MetaFilter FAQ

Go to the New User page to read about accounts and follow the link to sign up and pay for the account. The current sign-up fee is US$5; it's a one-time fee and is the only cost associated with using the site. Once the PayPal payment is completed, your account will be active and you will be allowed to make comments on various MetaFilter threads. Please note that there is a waiting period to create a post to the front page of MetaFilter, however you can create an Ask MetaFilter post immediately.

We enforce a strict rule against posting your own work or work you've contributed to or are posting about in a promotional capacity, except on MetaFilter Projects or MetaFilter Music. Posting a link to a site you're connected to, or posting for promotional purposes (except on Projects or Music), will result in a ban with no refund.

If the signup fee is a financial or logistical hardship, you can drop the moderation team a line via the Contact Us form to ask about a complimentary signup.
(tags: MetaFilter Fanfare AskMetafilter newusers membership askme music projects irl jobs ) February 15, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Where are the Metafilter Community Guidelines and Content Policy?

Here's a link to the Metafilter Community Guidelines. These guidelines describe the kind of place we want Metafilter to be, and how we should aim to treat each other. The MetaFilter Content Policy discusses what sort of content on the site is unacceptable.

We also have a page about Microaggressions, what they are and how to avoid them.

(tags: guidelines rules newmembers introduction moderation metafilter askmetafilter metatalk policies ) October 26, 2019 - permalink - back to questions

What is my username? Can I change my username?

Your username is whatever name you chose during the signup process and is included in the receipt you received from PayPal. If you can't remember it, please drop us a note at the Contact Us form.

You cannot change the username attached to your account on your own (i.e., the name on your past posts and comments). Usernames are your identity in the community and carry a lot of weight with others that read your comments. If you are changing your username you are effectively disappearing from the site and reappearing anew. Retroactively changing an account's name causes confusion as people mention users by name in discussion. We will change the username attached to an existing account in some situations: MeFites being stalked or harassed, trans MeFites, and some very rare legal issues. Please talk to us if this is your situation.

If you are just unhappy with your username, you can sign up for an all new account and use that for your participation in the future instead (see the FAQ entry on new accounts for more details about when it's okay to make new or second accounts).
(tags: username preferences user ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What if I forget my password? Can I change my password?

You can change your password using this form (linked on your preferences page as well).

If you have forgotten your password, you can get it reset here, which requires a working, authenticated email address to receive your password reset link. If you do not have a working email address in your profile, contact a moderator and we'll help you reset your password.
(tags: password ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

I signed up but had a PayPal problem and now they say my username isn't available. What now?

When you start the sign up process, your username is reserved. If you don't finish signing up for some reason, the username is still reserved. If you come back to try to sign up again, you'll find the username is already taken. But it's taken by you! To fix this, use the "Log In" link (not the "Sign Up" link), with the username you've chosen, and you should be prompted to go through the remainder of the sign up process. If not, just contact the mods and we'll help figure out what's going on.
(tags: username paypal ) September 23, 2010 - permalink - back to questions

I want an account but I don't want to use PayPal. What do I do?

There is no self-serve way to get an account without using PayPal. However, you're welcome to contact the mods to help you set up an account manually if you want to work out alternate account payment arrangements.
(tags: paypal membership privacy ) December 26, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Can I have more than one account? Can I change accounts?

The guiding principle here is that we expect you to have one main identity on the entire site, at a given time. It's not okay to pretend to be multiple people. Lots of detail in this MetaTalk post.

Changing to a new primary account:
- If you need to move to a new account name, it is okay (in most cases) to open a new account and close the old one. Some people choose to note on their userpage who they used to be, but it's not required. Note, this kind of account switch was allowed as a courtesy for people who felt strongly that their old name wasn't okay anymore, but it should not be abused. Contact the mods if you have questions.
- Some previously banned users may be allowed to open a Brand New Day (BND) account. This is only okay if the new account is not causing the same problems as the old account. Please contact the mods if you are unclear on this.

Second accounts:
Having a second active account (known as a sock puppet) is generally discouraged, but is allowed as a courtesy for two purposes:
- Privacy, for example asking an occasional question on a sensitive topic or giving an answer in Ask MetaFilter that is not linked to your primary account
- Jokey comments from clearly one-off joke accounts, for example usernames like baby jesus or Official Mefi Head Complainer

It is against the rules to use a sock puppet account:
- to get around the time limitations for AskMe, MeFi and MeTa posts. The time limits are per-person, not per-account.
- to harass other members or otherwise be an asshole on the site
- to comment with more than one account in a single thread, hop between accounts arbitrarily, or otherwise appear to be using multiple accounts to seem like two separate people

Violating the rules for spare accounts is grounds for banning the spare account and potentially your primary account as well. While moderators generally know which accounts are sock puppets, we will not reveal that information to users. That said, it is the responsibility of the user to maintain the privacy of that account if they want it to remain private. Contact a moderator if you have any doubts about appropriate use of a second account.
(tags: users sockpuppet accounts privacy anonymous ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Can I give someone a gift MetaFilter account?

Yes, just use this link and fill in your friend's email address. They will be able to choose their own handle once they register. The invitation will include your MetaFilter username and a link to your member profile so they know who gave them the gift. If you don't want them to know your MeFi username, you can log out before you do the transaction, and then the gift will be anonymous.
(tags: metafilter gift accounts paypal ) November 16, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Can I close or delete my account permanently or temporarily?

Yes; if you no longer want to be a part of the MeFi community you can close your own account. If you go to your profile page when you are logged in, click Edit Profile and scroll to the bottom, you will see a link that says "Close Your Account." Clicking this will take you to an "Are you sure?" page. If you confirm, your account will be closed and you will be unable to log in, post, comment or access MeFi Mail. Your existing posts and comments will remain. If you change your mind at a later date and want to reactivate your account, a moderator can do it for you.

If you need to completely delete your account for privacy or safety reasons, Metafilter can accommodate you. Please be aware that this is a harm reduction strategy; Metafilter's content is regularly scraped/reproduced elsewhere on the internet and deleting the original will not remove copies outside our control.

To get your account deleted:

- Use the Contact Us form to request an account deletion
- We will run the process within approximately 48 hours and notify you when it's done
- Currently, AskMes and IRL posts are made completely inaccessible; comments become completely inaccessible; FPPs and other subsite posts are deleted in the Metafilter-specific sense, i.e. they're not easily discoverable but they're still accessible by direct link.
- If personal/identifying information exists in one of those other posts, please specify and we can make it inaccessible manually.
- Deleted accounts will remain closed. Users who request an account deletion may continue to use the site with a new account. If you have further concerns, we will be happy to discuss a safety plan with you.

There are other privacy solutions available to you as well, including secondary accounts, individual comment/post deletion, and the minimal profile option

(tags: account close timeout privacy wipe delete ) November 25, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

I'm new. What should I do first?

Welcome! First be sure to check the Metafilter Community Guidelines to understand more about what kind of place Metafilter aims to be. Then you can set up your profile with as much or as little information as you want, then look around the site. You've probably already seen the new user note, so you know about the waiting period before you can post, and the rule against making posts on the front page about projects you were involved in creating or are promoting. It's a good idea to spend time reading the site to get a sense of the culture here. Note that things can vary between parts of the site - for example, MetaFilter (or MeFi) and Ask MetaFilter (or AskMe) have different guidelines. See the Specific Subsite Rules in the Content Policy for specifics.

On the MetaFilter wiki, there is a helpful Orientation page for new members. This FAQ has a great deal of information too. If you have a question that is not answered here or in the wiki, you can use the Contact Us form (which is linked in the bottom right corner of every page) to directly ask the moderation team.
(tags: newuser n00b orientation ) December 12, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Why are you asking for my email? How do I change my email address?

You need to have a working email address in your profile. Please use a real address that you check. We will not spam you, and we will never give out your address. We use your profile email address to send password reset emails, reply to messages you send through the Contact Us form, and to contact you directly about site/participation issues.

By default, your address is hidden from everyone else and not shown on your user-facing profile page. Only if you set your preferences to show it will your email address show up in your profile, and even then it only shows to logged-in members.

Many members use a semi-disposable address for MetaFilter only so that people can contact them. You can also use MeFi Mail for contacting other users and being contacted if you don't want to have a user-facing email address.

You can edit your email address and the rest of your profile details by clicking on the preferences link at the top or bottom of the page when you are logged in.
(tags: email profile userpage mefimail mail privacy ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Why are you asking for my birthday?

This was a feature that some users had requested and it is totally optional. You can indicate your birthday [day/month/year or just year] and your age will appear on your profile to logged-in users. If you decide you no longer want to make your age/birthday visible you can revert to having no birthday showing. You can click on your birthday in your profile and see which members share your birthday.
(tags: age profile userpage birthday privacy ) April 10, 2008 - permalink - back to questions

Why are you asking for my geographic coordinates?

It is entirely optional to give your geographic coordinates in your profile. If you give a longitude and latitude, you will be able to use certain features that are geolocation-based. These features include: seeing which other members live near you (you can specify a distance for "near"); getting a message if there is an In Real Life (IRL) meetup scheduled near you; seeing how far away from you each job posting is in Jobs. You can choose whether other members will also be able to see your location by selecting 'Available to Members' or 'Private' in the Geographic Coordinates section of your site preferences.
(tags: location latitude longitude geographic coordinates profile privacy irl jobs ) December 12, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Why are you asking for my pronouns?

The Profile page has a place to specify your pronouns. You can use this field (click here for the edit form) to let people know what pronouns to use for you on the site -- for example, "she", "he", "they" or other terms. It's freeform, but please only use it for real answers, not jokes. (Joking about pronouns, even if it's well-intended, can feel dismissive of other people. Please use the Contact Us form if you see a problematic entry in this field.)

Specifying your pronouns is optional and it’s ok to just leave this blank. The info you enter will be visible on your profile page to logged-in members only, but people may naturally use your pronouns in conversations on public parts of the site. You can check another member's profile (by clicking their username) to see if they've stated a pronoun preference.

Some history of this field: The Pronouns field is new in 2020. It replaces the old Gender/Pronouns field. Originally the field asked only for "Gender", then in 2017 "Pronouns" was added to the prompt. But many members don't update their profile, and might have made jokey answers in the Gender field originally. Over time, a lot of those answers aged badly or were out of place as an answer to the updated prompt. In 2020, we decided to eliminate that old field entirely and start over.
(tags: gender pronouns profile userpage privacy ) May 11, 2017 - permalink - back to questions

Who can see the information on my profile page? What's the "minimal" profile option?

Short answer: profiles are mostly visible to the public, but non-indexed (that is, not "visible" to search engines like Google). Your Full Name, Picture, Webpage, and Blurb are visible to the public, and by default the profile-page listings of your comments and posts and contacts are too.

Among the user-editable parts of the profile page (where you choose what information to enter), the visible-to-the-public items are those under "Personal Info":

Full Name
Picture
Homepage URL
and Blurb about you
and optionally, Social Apps

The visible-to-members-only items are:

Email (required; private by default, but you can choose to make it visible to members)
Location
Geographic Coordinates (members-only by default, but you can choose to make them private)
Occupation
Gender
Relationship Status
Birthday
IM
Social Apps (you can choose whether to make Social Apps visible to the public or members-only; older accounts default to 'public', new accounts default to 'members only')

The members-only fields have a dark background on the Preferences page to make it easier to remember which they are. Except for Email, all the user-editable fields are optional, so for maximum privacy you can simply leave them blank. For email, you must include a working email for moderators to reach you at, but it's only displayed on your profile page if you choose.

Among the site-generated parts of the profile page, everything is visible to the public by default:

Join date
Funding message (unless you choose to hide it)
Listings of your Contributions (posts and comments)
Favorites
Social connections (contacts)
Tags

With the "Minimal Profile" option, members can hide the profile-page listings of Contributions, Favorites, Social connections, Funding Message and Tags from logged-out readers. To do this, check the "Minimal profile for non-members?" option under "Contact / Privacy Preferences". Note: this doesn't hide your actual posts and comments themselves - those remain visible to anyone on the internet. It only hides the listings on your profile page, and only hides them from non-members.

To illustrate the difference between Standard and Minimal options, here's a standard MetaFilter profile page, as seen by a non-member (or logged-out user):

Here's the same profile, again as seen by a non-member (or logged-out user), but now with the "Minimal profile" option checked:

Regardless of what's visible to human readers, Metafilter profile pages are set to be "non-indexed", which means reputable search engines will not make their contents searchable. For this reason, please don't bring profile information over to the main part of the site, where it can be indexed by Google; doing so is potentially a bannable offense. This MeTa comment discusses a little more about the ins and outs about what you should and shouldn't do with information you get from people's profile pages.
(tags: profile privacy members non-members minimal ) December 15, 2010 - permalink - back to questions

How do MetaFilter display preferences work? Can I customize the fonts and background color?

Your Site Preferences let you choose Modern, Classic, or Plain theme. Modern theme has a white background, but colored backgrounds are available by clicking Dark Mode on the front page. Classic theme has colored backgrounds and Plain theme is white background variant of Classic.

Modern theme is responsive, that is, it will automatically resize on various devices. In Classic or Plain theme, you can choose to switch between standard and mobile versions of the site—for information about switching between mobile and standard views, see this FAQ entry.

Classic and Plain theme allow you to customize the size and font of different text types. You can use any font that's installed in your computer, just enter the name. (If a font name isn't working, try copying the exact name of the font as it appears in your computer's Fonts folder or library.) You can set the fonts to be bigger or smaller, and you can set any font size to 0 (zero) to remove that text from the display. The defaults of Plain and Classic theme are these, in case you want to return to them after changing: Body Font - Verdana; Body Font Size - 10; Byline Font - Verdana; Byline Font Size - 8; Title Font - Arial; Title Font Size - 14.

When you click Save on your site preferences page, the display settings you chose are saved as cookies to your browser. That means you can have different display settings for different browsers. For example, you might use Classic theme on your home computer, but Modern theme on your phone. Keep in mind that adjusting your display settings will change them for the browser you are currently using, but not other browsers. So if you want to update a particular display setting across all of the browsers you use, you'll need to re-save your display preferences on each of them. Be aware that saving your display preferences will make those settings the default choices next time you load the preferences page.
(tags: display preferences fonts titles text defaults color theme cookies mobile ) January 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What's with the share buttons everywhere? Can I turn them off?

