problem member

I have a problem member, if I place him into coppa, does that mean all his posts await moderation by me?

If not, is there an easy way to make all his posts get approval prior to being posted?

Put him on the tachy goes to coventry list and be done with it.

Otherwise, create a primary usergroup that has all posts moderated and promote him to it. (It might be an idea to name that group something subtle - calling it Trolls might be inflamatory ;) )

Dave, what does this mean, you lost me....
"Put him on the tachy goes to coventry list and be done with it."

Actually, "Tachy Goes To Coventry" creates its own problems. Members will ask what happened to so-and-so's posts, which may also alert so-and-so that something ain't right. Then a few emails are passed around and people begin to worry that some stupid little thing will get them censored in the most underhanded way (to them).

I created a new usergroup called "Restricted," which does just what it says - restricts the activities of the member in that primary group. In mine, they can read most forums, but can't post messages. They also can't see attachments, email pages and a few other features are taken away. It's even worse than being unregistered because on my site, unregistered guests can post in some of the forums (but they go to a moderation queue before being visible).

I can't remember where Tachy is. In the vBulletin Options somewhere I think.

Jim

OK. I was going with a quick thought there with the Tachy thing. It does have its place, but is not a silver bullet. It is under banning options in the Admin CP > vB Options I think.

Probably the best is a custom usergroup with custom permissions - the main one as per your original request would be to have all posts moderated.

As for Jim's settings for his restricted group - Jim, you're viscious man. Surely pruning the privileges that far carries the same risks as doing a simple Tachy?

Oh sure, but they only get there because of their abuse of the members or site anyway and that's pretty much public knowledge. But my feeling, at least for my particular site is, there is still an advantage to letting every professional have access to the reading material we have. If it can have even the smallest influence on their further education and growth in the industry, perhaps there is a good reason not to outright ban a member.

You see, there's a very, very small percentage of professionals in my niche that spend any time in a professional forum. In the last 9 years or so, I have come to the conclusion that these few people are either at the top of their fields, or have the potential and desire to be there. I believe that may be true of many niche groups around the Net. vBulletin software provides a very secure platform that allows a webmaster to prevent abuses without taking away from the abuser the opportunity to learn and grow - and maybe find a way to get along in the system.

Besides, I am no judge. I have made many mistakes and bad decisions in my career, and I'm certainly not the easiest guy to get along with. But I am a realist. I know that I can't change anyone, no matter how hard I try, cajole or warn. No one really thinks their demeanor or attitude is bad and it's futile to try to convince them. I just have a very simple set of rules and enforce them strictly.

But people change, none the less. They just do it on their own, usually in such tiny steps other's don't recognize they are changing. As a webmaster, I have the power to eliminate bad behavior, not change it. I don't, however, want to go any farther than I have to. Right now, that means no one is on the ban list.

Jim

Thanks guys, I found the "Tachy Goes To Coventry" option.
I immediately went ot the manual, and this appearantly is missing from the manual.

Now maybe its just early and I need more coffee, but I do not get it at all.

Well, I get what it does, but where does the "used ID number" come from?
I cant find this anywhere.

If you do a search for a user in the Admin CP, their User ID will appear at the top of the page their account information appears on.

I use the same method as Jim. If someone goes too far, they get moved into a Limited usergroup, where their forum privileges are extremely limited.

But people change, none the less. They just do it on their own, usually in such tiny steps other's don't recognize they are changing.
Ultimately, when we're doing it right, that's what is going to happen. At least for folks that hang around.

People are influenced by the environment in which they are operating. And as Admins part of the task is managing that environment. I tend to call it the overall tone of the board.

Ultimately, it's all about leadership. And the more skill you've got in being a leader, the less you'll have to resort to the vB tools to maintain "order."

I learned some of these lessons the hard way.

My forum was nice for a long time. (most of the time)

Let the peeps get away with too much and the forum can become unrecoverable.

The trolls take over, and the regular people want nothing to do with it anymore.

-Raymond

Just install Miserable User mods, and assign the trouble makers second group to it. :)

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=121886

I learned some of these lessons the hard way.

My forum was nice for a long time. (most of the time)

Let the peeps get away with too much and the forum can become unrecoverable.

The trolls take over, and the regular people want nothing to do with it anymore.

-Raymond

absolutly agree.

you might be concerned about bannin a member because there are so few in that field, but it will be way worse when several people leave because they do not want to put up with that person. and heaven forbid an exidus happens if they find a related forum.

Actually, a few other "alternate" forums were created a and many left thinking they could do a better job. None of them really picked up any speed. One has a couple of the old frequent (off topic mostly) posters / stir the pot types that like to create arguments. Some of the "Friendly" members came back since the new admins had some big head issues. Local drama:innocent:

My new forum is so much more peaceful. It's picking up speed, but can always use a few more members. :D

-Raymond