SMF2.1:Ban list: Difference between revisions From Online Manual

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The ''Ban List'' sub-menu is found in ''Admin Center > Members > Ban List''. It has four pages or tabs: ''Ban List, Add New Ban, Browse Ban Triggers'', and ''Ban Log''. These are all described below.
The ''Ban List'' sub-menu is found in ''Admin Center > Members > Ban List''. It has four pages or tabs: ''Ban List, Add New Ban, Browse Ban Triggers'', and ''Ban Log''. These are all described below.


The optional [https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/SMF2.1:Warnings Warnings System], which is also found in ''Admin Center > Members'', can automatically remove member rights as their warning level increases. We call the removal of member rights "user limitations". Those user limitations earned via Warnings are mild compared to banning. Banning is the ultimate user limitation, because in certain cases, it can block the banned member from viewing the forum at all. For this reason, banning is a step which should be strongly considered, and not handed out frivolously.
Like the [https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/SMF2.1:Warnings Warnings System], Banning is also an optional feature, and also removes members rights, as a consequence when members have not observed the forum's rules, or expected standard of behavior. We call the removal of member rights "user limitations". Banning is the ultimate user limitation, because in certain cases, it can block a member from visiting or viewing the forum at all. <u>Un</u>like the warning system, banning is not an automatically controlled feature, and is entirely subjective, usually a permission reserved only for administrators. For this reason, banning is a step which should be seriously considered, and not handed out frivolously.


==Ban List==
==Ban List==
Until version 2.1, this feature was called the "Ban Log" . The new version of the ''Ban Log'' is described below. Now this feature is called ''Ban List'', and is used to show which members have been banned from participating in the forum. There are different levels, or strengths of banning, which will be explained below.
This is a list members who have been banned from participating in the forum. It is populated by data entered by administrators, at the time each member was banned. There are different levels, or strengths of banning, which will be explained below.


This table has eight columns:
The data is organized into the table, in the following eight columns:
*'''Ban name''' - This is the username of the member who was banned.
*'''''Ban name''''' - This is the username of the member who was banned.
*'''Notes''' - Here, you can place any special notes about the ban, which moderators or administrators want to share privately with each other.
*'''''Notes''''' - Here, you can place any special notes about the ban, which moderators or administrators want to share privately with each other.
*'''Reason''' - This is what the banned member was told was the reason they were banned.
*'''''Reason''''' - This is what the banned member was told was the reason they were banned.
*'''Added''' - This is the date of the banning.
*'''''Added''''' - This is the date of the banning.
*'''Expires''' - This is when the ban will expire, if it will expire.
*'''''Expires''''' - This is when the ban will expire, if it will expire.
*'''Triggers''' - This setting is for any or all of four kinds of data which are watched for by the software, to determine when a banned member tries to visit: IP address, Membername, Email Address, Hostname (owner of the email address domain).
*'''''Triggers''''' - This setting is for any or all of four kinds of data which are watched for by the server, to determine when a banned member tries to visit: ''IP address, Membername, Email Address, Hostname'' (owner of the email address domain).
*'''Actions''' - This is the severity of the ban: full, partial, or how partial.
*'''''Actions''''' - This is the severity of the ban: full, partial, and how partial.
*'''checkbox''' - This is used to remove items from this table, by clicking ''Remove Selected'' button. There is no button to clear this log all at once. However, by clicking the checkbox in the column title area, it checks all the boxes in the table. Then ''Remove Selected'' button has the same effect.
*'''checkbox''' - This is used to remove entries from this table, by clicking ''Remove Selected'' button. There is no button to clear this log all at once. However, by clicking the checkbox in the column title area, it checks all the boxes in the table. Then ''Remove Selected'' button has the same effect that a Clear Log button has.


===Add New Ban===
==Add New Ban==
This page allows you to add new bans to members of your forum. When you need to put a ban on someone you can put a ban on one of more of the following: their IP, hostname, email address, or username.
This is the form for adding newly banned members to the ''Ban List''. It's at ''Admin Center > Members > Ban List > Add New Ban''. To complete the eight columns in the table, this form has seven fields which the administrator needs to fill in, for each banned member. (The date is added automatically when the new ban is added.)


