Why does my post suddenly need approval?

I am not a new member, at all, and it is a reply to my own thread (development log), which is part of an extended thread that has been going on for ages. Now, suddenly, “Approval pendng”? Is it because I refuse to use deodorant? It’s my socks, right? You don’t like my socks?

Well, that certainly doesn’t help your case…

But seriously, folks. I’ve had a couple of times where the board would randomly require moderator approval before allowing it to post. If I had to take a stab at a guess as to why, I’d say my post (and yours, by extension) probably triggered some obscure forum policy. Like having X amount of posts in a row might kick it off to prevent spamming, or replying to a thread after X amount of days have passed since the last response to cull necrothreading.

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Sometimes if you use a naughty word, it’ll hold it as a precaution. Did you use a naughty word?

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Uhhh, I just tried to quote it here, but got an “Approval pending” again. So it must be the text. But no bad words as far as I know (unless “disco” is a bad word…).

“I just took out the entire spinal control sytem. Now bones are rotated manually, but it can be done with the ‘individual origins’ control, so it isn’t that bad. Still, not my desired outcome, but… disco lives on!”

Are you kidding me??? “R_i_p_p_e_d” is a bad word???

Edit: Sillintess confirmed. Exchanged “r-i-p-p-e-d” with “took” and there is no approval needed. R-i-p-p-e-d is a censored word. Wow. Did not expect that…

Edit2: Just tested it by writing “I ripp*d my shirt” and it slapped me with “approval pending”. Ri**ed is a bad word, confirmed. wtf… lol!

I do agree that the list of bad words appear to be random, but each Discourse forum can remove language from the list that comes with the software.

It could be that the default list comes more from political correctness ideology than anything else, if you look at the speech codes at colleges for instance you discover that some have now thrown a large chunk of the English language itself into the ‘no’ column.

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I wonder if “ri*pped” is on the ban list because it’s also a word used in piracy circles, and for (with varying legality) pulling files out of game ROMs. This site is understandably wary about hosting that stuff

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Ohhhhh… makes sense. Might be an old thing, since that kind of talk was common a decade or so ago…

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This is the answer :slight_smile:

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I too have, had this happen with ‘that’ word, when someone was asking about a model he had ri,

COPIED.

I thought, at first, it was because I had accused him of stealing it!

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What I do not get though, is why there has to be blanket bans on commonly used language because of the potential of it being used in an illegal or in a harmful sense. There are various instance where the software itself treats us like children even though many of us are well past the age of legal adulthood. I mean the banned word mentioned here can describe things related to jeans, muscle building, paper, ect…

If the staff wants to become this particular in managing discussion, then BA might as well require the approval of an appointed ‘politburo’ for a post to even appear on the forum at all (while an alternative Blender community forms somewhere else).

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It’s not banned, those posts are only held for moderation.

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Technically it is not banned, but the need for moderator approval is in fact an effective ban on the word in fast moving discussions (since there are times where moderators are not around). It is just a jarring inconvenience that even those who have done nothing wrong in a long while have to deal with. Perhaps it would be better if the list of moderated words was enacted as a disciplinary tool instead (as in, someone is boasting how they are using a pirated version of Maya or something).

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Preventing spam is important. Preempting criminal activity is important.

I ran into this issue mentioning cry-p-to at some point and was perplexed, until I thought of how many hundreds of spam posts that can prevent.

Seriously, remember a few years back when there were hundreds of spam posts sneaking through the filters and how obnoxious that was?

Let’s give @bartv and @Fweeb a break and let them use the tools that make their job easier, and our forum less spammy

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I had this happen with the word “n_de”, as in without clothing.

A small amount of screening, different from censorship, can be beneficial. Word lists like this can be useful for either.

A problem can arise when the lists are too extensive or too “sensitive”. If a word must not have objectionable meaning in any language, jargon, slang or subculture of anyone anywhere then there would be few words we could use.

Some such words could belong on the list. For example, in America, “f_nny” is slang for buttocks. I’ve been told it means something else in other countries.

Maybe the BA staff could remove words from the list when a moderation hold occurs but the word shouldn’t be listed. BA members’ opinions could be considered. I would be concerned if the staff thinks the list is perfect.

The list isn’t provided by Discourse, it’s compiled by Bart and the moderators. i.e., if a word is on the list, it’s because it’s specifically a problem for this website.

If moderated words were a democratic process, we would either end up with no moderated words or far too many, and the whole thing would be a giant, angry, rage-filled debacle.

I’m not sure what the process is to become a moderator, but if you have concerns about the list, that’s probably the easiest way to remedy them, is to move up in Discourse trust levels. I would imagine you need to be a Regular (trust level 4) first, but as far as I know, no information about how moderators are chosen here has been made publically available, and I doubt it will be

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So the list is perfect. I see. All decisions from on high are flawless. Also, the members of BA are imbeciles filled with rage who, if allowed to make a decision, would “either end up” with one extreme error or another but could never have any useful thoughts on a subject.

I think you just demonstrated the basis for my concern about staff believing in their own perfection.

I advise the members of BA to note that we are considered savage beasts who must be ruled and never question our flawless masters. Also democracy is bad. Of course, most moderators/staff probably don’t believe that, nor that they are perfect, and probably would consider any reasonable thoughts from members. There is a strange defensiveness that emerges at odd times. Mostly harmless.

I see that you assumed negativity on my part and became defensive even though the list, moderators, and use of the list was not demeaned and I wrote a positive thing or two about the list. Negativity has its place but I presented thoughts in a thread of idle chatter about a trivial subject. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, critiques are not demeaning or attacks on moderators, rules, procedures, word lists, or anything else.

I agree that online discussions are often of little worth and can degrade into various levels of unpleasantness.

I’m happy to hear that the word list is custom made for BA. That increases my already high confidence in its quality. That doesn’t mean it won’t need adjustments occasionally or that significant public objections or suggestions should not be considered.

Straw man. I didn’t say anything about democratic process. I suggested that members’ opinions could be considered.

Straw man. I didn’t say the list was provided by Discourse. My thoughts were not related to the source of the list.

… my dude, it’s not that deep, take a few deep breaths, you’ll feel better, I promise

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Yeah, I don’t think that list is “politically” motivated. Every time I’ve tripped the list it’s been a nuisance but it always gets approved in the end - and most of the time it has nothing to do with politics (you-know-what tokens are the exception). Additionally, you have a variety of questionably-sourced conspiratorial political views which seem to be mostly if not all be allowed through. (I would also point out that politeness and manners aren’t a concept that’s unique to one side of the political spectrum or one specific ideology. Every society/culture/subculture has their own ideas about what language, topics, and viewpoints are impolite or even taboo but that’s getting off topic).

Arguments don’t seem to be getting censored much either so they’re not trying to force politeness. People seem to have plenty of leeway to be argumentative, or even uncivil jerks when they want to be as long as they aren’t crossing the line to abusive behavior, though overall the general tone here leans towards polite and civil. I don’t think that stems from fear of the mod censorship though.

I do think the list is tuned a bit too sensitively though. By which I mean I think it probably generates an excessive amount of false positives and likely creates lot of work for the mods, but then I don’t see what it’s catching that should be removed.