This feature gives you an easy way to share links on two major sites. The Twitter link will give you a short URL to use for a thread as well. If you don't like this feature, you can turn it off in your preferences. Here's the thread where it was discussed in MetaTalk.
(tags: twitter facebook share preferences social ) January 14, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

What do "Links to" and "Linked by" mean on my profile page? What does it mean if someone has called me a crush, or muse, or spouse?

This profile area contains lists of your contacts. See here for more details.

About the relationship terms, do not be alarmed. The system allows a person to select a "relationship" label when they add you as a contact, and sometimes people add jokey labels. Crush or muse generally means someone liked a comment or post of yours. There is no obligation to be reciprocal with people who make you a contact.
(tags: linksto linkedby contacts social etiquette ) December 13, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How do I view my own (or someone else's) previous posts, questions, and comments?

They are all viewable from your profile. Go to the My Profile link at the top of the page, or click your username anywhere it appears on the site. Your contributions are broken down by subsite, and by post/question and comment.

For an older alternative view of all your comments/answers, you can go to these URLs, replacing number 1 with your user number:
Mefi comments
AskMe answers

To see someone else's activity, go to their profile page, or substitute their user number in the above URLs.
(tags: profile posts comments activity customviews ) June 11, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

How do I find someone's profile page if I only know their username not their user number?

There are three ways:

1. You can search for their username in the search box, then click on the tab "Users" within the search results.

2. You can find a comment or post by them, and click on their username in the byline.

3. You can do it manually, by adding their username to the end of a string like this:

http://www.metafilter.com/username/cortex

This will still work with usernames with spaces, and with some special/punctuation characters, and is not case sensitive.

http://www.metafilter.com/username/me & my monkey

Please note that this does not work with a small subset of usernames using special characters; for example c:\awesome would not work with the above URL format.
(tags: usernames users profile ) March 23, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

Can I publicly mention details from someone else's profile page?

Generally, no, unless you've gotten their explicit permission to do so. User profile pages on MetaFilter are not indexed by Google. This means if someone's profile says that they live in a certain city or gives their real name, that information is not exposed to search engines and should not be considered "public" on the rest of the site which search engines are allowed to catalogue. For more info, see this FAQ entry on profile page etiquette.
(tags: profile privacy ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What does "I help fund MetaFilter" on profile pages mean?

In 2014, site founder Matt Haughey posted a MetaTalk thread about MetaFilter's financial problems. In that thread, community members and casual readers began contributing to the site's PayPal account through one-time donations and recurring payments. This new source of revenue was a step toward being member-supported rather than advertising-supported. We wanted to acknowledge those members who are providing this additional help to keep this place running with a note on their profile page.

For those who don't want the note to appear on their page, there's an option in site preferences to make the note inactive. Uncheck the box next to "Display funding message?" under "Contact / Privacy" settings. If you donated but somehow didn't get the profile message, just let us know via the Contact Us form and we'll set it up manually.

If you'd like to contribute, you can Help Fund MetaFilter.
(tags: funding profile money contribution subscriptions paypal stripe payments ) May 21, 2014 - permalink - back to questions

What does secure browsing do?

Secure browsing is a basic and now-ubiquitous encryption standard on the web, indicated in urls by "https://" rather than "http://". These days, MetaFilter defaults to secure browsing, using an HTTPS connection for all pages. However, if you have a specific need to use e.g. a 3rd party script or browser add-on that does not correctly support secure connection, you can turn off "Use secure browsing?" option on your preferences page.
(tags: secure browsing preferences security https ssl tls greasemonkey ) April 13, 2015 - permalink - back to questions

What is MeFi Mail?

MeFi Mail is a private messaging system for MetaFilter users which allows contact with users who may not have an email address in their profile. It is enabled by default but can be turned off in the profile editing area. Members can also opt to have these messages forward to their email address listed in their preferences. There is an envelope icon on the header bar of each page of MetaFilter, near your username. The envelope will show a red number (in the Modern them) or turn orange (in the Classic theme) when you have new unread messages. To check your MeFi Mail, click the envelope to visit your inbox.

To send someone MeFi Mail, go to their profile page by clicking their username. Members that have this option enabled will have a "send MeFi Mail" option visible on their profile page underneath their username which can be used to contact them.

Users can also opt to block MeFi Mail. Users who have blocked MeFi Mail cannot send or receive MeFi Mail and their profile page will say "MeFi Mail Disabled". To block all MeFi Mail in this way, go to your Profile editing page, and under Contact/Privacy Preferences, check "Opt-out of MeFi Mail". To block MeFi Mail only from a specific user, scroll to the bottom of a MeFi Mail from that user and click "Block this sender." If you have blocked a user and want to unblock them, you can do this from your contacts page at the bottom where it says "Manage blocked senders".

HTML cannot be used in MeFi Mail messages but URLs on a line by themselves will turn into hyperlinks. Banned or time-outed users cannot use or access MeFi Mail.

Unless you have specific permission, reposting someone's MeFi Mail is a violation of site guidelines. Do not use MeFi Mail to harass or stalk or spam other users. Abusing MeFi Mail in this way can result in your account being banned. Moderators can access MeFi Mail but will only do so in cases of harassment or spamming complains.

MeFi Mail is intended for basic conversation, not as a replacement for a full-fledged email system. For more extended or full-featured conversations, your best bet is to exchange email addresses with someone.
(tags: mefimail mail profile pm blocking unblocking privacy ) October 20, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

What are MeFi Mail reminders?

MeFi Mail reminders are system messages sent from MetaFilter to your MeFi Mail inbox. The most common messages are reminders to update Ask MetaFilter threads 30 days after posting. You'll also receive messages about new posts you make to any MetaFilter site. Those message include the post URL which can help you find the post again in the future. If you opt-out of MeFi Mail reminders you won't receive these messages.

You can also receive MeFi Mail notifications about meetups happening near you. To set this up, go to your Preferences page. If you have entered a location for yourself, under "Contact Preferences" you will be able to check a box for In Real Life IRL notifications.
(tags: mefimail preferences irl ) March 30, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What about adding more email-like features to MeFi Mail?

MeFi Mail is meant for lightweight on-site private messages; we've kept the feature set minimal intentionally. If you need a more full-featured system for a conversation with someone, we recommend exchanging email addresses.
(tags: mefimail email mail features ) January 3, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

What are meetups? Can I be alerted if there's one in my area?

Meetups are when people who know each other from MetaFilter (or just have an interest in MetaFilter in common!) get together in real life. These In Real Life (IRL) meetings are usually pretty informal, and happen all over the world. The IRL.metafilter.com is a subsite specifically for planning and organizing meetups and other events. Upcoming meetups are listed in the sidebar of MetaTalk as well. See here for more details.

Users can opt to be notified of meetups happening in their area in their user profile preferences. To do this, select "Receive IRL alerts?" under Contact Preferences. This feature will only work if you have entered geographic coordinates for yourself. You can set your geographic coordinates with this lookup.
(tags: meetups photos metatalk meta IRL ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What are contacts? Someone made me a contact, now what?

Adding someone as a contact is a simple way to keep track of their contributions on the site or to just note that you've met them or enjoy their participation. To add a contact, go to that person's profile page and click on the "Add user as a contact" link there. You can choose what your relationship is with this user, or leave that part blank.*

Making someone a contact allows you to easily see some of their site actions in your Contact Activity sidebar on the front page: you can see if they make a new post, make a comment that gets more than 12 favorites, get a "best answer" in AskMe, or add contacts. You can also see their activity on the My Contacts page. If you have made someone a mutual contact—you have linked them and they have linked you—you will be able to help add tags to each other's posts as well.

The most common reason to add someone as a contact is that you enjoyed a comment or post they made, and you want to see future things they post. There is no obligation to be reciprocal if someone has added you as a contact.

When you add a user as a contact, this information will be visible on your own user page as well as your usercontacts page. Contacts you have added are listed in your profile with the phrase "Links to", and people who have added you as a contact are listed under "Linked by". If you want to edit or remove a contact, click on their name and on their profile page you'll see the option to Edit/Remove them as a contact.

*Note that a few users like to select jokey answers for the "what is your relationship" question, for example "crush" or "spouse" for people they don't know. Do not be alarmed if someone does this; it is a common friendly joke. It is also fine to ask them not to do that.
(tags: contacts usercontacts tags tagging linkedby linksto users ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How do I see if a user is online or not?

You can't. MetaFilter doesn't automatically disclose that information about members. Moderators can only see the last time a member visited the site, not whether a member is currently online.
(tags: online activity privacy users ) September 7, 2010 - permalink - back to questions

How do I link to my other online communities/social sites in my profile?

If you contribute to other online communities, you can link to your profile at other sites from your MetaFilter profile page in two different ways.

The first way is using the link button in the "Blurb about you" box. Just click on "Preferences" or "Prefs" at the top of any page, and scroll down to the bottom of the "Personal Info" section. Click inside the "Blurb about you" box and follow these instructions on how to use the link button that appears at the bottom of the box.

The second way is by using the Social Apps widget. Note this widget will let you link to some of the major social media sites. Links posted via this second way will appear in the "Also On" section of your profile, with a clickable icon of the link.

To add a specific link that appears in the "Also On" section, click on "Preferences" or "Prefs" at the top of any page, and scroll down to the bottom of the "Customize Metafilter" page. Under the heading "Social Apps", choose a service name from the drop-down menu and then enter your username at that site. If you want to add another link, click "add another service" and you'll get another menu/name combo. When you're finished, click "Save your Preferences" to save everything.

If you want to remove a link to a site you've added, go back to editing your profile. Clear your username for the link you want to remove and click "Save your Preferences". The link won't show up on your profile anymore.

Adding a Flickr, Vimeo, or LibraryThing username to your profile will give you the option to add a widget with your recent activity from those sites to your profile page.

(The "Also On" feature was originally announced in this MetaTalk post.)

It's not always easy to figure out your username at other services, so here's a quick guide to finding your username/id at some of the more challenging sites:

airbnb
Go to your airbnb user profile page. The URL should look like this:

https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/[some number]

Copy the number at the end of the URL and enter it as your airbnb ID in your MeFi profile.

Amazon
Finding your Amazon profile ID is a little tricky. Go to amazon.com and click the "Your Account" link in the upper right corner. From there, look for the "Personalization" section at the bottom of the page. Under the "Community" column, click "Your Public Profile". Note the URL. It should look something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A6N8HSYO8DN1R?ie=UTF8&ref_=ya_56

The section you want to copy is everything after the final slash and before the question mark. In this case that's: A6N8HSYO8DN1R. Copy that ID and paste it into your MetaFilter profile.

Blogger
Go to the blog you want to link and look at the URL. It should be in the form of [prefix].blogspot.com. Note that prefix and add that at your MetaFilter profile.

Facebook
To add your Facebook account to your profile you'll need your Facebook URL Name. To find it, go to Facebook and click on your name in the upper-left corner of the page. On the following page note the URL in your browser's address bar, it should look something like this:

http://www.facebook.com/[url name]

Copy the entire url name and paste it here. Sometimes the URL Name contains periods, but keep in mind it will never contain a space.

Fitbit
Log into Fitbit and find your "view profile" link. Note the URL, and copy everything after user/. It's typically a short string of numbers and letters like this: 224MH2. That's what you want to copy and paste into your MetaFilter profile.

Flickr
Your Flickr photostream URL does not necessarily contain your Flickr username, and your Yahoo! login is not necessarily your Flickr username. To find your Flickr username, sign into Flickr and take a look at the line at the top of the page that says, "Signed in as...". Whatever appears there as a link is your official Flickr username. Make sure your Flickr profile isn't set to hide your profile from searches.

Glitch
You'll need to find your Glitch URL ID to add it. Visit your glitch profile and take a look at the URL in your browser address bar. Here's what it looks like:

http://www.glitch.com/profiles/PUVRH0T8ICE28JA/

Copy everything after /profiles/ and before the closing /. That long alphanumeric string is your Glitch URL ID. Copy that and paste it here.

Goodreads
Log in and click on "My Books" at the top of the page. You should be at a URL with a numeric ID:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/[some number]

Copy the number at the end of the URL and enter it as your Goodreads ID in your MeFi profile.

LinkedIn
Go look at your public profile page (you'll have to log in if you haven't already). Your profile page will show you your public profile URL and whatever is at the end is what you need to enter. You'll need to customize your profile URL to be something memorable/personal on this page if you haven't already. When you're done, your profile URL should look like this:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/[some name]

Grab [some name] and enter it as your LinkedIn Name in your MeFi profile.

SportsFilter
Log into SportsFilter and click on your profile page. You should see a URL like this:

http://www.sportsfilter.com/member/[some number]

Jot down the number, and enter it as your SportsFilter ID in your MeFi profile.

Steam
Log into the Steam website, and click the "View my SteamID" link toward the top of the page. You should see a URL in your browser address bar like this:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/[some name]

Use the name as your Steam Name in your MeFi profile. If you see a URL like this instead:

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/[some long number]

Go into your Steam profile settings and set up a "Custom URL". Note what you enter for that custom URL value and use that as your Steam Name in your MeFi profile.

Strava
Log in and click on "My Profile" in the nav at the top right of the page. You should be at a URL with a numeric ID:

http://app.strava.com/athletes/[some number]

Copy the number at the end of the URL and enter it as your Stava ID in your MeFi profile.

Tumblr
Go to the blog you want to link and look at the URL. It should be in the form of [prefix].tumblr.com. Note that prefix and add that at your MetaFilter profile.

Userscripts
Log in and click on your name at the top of the page. From there click 'public profile' on the left and note the URL:

http://userscripts.org/users/[some number]

Jot down the number, and enter it as your Userscripts ID in your MeFi profile.

World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft profiles are character and realm specific, so you'll need to specify the realm name and the character on that realm. To do that, find your character at World of Warcraft and note the URL. It should look like this:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/[realm]/[name]/simple

Now that you have the URL, copy the realm and character name as it appears in the URL and paste it into your MetaFilter profile. You should have a something that looks like "realm/name". We need both pieces separated by a / to link to your WoW profile.

(tags: social users profile userpage ) August 8, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

How do I suggest a new online community/social site for the "also on" section of the profile page?

There is a page on the MetaFilter wiki called SocialStuffs which is where you can suggest a new social site. That page has additional information on the information that we need in order to add the site. We try to add a group of new sites every few months.
(tags: socialstuffs wiki alsoon profile profilepage social ) March 6, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

How do I see who else belongs to a given online community/social site?

