Frequently Asked Questions

Welcome to YouBeMom! To help new users understand the etiquette and usage of our forum, we've put together a list of our most frequently asked questions. If you don't find an answer to your question here, please contact us.

General Usage
1. What happens when I sticky a post?
  A stickied post is stuck to the top of the forum and stays at the top even after refreshing the page. Stickies are useful when you want to follow a particular thread but also want to refresh the forum to see the latest posts. By default, any threads that you create or reply to are automatically stickied to the top of the page.
2. How do I remove a sticky?
  Click on the post and click the "unsticky" link to remove the sticky from the top of the forum.
3. I have a TON of stickies, how can I unsticky them all at once?
  You can unsticky all of your stickied posts at once by clicking the "unsticky all" link at the top right corner of your sticky list.
4. What happens when I save a post?
  When you save a post, it is kept in your My Favorites list. You can view your saved posts by choosing "My Favorites" from the View pulldown menu. This is useful when you want to save a post you're interested in but don't want it to clutter the top of your screen.
5. How do I remove a saved post?
  Click on the saved post and click the "remove" link to remove it from your "My Favorites" list.
6. Is there a way to find my old posts?
  Any posts you have created are saved to your My Posts list. You can view your posts by choosing "My Posts" from the View pulldown menu.
7. How do I erase my post history?
  Click on the settings link at the top right corner of the page and click on the "clear my post history" button to erase your post history.
Reading
1. Can I change the forum page to show only the boards I'm interested in?
  If you're a registered user, click on the settings link at the top right corner of the page to select the boards you want to read.
2. What does the purple star at the end of a post mean?
  Purple stars indicate new posts and replies since the last time your refreshed the page.
3. Whoa, I just saw someone post in purple! How did they do that?
  Purple posts are reserved for the creators and administrators of this site to communicate important information to the community. We post in purple to catch your attention, and so that you'll know the message is authentic.
4. Cool! Can I have my own color too?
  No. Sorry.
5. What does TMI mean? Someone wrote TMI, and then wrote something really gnarly in the message inside!
  TMI stands for Too Much Information. People will post TMI in the subject, and then post the rest of their message inside so that you won't have to read it unless you click on the post. TMI is generally used as a courtesy for posts that may be considered exceptionally disturbing, have a high gross-out factor, or involve excessive bodily fluids.
  See our terminology guide for full list of abbreviations commonly used on the forum.
6. There's no way there are that many people on right now! How is your visitor counter calculated?
  The visitor count approximates how many people have visited and/or interacted the site within the last 15 minutes.
  That means if you are logged in and posting, you are counted. If you are logged in and reading but not posting, you are counted. If you are not logged in, never have logged in, and never intend to log in, but still visit YBM to read posts, you are counted. If you were doing a Google search for "broccoli pancakes" and somehow ended up here, you are counted.
  In all these cases, if 15 minutes has passed and you haven't refreshed the page, clicked a link, posted or replied, then you are not counted. This is independent of whether you close your browser, turn off your computer, or have checked "remember me on this computer".
Posting
1. How do I make my text bold when I post?
  You can make your text bold by surrounding the text with the bold [b][/b] tag (note the slash on the closing tag). For example, if you type:
  "This text is [b]bolded[/b]"
  you will see
  "This text is bolded".
2. How do I italicize my text when I post?
  You can italicize your text by surrounding it with the italics [i][/i] tag. For example, if you type:
  "This text is [i]italicized[/i]"
  you will see
  "This text is italicized".
3. How do I add a clickable link to my post?
  When posting a link, include the "http://" at the beginning of it to make it clickable.
4. How do I embed a YouTube video in my post?
  You can embed the YouTube video player directly in your post message by taking the YouTube video ID and surrounding it with the [youtube][/youtube] tag. The YouTube video ID a sequence of 11 letters/numbers/symbols found in the URL after "v=". For example, to embed the YouTube video from the URL
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxu3jfqpItE
  you would type
  [youtube]Bxu3jfqpItE[/youtube]
Searching
1. What advanced search options can I use to search the forum?
  By default, the YouBeMom search engine tries to find threads that contain all the search terms you've entered. To further refine your search, you can try one of the following advanced search options:
  - Exact phrase match - enclose your search phrase in double quotes to search for an exact phrase. For example, searching "capri pants" will find all threads which contain the exact phrase capri pants, but will not return threads that mention the words capri and pants in different parts of the thread.
  - Match any terms - OR search terms by separating your words with a vertical bar(|). For example, searching for pasta | grain will return all threads which contain either the word pasta or grain.