*'''Ban name''' - Enter a name you want to give to the ban. Think of it like a topic subject.
*'''''Ban name''''' - Enter a name you want to give to the ban. This would usually be the member's username.
*'''Expiration''' - You can set bans to forever or just a limited time. If you wish to just punish someone temporarily, use the "Ban will expire after x day(s)" feature. If you would like to ban some one indefinitely set the ban to never expire.
*'''''Reason''''' - This is what the banned member was told, is the reason they were banned.
*'''Reason''' - Reason for ban, to be displayed to banned member.
*'''''Notes''''' - Any special notes about the ban, which moderators or administrators want to privately share with each other, can be filled in here.
*'''Notes''' - Notes that may assist other staff members.
*'''''Expiration''''' - This is when the ban will expire, if it will expire.
*'''Restriction''' - What type of ban this trigger will apply when conditions are met for the ban.
**'''''Never''''' - This is a permanent ban, unless the adminstrator someday decides to rescind it.
**'''''Full Ban''''' - When you put a full ban or restriction on a user, they will not have the right to visit your site. This means they cannot read, register, or post on your site. If you really want to get rid of a user, this is the best option.
**'''''Ban will expire after ''this'' number of days''''' - Whatever severity of the ban, it will expire after the set number of days.
**'''''Partial Ban''''' - Will ban the member from specific areas as defined below:
**'''''Expired / disabled''''' - This setting works in 2 different ways. First, if you set the ban to expire after a certain number of days, then after that number of days has passed, the software automatically ticks this option. Second, if an administrator (or maybe moderator, depending on permissions) decides to end a member's ban, they can manually tick this option themselves. Either way, that member's ban has ended, and the member's existing permissions go back into effect.
***'''Cannot post''' - If you put a post restriction/ban on an IP, hostname, e-mail, or username, you take away the right to post. This allows them to visit your site, but that is about it. This is useful if you just want to stop them from posting, but allow them to visit your forum.
*'''''Restriction''''' - This is the severity of the ban: full, partial, and how partial.
***'''Cannot register''' -When you put a registration restriction/ban on an IP, hostname, e-mail, or username you take away the right to register on your forum. If they currently have an account on your forum they will be able to use it, however, they will not be able to register a new one. This type of restriction or ban is helpful if you have someone who registers multiple times.
**'''''Full Ban''''' - This will prevent the member from even viewing the forum. They cannot access it in any way. If they browse to the forum's address, they will see a message, something like 'You have been banned and cannot access this forum.'
***'''Cannot login''' - Prevents the user from logging in.
**'''''Partial Ban''''' - This sets the severity of the ban: full, partial, or how partial; by using the three options below:
*'''Added''' - When the ban was made.
***'''''Cannot post''''' - This option turns the forum into a read-only forum for the banned member. They will only be able to read the forum, but not participate in any other way. The member will see a warning message, explaining this condition.
*'''Expires''' - When the ban will no longer take effect.
***'''''Cannot register''''' - The option prevents the banned member from trying to register again as a new member, using the same trigger variables, or pieces of data which are explained just below: username, email address, IP address or hostname.
*'''Triggers''' - Conditions where the ban can be applied and the ban restrictions will be put in place.
***'''''Cannot login''''' - This option prevents the member from logging in to their original account.
**'''Ban with IP''' - To ban a user by their IP you need all or part of it. You can usually obtain this from your forum. See [[Profile#Track_User|user tracking]] for further information. A complete IP will always have four sections of numbers (127.0.0.1 is an example). Inputting their full IP for a ban is okay, but is not always useful if this user has a dynamic IP or dial up. If you ban their IP, and they subsequently log in successfully, they probably have a dynamic IP or dial up.  However, most ISPs, even if they are dynamic, start with the same numbers (127.0 for example). If you put a ban on a user with the IP 127.0.0.1, and the next day they show up with the IP 127.0.0.2, the first few numbers are the same. You can, therefore, still ban them. Instead of banning their full IP, ban part of it. Type in, for example, 127.0.0.* instead of the full IP. This works in most cases but some users' IPs still change. This also does not stop them from using a proxy to visit your website.
*'''''Triggers''''' - These are any or all of four kinds of data which are watched for by the server, to determine when a banned member tries to visit. The server can watch for the IP address, Hostname (owner of the email address domain), Email Address, or Membername.
**'''Ban with a Hostname''' - A hostname is a string of characters used to identify a particular computer system. Selecting this option will ban the hostname of the user.
**'''''IP Address''''' - To ban a user by their IP you need to enter all or part of the address. You can usually obtain this from your forum. See their [[Profile#Track_User|user tracking page]] to find it. A complete IP address will always have four sections of numbers (127.0.0.1 is an example). Inputting their full IP for a ban is okay, but is not always useful if this user has a dynamic IP or dial up. If you ban their IP, and they subsequently are able to log in successfully, it means they probably have a dynamic IP or dial up.  However, most ISPs, even if they are dynamic, start with the same numbers (127.0 for example). If you ban a user with the full IP address, 127.0.0.1, and the next day they show up with the IP address, 127.0.0.2, it means the first few numbers are the same. You can, therefore, still ban them, by just typing in the first three sections of the address: 127.0.0.* instead of the full IP address. This works in most cases but some users' IP addresses still change after you ban them. This also does not stop them from using a proxy to visit your website.
**'''Ban by Email Address''' - You can also ban a user by their e-mail address. You can do this in two ways. You can ban them by their full e-mail address or by part of their e-mail address. Banning a user by their full e-mail address is usually sufficient. Sometimes, however, a user may have numerous e-mail addresses. In this case, instead of typing in their full e-mail address type in something like *@hotmail.com. This works if they use a custom e-mail service which is not used by many people, but if you put an e-mail ban on large e-mail providers like hotmail and gmail nobody using these e-mail addresses will be able to get past the ban.
**'''''Ban with a Hostname''''' - A hostname is a string of characters used to identify the owner of the email address domain. Selecting this option might ban anyone who uses the same Internet Service Provider (ISP) or email address provider. For example, you probably do not want to ban whatever is the hostname for gmail.com. So be careful about using this option.
**'''Ban By Username''' - To ban some one by their username, just type in their username. This will prevent the member from rejoining with that name; however, that member could register with another username. Keep in mind if a user is banned by username and their account is deleted the ban is deleted along with it as the username no longer exists, so banning by username may not be the best option.
**'''''Ban by Email Address''''' - You can ban a user by their e-mail address. You can do this in two ways. You can ban them by their full e-mail address or by part of their e-mail address. Banning a user by their full e-mail address is usually sufficient. Sometimes, however, a user may have numerous e-mail addresses. If the banned member uses a custom e-mail service which is not used by many people, instead of typing in their full e-mail address, type in something like *@whatever.com. However you can't use this trick if they use a large e-mail providers like hotmail or gmail, because you'll accidentally ban a lot of members or even guests or visitors.
*'''Actions''' - Shows a link to modify the ban.
**'''''Ban By Username''''' - To ban a member by their username, just type in their username. This will prevent the member from rejoining with that name; however, that member could register with another username. Also remember if a user is banned by username and their account is deleted, the ban will be deleted along with it. Then they could register again with that same username.


