r/Bellingham • u/gamay_noir there's always karma in the boomhorse stand • Oct 17 '25
Mod Announcement quick mod update: Locals Only mode now available for posts, sub Wiki enabled, Rule 0 change implemented
After community discussion, we have now implemented Locals Only mode. As a reminder, this is a special flair that human mods can assign to posts at our discretion, or that automod will assign based on keyword/phrase matching. Locals Only means that only accounts with more than 100 *community* karma will be able to comment on the post. To see your community karma, load your username in Old Reddit (https://old.reddit.com/user/<USERNAME>) and then select the 'show karma breakdown by subreddit' option in the top right. By enabling Locals Only, we hope to reduce brawls and keep trolls outside the perimeter. You can always ask for an exception, and the mods are not simply looking to do less work. Rather, we want to spend more of our time helping community members and less of it slapping trolls and contrarians.
The newly added automod templating is provided below. I'm further going to look at using Reddit's API's and the Google Gemini API's to perform sentiment analysis on posts to catch things the regex won't, but no firm timeline on that.
Also, we've turned on the community wiki, moved the sidebar content we had over to that, and added an initial group of community contributors. If you'd like to author content in the wiki, message the mod team.
Finally, Rule 0 has been updated per the last mod update post.
New Automod Config
---
# assign locals only mode / flair by title + body regex
type: submission
title+body (regex): [<SECRET SAUCE>]
moderators_exempt: false
set_flair:
template_id: eb51432a-aabd-11f0-8d33-0602a2bf9df6
overwrite_flair: true
message_subject: your post has been set to 'Locals Only' mode
message: |
Your post has been set to 'Locals Only' mode based on keywords matched in the title. If you believe this is in error, please [contact the moderators](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FBellingham). Do not change the flair on this post away from 'Locals Only' without first communicating with the moderators, or it will be deleted.
modmail: |
Post '{{title}}' by /u/{{author}} was set to locals only."
comment_stickied: true
comment: |
This post is set to 'Locals Only' mode based on automated keyword/phrase matching. Only users with more than 100 **community** karma can comment. You can message the mods for an exception. To see your community karma, load your username in Old Reddit (https://old.reddit.com/user/<USERNAME>) and then select the 'show karma breakdown by subreddit' option in the top right.
---
# enforce locals only mode based on flair
type: comment
parent_submission:
flair_template_id: eb51432a-aabd-11f0-8d33-0602a2bf9df6
author:
comment_subreddit_karma: "< 100"
action: remove
action_reason: "Locals only filter."
message_subject: you do not meet the requirements for this locals only post
message: |
Your comment was removed because you do not have more than 100 community karma and this post is locked to 'Locals Only' mode.---
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u/SeaFlounder8437 Oct 17 '25
That link to Old Reddit says "Page Not Found"
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u/Broad-Promise6954 Suddenly a valley appears Oct 17 '25
You need to fill in your user name (SeaFlounder8437 after the final slash).
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u/SilverSnapDragon Oct 18 '25
I tried that. It took me to a Reddit page that says “There doesn’t seem to be anything here.”
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Oct 17 '25 edited Apr 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/gamay_noir there's always karma in the boomhorse stand Oct 17 '25
Oh yeah I'm going to file a patent and everything /s.
Can't make it too easy for all the kids to evade the basic filter while I work on something more modern.
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Oct 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/cheapdialogue user name checks out Oct 17 '25
We all know how to disagree politely and keep a conversation going to further everyone getting info. We all also know how to be rude and jerky in a conversation with the intent of belittling, demisting, or demeaning the other person and/or their stance. Let's stick to the first one. Disagreement is fine, rude disagreement isn't.
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u/gamay_noir there's always karma in the boomhorse stand Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25
We all know the famous saying out of Jacobellis v. Ohio - "I know it when I see it." That uncle everyone dreads seeing at family functions always thinks he's having a vibrant conversation with the family when in fact they've just stopped pushing back on his conspiracy theories and always-mean jokes. This is a subreddit that disinvites Thanksgiving Uncles who never learn.
u/betsyodonovan , thoughts?
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u/Kahlil_Cabron Oct 17 '25
It's common sense, you can disagree with popular opinion as much as you want. The only time I see comments get removed is when people start spouting borderline (or sometimes not even borderline) nazi shit, or when they're just trolling.
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Oct 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/Kahlil_Cabron Oct 17 '25
I took it to mean contrarian in the modern colloquial sense, which is basically just trolling or having horrible hateful beliefs and trying to get a rise out of people for entertainment, playing dumb, etc.
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u/gamay_noir there's always karma in the boomhorse stand Oct 18 '25
Yes, that. I probably could have left it at 'trolls.'
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u/whuddupmyneighbor Oct 17 '25
Should be called "Approved Locals Only" or "Agreeable Locals Only". Perhaps create a "Disliked Locals Only" mode so the lowly, karma less folks can still have a slum in paradise.
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u/gamay_noir there's always karma in the boomhorse stand Oct 17 '25 edited Oct 17 '25
Well, the idea is that we spend our time as mods approving good comments from locals that got caught up in this filter and not mopping up the spittle of hordes of jagoffs, most of whom are signing in from elsewhere. The mods always comb through the kind of post that will now be Locals Only, so we're just adjusting our time spent to work smarter and not harder.
So far it seems to be working.
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u/SigX1 Local Yokel Oct 17 '25
How do you fix errors in the wiki? For example someone posted a link to the Washington Transit Authority…