How do you handle members fighting amongst each other?

How do you handle members fighting amongst each other?


Occassionally, my political forums erupt in a stupid argument and insults start getting tossed around, then I get the PMs. You know this kind of thing goes.

How do you handle these kind of things?

I usually reply to the thread saying that they should cool off and resolve their divergences elsewhere. Be it by PM, MSN, mIRC etc.
If they keep trolling I´ll try to resolve the dispute via PM, and if they don´t stop the flame war I´ll reward them with a nice temp ban.

I usually give each member a informal warning regarding their behavior. And then try and contact them off site individually to resolve the matter. And if they continue in their behavior then as Primal said take further moderator actions.

I think that those members should be given a separate thread to fight it out, split off the conversation to a new "fight forum" and let them slug it out if they want to.

It would get more views in a day than most threads get in a month :p :wave:

We warn members first, our top poster though got out of hand he thought that since he has a big post count he has the liberty to get personal with members and started to abuse them, after countless warning we had no choice but to ban him for indefinite period so far.

Well Joey, you could always have members read the ideas in this thread :eek: :D

http://www.vbwebmaster.com/forums/showthread.php?t=914&page=3&pp=40

:eek: :eek: :eek:

I use the AWS hack:
http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=105
It's the only way to go if you have a large membership, provide some measure of consistancy, and be able to keep track of how your mods are performing. The rules are clear on what is and isn't acceptable, and there are warnings with expirable points to cover each infraction. If a user gets 13 points, he's automatically banned for 7 days, a 2nd ban results in a 14 day ban, and so on. This is a BIG hack and takes a lot of time and work to set up, so if you have a smaller board you probably don't need it. It also won't work with vB 3.5, so if you're planning on upadating in the next 6 months, I'd wait for it to be ported over.

Thanks for posting the link, seems like your forum is much larger than a lot of us are use to.

We need guys like you that run large forums to help out around here.

I think moderator management is much more important than managing members, I have seen forums do much better without heavy moderation, but on a large forum you need rules to keep everyone happy.

I have seen forums destroyed by bad moderation and censorship so you must have great moderators that understand that locking a thread is not the first option, but must be the last resort.

On an old site, I used to have a forum called "The Gloves Are Off!" where the members in question would be sent to (I'd put them in a special usergroup and that forum would be the only one they could post in - although all members could view it) they'd soon get bored of trading insults and come to some agreement, one way or another.

On an old site, I used to have a forum called "The Gloves Are Off!" where the members in question would be sent to (I'd put them in a special usergroup and that forum would be the only one they could post in - although all members could view it) they'd soon get bored of trading insults and come to some agreement, one way or another.


That's the key, keep instigators out. Good idea.

That's the key, keep instigators out. Good idea.

Actually, I just have this seriously nasty streak and enjoy making my memberbase suffer ;)

Joking aside, it's amazing how a good argument can clear the air, but it has to be done under the right conditions. When members ended up in that forum, although they were aware they could be seen by everyone, they also knew that it was the only chance they had to get everything off their chest. 90% of the people who came out of that forum ended up becoming really close friends with the person they'd been fighting with.

That is what I have been telling Joey and Noppid when I asked for the "Rubber Room" forum here :D

Just think.....Folks go into the "Rubber Room" enemies and come out a few days later best friends and business partners ready to start a new vB forum that will take the world by storm :D :wave:

PS: Welcome to the forum Sabella, nice avatar also, is that you :confused:

The Rubber Room sounds more like a place you'd find pvc, bondage and chains... mmmm... *mind wanders* ahem.. yes.. where was I?

Ahhhh, no the avatar isn't me.. far too angelic, I'm more the opposite to her... but I was feeling sweet and nice today..as a rule my avatar changes depending on my mood ;)

No sweet, a "Rubber Room" is where you place folks after you put them in a straight jacket to cool off, when you take the straight jacket off, they can then feel free to bounce off the walls without getting hurt :) :o

Thanks for posting the link, seems like your forum is much larger than a lot of us are use to.

We need guys like you that run large forums to help out around here.