===Browse Ban Triggers===
When you finish filling out the form, don't forget to click the ''Add'' button in the bottom, right corner.
This shows all the ban triggers on your forum. The default page shows all of the ban triggers by IP address. You can display ban triggers by hostname, e-mail, or username by clicking on one of the following links:


IP | Hostname | Email | Username
==Browse Ban Triggers==


If you are viewing IP bans, for example, it will list the banned IP addresses; whereas, if you are viewing e-mail bans, you will see a list of banned email addresses. Next to this is the ban name and the number of hits the ban has. The last column with the checkbox is if you want to select any bans to remove using the the "Remove selected ban triggers" button.
By this point, we have already learned that '''ban triggers''' are certain pieces of data (membernames, email addresses, IP addresses, and hostnames) connected to banned members, which the server is always watching for (because we told it to watch for them, when we banned the member). When the server recognizes that one of them has tried to visit the forum, it "triggers" the software to enter the information in this ''Browse Ban Triggers'' table. This can help you understand which triggers might be the most effective to use in your forum.


===Ban Log===
The table is found at ''Admin Center > Members > Ban List > Browse Ban Triggers''. At the top of this table are these four links, by which you can sort the table, to find out which triggers have hit the server: 
This page shows a list of all of the users you have banned. It lists their IP, e-mail address, username, and date when they were banned.  
''IP Address | Hostname | Email Address | Username''
 
There are four columns:
*'''''Banned entity''''' - This is whichever of the above four links you have selected to examine: IP address, Host name, Email address, or Member name.
*'''''Ban name''''' - This is the name of the ban, which is usually the member's name.
*'''''Hits''''' - This is the number of times the specific trigger hit the server (or i.e. a measure of how many times the banned member tried to enter).
*'''checkbox''' - After selecting which triggers you want to delete, click ''Remove Selected Ban Triggers'' button.
 
