Clarification on the use of block capitals

[anothercustom]

Do the site rules about block capitals need updating? The rules state:

"all big letter/CAPS/UPPER-CASE posts and thread titles, SHOUTING"

I had a post amended by a moderator (and susequently deleted) because one word in the body text (not the title) was in uppercase. It was in uppercase because I was quoting something word for word and in the source I was quoting, it was written in upper case for effect.

This is not a winge about moderation but some clarification would be welcome.

[seany65]

Perhaps if you wrote :

(sic)

after the word it would show that you are quoting exactly what someone else said or wrote and that you couldn't change it or the meaning may be changed, then maybe the mods could leave it?

[pharoahegypt]

You could also just italicize embolden or underline the part of text you wish to stand out?

[rotobott]

Mods are human, they can have bad days, PM him calmly after a couple of days

Sometimes you can get away it if it's humorous

http://vintage-erotica-forum.com/sho...postcount=1451

[Mal Hombre]

That was a long time ago,Things were different,I wasn't a Mod..

[anothercustom]

Thanks for your suggestions. I don't think '(sic)' would be appropriate in this instance as there was nothing erroneous in the sentence I cut and pasted. I could have used bold or italics but it was only one word and therefore within the rules. I think I'll blame it on a moderator having a bad day!

[pharoahegypt]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

That was a long time ago,Things were different,I wasn't a Mod..

Ah, yes.... The good old days..!?

[buttsie]

Originally Posted by anothercustom

Thanks for your suggestions. I don't think '(sic)' would be appropriate in this instance as there was nothing erroneous in the sentence I cut and pasted. I could have used bold or italics but it was only one word and therefore within the rules. I think I'll blame it on a moderator having a bad day!

There are more than a few examples of rules being interpreted differently which dont quite conform to how the rule was written

Whats missing in these instances is context

Safest bet is to stay away from capitals with the exception of the first letter in a word

Not allowed:
all big letter/CAPS/UPPER-CASE posts and thread titles, SHOUTING

Issues with Mods editing / deleting are best dealt with via an Admin imho
rather than a public airing

[anothercustom]

Originally Posted by buttsie

Not allowed:
all big letter/CAPS/UPPER-CASE posts and thread titles, SHOUTING

I thought that was the rule, but quite a few of the definitive VEF rules have been rewritten or reworded in the General Modern Topics Rules. In that section it reads:

"Do Not use all Upper Case in Text, This is considered as "Shouting" and is Not Permitted. Acronyms Excepted."

It's ambiguous but from what I've been told, it applies to single words which contradicts the generic VEF rules. Anyway, it's not a major issue but the re-wording of generic rules applicable to the whole site within sub sections is unhelpful.

[fats]

Originally Posted by anothercustom

I had a post amended by a moderator (and susequently deleted) because one word in the body text (not the title) was in uppercase. It was in uppercase because I was quoting something word for word and in the source I was quoting, it was written in upper case for effect.

Two possibilities: First, when you're quoting something that someone else has written somewhere, you can put it between [quote] and [/quote] BBcode tags. Alternatively, quoting it in running text, you can edit it to change the capitalized word to italic in lowercase, which preserves the original meaning. Or bold in lowercase for stronger emphasis.

Typists use all-caps for one word not to shout but to emphasize when they don't know that there are better ways available. In straight ASCII text, the accepted way for ages & ages has been to use *asterisks* or _underscores_. Italic should absolutely be used instead in any medium (like a web BBS) that allows it.

This has bugged me for a very long time whenever I've seen it on paper. For instance, Dave Barry used to be one of the worst offenders in that regard. Much as I like him and his writing, I've been annoyed by that repeatedly. It's the sort of obvious mistake that should be caught by an editor and fixed before publication, but in recent years there's no hope of that because the editors at the publishing companies are all too ignorant. But I digress, as usual.