Turtle, would it be against the rules to post a picture of a bar code where you can see the F word when you shake your head?
If it were disruptive and/or off-topic, of course it would. The rules prohibit "excessive obscene or vulgar language" (with the definition of "excessive" being solely a judgement call of the Mods and Admins). If it's not excessively obscene or vulgar, it's not off-topic and doesn't provide a disruption, or appears to be an attempt to circumvent the language rules, then it wouldn't be against the rules.
It might be better to post a link to the picture, with a appropriate warning for those who don't wish to see vulgar language, rather than the actual picture, mainly because it doesn't require a whole lot of shaking of the head to see the hidden image.
I was almost temped to do it just to see if it could beat the word filters.
It would almost certainly beat the word filters. Any image will beat the filters. It's astoundingly easy to beat the filters using just text. Type in an offending word, highlight just a single letter in the word, then go up to the edit bar and change the color of the highlighted letter to BLACK. It beats the filters because it changes the raw word entirely, despite what the WYSIWYG editor is showing you. The offending word becomes an entirely different word. Change the color of the letter "u" and you can see it when you hit the wrench and toggle the BB Code Editor.
F[COLOR=#000000]u[/COLOR]ck is an example of that, as "F[COLOR=...." isn't in the filters.
(If you want to test that method, I would suggest you do it by using the "More Options" button to Preview the post, rather than actually posting it to see what happens.
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But, if you read the Code of Conduct, it doesn't say anything about filters. It deals with obscene and vulgar language, not the manner in which is it posted, or even the correct spelling. Cleverly skirting the filters won't magically give you a pass to violate the Code of Conduct. We could remove all of the words on the Censored Words List and nothing would change in the Code of Conduct.
The Word Censor filters exist primarily to make it easier on the Moderators, so they aren't spending all their time running around editing posts and issuing warnings for language.
There may be times when you're typing something in and it just so happens that a word that's on the Censored List is the perfect word to use in that sentence. As long as it's not used to attack someone, used to disrupt the forums (or such as to show you can thumb your nose at the rules, which in and of itself is disruptive), or to be vulgar just for the sake of being vulgar, etc., I wouldn't have a problem with someone getting past the filters using the above method, and I don't think the Mods would, either (although it hasn't been discussed much).
Most of the words on the list are on there because they are most commonly used to attack someone else or because they're just vulgarities that generally have no place on this forum. The F-word falls into that category. If you want to use the word bastar[COLOR=#000000]d[/COLOR] in a sentence that isn't disparaging, belittling or attacking someone, it's fine to circumvent the filters to do it. The word in and of itself isn't vulgar or obscene. Call someone a basta
rd, though, and you'll get Warning Points, whether you circumvent the filters as above or change the spelling or whatever. If you want to talk about s
hitake mushrooms, you're gonna have to circumvent the filters to do it. If you want to talk about being sh**faced, you're probably better off using "faced" or "drunk" or some other euphemism, because that word is gonna be considered vulgar in and of itself in most contexts here on EO.
Da
mn is on the list, but if it's appropriate to get around the filters to use it (as with d
amn it), not a problem. Just be very careful in how you use it, especially since the very non-objectionable "darn" can so easily be used instead. Dammit, on the other hand, isn't even on the list. But use it in the wrong way and it'll get you in trubble.
The bottom line is, it's not about whether you beat the filters, it's about whether the language is excessively obscene or vulgar, if you use the language in a manner that is disruptive, in an attack, etc. The filters are simply an aid to moderating the forums, as the words on that list are most often vulgar in and of themselves, or they are used in an attack of some kind.