==Ban Log==
The ''Ban Log'' shows all attempts to enter the forum by members who have received either a Full Ban, or Partial Ban > Cannot Register. Like the ''Browse Ban Triggers'' table, it is automatically populated by server data, based on data entered by administrators for the Ban List table.
 
This log has five columns:
*'''''IP''''' - This is the IP address of the banned member who tried to visit.
*'''''Email address''''' - This is the email address of the banned member who tried to visit.
*'''''Member name''''' - This is the name of the banned member who tried to visit.
*'''''Date''''' - This is the date that re-entry by the banned member was attempted.  
*'''checkbox''' - This is used to remove the selected log entries, by clicking ''Remove Selected'' button.
 
Otherwise the log can be emptied all at once by clicking the ''Clear Log'' button.
 
Additionally, there is an option for automatic pruning, if as administrator, you feel it's the best option for your forum. See the [https://wiki.simplemachines.org/smf/SMF2.1:Logs#Log_Pruning Log Pruning] section of the Logs page, to learn how to use it.


{{ {{Localized|As an administrator 2.1}}}}
{{ {{Localized|As an administrator 2.1}}}}

Latest revision as of 16:33, 25 September 2023

Under construction-48.png Work in progress, expect frequent changes. Under construction-48.png

Please see SMF1.1:Ban list, SMF2.0:Ban list or SMF2.1:Ban list depending on the version of SMF you are using.

The Ban List sub-menu is found in Admin Center > Members > Ban List. It has four pages or tabs: Ban List, Add New Ban, Browse Ban Triggers, and Ban Log. These are all described below.

Like the Warnings System, Banning is also an optional feature, and also removes members rights, as a consequence when members have not observed the forum's rules, or expected standard of behavior. We call the removal of member rights "user limitations". Banning is the ultimate user limitation, because in certain cases, it can block a member from visiting or viewing the forum at all. Unlike the warning system, banning is not an automatically controlled feature, and is entirely subjective, usually a permission reserved only for administrators. For this reason, banning is a step which should be seriously considered, and not handed out frivolously.

Ban List

This is a list members who have been banned from participating in the forum. It is populated by data entered by administrators, at the time each member was banned. There are different levels, or strengths of banning, which will be explained below.

The data is organized into the table, in the following eight columns:

  • Ban name - This is the username of the member who was banned.
  • Notes - Here, you can place any special notes about the ban, which moderators or administrators want to share privately with each other.
  • Reason - This is what the banned member was told was the reason they were banned.
  • Added - This is the date of the banning.
  • Expires - This is when the ban will expire, if it will expire.
  • Triggers - This setting is for any or all of four kinds of data which are watched for by the server, to determine when a banned member tries to visit: IP address, Membername, Email Address, Hostname (owner of the email address domain).
  • Actions - This is the severity of the ban: full, partial, and how partial.
  • checkbox - This is used to remove entries from this table, by clicking Remove Selected button. There is no button to clear this log all at once. However, by clicking the checkbox in the column title area, it checks all the boxes in the table. Then Remove Selected button has the same effect that a Clear Log button has.

Add New Ban

This is the form for adding newly banned members to the Ban List. It's at Admin Center > Members > Ban List > Add New Ban. To complete the eight columns in the table, this form has seven fields which the administrator needs to fill in, for each banned member. (The date is added automatically when the new ban is added.)

