When you get a warning, do you also get a PM or email from a moderator, or do you just get a notice in the thread?
(I figured asking about it here would be better than me doing something bad to try to get a warning, to see how it works.)
You will get a PM if you get a warning.
For the last three or four years we’ve used a system that automatically sends users a PM when they get an official warning.
Which is a huge improvement over the old system that sent users a BM.
I can’t recall getting a PM or an email when I’ve received warnings in the past, but I haven’t received any lately afaik so maybe they do that now. I’ve received emails and PMs from mods who rightfully told me I needed to calm down, and also some about other issues or just information for me however.
A man named Luca Brasi comes to your door and drops off a fish wrapped in newspaper. Of course it’s the Chicago Sun-Times.
Unfortunately the accompanying message - “Don Adams sez you should get smart” - often confuses people into upgrading their cable.
I’m ashamed to admit I giggled.
Was it in a brown paper bag, left on your front porch and set ablaze?
Just don’t put it in my recycling bin.
We usually use emails and personal PMs when we want to alert someone that they’re on the edge, just short of Official Warnings. The Official Warning PM is computer-generated and so not personalized. You’d know the difference.
With an Official Warning, there’s a message to the recipient that’s written by the moderator giving the warning. I usually just say “I’m giving you a warning for this post,” though. Dunno if other mods include a heart-to-heart talk or not.
Wait, did Lynn’s cousin Vinnie get laid off? I hate to think what might become of that gentleman if he’s no longer gainfully employed.
I generally go with the ‘you’re being warned’ with a short paragraph about why and how to avoid it in the future. Then a pitiful plea for the offender not to do it again.
How long do warnings stay on your record? If you get two warnings say five years apart are you officially a hooligan?
Yes, but not one in immediate danger of getting whacked. What really sets the Mods off is persistent douche-baggery over a relatively short period of time, or a long-term pattern of behavior that doesn’t respond to corrective measures. The odd warning here or there is just a sign that you slipped once in awhile. They can even be badges of honor, if you swing that way.
Others of us take pride in the fact that our smack-downs have been delivered personally, rather than officially. 
Pretty much what silenus said. We’re all human and we all slip up now and again; what the mods are looking for is not the occasional goof, but repeated behaviors despite multiple warnings, over a fairly short period of time.
We don’t delete old warnings, but as has been said, we attach less importance to warnings according to how old they are. Two warnings five years apart are no big deal.
Two warnings spread out over five years indicates an occasional lapse.
Three warnings in three weeks means you’re just not listening, and is of much more concern.
Does a warning always show up when the person logs in or someplace else, even 10 or 15 years later?
Someplace else? No, just here. But so far as I know, unless revoked they’re there forever.