rehabbing a painful injury. 
From the sound of it, I think I figured out the best way to report a post. (I think I reported one in the time I’ve been here and that was early in my career.)
When you report a post, include any relevant posts in the e-mail that led up to the post you’re reporting. This may add credibilty to the offense rather than allow someone to report post after post of a Doper they have a hard-on for.
Also, if a Doper receives a warning for a post, allow the Doper to attempt to justify the post. If it’s a blatant flaunting of forum rules, there really isn’t a defense. However, if it’s a single post being scrutinized, previous posts from another Doper that all but goad the offender into the post should be taken into consideration.
Of course, I’m sure much of this applies already. The problem is that Dopers can’t get, even with a direct question to a Mod, how many warnings are on the Record, nor how close they may be to a banning.
The closest they get is the 30 day suspension (if they’re lucky), but even then they only know the record when they’re down to the last chance. I remember a long time ago a post that stated that some warnings were permanent, some were written off after a certain amount of time. The prolem is, nobody knows which is which. And those handing down the warnings won’t say.
Again, the Mods don’t moderate, they arbitrate. There is a huge difference in the two. I don’t expect it to change. But it would be nice to have a little honesty. It seems so important in other threads/forums.
I think we all recognize that the boards are very active and I don’t think anyone expects a moderator to read every post in every single thread in the forums he/she moderators.
That said, my personal opinion is that it isn’t too much to ask that when a problem is reported, the moderator has made an effort to read the thread to make sure he fully understands the issue/complaint before making any official comments on the subject.
Damn my inability to code correctly!
Biggirl, I hear ya. You were trying to halt another pissfest (though I think Liberal is less at fault in that and the previous thread than lissener. Maybe just because it really pisses me off when someone comes into a thread and tells me I ought to be ashamed of myself. Grr).
I put “Moderator Notes:” or “Moderator Warning:” in the title. Do you have a better suggestion?
Oh, I should think that by the time a poster has acquired, oh…, I dunno…, let’s say…, for example…, six documented warnings, that poster should be aware of a need to <ahem> moderate their behavior.
Mods could color code their posts. Spolier boxes for official warnings and a white font for ordinary contributions.
Finally, someone has a practical suggestion. 
Like Frank, any official moderating action by me always has the title “Mod note” or “Mod warning”. duffer, are you saying you’d rather we instead label every post that isn’t an official moderating action with [Mod Hat Off] or some such? That seems…awkward.
I think if all mods agreed to color-code their posts for official warnings that’d be great. May I suggest [COLOR=Purple]“grape?” [/COLOR] 
… did anyone else read Biggirl’s posts like an angry black woman taking off her high heels and earrings while rolling up her sleeves and bobbing her head from side to side? I was totally concerned for CK Dexter Haven.
How the HELL did that happen? That was totally purple on one word in preview!
I took care of it.
And they could you different colors to indicate the severity of their warnings. We are now at Mod Admonishment Level Orange.
Make that “And they could use…”
No, but it would be nice to have more clarity in a Mod posting as a Mod or as a Doper. I’ve had a few threads where tomndebb, (being the first to come to mind) got a few personal digs that were more appropriate for a poster than a Mod. Same as you. Post digs to me as a Doper, not a Mod. You know it carries more weight being a Mod and that there is less chance of a Doper challenging you based on your arbitrary position. We’ve all seen how Mods can sometimes be defensive. And that’s the same for us minions. The difference is, us minions have no power to issue warnings and build cases to ban Mods we don’t like.
As far as official warnings? The ones that build toward a banning? Yes, as paying members I think it’s fair to demand to know where we stand. If the Mods want to have it set up as a secret society of some sort, just come out and say it.
Since warnings can stay on record for months or years depending on the offense, and nobody knows which offenses are recorded nor for how long, how about opening the books? Not in a way that everyone can see everyone else’s laundry list, but in a way a person can know where they stand.
For instance. How many of my warnings are still on record? Do any of them get expunged at any time? How many are permanent? How many permanent warnings does it take to get banned?
Nobody knows for sure, and nobody can get an answer. I’m guessing it’s based on case by case. In other words, it’s arbitrary.
I liii-II-iiiiiiii-III-ke it.
If you believe that a moderator is abusing his/her position to take unwarranted digs at a poster, please complain to the management. TubaDiva(at)aol.com
So ask. I just told you, though perhaps too subtly. Oops, was that a dig?
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
And an unknown number of undocumented admonishments.
For crying out loud, duffer, of course, it’s case by case. If we set a hard and fast rule of six warnings, you’d be gone. Had your warnings occured in the span of two months instead of two years, you’d be gone. You’re still here, aren’t you? If you worried more about posting in a style which did not get you warnings, instead of worrying about how many more warnings you could get, you’d be a far more valuable member of the SDMB.
Now that’s an (earned) dig.