# What Happens If I Get A Warning **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 28, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494 "2020-06-28T04:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ishamael69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@ishamael69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ishamael69)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/1 "2020-06-28T04:54:07Z")
So there is currently a huge blowup going on over a warning given to a member. Apparently the whole thing got so out-of-hand that someone contacted the Chicago Sun-Times about it. Now, I understand getting upset over a suspension or banning, but a warning? Seems like a silly thing to be blowing up over. However, although I’ve been coming here and reading for two decades now, give or take, I don’t post much at all, and don’t always follow board politics (sometimes, but not always), so maybe I’m just not clear on what a warning entails. Can somebody fill me in? Please note: I am NOT interested in rehashing if the warning was merited, merely wondering why it was such a huge deal. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/2 "2020-06-28T04:59:30Z")
It goes on you permanent record, barring you from most of the juiciest jobs and a fancy lifestyle. Say hello to crack dealing on the street and prostitution to make ends meet. Ok, other than it being on your account, nothing unless you keep getting them. Then the mods get to decide if your particular brand of disruption warrants you still being here or not. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/3 "2020-06-28T05:02:13Z")
When you get a warning, you will get a PM from the mod who issued it. Go to your profile and look in Messages. I have a warning from 2017 that carried over from the old boards. There was also an Infractions tab on the old forums, too, but I haven’t found it on Discourse. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/4 "2020-06-28T07:41:39Z")
I don’t know what it was like before but I just got my first warning and the thing that show up in messages was - > [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/913192/1): > > Hello, > > This is an automated message from Straight Dope Message Board to let you know that your post was hidden. > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-nascar-noose-incident-fizzles-out/912577/36](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-nascar-noose-incident-fizzles-out/912577/36) > > Your post was flagged as **inappropriate** : the community feels it is offensive, abusive, or a violation of [our community guidelines](https://boards.straightdope.com/guidelines). > > This post was hidden due to flags from the community, so please consider how you might revise your post to reflect their feedback. **You can edit your post after 10 minutes, and it will be automatically unhidden.** > > However, if the post is hidden by the community a second time, it will remain hidden until handled by staff. > > For additional guidance, please refer to our [community guidelines](https://boards.straightdope.com/guidelines). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/5 "2020-06-28T16:39:03Z")
From the FAQ at the top of this forum. **Warnings, notes and other moderator actions** > [@](#): > > Moderators may act in several ways to ensure the rules of the forum are followed. When moderators act it will be clearly indicated that the moderator is acting in an official capacity. Types of moderator actions. > > **Warnings** - An official warning on the Straight Dope Message Board acts as a permanent record of a poster’s breaking the rules of the forum. While there is not hard and fast rule, sufficient warnings over a period of time - both the number of warnings and the timeframe are intentionally left vague - may result in further, more permanent sanction. Unless rescinded by moderation staff, a warning remains on a poster’s record indefinitely. However, older warnings are given less weight when considering additional sanction. > > **Moderator Notes** - A moderator note is usually provided to a poster, group of posters, or all thread participants to give guidance in a particular thread. This guidance is generally given to promote an environment where discussion can take place. Unlike Warnings, mod-notes are not tracked in any official, permanent way. > > **Thread or topic ban** - After discussion among the moderators, a thread or topic ban may be issued for specific posters. These tend to come about when a pattern has developed indicating a specific poster cannot be trusted to remain within the rules on some topic or other. It is hoped that placing topic or thread bans will enable discussion to continue constructively for other participants. > > **Suspensions** - Posters may be sanctioned with a temporary suspension of posting privileges. > Continuing to break rules following suspension may result in a ban from the SDMB. Suspensions are not made lightly - nor unilaterally - and are discussed among the moderation staff and voted upon. > > **Banning** - Repeated violations of the rules - or indications that a poster has no intent on ever following the rules - can result in a permanent banning from the SDMB. As with suspensions, the moderation staff as a whole votes on whether a poster will be banned. > > **Other actions** - These are not the only potential sanctions available to the moderation staff. We reserve the right to get creative in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/6 "2020-06-28T16:42:31Z")
To expand a little, a large majority of users here never receive a single warning. Warnings are intended to get a poster to change behavior that we regard as a problem. When a poster makes it clear that he is not changing his behavior due to repeated warnings, suspension or a banning may result. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/7 "2020-06-28T16:45:57Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > It goes on you permanent record, barring you from most of the juiciest jobs and a fancy lifestyle. Say hello to crack dealing on the street and prostitution to make ends meet. > > Ok, other than it being on your account, nothing unless you keep getting them. Then the mods get to decide if your particular brand of disruption warrants you still being here or not. > [@cochrane](#): > > When you get a warning, you will get a PM from the mod who issued it. Go to your profile and look in Messages. I have a warning from 2017 that carried over from the old boards. There was also an Infractions tab on the old forums, too, but I haven’t found it on Discourse. This is what happened on the old vBulletin system. Discourse handles things very differently. We are still working out how to notify posters and document warnings under the Discourse system. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/8 "2020-06-28T16:48:25Z")