Use the handy Mefi Social Explorer.
(tags: social users twitter facebook google+ etsy ) October 21, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Where is the list of MeFites who have died?

There isn't currently a place where this information is collected. If you know of any MeFites who have passed away, please let us know and we can mark that on their profile page (example) and/or link to more information about them.
(tags: death mefites account membership ) July 17, 2010 - permalink - back to questions

What are Favorites?

Favorites are an internal bookmark system for MetaFilter -- a way to save a good thread or comment to a central place that you can come back to later to catch up or read again. To save a post to your favorites, you simply hit the [+] link, located at the bottom of the text of the post on the front page. Within a post, you may click the verbiage "add to favorites", which is also located at the bottom of the verbiage of the post. It should show up on your favorites page, which is linked in the header menu and on your own user page. You can remove your favorites from the Favorites page or by clicking the [-] link.

Your favorites are public, so other readers will know what you've saved for later. If you want to keep things private, use your browser's bookmark functionality instead. If a comment has been chosen as a favorite, it will have a number in brackets next to the [+] link indicating how many people chose it as a favorite. Clicking the number will show you a list of who favorited that comment. You can mark your own comments as favorites (but your userpage does contain a link to all the comments and posts you have made, so you do not need to favorite them for reference).
(tags: favorites features ) May 10, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Why can't I add favorites?

JavaScript is required to add favorites. So make sure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser, and make sure that any browser extension that can block JavaScript such as NoScript or AdBlock Pro is currently not blocking JavaScript from MetaFilter domains. Because MetaFilter relies on the Google AJAX Library API and Amazon CloudFront to host code related to favorites, you'll also need to make sure that the domains googleapis.com and cloudfront.net are allowed in any script-blocking extensions.

Also note there is a per-day limit on the number of favorites you can add, which is 240. If you have been very active favoriting things today, it's possible you have hit your favorites limit for the day.
(tags: favorites javascript ) February 17, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

What is My Favorites?

The My Favorites tab shows recent comment activity in threads you have favorited. If you favorite selectively, this is a way to monitor threads you are interested in, without commenting and adding them to your Recent Activity.
(tags: favorites customviews ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What do the counts on the Popular Posts or Popular Questions page mean?

The Popular Posts tab on MetaFilter and the Popular Questions tab on Ask MetaFilter show posts and questions that have received the most favorites from members within a specific time period: the last 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, or all time.

While browsing these pages you can see both the total number of favorites and the number of favorites added within the current set time period. Favorite counts are shown as a text link that says something like [24 favorites (12 in the last 24 hours)]. That means the post has received 12 favorites in the specified time period and 24 favorites total. If a post only has [x favorites] listed, that means all favorites were added within the specified time period. Click the link to see the list of all members who added the post as a favorite and when they added it.
(tags: favorites customviews stats ) December 13, 2008 - permalink - back to questions

Why is my old post/comment getting new favorites?

You can use the site search to look for your post to see who has been recently linking to it. cortex discusses how to do this in this thread. There is also a Greasemonkey script, "MetaFilter Why Favorited", that will help facilitate this, or you can search for the link in Google using this syntax: link:http://www.metafilter.com/######/Rest-of-URL
(tags: favorites ) September 6, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How many favorites can I add in a day?

There is an upper limit of 240 favorites per day (that you can add), to keep people from abusing the favorites system. There's no limit on the number of favorites your contributions can receive in a day.
(tags: favorites ) February 18, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

Can I change how favorites are displayed for me? Can I hide them entirely?

Yes. You can change how favorites are displayed to you, throughout the site, by changing a setting in your Preferences.

The options are:
- Default: shows a number indicating how many favorites a comment has
- "Has Favorites": only indicates if a comment has favorites or not, does not show a number. If you want to see the number for a given comment, you can reveal it by mousing-over the phrase "has favorites".
- "Hide Favorites": does not display favorites to you at all (however, you can still use the Favorite feature)
(tags: favorites preferences ) December 11, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I search within my favorites?

Yes. Click on the number after "Favorites:" from your profile and you will be taken to a page that includes a search window you can use. Type the word(s) you would like to find into the search window and then click "Search." The first returns will be from your favorited posts, and if you then click on the "Comments" tab on that results page, you'll see search returns for comments.
(tags: favorites search ) April 14, 2014 - permalink - back to questions

What should I know about Covid-19 Coronavirus on Metafilter?

Metafilter members can help each other by observing good information hygiene (share reliable information sources, use good judgment, don't panic).

- The Metafilter Community Wiki is collecting reference info on this page: Disaster Planning, Medical / Pandemic.
- Here are some site-related COVID-19 Updates

Here is a COVID Mini-FAQ:

Got a question about COVID-19/Coronavirus?
First check the World Health Organization, the US National Institutes of Health, or the US Centers for Disease Control websites, which carry up-to-date, evidence-based information. Depending on where you live, your local health authorities may have the specific information you need. You can still ask questions about it on Ask Metafilter, but please consult those resources first, and please check recently-asked questions about coronavirus before asking yours. Remember that answerers are not necessarily medical professionals, scientists, or researchers, and answers are not authoritative. Don't make critical decisions that rely only on the authority of a random answerer on the internet. Remember that the situation is evolving, and answers or posts from a short time ago may no longer be the best available information -- so take into account when the question or answer was posted.

Answering/commenting about COVID-19/Coronavirus?
Please link to pertinent information from high quality sources, and don't give top-of-the-head "it seems to me" sort of answers if possible. If you have particular professional expertise in the subject, feel free to identify yourself that way when answering, but if you don't, please don't phrase your answer in authoritative way. The best information will sometimes be different from country to country, or even region to region or state to state, so don't assume that conditions where you live are the same everywhere. Please try to keep your tone and response relatively calm. Maybe you're frustrated with someone in your life who is not taking things seriously enough or overreacting, but please don't assume everyone needs the same "truth-bomb" you want to lay on them. People are afraid and confused; good information carefully cited can help. Hyperbole, swearing, and bullying don't help.

Making a Metafilter post about the Coronavirus?
Please check recent posts tagged "coronavirus" and consider if your link would be better as a comment in one of those threads. Diffusing news and info among various posts makes it harder for people to keep track, and overwhelms the site. Also please be very careful you are not spreading disinformation, rumors, or hoaxes.

Need somewhere to chitchat or vent or hang out?
Welcome! There's a lot to talk about, all over the site. The Mefi Chat room is always open (now with an added "Watch" room for live watching events), and Mefi IRL has an "Online" category for virtual meetups. You can find people in Metatalk -- for example, recent Metatalk threads tagged "coronavirus" if you want to talk about that, or general Metatalk chit-chat threads are tagged "community". If you like discussing media, Fanfare is a good place to check, see if any Clubs are having events or check the Watercooler tab for most-active posts, or make a Fanfare Talk post to see if anyone's interested in a livewatch event. The "Recent Comments" tab on MeFi, MeTa or Fanfare is another way to see where active threads are.

Want to hide posts about the virus?
On the blue Metafilter front page, you can use "Set Preferences" on the "MyMefi" tab to hide posts tagged with tags you select. On AskMetafilter, do the same at the "MyAsk" tab. After adding your exclusions use My Ask or My Mefi to view those sections of the site.
(tags: metafilter askmetafilter metatalk community currentevents mymefi myask tags wiki mefiwiki coronavirus ) March 14, 2020 - permalink - back to questions

What is Recent Activity?

Recent Activity, linked in the header bar, is a convenient way to keep up with conversations you have been part of, or chosen to follow, without needing to go check each one separately. Recent Activity shows the last ten comments for threads which you've posted, commented in, or chosen with the "Add to Activity" feature, in the order of their latest activity. If your comment is one of the last ten, it will be highlighted so you can tell it apart from other comments.

If you are tired of seeing updates from a given thread, you can remove it from Recent Activity by clicking "remove from activity," either in the byline of the post, or next to that thread on your Recent Activity page. If you want to review the thread currently in, or recently removed from, your Recent Activity display, you can use the Manage Posts in Recent Activity and Manage Posts Removed from Recent Activity links which appear at the bottom of the Recent Activity page.
(tags: recentactivity customviews addtoactivity ) April 21, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What does the comment highlighting in Recent Activity mean?

Some comments in Recent Activity are highlighted in different ways to give you more information about that comment. Answers from Ask MetaFilter that have been marked as a Best Answer will have a different background color. Answers in Ask MetaFilter that are from the person who asked the question will have a border on the left side of the comment. Your comments and answers will have a complete border around them so you can spot them quickly.
(tags: recentactivity ) June 19, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

What is My MeFi? What is My Ask?

My MeFi (a tab on the Metafilter front page), and My Ask (a tab on the AskMetafilter page), are customizable views of the sites. For both, you can choose tags or categories you are interested in, and then the My MeFi or My Ask tab will show you only the posts or questions related to the subjects you chose. You can also exclude posts or questions according to tags/categories you choose, and My MeFi or My Ask will show you a view of the site with those posts or questions removed.

To get started, go to either tab, and it will have a link to your Preferences page where you can set up which tags and categories you're interested in. For example, you could set up a MeFi page that only shows you posts about art and food, or a version of AskMe that includes everything but relationship questions. You can always change your preferences later, too.

Fair warning: tagging is not automated. Filtering by tags depends to some extent on how consistent posters are in tagging their posts.
(tags: askme mymefi myask customviews metafilter askmetafilter ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I follow all the threads I have commented in, by looking in one place?

Yes. This is what Recent Activity does. See here for details.
(tags: recentactivity customviews comments ) December 12, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I choose to see only posts or questions with certain tags or in certain categories?

Yes. This is what MyMefi and MyAsk do. See here for more details.
(tags: tags categories mymefi myask customviews askmetafilter metafilter ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I see which posts or comments have received the most favorites?

Yes. The Popular page displays the posts and comments with the most favorites over the past 7 days -- note that, because members have requested it, this page doesn't show comments from the USPolitics megathreads. The Favorites tab on both Metafilter and Ask Metafilter's front pages will show you the most popular posts. See here for more details. Bear in mind the "all time" list is limited by when the favorites feature was introduced.
(tags: favorites stats ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I see which threads are currently most active?

Yes. The Recent Comments tab in Metafilter and MetaTalk will show you which threads have recent comments in them. This will often include the most recently posted threads, but will also catch older threads that are still chugging along.
(tags: recent customviews ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I make a selective list of threads that I want to follow? Can I follow threads without commenting in them?

Any thread you comment in will automatically show up in your Recent Activity, linked in the header bar. If you'd like to add a thread to Recent Activity without commenting in it, you can use the "Add to Activity" link in the post (more info in this MetaTalk thread).

You can also review and manage the threads currently visible in your Recent Activity. See this FAQ entry for more details.

(tags: customviews favorites recentactivity addtoactivity ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What sort of RSS feeds does MetaFilter have?

What is a greasemonkey script?

Greasemonkey scripts are little apps that can be run in Firefox (for users who have the Greasemonkey extension installed) and Chrome. They allow you to customize your experience of the site in various useful ways. Here is a list of Greasemonkey scripts for MetaFilter on the wiki, along with some instructions on how to use them. Note: Greasemonkey scripts are not created or supported by Metafilter. If you have a problem with one, contact the creator of the script, and beware - some scripts can cause problems or pose security risks for you.

There are alternatives to GreaseMonkey, such as TaperMonkey (which works in Safari), and Violentmonkey.

Note that scripts may not work on mobile devices.
(tags: greasemonkey firefox plugins customviews ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What is the US Politics sidebar widget for?

This feature does two things: gives users a quick way to hide most US politics posts from their view of the front page of MetaFilter, and provides a quick reference to recent discussion threads on that subject for those who want to find them more easily.

The filter's post-hiding option is intended to be quick and approximate -- right now, it hides posts tagged "potus45" (for the 45th President of the United States), and "USPolitics." If you want a more carefully-tuned filter of what you see and don't see on the front page, you can instead use the My MeFi tool to create a custom list of filtering tags. Also, the widget only hides the posts on the front page of Metafilter, so those posts will still appear in other views like Recent Comments, Popular Favorites, search results or tag pages. More extensive details are in the Metatalk post introducing the feature.

The list of recent threads in the US Politics sidebar listing is curated by the mods. If you think a thread should be listed there or is listed there in error, let the mod staff know via the Contact Us form.
(tags: sidebar politics mymefi uspolitics potus45 ) February 6, 2017 - permalink - back to questions

How do I post a Mefi post or ask an AskMe question from my phone or tablet?

Metafilter has a lot of display preferences and there are differences among them. One difference is how to post a new question or make a new post from mobile.

On Modern theme Mobile view, the New post/New question link should be under the "person icon" menu at the top right.

On Classic or Plain theme Mobile view, there is no New post/New question function. There are two options if you're in Classic Mobile:
- switch to Modern theme temporarily in your Preferences page on your device, post your question, and then switch back to Classic. (These preferences are set per-device, so it won't switch your preference on your computer.)
- switch to the Standard (i.e. non-mobile) view of the site temporarily by using the link at the very bottom of the page, post your question, and then switch back to Classic Mobile by clicking this link: mobile.metafilter.com
(tags: mobile cellphone tablet smartphone preferences standard view posting askmetafilter metafilter ) October 27, 2021 - permalink - back to questions

How soon can I post after signing up?

You can comment immediately. To make a front page post to MetaFilter, you need to be a member for at least a week and you need to make a comment to the site. Even long-time members have waiting periods between posts. You can make an AskMetafilter post immediately.
(tags: fpp posting newmembers askme askmetafilter metafilter ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How soon can I post again after making a post?

After you have posted a thread (a post in MetaFilter, a question in AskMetafilter, etc), you have to wait this long before posting a second thread in that same area of the site. There is no similar limit for comments.

MetaFilter - 12 hours
AskMetafilter - no limit
FanFare - no limit
Projects - no limit
Music - 24 hours
Jobs - 24 hours between posting job Openings; you can only post one Availability total
Podcast - only admins post the podcast
IRL - no time limit, but you can have no more than 10 active IRL threads at a time
MetaTalk - one week

Note that these waiting periods are per-person, not per-account, so if you have two accounts you still can only post at these intervals. Using two accounts to get around the posting limits is against the rules and may result in your post being deleted and your second account closed.
(tags: timeframe meta askme mefi projects fpp askmetafilter metafilter metatalk posting jobs music irl fanfare ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How long do threads remain open?

