Thoughts, if you want them.
Having added my share of the censored words to the current filter something like six years ago, I can safely say that my personal standards for what I'd now deem censor-worthy have certainly changed. Obviously the (former) moderating team has had varying levels of comfort with swearing, so some things that some moderators didn't necessarily find offensive were added to the filter by others who did object. On the subject of racial slurs that are "usable" (as well as any other possibly-offensive terms that aren't censored), I can only say that it's probably because most of us didn't think of those terms off the top of our heads (aww, we were such an innocent bunch
), or that we've never had the issue of anyone using them.
So, this isn't my domain anymore (haha! domain! domain name! wow, I'm a dork...), but just as a side note, I would be perfectly comfortable with your choosing to take some of the currently censored words out of the censor (d@mn, cr@p, etc.). The average age of A-U members has certainly increased, and I don't think many people would be offended by this change (although The Hobbit will bring in a new generation of fans, some on the youngish side - some of them probably weren't even BORN when FotR came out, how's that for a scary thought to make you feel ancient...). And if you want to make it a PG-13 forum, then by all means look up language standards for PG-13 movies and use those as a basis for what people can and cannot say. (As another side note, current internet laws in at least the US say that a child under 13 can't give out personal information without parental consent, which means no joining forums. The current A-U signup form requires that new members under 13 obtain this consent before joining, but changing the rules to "no members under 13 period" isn't really much of a shift.)
On the topic of administration in general, I still suggest that you make clear what sort of rules/guidelines you'll be following before anyone considers becoming a moderator. Becoming a moderator because you want to see a bunch of changes in the way the forum is run and think you have the best shot changing it from the inside causes issues. It's never been pleasant when we've had moderators go against the team and start to moderate things according to their personal standards