> [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/913192/1): > > I don’t know what it was like before but I just got my first warning and the thing that show up in messages was - > > > [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/913192/1): > > > > Hello, > > > > This is an automated message from Straight Dope Message Board to let you know that your post was hidden. > > > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-nascar-noose-incident-fizzles-out/912577/36](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-nascar-noose-incident-fizzles-out/912577/36) > > > > Your post was flagged as **inappropriate** : the community feels it is offensive, abusive, or a violation of [our community guidelines](https://boards.straightdope.com/guidelines). > > > > This post was hidden due to flags from the community, so please consider how you might revise your post to reflect their feedback. **You can edit your post after 10 minutes, and it will be automatically unhidden.** > > > > However, if the post is hidden by the community a second time, it will remain hidden until handled by staff. > > > > For additional guidance, please refer to our [community guidelines](https://boards.straightdope.com/guidelines). That’s not actually an official Warning. We actually would prefer that posts not be hidden. Under the old system, we would not hide or delete posts unless they were spam, trolling, or socking. As I said, we are still working out how to make the new system come closer to what we had before. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/9 "2020-06-28T17:01:41Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s not actually an official Warning > [@The great NASCAR Noose Incident fizzles out](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-nascar-noose-incident-fizzles-out/912577/38): > > [Moderating] > This is an official Warning. Colour me more confused. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/10 "2020-06-28T17:25:37Z")
Ok, _that’s_ an official Warning. However, merely having a post flagged as inappropriate doesn’t constitute an official Warning. There may be other reasons for that. Under the old system, you would have received a PM, and if you had notifications turned on, an, email saying “you have received an official warning at the Straight Dope.” Apologies if this is confusing. As I said, we are trying to work out how to get Discourse to work more like the old system. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/11 "2020-06-28T18:39:58Z")
Ah, good, that was something that was bothering me. Someone gets a warning, but then it’s hard/impossible to tell what exactly it was that they did. I am very glad to hear that that is an issue you are working on. Certainly not something I’d leave over, but it was definitely more than a bit annoying. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/12 "2020-06-29T13:08:14Z")
I’ve always thought the word Warning made them sound less important than they are. That word, to me, means something closer to what we call a Mod Note instructing people not to do something. They would not add up in any way. But the ones here do add up. And that is why they are treated more importantly here than the word “warning” might imply. (Incidentally, I believe the history is of this terminology is due to a quirk in vBulletin. It contains two ways to mark a post as a violation: Warnings, and Infractions. Problem is, Infractions give scores that would automatically suspend if you got enough of them. But the SDMB mods didn’t want that to happen–they wanted each to only be enacted after discussion. So they chose to use the Warning option. I kinda always wished there was another option that could be used for a Mod Note, if only so that you would be sure the user saw the Note. If you don’t go back to the thread, you could miss them.) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/13 "2020-06-29T13:12:54Z")
BTW, can you actually edit posts that have been hidden? Or does the edit timeout remove that ability–or at least only give you five minutes to fix it? I still don’t know why the owners of Discourse could have possibly thought that this was a good idea. It’s obviously going to be used by people against the poster to hide what they have to say. If nothing else would work, I could see having a bot moderator whose only job was to automatically unhide all posts hidden via reports/Warnings. And also maybe new guidelines that to be more careful when reporting. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/14 "2020-06-29T20:09:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > That’s not actually an official Warning. We actually would prefer that posts not be hidden. Under the old system, we would not hide or delete posts unless they were spam, trolling, or socking. As I said, we are still working out how to make the new system come closer to what we had before. So I’m a bit confused here. Does Discourse - as it’s configured for SDMB - allow _users_ to hide messages as a side effect of flagging, or was the hiding in question based on a moderator action? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/15 "2020-06-29T23:41:52Z")
I’m pretty sure posts aren’t hidden just because somebody flags them. I think it requires moderator action. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-i-get-a-warning/913494/16 "2020-06-30T03:00:18Z")
Ok, I guess that’s consistent with Colibri’s post meaning that the mods hid Ike\_Witt’s post (though inadvertently) and BigT is possibly confused about default capability in Discourse versus how it is configured for SDMB.