Not to point fingers, but the fact that users can put "account suspended" in their user line bothers me.

Why? Because if I want to make a reply to that person, I don't know if they are just banned, because of their status.

It provides major confusion for me. Strictly because if they have been banned, I see no reason to make a reply to their comment.

Just some Food for Thought. ;)

Hmm.... I'm actually pretty certain that one can not use "account suspended" as their custom title. Let me play around for a second and see if I can give you a better answer.

Edited to add - after doing some searching on past discussions about this, it seems that there is some technical reason why we can not prevent people from choosing this as their custom title, and still use the designation for truly suspended accounts.

Frankly, if someone wants to act suspended, I'd honor their wish and ignore them. (And this is without knowing who you're even talking about, so this isn't an attack on anyone.)

AVP

Oh my gosh, I was just coming here to say the same as MM......I just noticed it today as well, and it was bothering me this morning.

Ok, who are we talking about here?

Originally posted by Cadaverous Pallor
Ok, who are we talking about here? Before anyone answers that, we have checked the membership roster, and everyone with "Account Suspended" in their user title actually is. We have also made a change which should prevent people from choosing "Account Suspended" or "Account Closed" as their custom titles.

If you have a question about suspended or closed accounts, please PM a moderator.

AVP

Weird. I posted here this morning (saying pretty much the same thing as AVP). I know I saw it on the page, but now it is gone.

Must have been hallucinating somehow.

OK, here's what may be a dumb question, but I'm asking it anyway: if someone's account is suspended, does the status line always read "account suspended"? Or is it possible for someone to be suspended without the status line changing? Thanks.

It is possible for someone's account to be suspended without the title saying it. When someone is permanently banned, we definately change the title, but if it is a temporary suspension, we do not always change it.

To correct / clarify what Tony said.

Our policy is that temporary suspensions are done "behind the scenes," and are not visible to the membership at large. The member's account status does not change. There was one instance where a member's account status changed when they were temporarily suspended. This was caused by an unknown glitch in the system, was quickly corrected, and we have taken steps to prevent this from happening again.

If a member has been permanently suspended, our current policy is to change their account status to read "Account Suspended." This is the only time that a suspension is visible to the other members.

The moderators are currently discussing this policy, and we will announce any changes we decide to make.

AVP

Thanks for the responses. That really helps to clarify things for me.

One other question: I believe it was said earlier in this thread that members could pretty much pick whatever they wanted (within community standards) for their status line. Since it's been discussed on another thread that Darkbeer is not associated with MousePad in any official capacity (which I was surprised at, given the announcement of his position in the admin section a while ago), I noticed that his status line says something like "MousePad News Analyst". Does that mean that others of us can use some kind of MousePad position designation in our status lines as well? I want to be the MousePad Grammar Police! :geek:

Darkbeer is not a staff member, nor a moderator. He has a unique position in the community, and has been given access to post to a forum that other members can not. This still does not mean that he officially speaks for MousePlanet.

His custom user title was approved by the board Admins, because it reflects his role. I don't see the Admins creating the role of MousePad Grammar Police anytime soon, so I doubt that custom user status would be approved.

AVP

Originally posted by AVP
The moderators are currently discussing this policy, and we will announce any changes we decide to make. We have made a change to our policy regarding suspended and banned members.

Going forward, the status line of members who have been temporarily suspended from MousePad will be changed to read "Suspended."

The status line of members who have been permanently banned from MousePad will be changed to read "Banned."

Though we are now making changes in status visible to the membership at large, we do not invite, solicit or welcome public discussion of a member's suspension or banishment. As always, this is between the member and the moderators. If you have a question about an action we have taken, e-mail or PM a moderator privately.

Finally, "grave dancing" is, in and of itself, a violation of our Community Policies, and will be dealt with harshly.

Thank you,

AVP
- for the MousePad Moderators.