After a certain amount of time, threads are automatically closed to new comments. The length of time varies on different parts of the site.

MetaFilter - close after one month
Ask MetaFilter - close after one year
FanFare - always open
Projects - always open
Music - always open
Jobs - there are no comments on Jobs
Podcast - never
IRL - close after 6 months
MetaTalk - close after one month

On MetaTalk and IRL only, a thread can be closed by an admin but not deleted - such threads remain visible on the main MetaTalk or IRL page. (See here for more on why this happens.) Note that this fuctionality does not exist on the other subsites, so for example it is not possible for an admin or a user to "close" an AskMe thread without deleting it.
(tags: threads comments closed ) August 2, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How do I edit or delete my post?

You can't delete or edit your own post once you've submitted it. If you want to fix an error or have your post removed, you have to have a moderator do it, please ask us via the Contact Us Form.

Please do not post a question to Ask Metafilter assuming you can have it removed once it has been answered. There is an Anonymous option if you want to ask a question not linked to your own profile. You can find that option on the numbered list of the AskMetafilter posting page.
(tags: askme askmetafilter metafilter delete metatalk ) August 22, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How do I edit or delete my comment? What are the rules about the edit function?

Once you post a comment you'll have five minutes to fix any typos. Click the 'Edit' link in the comment byline to edit your comment. After five minutes, the Edit link no longer appears next to the comment. At that point, you can use the Contact Us form to ask a moderator to make the changes for you.

Please keep in mind that this feature exists to fix typos only. Please do not use the "Edited to add" notation that is used on some other websites. If you need to make changes to the meaning of your comment (including fixing a factually incorrect statement, or just adding another thought), please just post another comment to clarify.

If you want to delete a comment after you make it, do not use the edit feature. Flag it or use the Contact Us form to reach the mods, who can delete it for you.

Moderators can see the previous versions of comments and will be able to check if a user is making content changes or otherwise misusing the edit function.
(tags: comments editing editwindow metafilter askmetafilter askme metatalk ) October 1, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How do I comment anonymously?

There is no anonymous comment function. If you want to add something to a thread but want it to remain unconnected to your account, you can use the Contact Us form to reach the moderators, and one of them can add it for you. (If instead you want to ask an anonymous question on Ask Metafilter, the procedure is here.)
(tags: anonymous comments mods privacy metafilter askmetafilter askme ) December 11, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How do I link to a specific comment?

Every comment has a permalink associated with it. If you're on a desktop or laptop, click on the timestamp on a comment, the URL that shows in your browser's address bar is the permanent link to that comment.

On mobile, the timestamp is still the permalink, but the URL may or may not appear, depending on what OS you're using.
(tags: permalink comments metafilter askme metatalk ) May 19, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How do I make a link? Can I use HTML in my posts?

There are two ways to make a link: type it in, or use the automated buttons.

To type it in: If you know how to use HTML, you can use an abbreviated list of HTML tags in your posts, including a, b, blockquote, center, em, i, li, ol, pre, small, strike, strong, sub, sup, and ul. You can just type them into the compose/comment box.

To add italics, for example, you would type: <em>italicized phrase</em>
which shows as: italicized phrase

To add a link to example.com you would type: <a href="http://example.com">here is a link to example.com</a>
which shows as: here is a link to example.com

UBB code does not work in MetaFilter. Not all HTML is allowed. If you stick to simple text formatting (b, strong, i, em, a) and lists (ul/li/ol) you'll be ok. Things like tables, embedded video code, javascript, images, and inline styles will be stripped out. There is also a restriction on using html to make the words "posted by" in small size in comments, to keep people from making comments that look like they're being posted by others.

Using the buttons: If you use a modern browser, you'll see B/I/link buttons below the compose/comment box that you can use to add basic formatting. To make a link using the button, you highlight the word or phrase you want to be the link text (like the phrase "here is a link to example.com" above), click the link button, and type or paste the URL into the box that appears.

Here's a short video showing how to use the buttons to insert HTML.
(tags: html compose links link linking metafilter askmetafilter metatalk askme faq2020 ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How do I post code or other marked up text?

Because the site strips a lot of extraneous HTML from questions, it can be difficult to post things that need special formatting or include special characters. If you want to include code snippets or other text with your question, you can use a tool like pastebin that allows you to link to properly formatted code that you can mark up with syntax highlighting.
(tags: code html askme syntax markup askmetafilter ) June 16, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

How do I create the [more inside] jump when posting?

The break and the "more inside" text are created for you automatically after you fill in the posting page form. There are several boxes to fill in when posting. On Mefi, the title and the box called "Description" will form the part above the fold (before the "more inside") which appears on the main page; the "Extended description" forms the part below the fold (after the "more inside") which appears after a person has clicked on your post.

On AskMe, the question title and the box called "your question" will be the part that appears on the main page; keep this part brief. The next box called "extended explanation" will be the [more inside] part of your question and can be longer. Again, the words "more inside" will automatically be added to the end of your question.

In both cases, if you don't put anything in the extended description/extended explanation box, then the words [more inside] will not be added.
(tags: askme askmetafilter moreinside metafilter posting ) July 21, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Are posts or comments edited by mods?

Post or comments are not edited for content. Sometimes a post or comment will be edited for these reasons:

- at the request of the poster, for minor reasons
- fixing a broken link
- fixing a typo or broken HTML
- putting a NSFW or other content warning indicator in
- moving part of a long post to a "more inside" location
- AskMe posts where the only question is in the title
- adding tags
- removing personal information [ex: whois records, email addresses] that is against the guidelines
- removing a gratuitous self-link in an otherwise okay post or comment

11/25/2024 update: When editing a comment for the above reasons, a moderator will leave note.
(tags: editing comments posts metafilter askmetafilter askme ) May 3, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

If a thread has been deleted, can I still find it someplace?

Sometimes. Most threads will still show up at their old URLs with the reasons for deletion written in, but they no longer show up any other place on the site. They are also closed to new comments.

IRL threads and some Ask Metafilter threads, once deleted, are no longer accessible at all. If you have questions about a thread you think was deleted on these subsites, please Contact Us and we can clarify. Also, threads on other subsites are sometimes completely removed due to privacy reasons.

If your post was deleted, check your Mefi Mail. If you received a Mefi Mail automatic reminder message when your post went up, that message will have the URL of your post. Go to that URL and you will be able to see the post and a brief note about why it was deleted.

If you have questions about a deleted or missing post, please use the Contact Us form to ask a moderator directly.
(tags: deleted deletedposts metafilter askmetafilter metatalk askme ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

If a comment has been deleted, can I still find it someplace?

No. Deleted comments are unviewable, though they still exist in the database. cortex explains the nuances of what does or doesn't exist where in the realm of deleted stuff in this comment.
(tags: deletedcomments comments deleted metafilter askmetafilter metatalk askme ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

There is a problem with a comment or post. What should I do?

You can flag problems for moderators to look at, or use the contact form if the problem isn't self-explanatory.
(tags: posts comments flagging guidelines formatting link askme ) December 19, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Someone made a official-seeming comment in small type, with square brackets. What does that mean?

It is probably a comment by a moderator. See here for details.
(tags: moderator mods etiquette comments metafilter askmetafilter askme fanfare ) December 15, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

My post or comment got an error that begins "Your comment includes the word [x]" and I can't post it.

There are some words that are not permitted on Metafilter. If you get this error, rewrite your text so it does not include the word, or, if you're quoting, blank out all or part of that word before posting.

You can see the list of banned words here (content warning: slurs). If you think a particular word should be added to the list, please contact us.
(tags: etiquette askmetafilter metafilter metatalk error ) January 14, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

My Mefi post or AskMe question was edited to remove my cute "more inside" play on words, wtf?

The words "more inside" only appear on the front page of AskMe, they don't appear when people read Mefi or AskMe via RSS, or on the actual page of the question. As a result when you end your question with something like "as always there's..." (expecting that "more inside" will complete the sentence) it makes no sense to people reading via RSS or looking at the actual question page. Editing cute "more inside" jokes is one of the only edits we make to a post that is not at the poster's request.
(tags: moreinside askme editing askmetafilter metafilter ) October 18, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

My HTML seemed to work in the live preview but didn't come through correctly. Is this a bug or intentional?

The live preview seen below the comment forms shows a real-time approximation of your comment, but does not go through the extensive text filtering done on the server side. As a result, it's possible to place almost any HTML code into a comment and reproduce it in the live preview area, but that code is stripped out once the comment is posted to the site.

If you are wondering if your HTML code will display properly, please use the Preview button before your post. The Preview button will render things like < into < however, so before you post, you have to re-type things like angle brackets into their < format. We are aware that this is a less-than-perfect solution.
(tags: html livepreview comments metafilter askme metatalk ) October 17, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What are the keyboard shortcuts for MetaFilter?

j - scroll down
. - scroll down
k - scroll up
, - scroll up
m - show more inline comments

As you're writing posts or comments on MetaFilter you can use the following shortcuts in fields that accept HTML:

Ctrl+B - bold
Ctrl+I - italic
Ctrl+U - link (add URL)
(tags: keyboard shortcuts ) May 6, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

How do tags work on MetaFilter?

Tags are a way of adding keywords to your posts as a way of making it easier to find, organize, and filter posts.

Tags can be added/removed, either at the time of posting or later, by the original poster, or the site admins, or mutual contacts of the original poster. There's no automatic tagging, so if you see a post that you think is missing an important tag, let the moderators know.

Tags can only include certain ASCII characters: English letters, numbers, and the following five punctuation marks _ ' \ - ! (underscore, apostrophe, backslash, hyphen, exclamation point). Tags cannot include accented letters or other special characters. Tags are not case sensitive. When tagging a post with a phrase, you can put the words together with no spaces and use CamelCase, for example: HeavyMetal.

Plural tags do not combine with their singular counterparts. There is a "similar tags" function to the regular tag search, to make it easier to catch typos, variant spellings, plurals, etc. See the explanation in Metatalk for details.

To view pages tagged with specific words, either click on a tag or go to a tag URL, for example:
http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/HeavyMetal
http://www.metafilter.com/tags/HeavyMetal

Tags can be combined. To view pages tagged with a specific pair of words, use the plus sign like this:
http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/airport+Tokyo

Tags can be combined with usernames as well. To see "all posts tagged with 'obit' by user 292" use this URL:
http://www.metafilter.com/tags/obit/292

The 150 most popular tags are linked on these pages (MeFi, Ask MeFi). The larger a word appears on that page, the more times it has been used to tag a thread. Notable tags on MeFi include obit and art.

Tags allow rough filtering of posts, using the MyMefi or MyAsk pages -- see here for details. Also, tags also have individual RSS feeds, linked from the tag page.

Note: when a post is removed, the tags for that post are not removed from the index. This can sometimes cause discrepancies between the number of posts that are claimed to exist having a certain tag, and those that actually show up in a list of posts with that tag (example).
(tags: tags rss keywords feeds search contacts ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What are some guidelines for tagging my posts?

Try to add tags that will help people find your post later and avoid double-posting the same thing. Things to include in tags include proper names of people or places (all one word), umbrella tags like art or music or politics, helpful terms such as operating systems or brand names and, of course, the loose subject of your post like obituary or vacation. Try to include a few good tags for your post but don't go overboard adding a zillion of them. People can combine tags for searching (car+stereo), so you don't need to include all possible combinations of your terms. Mods may add or remove tags.
(tags: tags, askme, mefi ) October 29, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What is the etiquette concerning members' or non-members' personal details and profile information?

User profile pages on MetaFilter are not indexed by Google. This means if someone's profile says that they live in a certain city or gives their real name, that information is not considered "public" on the site. Bringing a user's personal details into an unrelated thread to hector or harass them (especially details from other websites that they participate in) is generally considered not okay. Use care when deciding to bring someone's personal information into a thread, and try to err on the side of mentioning without linking. Some profile page information is visible to humans on the wider internet, it's just not indexed by search engines. See here for details.

Bringing WHOIS and other personal information into a thread [i.e. "Here's this guy's phone number!"] is also not okay. We know it's still one click away, but bringing it into a thread can cause trouble for the site. When in doubt, please feel free to ask a mod.
(tags: profile etiquette privacy metafilter askmetafilter metatalk askme ) August 20, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

What is the policy on using ChatGPT to write comments or ask questions?

Using ChatGPT or other Generative AI tools to write posts or comments on MeFi without explicitly saying you are doing so is discouraged. Tossing in ChatGPT's, or other Large Language Models (LLMs) output in discussions is not OK.

MetaFilter is, at its core, about knowledge and wisdom shared by its members.
(tags: chatgpt ai comments ) June 20, 2023 - permalink - back to questions

What does a single period in a comment by itself mean?

It's MeFi shorthand for a moment of respectful silence and is usually used in obituary threads.
(tags: obit obituary period dot metafilter askmetafilter metatalk askme fanfare ) February 23, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What does a single asterisk in a comment by itself mean?

Similar to the single dot, the asterisk also signifies a moment of silence for an individual's passing, but notes that the person had problematic elements in their history. It is usually used in obituary threads and was first proposed within one.
(tags: obit obituary asterisk metafilter askmetafilter metatalk askme fanfare history ) June 13, 2023 - permalink - back to questions

What does 'threadsitting' mean? What does 'threadshitting' mean?

Threadsitting is when a user assumes a proprietary approach to a thread and becomes the person through which all thread discussion happens. This can be when one person has an oppositional stance on a topic and demands the other participants satisfy their repeated questioning. It can also occur when an AskMe querent responds to all comments in their thread or asks a number of follow-up questions. Making a thread "all about you" in a variety of ways is discouraged and sometimes mods will step in to please ask people to not threadsit so that everyone can join in the discussion. In general, we require that AskMe updates from the asker be a) relatively few and b) focused on clarifying the original question as necessary, rather than discussing the answers as they come up.

Threadshitting is either early snark, noise, "who cares" or joke comments in a newish MeFi thread or someone repeatedly making off-topic or noise comments in a thread often as a way of derailing discussion. Early threadshitting comments are frequently deleted.
(tags: askme threadshitting threadsitting metafilter askmetafilter ) October 26, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

What are self-links? Are self-links ever okay on any part of the site?

"Self-links" are links to your own site, or your own work, or a site that you host or contribute to substantially, or to a site of someone who is a client or business partner, or a site/event/cause you're promoting either professionally or as any kind of quid pro quo.

