[RESOLVED] The "Banned" status

[Nightwalker83]

Hi,

Is it possible to change it so that we know if the user was banned outright or they were only banned temporarily?

Thanks,


Nightwalker

[RhinoBull]

IMHO the actual status should be kept between the user and the admin - whatever happened did happen between those two parties so it's nobodyelse's business.

On a side note: what difference whould it make anyway?

[Atheist]

IMHO the actual status should be kept between the user and the admin - whatever happened did happen between those two parties so it's nobodyelse's business.

On a side note: what difference whould it make anyway?

As I understood it, nightwalker didnt mean that the reason for the ban should be made public, just the duration of the ban (permanent/temporary).

I see no harm in letting people know that. In fact that'll let people know if they can expect the certain person to return at some point, which I guess in some cases could be useful.
Letting people know the reason for the ban however, is as you said not anyones business except for the banned person and the VBF staff.

[Nightwalker83]

IMHO the actual status should be kept between the user and the admin - whatever happened did happen between those two parties so it's nobodyelse's business.

Atheist is correct when he said I don't want to know the reason why they were banned. Just who is banned for good and who is banned temporarily. Shouldn't the banned status be changed to reflect that?

[si_the_geek]

I can understand your reasoning, and see that it could be useful at times.

However, based on the interface we have for banning, I don't think they are actually stored any differently - I get the impression that permanent is just a much bigger date range.

[dclamp]

I can understand your reasoning, and see that it could be useful at times.

However, based on the interface we have for banning, I don't think they are actually stored any differently - I get the impression that permanent is just a much bigger date range.

I doubt that it is stored as a date really far into the future. I am sure there is a field in the DB called "perm" (or something similar) that when it is set to true, will not allow that user/ip login ever again

[RhinoBull]

Not necessary - "01/01/9999" by all mean is "permanent". Isn't it?
A ban is a ban whether it is for 10 days or 10000 years.

[dclamp]

When you are banned it tells you if you are banned until 5/30/2009 or if it is a perm ban.

They are not going to waste their time writing code to check if the ban is "really long". It is not necessary when you can have an additional field.

[toecutter]

Isn't it just a matter of a ip change then a banned member could possibly register under a different name without anybody knowing, Unless of course he is using a static ip which would make a little more difficult.

[dclamp]

Isn't it just a matter of a ip change then a banned member could possibly register under a different name without anybody knowing, Unless of course he is using a static ip which would make a little more difficult.

Yes. Its the honor system. If you were banned, stay away until you can come back. And if you have a perm ban, come back when you think you are a good boy.


Out of curiosity. Was sneakyrabbit permanently banned?

[Nightwalker83]

I can understand your reasoning, and see that it could be useful at times.

However, based on the interface we have for banning, I don't think they are actually stored any differently - I get the impression that permanent is just a much bigger date range.

Not necessary - "01/01/9999" by all mean is "permanent". Isn't it?
A ban is a ban whether it is for 10 days or 10000 years.

However, it should indicate what type of ban it is so that is a member on the forum has a question for a member who is banned whether the banned member will return to the forum to answer the question or pm.

Out of curiosity. Was sneakyrabbit permanently banned?

That's what I am talking about! At the moment banned members just have the default "Banned" status whether they are banned temporarily like you were awhile back or permanently like other members have been.

[RhinoBull]

However, it should indicate what type of ban it is so that is a member on the forum has a question for a member who is banned whether the banned member will return to the forum to answer the question or pm...

I don't necessary agree with that but you do have a small point there.

[RobDog888]

I just looked in my databases and there is a table called "userban" and it contains some fields of concern called "bandate" and "liftdate". When there is a permenant banned user the "liftdate" wil contain a "0". If its a temp ban then there will be a valid date when the ban expires.

[dclamp]

I just looked in my databases and there is a table called "userban" and it contains some fields of concern called "bandate" and "liftdate". When there is a permenant banned user the "liftdate" wil contain a "0". If its a temp ban then there will be a valid date when the ban expires.

Can you enlighten us with the sneakyrabbits ban time?

[penagate]

I agree with Rhino.

Additionally, some members are contactable by email. You can reach this from their user profile page.

[Nightwalker83]

I just looked in my databases and there is a table called "userban" and it contains some fields of concern called "bandate" and "liftdate". When there is a permenant banned user the "liftdate" wil contain a "0". If its a temp ban then there will be a valid date when the ban expires.

Of course that would be logical the "0" most likely represents infinity meaning no end date.

I agree with Rhino.

Additionally, some members are contactable by email. You can reach this from their user profile page.

I suppose if you started a thread in which you were hoping the banned member could eventually reply in you could just quote their emailed response to you in that thread.