# Warnings/Infractions - Comments, Please **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 27, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858 "2009-05-27T22:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [May 28, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/41 "2009-05-28T15:48:26Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I thought guests couldn’t receive or send PMs? Guests can send and receive PMs. Members get more storage space and can message more people at a time – useful in games, I’m told. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/42 "2009-05-28T16:13:51Z")
I think the new proposal is a huge improvement over the current system and I can’t see any flaws other than what has been mentioned already. Good work! ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/43 "2009-05-28T16:26:18Z")
By the way that it is a shame that you cannot read or send PMs when you are suspended. Otherwise you could simply suspend people until they respond to the infraction PM making really sure that they read it and assimilated it. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/44 "2009-05-29T10:00:02Z")
Skip, who’s the test user? Would it safe you some time if we all private messaged them to try and fill up their PM box? ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/45 "2009-05-29T11:30:45Z")
It’s my wife’s account. I’m sure she’s loving all of these warning PMs she’s been getting lately. 😃 But, thanks for the offer. I just created a test user group whose PM limit was 5. Even with 8 PMs, she was able to receive a 9th from the infraction, so users whose PM limit has been reached will still receive a message. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/46 "2009-05-29T15:17:22Z")
How will you mesh the new system with the old? If someone’s on very thin ice already, is a single mostly-minor infraction on their new infraction list enough to break out the banhammer? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/47 "2009-05-29T15:18:09Z")
The new system would change the way people are made aware of their warnings. It wouldn’t change the way we evaluate them. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/48 "2009-05-29T16:18:23Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Warnings should expire after some period of time. It’s not fair for a poster to accumulate, for example, a warning in 2004, another in 2006, and get banned for a third strike in 2009. I suggest any warnings older than 1 year be purged from the records. Here’s an alternative, in case the powers-that-be don’t go with your recommendation. Limited amnesty. From this point on, with the new system going in place… everything below, say, a “50% level” of offense over time to the board gets wiped clean. This level threshhold might be a combination of the smallness of the offense, and how a hypothetical “reasonable person” might want o give clemency based on good intentions, lack of clarityof rules and communication that something crosses a line, and the possibility of mod/admin bias or impatience. (It seems that when there was an upgrade people were warned in advnce to be patient, rather than snotty. Some people were unceremoniously and permanently “dumped” – it seemed to me at the time – just for being **playful** or **merely** questioning the directive to keep the thread about upgrades clean of sarcasm and rudeness. It seemed worse to me because I thought at the time that bannings were only very rarely reversed. Of course, once the point was made, it was decided to lift the bannings of members, at least those in good standing.) The idea here is that members generally in good standing could start fresh with a clean slate. Whether any individual lives up to such amnesty is an open question. If an even worse attitude emerges later, or someone has a change of heart for the worse, well, that’s life. Then the opportunity will be there to take a hard line, with official warnings, sanctions, marks against them, whatever. _ **- Jack** _ ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/49 "2009-05-29T16:41:36Z")
> [@True Blue Jack](#): > > Here’s an alternative, in case the powers-that-be don’t go with your recommendation. > > Limited amnesty. > > From this point on, with the new system going in place… > everything below, say, a “50% level” of offense over time to the board gets wiped clean. … You seem to assume that there’s a huge number of people with warnings chalked up against them, which is interesting. My assumption would be that most people who post here on any kind of regular basis don’t have any warnings against them at all, and thus don’t need amnesty. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/50 "2009-05-29T20:00:02Z")
New system looks good. And, if I may be allowed to ass-kiss for a moment, a good example of mods taking a suggestion from a user, discussing it, and (presumably) implementing it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/51 "2009-05-30T17:29:02Z")
As **Dex** already pointed out, our current system is very flexible. If the situation warrants it, we do discuss warnings with people. With the exception of spammers, who are instantly and quietly disappeared, banning and suspension is discussed between the administrators of the appropriate forum(s) and the admins, and people are usually given a notice of impending banning before it happens. All of this can continue with the new system, but a bit more transparently, and the notes in your profiles give you a chance to see the history. Honestly, one of the more time-consuming parts of a ban discussion is digging around to find old warnings. There are usually comments like, “I forgot about that one” or “that wasn’t a _real_ warning.” The new system fixes that. > [@Crazyhorse](#): > > The new system clearly looks better than the current system in every respect but it seems like there is one possible loss of functionality for the mods. In the current system the warning details are written up in a “behind-the-scenes forum”, ostensibly creating a sort of data warehouse with all the warnings, reasons, notes, etc. system-wide. I think you’re imagining a much more sophisticated warning system than we’ve actually been using. It’s mostly just a note saying “warned so-and-so for personal insults in this thread in the Game Room.” The new system covers that nicely, and we still have the behind-the-scenes thread when we need it for more detailed notes (which is actually quite rare). ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/52 "2009-05-30T18:21:06Z")
i like the new system and am for it. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/53 "2009-06-05T20:44:28Z")
Will historical warnings, as currently maintained in the hidden forum, be transcribed into the new system? It would be better to have a single source for warnings, especially if they are to be viewable by the warnee, but it would be a lot of work and might cause some people to panic if they think their old warnings are being re-issued via PM. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858/54 "2009-06-05T21:11:24Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Will historical warnings, as currently maintained in the hidden forum, be transcribed into the new system? It would be better to have a single source for warnings, especially if they are to be viewable by the warnee, but it would be a lot of work and might cause some people to panic if they think their old warnings are being re-issued via PM. > > Enjoy, > Steven We’re not planning to manually add old warnings into the new system. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/warnings-infractions-comments-please/497858.md?page=2)