It is never okay to include a self-link in a front page post you make on Metafilter's community blog. People who self-link in the post text of front page posts on MetaFilter will have their posts removed and their account banned. It is never okay to use MetaFilter as a promotional tool. Transparency and honesty are important to the community and we rely on users to abide by the guidelines and participate honestly.

On Ask MetaFilter, questions that seem to be thinly veiled promotion or self-promotion will be removed. Questions that seem to be being asked with the intent to promote a poster's product or service, or client/friend's product or service, will be removed and the participating accounts banned. If you are unsure about a specific example, please contact us.

Linking to your own site in an Ask MetaFilter question is only okay if it has something specific to do with the question being asked and is necessary for people to provide an answer, for example "Can you look at my logo and tell me why everyone thinks it looks like a devil?" or "What else do I need to do to this website to make it ADA compliant?" (Even then, an extra-safe move is to link your site on your profile page and tell people they can see it by going through your profile.) Other self-links will be removed. AskMe posts that look like link-heavy MeFi posts or other promotional posts with a question tacked to the end of it are not okay.

In comments, in well-defined circumstances, self-links can be okay. Including a link to your own site in a Metafilter comment is okay provided that it has some relevance to the topic being discussed, and you clearly disclose your affiliation to the site or site-owner, and this type of comment is not your only form of site participation. Random off-topic insertions of self-links into other posts are discouraged and such links may be removed and result in a ban. Similarly, linking to your own content in AskMe answers is okay to do occasionally and with disclosure. People who seem to be self-linking continually, or seemingly with spammy intent may have their content removed and their account banned.

It is perfectly okay--even encouraged--to put a link to your own site in your profile, to post your own music to Music, post your web projects to Projects, and to post a job for your organization or post your own job availability in Jobs.

We've lifted the long-time prohibition on friend-linking, i.e. making MetaFilter posts about work that's not your own but which is by someone you have a friendship with or personal connection to. Any such posts still need to be fundamentally good MetaFilter posts in their own right, and to not be posted with promotional or "this will help my friend out" intent. In short, it needs to be something that you unambiguously would have chosen to post even if you didn't know that person at all. See this MetaTalk thread for more detail.
(tags: askme askmetafilter music projects self-link selflink links metafilter ) May 10, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Where can I find a list of common lingo and Mefi-specific abbreviations?

The MetaFilter wiki is a good place to get an idea of the in jokes that people use on MetaFilter. You may also want to check out the Orientation page for other things that might be useful for a new user.
(tags: wiki injokes acronyms jargon newusers metafilter askmetafilter metatalk ) January 19, 2008 - permalink - back to questions

Should I use an URL shortener or link shortener, like I would on Twitter?

Please don't. There's no length limit here, and it's better if people can see what they're clicking on. Mods will expand short URLs when they see them. There is a difference, however, between site-specific URL shorteners like youtu.be and nytim.es and link shortening sites such as is.gs and j.mp, where the former is okay if not preferred while the latter is something we'd prefer people avoid. People who use link shorteners as a way of sketchily hiding affiliate codes may risk having their account banned.
(tags: links linkshorteners shortlink metafilter askmetafilter askme ) July 25, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

Can I save a draft of a post or comment?

There is a draft option available for MetaFilter posts. There are no other draft options available on the site. It has been suggested that members can use the Notes/Notepad option on their OS to make drafts.
(tags: drafts metafilter features ) September 26, 2015 - permalink - back to questions

What makes a good front page post to MetaFilter?

A good post to MetaFilter is something that meets some of the following criteria: most people haven't seen it before, there is something interesting about the content on the page, and it might warrant discussion from others.

Posts don't have to be long, and they don't have to contain multiple links or end with a discussion-sparking question.

If you browse through the 'sidebar tag' from the front page or the 'bestpost' tag on MetaTalk, you'll find a number of examples of Metafilter posts that have been flagged as 'fantastic' by the community.

(tags: fpp metafilter posts ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Why was my MetaFilter post deleted?

When a thread is deleted, it is closed to new comments and is removed from the front page but can still be viewed at the permanent URL for the thread. There is a brief "reason for deletion" given when a MetaFilter thread is removed. The most common reasons are:

- double-post - the exact link or one linking to nearly the same content has already been posted
- self-link or promotional linking - you posted something to MetaFilter that is on your own site or that you contributed heavily towards, or that you're involved (professionally or otherwise) in promoting, or your post concerns a situation that you're personally involved with.
- newsfilter - you posted a link to a news article without creating a post that would lead to good discussion
- axegrinding - you posted on a hot-button topic that you frequently post about and/or used heavy-handed editorializing language.
- broken link - you posted a link to something that is no longer available on the web
- stunt post - you were doing something cutesy or pointed with your post that was making some sort of statement, not linking to something neat on the web
- fundraising/promotion - you linked to a "sign this petition" or fundraising link [Kickstarter, indiegogo]

Please note: post deletions are a judgement of the post, not the poster. MetaFilter is a moderated site and not all posts pass muster, but deletion is meant as a curatorial decision, not a punishment; most folks who post a fair amount will have something deleted occasionally. Unless you're actually spamming, a deletion doesn't mean you're in trouble.
(tags: metafilter kickstarter doublepost deletion thread fpp moderation ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Why was my MetaFilter comment deleted?

MetaFilter is a moderated site. There are some types of comments that are either toxic to discussion or disallowed on the site entirely that may get removed by moderators. Some reasons comments may be removed are described here, and in more detail in the Metafilter Community Guidelines and its supplementary page about Microaggressions and making space for everyone.

- Racist or otherwise hateful comments. This includes misgendering and slurs. It also includes ironic racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia; people who sarcastically put on a racist voice to make a point about racism, or who make hateful comments ironically (assuming everyone should know they're joking) cause derails and make discussion difficult.
- Spamming. Adding off-topic, context-free, or SEO-laden comments with undisclosed links to your own or others' sites.
- Threats against oneself or others. If you're feeling suicidal or self-harming, please reach out to someone to talk one on one; Mefites have compiled a list of hotlines. Violent fantasies or "someone should assassinate that guy" type comments create problems for the site.
- Making a thread all about another user; attacks on or interrogation of other users, "fuck you"s or namecalling. This includes doxxing or outing of personal information from profile pages or other sites or comment trawling a user's comments or bringing them into a thread they are not otherwise involved in.
- Making a thread all about you. MetaFilter is a large community and discussion threads are for everyone. Please don't make a thread all about your own opinions and ideas at the expense of other people trying to have a discussion.
- Trolling (saying something you don't mean just to rile people up or start a fight) is not okay here. If your behavior is indistinguishable from trolling, your comment may be treated accordingly.
- Dismissive or "Who cares" comments, especially if early in a thread - these add nothing to the discussion. Just skip the thread and find one you're more interested in.
- Comments about moderation. It's fine to ask questions or disagree with moderation, but those discussions happen in MetaTalk (for a public discussion) or sent through the contact form (to discuss privately with the mods), they do not belong in threads on other parts of the site. This includes metadiscussion of flagging, comment deletions, and whether a post should be deleted or not.

Occasionally a comment will be removed which then leaves several comments responding to it just hanging there, responding to nothing. Historically, the responses would usually be removed to avoid confusion for readers and to curtail derails. More recently, due to community feedback the moderators have shifted toward more often leaving such responses in place even if the original comment is deleted, generally with an explanatory note.

Mods use their own discretion and the input of flags or other contacts from members to help guide those decisions. If you have a question about a comment removal, please use the contact form to ask about it. The MetaFilter comment deletion rate is about 1%. Most people never have a comment deleted.
(tags: deleted comments deletion MeFi metafilter moderation 2020update ) March 5, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What is double posting? Is there a statute of limitations on double posting?

A double post is when someone posts something to the front page of MetaFilter (or sometimes MetaTalk) that has been there before.

There is no hard and fast rule on when a post is not a double anymore. For an identical URL and a site that hasn't changed in content "a few years" is a good guideline. For a site with the same URL and new content, indicating the previous post in your new post is a good idea. If there is a post on a similar topic still on the front page, please post your link into the open thread instead of starting a new post.

With few exceptions, there is no such thing as a doublepost in AskMe although users should generally search prior questions before posting to determine whether a very similar question has already been asked and answered.
(tags: doublepost link URL metafilter flag ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How can I check if something has been posted before, to avoid double posting?

The New Post form will automatically check for you. Just enter the URL and click "Preview."

For better searching, leave off everything but the domain name -- no "http," no "www" and no directory or html suffix information. This makes it more likely the search will catch a double.
You can also plug a URL into the Search box on any page, or search in Google by pasting the URL into Google along with this string: site:www.metafilter.com
(tags: doublepost URL search metafilter link ) January 25, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

If my post has more than one link, or the link isn't first, do I need to use the URL box?

The "URL" and "Link title" fields are there for your convenience. If you have a one link post you can just fill them in and go. If you want to make a post with a few links, or without the beginning text as your link, you can skip those boxes (but don't skip the title box) and just write the HTML for the links in the post yourself.
(tags: html post fpp link metafilter ) January 11, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

Can I post a link to just a short news bulletin if there's a breaking news story?

There are very rare cases where this is appropriate, usually large scale disasters (like once-in-a-lifetime events). Updates to the latest political intrigue do not qualify. Generally speaking, if a breaking story isn't linked on the Internet yet, it won't make a very good post. If you're posting it thinking, "I'd better hurry before someone else posts this" — then it's probably not a good post.
(tags: breakingnews newsfilter metafilter ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Can I post a link to something behind a free registration?

It's discouraged, so try to make sure your link is available for everyone before you put it on MetaFilter.

There are various methods of making sure pay walled links are available, such a gift link. You are encouraged to post those alternative methods if a link is paywalled.
(tags: registration paywall metafilter ) March 27, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

Can I post a fundraiser, or a petition for a worthy cause?

With caution. Open fundraisers (Kickstarter, Indiegogo, etc) can be touchy posts, and you shouldn't post links to your own active fundraisers, ever. You can post the project once the fundraising period has ended. Petitions and related "like our cause on Facebook"-style campaigns rarely make good posts for MetaFilter. Linking to the work of someone who has a Patreon, but who also has content available outside of donor-locked Patreon posts, is usually okay.
(tags: fundraising kickstarter petition links Metafilter Mefi promotions donations projects patreon ) March 1, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

Should I include an NSFW warning if my link is not safe for work? What about spoilers?

Generally if what is behind a link is not safe for work (porn, nudity, shock sites, sound) a NSFW indicator is appreciated. Admins will sometimes add NSFW to links, especially front page posts, if the poster doesn't include them. The same is true for spoilers -- posts that indicate the ending of a book, movie, sporting event etc -- please try to be polite and include them inside the thread or a [more inside] section rather than in the post itself. Mods do not police spoilers on the site except to try to keep them off the front pages of the subsites. You can use the details tag as explained in this MeTa thread.

Do not assume that all content that isn't safe for work browsing will be labeled as such. There are always instances where the NSFW indicator is missing. The same is true for spoilers; admins will try to tuck them inside a post but otherwise do not alter or edit posts. When browsing, it is safest to consider the NSFW tag and the spoiler indication a favor performed by the admins and posters, rather than an expectation or obligation. ROT-13, while a great way to avoid spoilers, is problematic for a large diverse community -- e.g. it's inaccessible for visually impaired people using screen readers -- so we generally ask people to avoid using it.

MetaFilter should not be considered a NSFW-free or a spoiler-free zone.
(tags: nsfw etiquette spoilers rot13 metafilter ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Should I include a trigger warning or content warning about upsetting content in my post?

We ask people to try to be considerate of others when posting about upsetting or graphic content. This means giving readers enough of a heads-up through the wording of your post that readers who want to avoid particular subjects can do that. There is no requirement to use any specific phrasing such as "trigger warning" to do this; it is often more useful to readers just to use normal words to identify the subject matter of the post so readers can make informed choices.

People who have severe reactions to certain content should know that in general, MetaFilter does not try to be a "safe space". We ask posters to try to be courteous, but there is no hard-and-fast policing of links or warnings.
(tags: warnings etiquette triggerwarning tw safespace nsfw metafilter ) December 13, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Should I add a [via] link if I found it from another site?

No. Many people do this as a courtesy, but it is in no way mandatory. Adding a [via] comment to someone else's post is often considered rude and/or annoying.
(tags: via metafilter etiquette ) April 23, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What does "Pepsi Blue" mean?

Pepsi Blue has become a sort of catch-all catcall for something that's a possible shill posting on MetaFilter - that is, an ad or product endorsement for reasons other than just overall consumer joy. The reason why Pepsi Blue was chosen had to do with the large number of bloggers who seemed to pay special notice of the Pepsi Blue launch, including this post on MetaFilter.

Many MetaFilter members are suspicious of posts (and to a lesser extent, comments) that appear to endorse a (usually new) product or service. If you do want to make a post recommending a product, it is a good idea that you shouldn't have a special interest, financial or otherwise, in the product. Even if you don't, you should still be prepared to face some probing questions in the thread. There are ad sites out there already where such posts might be better received.
(tags: pepsiblue lingo metafilter advertising ) March 30, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How do I submit a final update to my askme, if it's past the one year cutoff?

If your question has closed and you'd still like to submit a final answer, you can scroll to the bottom where there is a link saying "Add a final update." If you are the original poster this will open a box where you can add your update. If for some reason this isn't working, please feel free to contact us and we can help.
(tags: askme updates ) September 4, 2017 - permalink - back to questions

What makes a good question for Ask MetaFilter?

Often the key to getting good answers in Ask MetaFilter is spending some time crafting a good question. Here are some tips

1. Be concise. While it can be tempting to include every detail of a conflict or a dilemma, try to stick to details that are necessary for people to understand and answer your question. Try to differentiate between what is just venting and upset feelings and what is important to the answerer about your problem.
2. Be specific. Some questions literally can not be answered if we don't know the details. Relevant details make for more helpful responses.
3. Break information into memorable chunks. Put important details together. Feel free to use bullet points. Even if you started with your question, if your question is long, repeat the thing you'd like help with at the end.
4. Proofread, spellcheck and preview. While mods can go in and make edits, they may not be able to do it immediately. Make sure you've spelled things correctly, make sure your links work, make sure your question isn't just a big wall of text with no paragraph breaks.
5. Stay calm. You will get a better response to your question if you do not seem angry, irritable, ranting or otherwise unreliable as a narrator. If you can't ask your question with some level of objectivity, it might be better to wait until you can.

