Here are the basics on how to use the ignore feature to see some of the posts a specific user has written. This technique is often called "ignore-dar."
1. Put the person you want to ignore-dar on ignore.
2. Click on your "ignored" list. It's located on the top black bar next to the "no" or "ban" circle shape.
3. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of your ignored list. Ignored posters are listed in chronological order. That means the most recent person you've put on ignore will be at the very bottom of the list.
4. At that point, you can probably see plenty of the posts and replies that the user has made.
5. If you don't want to leave them ignored, click the X at the top of that person's ignored entry. They will be unignored.
Big Fucking Important Note:
What you see in ignore is based entirely on recent activity in threads you have visited or have in your watch list.
You can only see the posts and replies of an ignored user if you have either watched threads they have posted in, or been to the same threads they have posted in, and on that visit only.
This means that you are not going to see everything someone has posted.
This also means that if you have just logged in and only been to one thread, and put someone on ignore, you will only see what they have posted in that one thread you have visited so far. If you just happen to have some threads they posted in on your watch list, you'll see those, too. However, there is a very good chance you will only see their replies in that one thread.
Further, if you just happen to have only gone to one thread someone else has posted in, you will only see their replies in that one thread, even if they have posted elsewhere.
This is why you should not pay much, if any, attention to someone who insists that a poster is a troll "because they have only posted in this thread and no others."
Say someone is really fond of talking about Martinizing, but you're sick and tired of hearing about it, so you avoid the threads. Later, the Martinizing fan posts that he eats store-brand mayonnaise straight out of the jar. You quickly put him on ignore, as any sane person would do, but you get curious. You check the ignored list and only see the one post about mayonnaise from him. You may think that means he has not posted anywhere else; however, if you'd gone to the Martinizing threads, you'd know he had posted hundreds of times, but you had been avoiding the threads on Martinizing. Therefore, you simply had not seen his hundreds of posts, because you had not been to the same threads he has.
Further, let's say you log out of the forum and then back in a few hours later. You check your ignored list before doing anything else. You scroll down and see that the ignored entry for the Martinizing fellow is completely empty. That's because you have not visited any threads yet, let alone threads where he has posted.
Another Big Fucking Important Note:
You cannot identify sockpuppets via ignore-dar. Ignore-dar only shows you some posts made from one account. Each ignored user in your list is just one specific account associated with one specific login.
If anyone says they have identified your sockpuppets by using ignore-dar, they are either confused or lying.
Sometimes people will say that the ignored function will show everything posted by a specific IP address. That's not true, but this probably was true for troll-dar years ago, which is why they're making that mistake.
I've seen people say that they used ignore-dar and discovered "all your sockpuppets and IP addresses." That's impossible. Do not believe anyone who has told you that.
Further, some people get confused, and use ignore-dar to see that R25 was also R50, which they think means they're using sockpuppets. No, what they discovered was that one account posted both replies at R25 and R50. Ignore-dar in this case did not reveal sockpuppets.
Other Equally Important Things to Note:
* You can only ignore a maximum of 255 people. If you put someone on ignore and it won't stick, check to see that you have not maxed out the number of ignores.
* Sometimes the system takes a few minutes to update. This means you can put someone on ignore and, if you log out immediately after, the ignore will not take. They will be unignored when you return to DL.
* Sometimes the system glitches and someone is put on ignore twice. If you click the X to unignore one of them, both of them will disappear from your ignored list.
Types of Ignore-Dar Trolls
False Accusation Trolls: These types of trolls almost deserve their own post, because they are omnipresent on Datalounge. However, the main thing you need to remember is that there are a lot of troll accounts that deliberately yet falsely accuse others of trolling. I'm bringing this up here because these trolls tend to say that ignore-dar has proven someone is a troll, even though that's not true; they're hoping that the simple act of accusing you will convince those who cannot (or will not) use ignore-dar to check for themselves.
My advice is to either ignore all accusations that are made without evidence, or use ignore-dar to confirm an accusation for yourself.
The Accidental Ignore-Dar Troll: There are a lot of people who are giving out bad instructions on how to use ignore-dar, and as a result, there are a lot of Dataloungers accusing others of being trolls, simply because they don't know what they're doing. They aren't False Accuser Trolls, even though they are falsely accusing others; they've simply been given bad information, and have made a mistake.
Not that long ago, I also saw a rather hilarious drama unfold where someone said they used ignore-dar and discovered another user was a racist. Unfortunately, what had actually happened was that they got user R123, an actual racist, confused with R124, who had done nothing but post a Sure, Jan gif. I thought it was funny; it was clear that none of the people actually involved thought so.
How to See Missing Posts in a Thread
When you have posts missing in a thread because you have users on ignore, there are easy ways to still see those replies.
First, please don't just post the R# of the missing post. We have a troll who does this: they have [R3] on ignore, for example, so they post nothing but "R3" (without quotation marks) in a reply, which allows them to hover over that [R3] and see the reply. This is irritating. This is troll behavior. Don't do this.
Probably the easiest method to see the missing posts from ignored users is to copy the URL of the thread and go to another browser or a private tab where you are not logged in, paste the URL, and read from there. All replies will show regardless of whether you have someone ignored or not.
The other way to see these missing replies is to go to your Ignored tab, then use CTRL-F to search for the subject line of the thread you were just in. You won't see the R# of the person who posted, but you will see their reply.
Something to note when you're using CTRL-F to search the ignored page, is that apostrophes don't render properly. For example:
If you CTRL-F and search for "can't" you won't see this entry because of the weird way the apostrophe renders.