  - Exclude a term: - exclude search terms by using the NOT(!) operator. For example, searching for jeans !jeggings will return threads which contain the word jeans and do not contain the word jeggings.
Moderation
1. What happens when a post is flagged?
  Every time a post is flagged, it's flag count goes up by one. Posts that have been flagged more than 3 times are automatically hidden. This limit can be increased, decreased or completely removed in your settings. By giving you the ability to set your own flag limit, you're free to decide if you prefer to have some of the more objectionable content automatically hidden, or read the forum completely unfiltered.
2. When is it appropriate to flag a post?
  Flagging should be reserved for alerting the community to blatantly abusive behavior on the forum. Examples of abusive behavior include disclosing personally identifying information, posting content that exploits children or minors, post flooding/repeat posting, spamming promotional content, or the excessive use of hate speech or other language that promotes bigotry, prejudice or racism.
3. Why did you introduce flagging?
  One of the great draws of youbemom.com is the open discussion that is encouraged as a result of it's anonymous format. Unfortunately, it's become increasingly difficult to handle the many requests we receive to delete posts, ban users, and address other cases of abuse on the forum. While the majority of the community is mature enough to use the forum in a responsible manner, a small handful of users equate anonymity with a license to freely spew hate speech, spam, and general idiotic nonsense that does nothing to contribute to the level of discourse on the site. Flagging was introduced as a way to let the community moderate itself and keep any single moderator from having too much power over the community.
4. F*** that, I want THUNDERDOME!!!
  Sorry, but we've given this policy a lot of thought, and we're sticking with it. For one meeellion dollars though, we will consider licensing the forum software to you for your very own youbethunderdome.com.
5. Is it true that users can't get banned here?
  We rarely ban users directly, but users who have been flagged too many times will trigger a temporary ban. During this time it will not be possible to post, reply or register for a new account. For first time offenders, bans are lifted after 30 minutes. Bans on repeat offenders will take much longer to be lifted. It's highly unlikely that you will be banned unless you really deserved it, but it is possible. If you feel you have been mistakenly banned, please let us know.
6. This user is really pissing me off so I flagged her! Why hasn't she been banned?!
  Posts that are flagged one or two times generally will not result in any punitive action. Just agree to disagree and move on.
7. S*** I just drunk posted my ex's facebook profile and now I am really regretting it, please delete my post!!
  Within reason, we're happy to remove any posts that are brought to our attention. If you've posted something you wish you hadn't, or come across an abusive post which you feel should be removed, please fill out the contact form to let us know.
Terminology
1. You guys abbreviate everything on this site and I can't understand a thing! A little help?
  We've put together a brief terminology guide to help decipher some of the more commonly used acronyms on YBM:
  - AI - American Idol
  - ANTM - America's Next Top Model
  - BFN/P - Big Fat Negative/Positive
  - BF - Boyfriend
  - BFD - Big F***ing Deal
  - BIL - Brother In Law
  - BPP - Bitter Poor Person
  - BTDT - Been There Done That
  - BTW - By The Way
  - CM - Cervical Mucus
  - DB - Dear Baby
  - DC - Dear Child
  - DD - Dear Daughter
  - DF - Dear Friend
  - DH - Dear Husband
  - DIL - Daughter in Law
  - DP - Dear Partner
  - DPO - Days Past Ovulation
  - DS - Dear Son
  - DSS - Dear Stepson
  - DSD - Dear Stepdaughter
  - DW - Dear Wife
  - EBF - Exclusively Breast Fed
  - EI - Early Intervention
  - FB - Facebook
  - FF - Formula Fed
  - FIL - Father in Law
  - FWIW - For What It's Worth
  - GF - Girlfriend
  - IMO - In My Opinion
  - IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
  - HIMYM - How I Met Your Mother
  - HPT - Home Pregnancy Test
  - IIRC - If I Recall/Remember Correctly
  - ITA - I Totally Agree
  - ITDA - I Totally Disagree
  - IUI - Intrauterine Insemination
  - IVF - In Vitro Fertilization
  - KWIM - Know What I Mean
  - LMAO - Laughing My Ass Off
  - LOL - Laughing Out Loud
  - MIL - Mother in Law
  - MYOB - Mind Your Own Business
  - NB - Newborn
  - NOS - Not Otherwise Specified
  - NP - New Poster
  - NR - New Replier
  - NT - Neurotypical
  - OMG - Oh My God
  - OP - Original Poster
  - OR - Original Replier
  - OPK - Ovulation Predictor Kit
  - PDD - Pervasive Development Disorder
  - PG - Pregnant
  - PPD - Post Partum Depression
  - PR - Project Runway
  - PSA - Public Service Announcement
  - RE - Reproductive Endocrinologist
  - RHO - Real Housewives of ______
  - ROFL - Rolling On the Floor Laughing
  - ROFLMAO - Rolling on the Floor Laughing My Ass Off
  - SAHD/M - Stay At Home Dad/Mom
  - SIL - Sister in Law
  - SN - Special Needs
  - SO - Significant Other
  - STFU - Shut The F*** Up
  - SYTYCD - So You Think You Can Dance
  - TIA - Thanks in Advance
  - TMI - Too Much Information
  - TTC - Trying to Conceive
  - TTTH - Talk to the Hand
  - TY - Thank You
  - VBA - Veiled Brag Alert
  - WOHD/M - Work out of Home Dad/Mom
  - WAHD/M - Work At Home Dad/Mom
  - WTF - What The F***
  - WWYD - What Would You Do
  - YB/YBM - YouBe/YouBeMom

Frequently Asked Questions

General Usage

Reading

Posting

Searching

Moderation

Terminology

General Usage

Reading

Posting

Searching

Moderation

Terminology