Try to read your question as if you didn't know you. Is there enough information? Is there too much information? Is the story easy to follow? If it's on a sensitive topic have you included another method of contact [MeMail or a throwaway email address]? If it turns out you've left something out, please feel free to email the mods via the contact form and we'll be happy to update your question or you can leave a comment in the thread.
(tags: askme questions askmetafilter goodpost ) October 21, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

My Ask Metafilter question was removed as chatfilter. What does that mean?

Ask Metafilter questions need to have some possible answer or should be asking for information that will be put to some practical use. Chatty open-ended questions diminish the usefulness of Ask Metafilter and push other questions off the front page. If you want to avoid having your question flagged and possibly removed, here are some things to avoid.

- Questions where everyone's answer is equally valid along the lines of "What's your favorite X?". Maybe there is a reason you want to know? Super, just put it in your question.
- Asking the question and giving your own answer before getting the answers of others, saying some variant of "I'll go first" If you can authoritatively answer your own question, it's probably not right for AskMe.
- Questions with no problem to be solved or where the problem is some variant of "I'm curious if other people feel like I do"
- Open-ended unanswerable or hypothetical questions like "What if Hitler had never been born?" or made up "what if" science questions. Creating arbitrary constraints and then playing "what if" is not a good use of AskMe.
- Questions that are some version of "What is the deal with X?"or "X sucks, am I right?" tend to not go well on Ask MetaFilter. Please do not rant on AskMe and pretend it is a question.

Put another way "...if your motivation for asking the question is 'I would like to participate in a discussion about X,' then you shouldn't be doing it in AskMe. If your motivation is 'I would like others to explain X to me,' then you're probably OK."
(tags: askme chatfilter askmetafilter deletion moderation ) May 3, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Why was my Ask MetaFilter post/comment removed?

Ask MetaFilter has more strict guidelines than MetaFilter. If an Ask MetaFilter thread is removed, there will be a reason for deletion at the old URL for the question. If you posted a question that disappeared, check your Mefi Mail for an automated New Post message that includes the URL of the question. Go to that URL and you'll be able to see why the question was deleted.

Ask MetaFilter questions should have a purpose or a problem to be solved. Please do not try to jam multiple questions into a single question, a few related questions in one post are fine.

Common reasons for thread removal are chatfilter questions, open-ended hypothetical questions, Op/Ed framing, rants posing as questions, questions asking how to do things that are illegal or borderline illegal, questions about suicide, questions about how to get revenge, questions asking for detailed personal/private information, reader poll/survey-type questions, requests for favors or soliciting interviewees, "why does X suck/not suck?" questions, and nonsense questions. Please do not Ask MetaFilter to do your homework for you. If you are feeling suicidal, please seek in-person help. MetaFilter has compiled a list of resources to assist you.

Ask MetaFilter comments should address the main question being asked. Common reasons for comment removal are wisecracks, derailing/ranting/axegrinding, picking a fight with or heavy chastising of the question asker, debating/chatting/arguing with other commenters, single word posts (yes, no, DTMFA &c.) and other non-answers that should probably be brought to MetaTalk. While it's okay to ask follow-up questions to the original asker, piggybacking questions [asking your own related question within someone else's AskMe] will often be removed.
(tags: askme askmetafilter comments posts deletion moderation ) September 10, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

When is it okay to do a "Critique my X!" post on Ask MetaFilter?

Ask MetaFilter is sometimes used for people who want feedback on something they have worked on whether it's an dating profile, a resume, a piece of fiction/poetry or a website. While AskMe is not for general critiquing sessions, it is for solving problems. Problem-solving based questions are okay. Here are some guidelines on how to make a post asking for a critique that is within the site guidelines

- Content must be publicly viewable and stay that way. Making an dating profile only temporarily public, for example, breaks the question for future readers.
- Askers must have specific questions about the content not just "Tell me what you think." What is the outcome you are looking for? What have you already tried? What is not working that you need help with?
- Questions must not be looking to self-promote. Resume critiques must be clearly not also job-hunting. Website reviews must also be clearly not click-bait. See here for more about self-linking.

If you're unsure, please feel free to ask the mods via the contact form.
(tags: dating resume askme critique crit askmetafilter ) July 2, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How do I include a picture or photo with my AskMe question?

AskMetafilter does not host images, so there is no way to upload a picture directly to AskMe. Instead, you must upload your picture to another site and then link to it from AskMe. You can post the image on your own website, or use one of the many free image hosting services that will allow you to upload an image - such as Flickr, imgur, etc. Once you upload your image, copy its URL and link to it from your AskMe question.
(tags: AskMe AskMetafilter picture photo image link ) February 15, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

How do I post an anonymous question in AskMe? Is there a function for anonymous follow-ups?

The anonymous posting form can be reached from a the regular "New Question" page of AskMetafilter. When you use this form, your question goes into a queue that is only read by the moderators. It will have to be approved, so it won't be posted immediately. Generally questions are approved (or not) within 48 hours. Not all anon questions will be posted, but most will. If you are wondering about a question you submitted a few days ago, you can contact the moderators to ask about it.

Your posting is not linked to your username in the MetaFilter database; anonymous questions are posted through the Anonymous user account. However, the admins can ascertain who posted the question if they need to. Anonymous questions are for basic privacy from the Mefi userbase, not for hiding from Interpol. You can read more about how the AnonyMe mechanism works in this thread.

Questions about illegal activities are unlikely to be approved. Questions whose only answers are "see a doctor" or "see a lawyer" are unlikely to be approved. Questions about ordinary subject matter that doesn't seem to fit the needs of being anonymous may not be approved. Please do not ask questions about suicide or revenge. (If you are feeling suicidal, please seek in-person help. The ThereIsHelp page has a list of resources/hotlines.) We can not promise to keep your information confidential if we think you might harm yourself or others.

There is no mechanism for commenting anonymously, but the admins will post a follow-up comment to your anonymous question for you -- use the contact form linked at the bottom right of each page to reach the admins. Other MeFi users are often willing to do this too. Sometimes people set up disposable email accounts so they can be contacted about an anonymous posting. This feature is not intended to provide absolute anonymity, please do not use it if that is what you require.

If you need to ask a question that's not associated with your main account, and you want to be able to follow-up by yourself, you are permitted to buy an extra "sockpuppet" account. Here are the guidelines about second accounts. We ask that people use the anonymous feature sparingly, not more than once or twice a year. If you feel you want to ask a number of questions separately from your main account, getting a second account may be a better solution.
(tags: anonymous askme anonyme askmetafilter privacy ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How long does it usually take for an anonymous question to be posted to Ask Metafilter?

Usually anonymous questions are posted within 48 hours. You can check the feed of Anon questions here. Some types of questions may not be approved such as: questions related to suicide, revenge, self-harm; questions that are illegal, repetitive, trollish, ranty, unanswerable or too obvious; questions where the answer is "ask a lawyer/doctor/tax pro"; questions that contain a lot of personally-identifiable detail; or questions that don't appear to require anonymity. Whether an anonymous question is posted or not, there's no notification -- so if you have a question about the status of your anonymous question, please get in touch with the mod team via the contact form.
(tags: anonymous askme anonyme askmetafilter ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Is there a way to turn a non-anonymous old question into an anonymous one?

We do have a way to anonymize old posts, however it is not something we do lightly. We will anonymize old questions rarely, if it's important. Contact a mod if you want this done. Please do not ask questions under your real name that you plan to anonymize later.
(tags: askme anonymous anonyme askmetafilter privacy ) March 28, 2008 - permalink - back to questions

Why are some people's answers in AskMe highlighted in their own box?

This is what it looks like when the original question asker highlights a best answer. Best answers are chosen by the original asker of the question. A question can have multiple best answers. The answers can be either the "right" answer or answers that the asker found useful in some way. When an answer is marked as a best answer it's highlighted in its own box on the AskMe question page and the user with the best answer sees a check mark next to the question on their list of answers off their profile page. There is also a green check mark next to the question on the main AskMe page.
(tags: askme bestanswer checkmark greentick askmetafilter ) November 10, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How do I mark my question as "answered" (e.g. green check mark)?

Once you've selected a comment or comments as a best answer by clicking on the "Mark as best answer" link next to a comment, your AskMe question will show up with a green check mark on the main page. It's fine to choose best answers whenever you want, but some people may see your question as "answered"if you choose best answers early.
(tags: answers bestanswers askme askmetafilter ) December 29, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

Why can't I remove a 'stumped' or a 'resolved' tag from my AskMe question?

The tags 'resolved' and 'stumped' have a special meaning and are treated differently at Ask MetaFilter. A question with either of these tags shows up in different places on the site to help others find them. A question tagged with 'resolved' appears in the list of Resolved Questions on the Answered Questions page. Questions tagged with 'stumped' appear in the Stumped Questions list on the Unanswered Questions page. This gives people interested in seeing complete answers or helping with particularly hard questions an easy way to find them.

Because these tags move the questions into different areas of the site, questions can only be tagged 'resolved' or 'stumped' once. This prevents the question from appearing at the top of these lists more than once.

If you need to remove a 'resolved' or 'stumped' tag from a post, please contact one of the mods.
(tags: stumped resolved tags askme answered unanswered askmetafilter ) July 2, 2008 - permalink - back to questions

What is MetaTalk for?

MetaTalk is the part of the site for talking about the site itself. People often use it for discussing policy and etiquette questions with the mods and other users, making feature requests, or asking questions about the site itself. Sometimes it's used for pointing out a notable media mention of MetaFilter or a MeFite, or announcing a site event like a contest. Other times it's just used for finding MeFites in other places such as online games or other activities. As of 2014, MetaTalk posts are queued before they go live. Most posts will be approved but sometimes we want to postpone heated threads until there are enough moderators around, and occasionally we'll directly email the poster to answer their question etc.

Here are some things to think about before posting to MetaTalk:

-Do not post to MetaTalk if you really just want to ask the mods a question or bring something to their attention. (For example if you are curious about something, but don't necessarily want a community discussion about it.) The best way to do this is always to use the Contact Us form, which will reach whoever is on duty.

- Please make bug reports after you have tried some basic troubleshooting steps and only if you feel that your problem may affect other MeFites. (The contact form is a good option here too.)

- If you are raising a concern about a specific user or a specific thread, please make your post specific. Link to the example you are talking about, and explain your concern without provocative language and phrasing if you want people to take your post seriously. If you are tempted to post just in order to vent, consider taking some time to cool off first.
(tags: metatalk etiquette policy bugs ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

I think I found a bug. Should I post it to MetaTalk?

If it needs to be discussed by the user base, feel free to post it to MetaTalk. If it's just something that you think the admins should know about, use the contact form.
(tags: bugs metatalk ) January 3, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

I have a request for a new feature. Should I post it to MetaTalk?

MetaTalk is the perfect place to ask. There is even an entire category dedicated to it. You can look through that MetaTalk category, or at the Mefi Wiki category Mod explanations, which has a short list of some previously denied feature requests, to see if your idea has been discussed before.

You can also use the contact form to ask the mods directly.
(tags: MetaTalk features featurerequests ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

I want help finding an old post or comment. Where should I post this question?

Post it to MetaTalk.
(tags: metatalk askmetafilter question search ) December 13, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Why are some MetaTalk threads closed?

There are a few reasons why MetaTalk threads are closed. The main reason is for threads with very specific requests -- typo fixes, double post deletions -- that don't require additional discussion once the problem is solved. These can often be resolved more simply with an email or IM to an admin. Sometimes a thread duplicates an existing open MetaTalk thread, devolves into noise and/or a trainwreck, or was a joke thread to begin with. MeTa posts that are just updates from closed posts on MetaFilter are often closed with the suggestion to make a new post if the update is a big deal, but not use MetaTalk as a place for posts that aren't right for MetaFilter.

Very rarely a MetaTalk thread will be deleted rather than closed.
(tags: meta metatalk closedthreads ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What is the Best Of blog?

The Best Of Blog is a hand curated mini-blog of content from MetaFilter that seems funny, cool or interesting. Flag posts as fantastic if you think something should be in it.
(tags: bestof blog fantastic flagging ) April 12, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

What is MetaFilter Jobs?

Jobs is a subsite where MeFites can post Jobs they are looking to fill (up to one per day) or post their availability to do certain kinds of jobs. Jobs can be permanent or temporary, paid or volunteer, but please make it clear in the posting what sort of job it is. Posted jobs should be one that a MeFite at least knows something about (you work there, you own the business, you are the hiring agent) and not just cool jobs you find online. If your job is in a physical place and you enter its location, it will appear on the map at the top of the page.

This subsection was launched in August of 2006.
(tags: jobs gigs ) April 12, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

What is FanFare?

FanFare is a site for discussing TV, movies, podcasts, and books and was launched in April, 2014.
(tags: fanfare tv ) April 17, 2014 - permalink - back to questions

What's the policy on spoilers in posts / threads at FanFare?

We'd like the front page of FanFare to be spoiler-free, so please limit above-the-fold descriptions of a show or film to the basics. Inside threads, feel free to discuss any plot point in that that episode or past episodes (or that film), but please refrain from discussing events that take place in future episodes (or sequels, etc). Also, please be considerate and refrain from discussing future events from other book/film/tv/comic versions of the story. (Note, this policy is different in threads that are labeled "Rewatch" or "Books Included.")
(tags: spoilers fanfare ) April 17, 2014 - permalink - back to questions

What do the "First Watch", "Rewatch", "Show Only", and "Books Included" labels in FanFare mean?

We have some optional special labels for TV show posts on FanFare. They are used sparingly on posts and each label is defined below:

First Watch - Applied to shows that have long since been aired, but the person making the post has never seen them. Please no spoilers about future episodes or events from later in the series.

Rewatch - Applied to shows being watched again by viewers that are up to date on the show and have seen them before, but are rewatching the shows again (usually from the very start). Spoilers about later episodes can be freely shared here.

Show Only - These discussions strictly for discussing only the show, when the show has been adapted from books or other media. Any discussion from the books should not be mentioned and if it is, will be removed. That rationale for this format is that discussion of the story from other media may reveal spoilers for those who have only seen the show.

Books Included - A second half of the special case above (again, with Game of Thrones as the example) where any spoiler already covered in books is fair game. Anyone viewing these threads is assumed to have read the books and seen the shows.
(tags: fanfare tv spoilers ) June 5, 2014 - permalink - back to questions

What is MetaFilter Projects?