  • Ban name - Enter a name you want to give to the ban. This would usually be the member's username.
  • Reason - This is what the banned member was told, is the reason they were banned.
  • Notes - Any special notes about the ban, which moderators or administrators want to privately share with each other, can be filled in here.
  • Expiration - This is when the ban will expire, if it will expire.
    • Never - This is a permanent ban, unless the adminstrator someday decides to rescind it.
    • Ban will expire after this number of days - Whatever severity of the ban, it will expire after the set number of days.
    • Expired / disabled - This setting works in 2 different ways. First, if you set the ban to expire after a certain number of days, then after that number of days has passed, the software automatically ticks this option. Second, if an administrator (or maybe moderator, depending on permissions) decides to end a member's ban, they can manually tick this option themselves. Either way, that member's ban has ended, and the member's existing permissions go back into effect.
  • Restriction - This is the severity of the ban: full, partial, and how partial.
    • Full Ban - This will prevent the member from even viewing the forum. They cannot access it in any way. If they browse to the forum's address, they will see a message, something like 'You have been banned and cannot access this forum.'
    • Partial Ban - This sets the severity of the ban: full, partial, or how partial; by using the three options below:
      • Cannot post - This option turns the forum into a read-only forum for the banned member. They will only be able to read the forum, but not participate in any other way. The member will see a warning message, explaining this condition.
      • Cannot register - The option prevents the banned member from trying to register again as a new member, using the same trigger variables, or pieces of data which are explained just below: username, email address, IP address or hostname.
      • Cannot login - This option prevents the member from logging in to their original account.
  • Triggers - These are any or all of four kinds of data which are watched for by the server, to determine when a banned member tries to visit. The server can watch for the IP address, Hostname (owner of the email address domain), Email Address, or Membername.
    • IP Address - To ban a user by their IP you need to enter all or part of the address. You can usually obtain this from your forum. See their user tracking page to find it. A complete IP address will always have four sections of numbers (127.0.0.1 is an example). Inputting their full IP for a ban is okay, but is not always useful if this user has a dynamic IP or dial up. If you ban their IP, and they subsequently are able to log in successfully, it means they probably have a dynamic IP or dial up. However, most ISPs, even if they are dynamic, start with the same numbers (127.0 for example). If you ban a user with the full IP address, 127.0.0.1, and the next day they show up with the IP address, 127.0.0.2, it means the first few numbers are the same. You can, therefore, still ban them, by just typing in the first three sections of the address: 127.0.0.* instead of the full IP address. This works in most cases but some users' IP addresses still change after you ban them. This also does not stop them from using a proxy to visit your website.
    • Ban with a Hostname - A hostname is a string of characters used to identify the owner of the email address domain. Selecting this option might ban anyone who uses the same Internet Service Provider (ISP) or email address provider. For example, you probably do not want to ban whatever is the hostname for gmail.com. So be careful about using this option.
    • Ban by Email Address - You can ban a user by their e-mail address. You can do this in two ways. You can ban them by their full e-mail address or by part of their e-mail address. Banning a user by their full e-mail address is usually sufficient. Sometimes, however, a user may have numerous e-mail addresses. If the banned member uses a custom e-mail service which is not used by many people, instead of typing in their full e-mail address, type in something like *@whatever.com. However you can't use this trick if they use a large e-mail providers like hotmail or gmail, because you'll accidentally ban a lot of members or even guests or visitors.
    • Ban By Username - To ban a member by their username, just type in their username. This will prevent the member from rejoining with that name; however, that member could register with another username. Also remember if a user is banned by username and their account is deleted, the ban will be deleted along with it. Then they could register again with that same username.

When you finish filling out the form, don't forget to click the Add button in the bottom, right corner.

Browse Ban Triggers

By this point, we have already learned that ban triggers are certain pieces of data (membernames, email addresses, IP addresses, and hostnames) connected to banned members, which the server is always watching for (because we told it to watch for them, when we banned the member). When the server recognizes that one of them has tried to visit the forum, it "triggers" the software to enter the information in this Browse Ban Triggers table. This can help you understand which triggers might be the most effective to use in your forum.

The table is found at Admin Center > Members > Ban List > Browse Ban Triggers. At the top of this table are these four links, by which you can sort the table, to find out which triggers have hit the server: IP Address | Hostname | Email Address | Username

There are four columns:

  • Banned entity - This is whichever of the above four links you have selected to examine: IP address, Host name, Email address, or Member name.
  • Ban name - This is the name of the ban, which is usually the member's name.
  • Hits - This is the number of times the specific trigger hit the server (or i.e. a measure of how many times the banned member tried to enter).
  • checkbox - After selecting which triggers you want to delete, click Remove Selected Ban Triggers button.

Ban Log

The Ban Log shows all attempts to enter the forum by members who have received either a Full Ban, or Partial Ban > Cannot Register. Like the Browse Ban Triggers table, it is automatically populated by server data, based on data entered by administrators for the Ban List table.

This log has five columns:

  • IP - This is the IP address of the banned member who tried to visit.
  • Email address - This is the email address of the banned member who tried to visit.
  • Member name - This is the name of the banned member who tried to visit.
  • Date - This is the date that re-entry by the banned member was attempted.
  • checkbox - This is used to remove the selected log entries, by clicking Remove Selected button.

Otherwise the log can be emptied all at once by clicking the Clear Log button.

Additionally, there is an option for automatic pruning, if as administrator, you feel it's the best option for your forum. See the Log Pruning section of the Logs page, to learn how to use it.




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