MeFi Projects is a space in the MetaFilter universe for members to toot their own horn and link to something that they have done - typically a completed project on the web. Projects has built in mechanisms so that people can give a post the thumbs up, either through clicking the vote link to give it a thumbs up, or clicking the "post this project to mefi" button on the project's permalink page. People can also send comments to the original poster of the project. More information can be found here.
(tags: mefiprojects projects selflink ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What is MetaFilter Music?

MetaFilter Music is a site for members to upload their own songs for others to enjoy and share. MeFi members can upload up to one song per day, MP3 only, with a 10Mb limit. Please do not upload things that are not your own work in some way - this includes work by your friends or that you are promoting. If you feel someone else's music would be a good fit for MetaFilter Music, encourage them to sign up and post it themselves.

Any logged in user can listen to the music or make music playlists. The site is not intended to be a hosting service to be linked to externally and it's not intended to be promo space for your band. This is the MetaTalk thread announcing it. This is the tags page for it.

The RSS feed for MetaFilter Music is http://music.metafilter.com/rss.xml
(tags: music metafiltermusic ) July 4, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What is IRL?

IRL is the subsite for organizing meetups and get-togethers with other site members In Real Life (IRL). There is a feature in IRL meetup threads that allows users to link to photos of their meetup. When this option is used, a little icon of a photograph shows up next to the meetup location in the MeTa sidebar.

To see what meetups are coming up, look at the Proposed, Future, or Upcoming tabs, or use the search box to find events by location. Upcoming meetups are listed in the sidebar of MetaTalk as well. You can see past meetups in a similar way. (Historically meetups were organized in Metatalk's meetups category, if you want to look back at some historical meetup threads.)

To propose a meetup, begin with the New Event form linked in the header of IRL. Your meetup will initially appear in the Proposed tab. When a meetup is proposed, people can work out the details in the comments section. When details are finalized, you can switch your meetup over to Confirmed and it will show up as a Future or Upcoming event. IRL threads track "yes" and "maybe" responses from users planning to attend.

If a meetup needs to be cancelled, or just isn't coming together, you can note that with a comment in the thread and contact a mod to close the thread.

To be notified about upcoming meetups in your city, go to your profile page. If you have entered a location for yourself, under "Contact Preferences" you will be able to check a box for IRL notifications.

There are two types of IRL alerts you can choose to receive via Mefi Mail. The first type of alert tells people in a geographic area that there's a new post they might be interested in. Those alerts go out once per day at midnight Pacific time. They alert everyone with a location, distance, and the option to get these set in their profile. The second type of alert tells people who have indicated that they're attending the meetup that something (like the location or time) has changed. Those go out around 15 minutes after the change happens, and they go out to everyone who has indicated either 'Yes' or 'Maybe' that they're attending.
(tags: IRL subsite meetups ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What is the podcast? Are transcripts available?

The Metafilter Podcast usually features jessamyn and cortex talking about the last month or so on the site (and whatever else is on their minds). It usually runs between an hour and two hours. You can find links to all the stuff discussed in an episode if you click into that episode's thread.

The mods don't create a transcript with the podcast, but there has been a volunteer effort to create transcripts for the podcasts on the MeFi Wiki. Podcasts with completed transcripts will have a little yellow "transcript" badge next to them on the main podcast page, or see this list of all the existing transcripts.

Read this page for information on how to help out with the transcription effort. It is easy to drop in and do just a small amount (even 30 seconds!) if you have some free time.
(tags: podcast transcript 2020update ) August 31, 2009 - permalink - back to questions

What is MetaFilter Chat?

MetaFilter Chat is a group space where MetaFilter members can talk to each other in real time. It was first set up for the 2012 US election night (MeTa thread), and has been running on a trial basis since.

We ask that people:

1. Keep Chat separate. Don't bring interpersonal stuff to Chat from the main site, and vice versa.

2. Keep Chat civil. Normal "Don't be an asshole" guidelines apply. Harassing or bullying other members is a bannable offense.

Users should be aware that Chat transcripts are logged. Contact us if you are having trouble connecting or want to report a problem.

(MetaFilter Chat is different from MetaChat, which is an independent site.)
(tags: chat social subsites jabber ) December 15, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How do I log in to Chat?

You log in using your MetaFilter username and password, but with some small changes. You can use Chat from a web browser or a chat client.

Using a web browser:
The easiest way to try it out is to click on the "Chat" link at the top of the page, or visit chat.metafilter.com in your browser. Use your MetaFilter username and password.

Using a chat client:
The chat server uses the Jabber/XMPP protocol. If you don't want to use a browser-based chat, you can also connect with various Jabber clients that support group chat. These include Adium, Pidgin, or Spark. On an iPhone, JabberB and OneTeam both work with the MeFi chat server. Android users can try Jabiru. And there's a longer list of clients for various systems here.

To log in with a chat client, format your MetaFilter username as a Jabber ID. Use all lowercase, even if your MetaFilter username contains uppercase letters:

username@chat.metafilter.com

(This whole string is your Jabber ID.) If your username contains spaces or punctuation, for chat clients you'll also need to escape those characters. To escape a space, use \20. (For other special characters, see this link.) So a name like Example User would login using:

example\20user@chat.metafilter.com

If you use an alternate client, you'll also need to know the name of the group chat room:

mefi@conference.chat.metafilter.com

You can join that room once you're connected to the chat server.
(tags: chat login troubleshooting social subsites jabber ) May 28, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

What is the MetaFilter wiki?

The MetaFilter Wiki is an unofficial collaborative wiki run by Pronoiac. The purpose of the Wiki is to produce and maintain a general guide to MetaFilter. It is editable by anyone, whether they are a MetaFilter user or not. There is a lot of good information there, especially about site history, specific users, and community norms and behaviors.
(tags: wiki ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What are other MeFi spinoff sites?

MonkeyFilter, MetaChat, SportsFilter, LinkFilter and WHEDONesque are a few sites that started with MeFi members, but are separate sites unto themselves.

Some subsites or old projects of Metafilter itself are still around too. On the site's 12th anniversary, members submitted some of their favorite memories of the site for the commemorative site Metafilter Memories. The Shadowy Back Alleys page on the Mefi wiki has a list of some other miscellaneous bits-and-pieces from Metafilter's past.
(tags: spinoff ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Is there an archive of MetaFilter April Fools Day pranks?

Some years the site does something for 4/1 and some years it doesn't. Memorable April Fools Day stunts are outlined on the wiki.
(tags: april1 aprilfools traditions annual ) April 2, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What are some other MetaFilter traditions?

The wiki has a list and information on some other MeFi yearly traditions. These include Secret Quonsar, Caps Lock Day, and the anniversary posting of Cat-Scan.com.
(tags: quonsar secretquonsar capslockday catscan traditions ) December 12, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I get a Metafilter t-shirt?

Yes. We've got new designs up as of 2021 available as shirts on Neatoshop and as magnets and stickers on Teepublic, so if you've been looking for something MeFi-centric to drape over your mortal form or stick to your laptop or fridge or car or whatever the heck this is your lucky day.
(tags: tshirt store buy merchandise merch stickers ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What is the Infodump? Does Mefi release other data for study?

The Infodump is Mefi's regularly-updated published collection of site statistics. It includes a great deal of information about posts, comments, tags, categories, favorites, and user behavior concerning all of those. The Infodumpster was created and is run by user Combustible Edison Lighthouse. It is a convenient way to run searches on the information from the Infodump.

Mefi has also released the MetaFilter Corpus, a collection of linguistic information which can be used to find things out about how language is used on the site, and how that use has evolved over time.
(tags: infodumpster infodump stats corpus data privacy ) December 12, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How can I find out various MeFi statistics, like who has posted the most, or had the most favorites in a given month, etc?

You can try using the Infodumpster to find out. You can also look on the Mefi Wiki page on Meta-Analysis.
(tags: stats wiki infodump infodumpster ) December 12, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Can I get an old comment deleted that has sensitive information in it?

Sure. Let us know what comments need attention via the Contact Form. We will work with you to either edit or remove past comments that have information that you consider problematic.
(tags: comments deletions edits privacy ) July 17, 2020 - permalink - back to questions

The site seems down or really slow, is there a status blog?

The status.metafilter.com blog reports major outages or maintenance work. Feel free to get in touch via the contact form if you feel that something seems to not be working.
(tags: uptime status metatalk ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

I'm having a problem, might be a bug. What should I try before contacting the mods or posting to MetaTalk?

There are a few things you should try before contacting the mods or reporting a bug in MetaTalk.

1. Clear your cache and do a hard refresh. Here are Wikipedia's instructions on how to do this with various browsers.
2. Log out and log back in again.
3. See if the problem persists across multiple computers and/or internet connections and/or browsers if you can.
4. Check to see if you are running browser extensions that may interfere with site features. Try disabling them.
5. Make sure you are allowing googleapis.com and cloudfront.net to run scripts on the site. [Why?]
6. Check to see if you are in Private Browsing mode, which can sometimes cause weird site behaviors.

If none of these have any effect, feel free to contact us via the Contact Form. Post a bug report to MetaTalk if you feel the problem is one that may affect many users.
(tags: techsupport metatalk bug display error troubleshooting ) January 14, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

Someone threatened me or threatened to harm themselves. What should I do?

Threats are not okay on MetaFilter. If you believe you are being threatened by another user, please disengage and contact the mods. Threatening or harassing users or mods over MeFi Mail or indirectly via profile page comments is potentially a bannable offense. You can block MeFi Mail on a per-user basis by scrolling to the bottom of a MeFi Mail from them and clicking "[Block this sender]" To unblock users you can go to your Contacts page on MeFi Mail and click "manage blocked senders" at the bottom of the page.

Threats of self-harm impact our ability to keep people's personal information private and are not okay on MetaFilter. There is a wiki page of resources for people who feel that they are in crisis or need professional help: ThereIsHelp. Suicide threats in comments, MeFi Mail, or on profile pages will be dealt with quickly. Please contact the mods if someone on the site appears to be threatening self-harm or suicide.

MetaFilter has limited ability to control harassment of MeFi members offsite, though if you believe that harassment is being committed by a MeFi member, please let us know.
(tags: suicide selfharm threats memail metatalk ) June 4, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What is being done to prevent bullying on MetaFilter?

We would like to have an atmosphere on MetaFilter in which bullying--specific and repeated harassment of another user with indimidation or silencing tactics--is not okay. Here are some things to know if you think you are being bullied or are witnessing bullying

1. Harassment over MeMail is a bannable offense. If someone is harassing you over MeMail, you can block them from sending you MeMail, and contact the mods and we will look into the situation and take action. (To block MeFi Mail on a per-user basis, scroll to the bottom of a MeFi Mail from the person you want to block, and click "[Block this sender]." To unblock users, go to your Contacts page on MeFi Mail and click "manage blocked senders" at the bottom of the page.)
2. Utilizing the Brand New Day option and continuing to harass users through a new username is likewise against the rules.
3. MetaFilter or AskMe comments that repeatedly target and harass specific users are not okay. Site policy issues ["Why isn't this person banned?"] need to go to MetaTalk or directly to the mods.

Keep in mind that in many cases refusal to respond is often the best path to take if you are in a one-off situation where you feel the mods need to step in. If you are in an ongoing situation with another user, we expect you to do your best to not engage with that user and/or bring your problems with their behavior to the mods.
(tags: bullies memail bullying harassment 2020update ) November 14, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

A sketchy or inappropriate ad is showing on the page. What can I do?

Copy the URL that the ad is pointing to and send it to the mods through the contact form, telling us what the ad said and where on the page you saw it. This allows us to get it blocked. Metafilter does not pre-approve the advertisements that are shown; we can only catch the bad ones if users send us their URLs. See here for more about how advertising works on Metafilter.
(tags: advertising google adsense offensive ) December 20, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How can I switch to the mobile view of the site?

The modern theme, which has been the default since 2014, switches layouts dynamically based on screen size.

Normally if you are browsing from a phone or other small screen in the Classic theme, the mobile view of the site should come up automatically. If it doesn't, you can go to mobile.metafilter.com to tell the site you want the mobile view for this device.

Once you're seeing the mobile view, you can switch back to the standard view by clicking the "Switch to Standard Site" link at the bottom of any page.
(tags: mobile cellphone phone smartphone smallscreen site tablet display preferences views ) March 6, 2013 - permalink - back to questions

It looks like I am logged in with some other person's username. What's up?

This can happen if you work at a big company or are using a big cache server (either university, cable company, or Google). It means the front page was saved by another member also on that system in the last x minutes and you're getting that person's copy instead of a fresh one from the server. You can not post/comment as anyone else, since your user information is pulled from your cookie information.
(tags: login username ) January 7, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

Why doesn't the timestamp in live preview match the time in my actual timezone?

The live preview doesn't match the post time because when live preview was implemented it was too complex to make it work. Your comment will be posted with your the correct timestamp for your timezone. If your timezone is set incorrectly, you can change this in your profile.
(tags: timezone timestamp profile preview ) March 14, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

I can't see video content linked in a post. What can I do?

Some sites have geographically restricted content which means that people in different countries may not be able to view the video. Common sites that do this include Hulu.com [not viewable outside the US, possible workaround for Canada] and some BBC content [not viewable outside of the UK, possible workaround], some Comedy Central programming [possible workaround] Pandora and Spotify. This site has a longer list of sites with video content that may be geographically restricted. This site will allow you to check if your YouTube video is geographically restricted. There are ways to circumvent some geographical restrictions using proxies, some of which are linked in this entry.

Generally, posts that only contain links to content that is entirely geographically restricted are problematic and it would be good if people attempted to find region-free content to link to. If content is determined to be restricted once a post is made, mods may remove the post. However if people can find alternative links to the same or similar content, that would be helpful.
(tags: video, geographical restrictions, youtube, proxies ) May 4, 2010 - permalink - back to questions

Why did my HTML get screwed up, when it was fine in live preview?

See here for details on this problem.
(tags: html preview bug display ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Why can't I get favorites to work?

See here for several possible answers.
(tags: favorites javascript ) December 10, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

Why is there a referral code on the Amazon link in that post?

In early 2006 Matt changed the way that Amazon links are handled. The MetaFilter associates ID is added to all Amazon links and any other referral codes are stripped out. This means when someone buys a thing from Amazon thru a link from here, MetaFilter gets a small amount of money, which helps to fund the site, paying for the servers and moderation staff. If you want to help the site but don't want to use Amazon, here's a list of other ways to help fund Mefi.
(tags: amazon links referral funding ) April 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Who is in charge here? Are there admins and moderators like other sites?

Metafilter is run by a small staff of paid moderators ("mods"). The moderators are: taz, goodnewsfortheinsane, travelingthyme, Brandon Blatcher, and loup; web developers frimble and kirkaracha.

The best way to reach a moderator is to use the Contact Us form, which emails all of the mods. The site is generally staffed around the clock, with regularly spaced gaps in coverage. The contact form will reach whoever is on duty.

All the moderators are also regular site members, so you may see them around participating just like anyone else. When a moderator leaves an official moderation comment, the comment will appear in the thread but enclosed by a box, or [in small type, in square brackets], and a "staff" badge will appear in the byline next to their name. (This text is searchable, so you can find moderation comments by using your browser's "find" function to find the word "staff" on the page.) You can confirm someone is a moderator by looking at their profile page, too -- they'll have a "staff" badge under their profile picture.

Some history:
1999: MetaFilter was created by Matt Haughey (mathowie); he was the sole admin of the site for the first several years.
2005: Jessamyn West (jessamyn) was hired; she was especially instrumental in establishing the culture of the new subsite, AskMetafilter.
2006, May: Paul Bausch (pb), our technical wizard, joined to keep the back end running smoothly and do bugfixes and feature builds.
2007, March: Josh Millard (cortex) started helping out around the place.
2008, May: vacapinta became the unofficial "Midnight Mod", checking in a few times during the North American night.
2011, April: Jeremy Preacher (restless_nomad) came on, originally to keep an eye on things over the weekend, although gradually shifting to weekday hours too.
2011, October: taz joined the team as the first regular non-US mod, bringing civilization to the formerly-lawless hours of North American night.
2012, October: goodnewsfortheinsane and LobsterMitten joined the team as part-timers, with a few regular shifts and some flexible coverage for other mods' hours.
2014, May: Layoffs. Due to a budget crunch, jessamyn retired, and gnfti and LM were laid off. Over the next months, site members contributed enough money to keep the site operating and even bring back the laid-off mods at sharply reduced hours.
2015, March: Mathowie retired, still the owner but handing nearly all site operations over to cortex and the remaining mods. Cortex took over most operational stuff, and LobsterMitten took over mathowie's on-site mod hours.
2016, January: Eyebrows McGee joined the staff as a part-timer and often weekend mod.
2016, May: pb retired.
2016, May: frimble joined the staff as resident tech person.
2017, July: mathowie transferred ownership of MetaFilter to cortex.
2020, Jan: restless_nomad retired
2020, June: new mods travelingthyme and loup joined the team.
2020, July: restless_nomad returned to help with administrative tasks for a limited time, jessamyn returned to a more active role
2021: restless_nomad stepped away again as planned; jessamyn reduced her role and schedule gaps were introduced
2022: cortex stepped down as owner, jessamyn took over as owner, loup took over operations, Lobster Mitten retired, Eyebrows McGee transitioned to a sub/fill-in mod
2023: Brandon Blatcher joined in February, Eyebrows McGee retired in April
2024: Kirkaracha the web development team in February
(tags: mods MetaFilter admins moderation ) March 20, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

I need to get in touch with a site admin in a hurry. How do I do this?

Here is a link to the Contact Us form. It will reach whoever is on shift; this is the quickest way to get most problems resolved. When you use the Contact Us form, an email is sent to all of the admins, and whoever is working will respond. Note, the response will go to your email address, not to MeFi Mail.

In general, if your request is time-sensitive, don't use MeFi Mail. The person you're MeFi Mailing may have gone off duty and be unavailable. Admins sometimes make MeFi Mail inactive when they're not available to handle site issues, as well. The Contact Us form will almost always get a faster response.
(tags: mods admins metatalk contact ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

What is the Contact Us form?

The Contact Us form is used to contact the MetaFilter staff directly. It is always available, located at the bottom of every page, though there is not always a member of the Moderation Team on shift.

The form can be used for site questions or problems and a response will be sent to the email address the user provides. Every staff member will be able to see the message and whoever is on duty will respond. If you are commenting about a specific thread or comment, please include a link.
(tags: communication mods admin moderators ) June 18, 2024 - permalink - back to questions

What is the policy on member to member communications via MeFi Mail?

Members may use the site’s messaging system, known as MeFi Mail, detailed in this FAQ. MeFi Mail is an optional feature of the site. Users may ask other people to stop contacting them and may use MeFi Mail’s blocking feature. Unwanted communications in MeFi Mail–persisting in communications after a user has asked you to stop–constitutes harassment.

Please note that sharing any private user-to-user communications without permission is potentially a bannable offense.
(tags: members moderators mods admins communication ) June 18, 2024 - permalink - back to questions

What is the policy on member to moderator communications?

Members may use the Contact Us form, located at the bottom of every page, to communicate with the Moderation Team. Responses will be sent to the email provided by the user.

Anything a user writes to the Moderation Team is considered private and will not be shared with anyone, except with current staff members for peer review. Members may share Moderation Team’s responses, except for any instance where another user is involved. When sharing Moderation Team communications, please avoid paraphrasing or interpreting what was written to avoid any misunderstandings. Just copy and paste what the moderator wrote so it’s clear what was written.
(tags: member moderator contactus communications ) June 18, 2024 - permalink - back to questions

What is flagging? How can I flag a post/comment for the moderators to look at?

Members have the ability to flag posts and comments for a variety of reasons. Flags alert the mods to problem posts and comments, and indicate the level of severity of a problem post.

To flag something, click the [⚑] link by the post or comment.

When you flag something, the flag goes into a queue read by the mods. All flag reasons go into the same queue, so don't get stressed about the exact reason for flagging. If you think your reason for flagging will be hard to understand (for example a non-obvious problem with a link) you can use the "flag with note..." option to leave a brief explanation, or use the contact form to go into more detail.

Moderators will look at every flagged item, but not every flag will result in obvious action. Even those flags can be helpful, though, for example putting a contentious discussion on the mod's radar, or allowing the mod to email someone behind the scenes.

There is no need to flag 20 comments in a thread, because a moderator will read the thread when checking out the first few flags; please flag only the most important. Flags are generally used for current comments and threads, so flagging old posts and comments doesn't usually result in any action. Here is a good summary of when to consider using the flag feature.

FIAMO stands for "flag it and move on" and is a good first step with problematic posts or comments.

The "fantastic post" flag alerts the admins to particularly good posts or comments. Sometimes these are highlighted on the MetaFilter sidebar or the Best Of Metafilter blog.
(tags: flags flagging fantastic metafilter askmetafilter metatalk ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

How can I tell if a comment was made by a moderator?

On MetaFilter and AskMetafilter, moderators used to use small type and square brackets to indicate they are making an "official" comment:

[Mod comments used to look like this.]

As of 2021, Mod comments on MetaTalk, FanFare and MetaFilter will have a box around them. On other parts of the site, they will still be in small type in brackets. As of 2018, moderator comments made in "mod voice" will also have a "Staff" badge in the byline of the comment.

Moderators are also regular users of the site, and they also participate in threads in a non-official capacity. If you're not sure how a specific mod comment is meant, ask using the contact form. If you're not sure if someone is a moderator, see the list of moderators here.

Moderators also have a "staff" badge on their profile pages, under their profile picture.
(tags: mods admins moderators staff ) December 15, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

The reason I want to flag something isn't listed, what should I do?

We encourage people to use the flagging feature. At the same time, the list of reasons isn't supposed to be an all-inclusive list of when you should [and shouldn't] flag things. Flagging something means you are bringing it to the mod team's attention. We interpret the flags in a few very basic ways.

- look at this quickly [offensive/breaks guidelines]
- look at this soonish [noise/derail/other]
- repair something [HTML error/double comment]

If none of these seem to fit, you can also use the "flag with note..." option to add a brief note attached to a generic "other" flag.

When in doubt, flag it as "other", or use the "flag with note..." option, or drop us a line via the Contact Form and let us know what's up.
(tags: flagging flags ) July 5, 2011 - permalink - back to questions

Are flags anonymous?

Flags are not anonymous. Users cannot see what has been flagged or by whom, but the moderation team can see which users are responsible for which flags.
(tags: flags flagging privacy ) April 9, 2007 - permalink - back to questions

What's up with banning? What does one see when they've been banned from MeFi?

Users who have been banned will not be able to log in to MetaFilter or access MeFi Mail or their Recent Comments page. If they are already logged in, they will be unable to comment or post. There will be a small "account is closed" notice on the user page of banned users. If a user has received a short term timeout, there will be no "account is temporarily closed" banner.

Banning is usually temporary, but sometimes permanent. Giving someone a "timeout" means their account has been banned for a short time.

Banworthy offenses include self-linking on MeFi, spamming the site with promotional links, abusing the site with excessive trolling comments or nonsense, excessive jokiness or snarkiness in AskMe, or over-the-top harassment or "outing" personal information of other users. (See the Metafilter Community Guidelines and Content Policy for more explanation, too.) Short term bans or timeouts automatically expire after a given amount of time (24 hours or 1 week).
(tags: banning bannination timeout banhammer privacy ) March 6, 2006 - permalink - back to questions

Can I come back to MetaFilter after I have been banned?

With some exceptions, people who have been banned from MetaFilter may return under our Brand New Day policy (BND). BND means that a user can sign up with a new account and mods will not "out" that user as being someone who held an account previously. This is a courtesy we extend to people who feel ready to change a problematic old persona, and it comes with certain expectations of good faith effort to change the old behavior. Users who open a new account and continue problematic behavior that caused their old account to be banned may lose the right to use that new account and/or set up new accounts.

People who have been banned because of spamming, self-linking, or other serious abuses of the site may not be allowed back in.
(tags: banned brandnewday BND ) November 1, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How does advertising on MetaFilter work?

MetaFilter carries a bit of advertising space devoted to Google's Adsense keyword-matching text and image ads, and small image ads on the front pages of subsites from Carbon. If you are a member of MetaFilter, you won't see any ads on comment threads but you may see the occasional small ad on the front pages of each subsite (which you can turn off). Ads from Google's Adsense program are automatically generated and matched and aren't approved ahead of time.

If you spot an annoying, obnoxious, and/or offensive ad, your best bet is to note the URL of the site it's pointing to... then use the contact form to let us know where you saw the ad, what it said, and the URL of the site it led to, and we'll be able to filter it out of the ad system.

If you'd like to place an ad on MetaFilter, follow the link on Google Ads to place one directly on this site.
(tags: advertising google adsense metafilter askmetafilter metatalk ) June 19, 2008 - permalink - back to questions

Who owns the copyright on MetaFilter content?

On the footer of every MetaFilter page is: © 1999-2023 MetaFilter LLC. All posts are © their original authors. What this means is that people own their own content. So if you wanted to publish a book of your own MetaFilter comments, you could. However if you wanted to publish a book of other people's MetaFilter comments you'd need to speak with those individual users; MetaFilter is not the owner of the copyright of that content. People have, however, granted MetaFilter the right to display their comments. MetaFilter will generally go after websites that are making wholesale reproductions of MetaFilter content, but limited content quoting is considered fair use and will be treated as such.
(tags: metafilter copyright ownership publishing askmetafilter metatalk ) June 20, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What is the history of the site?

MeFi began in 1999. There have been a few attempts to capture its history in various places. This FAQ entry gives a history of the moderator staffing of the site. The Wiki has a brief Timeline. There are an assortment of posts in MetaTalk that are tagged with MetaFilterHistory that have historical aspects..
(tags: metafilterhistory ) December 13, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

What should I know about privacy at Metafilter?

Please check our formal Privacy Policy which addresses points commonly raised in privacy laws.

And here is some more informal general info about social privacy expectations on our site. Moderators generally have access to identity info (your sign-up information, name, email, IP address, etc) that is used for site purposes such as preventing spam or other forms of account abuse. That info is kept private from other members and from the wider internet. We don't sell or rent or share user information to outside parties. If you choose not to display your real name, email address or location to other members, moderators will not reveal it. Mods also will not reveal the identity of second (sockpuppet) accounts as linked to your main account if you do not reveal this.

Members are also expected to respect each other's privacy in certain basic ways. Members' profile page information (such as location) is not visible to search engines and should not be brought over to the rest of MetaFilter. Similarly, copying and pasting Mefi Mail to any other part of the site without the writer's permission is a bannable offense.

On your own profile page, most information is optional to include, such as full name, email address, etc. Although it's not indexed by search engines, by default most of the information you share there is still publicly viewable, displayed to everyone including non-members. Links to your post and comment history, your contacts, and your favorites, are also displayed to everyone by default. You can choose not to share personal info on that page, and you can choose the "minimal profile" option to hide the links to your post and comment history, contacts, and favorites, from non-members. Much more detail on profile privacy settings.

On the site as a whole, your participation here is public. Your posts, questions, and comments are visible to the whole internet, and they will remain associated with your username permanently. Please think ahead about your own privacy needs, before posting personal information. If you need to ask about things that you want kept separate from your main username, you can get a second account that you use just for that. If you shared some privacy-sensitive info (such as your email address or location) in a comment in the past and now need that deleted, please contact us.

In emergencies--such as cases where someone has threatened to harm themselves, or if we are contacted by law enforcement--we cannot guarantee user privacy. Likewise, the Anonymous question function in Ask Metafilter is only intended to keep your details anonymous from the MeFi community, not to provide absolute anonymity--see here for details.

Metafilter occasionally allows use of public site data for academic study and there is an Infodump of public site data available for number crunchers. Members can download a copy of their comments on Metafilter, MetaTalk, and Ask Metafilter as a text file (see links at the bottom of your Preferences page).

As with anything here: if you have questions, just ask us.
(tags: privacy etiquette anonymous stats profile metafilter askmetafilter metatalk ) December 12, 2012 - permalink - back to questions

How can I donate money to support the site?

Go to the funding page. We accept donations and recurring subscription payments in any amount, through Stripe (for members), Paypal, by personal check, or in Bitcoin. (For these, you get a fancy message on your profile page, or you can choose not to display the message. If you'd like that profile message but it doesn't show up after you donate, just let us know via the contact form and we'll set it up manually.) You can also support the site by doing your Amazon shopping through our Amazon affiliate link. Plus we have t-shirts. Thank you for supporting the site!
(tags: money funding donations finances subscribe ) June 8, 2015 - permalink - back to questions