I think moderator management is much more important than managing members, I have seen forums do much better without heavy moderation, but on a large forum you need rules to keep everyone happy.

I have seen forums destroyed by bad moderation and censorship so you must have great moderators that understand that locking a thread is not the first option, but must be the last resort.

We also have a guide and code of conduct for moderators. Our users complain loud and clear if a mod is abusive and we don't hesitate to suspend or remove them. Another feature we employ is a private moderator forum with the report post feature modified to direct all reported posts there. What, if any action is taken is reviewed, and advice is given. Banned members have access to a private forum with permissions set so they can only see and reply to their own threads. If they have any questions or complaints, we address them there and followup on complaints of misconduct. I've done as much as possible to remove email and PM from forum moderation as it takes up a serious amount of time, and with many people involved everyone needs to know what everyone else is doing. Although it's behind the scenes, using a forum system to handle moderation makes it all out in the open for admins and other mods to see which is a strong deterrent to abuse.

That is interesting, I have seen special forums just for moderators (moderators forum) where they discuss member conduct and argue with each other on possible actions including banning members.

I guess an open reporting system like you suggest to keep an eye on moderator actions sounds like the best option.

That is why I was asking if it was possible for administration here to start a private forum for members only, so if there is a problem that needs to be discussed we can do it between those who are members in good standing.

It could even have a post count restriction where a member would have to have a couple hundred posts to gain access to it or special permissions from management.

I surely agree with you that moderators must be watched because I have seen them take over forums under the administrators nose by favoring their own buddies in the membership when new members come in making good arguments that are valid.

That is why I was asking if it was possible for administration here to start a private forum for members only, so if there is a problem that needs to be discussed we can do it between those who are members in good standing.

That's fine as long as it's for discussion and not a forum where the rules set by the board's owner can be disregarded. I used to have that in my Help forum which was open to everyone and found those discussions to be a bottomless pit that wasted a lot of time without resolving anything. Consequently, member involvement in board policy is restricted to email.


It could even have a post count restriction where a member would have to have a couple hundred posts to gain access to it or special permissions from management.

Then you'd end up with your most prolific posters hanging out in a forum that doesn't generate advertising revenues. I do have a private forum for sponsors (paid subscriptions) where they can discuss anything. I'm also working on developing a rent-a-forum program where users can have a forum on any topic on our boards they want for a fee (subject to various TOS agreements). There seems to be a lot of interest in that from our sponsors.

You have some innovative ideas on forum management, maybe Joey should ask you to lead a forum management section here and make you a moderator :) :D

I'm also working on developing a rent-a-forum program where users can have a forum on any topic on our boards they want for a fee (subject to various TOS agreements). There seems to be a lot of interest in that from our sponsors.

I have done a similar thing for several of my members who have asked for a private forum of their own. One was for a wedding...!!!

Has worked well so far, though for sponsors, how would this be publicised...? would the forum title be viewable to your members/visitors and only people whom the sponsor agrees can enter..? how do you run this? intrigued...

I have done a similar thing for several of my members who have asked for a private forum of their own. One was for a wedding...!!!

I remember that. I think I sent you a link for a style at vb.com.

Has worked well so far, though for sponsors, how would this be publicised...? would the forum title be viewable to your members/visitors and only people whom the sponsor agrees can enter..? how do you run this? intrigued...

It's still in discussion at this stage. If it's added I'll promote it on the forums. I'd add it as a paid subscription that makes no change in usergroup status to process the payment. Then you would need to add a publically joinable usergroup with the desired permissions for the new forum, and make the sponsor its group leader. When members attempt to join that usergroup, they have to be approved by the group leader. I don't think I could do it as public forums on my board without compromising the content too much, but that could be an option on boards that deal with more general subjects.

I run a photography forum and we have a photojournalism section which often evokes heated arguments about politics and religion. It got to be such a major headache because members were commenting on the content of the photo and not the technique which was used to capture the photo… ive had flare-ups erupt and spread to various threads over the forum. Major headache.

Finally I just had to completely ban political and religious discussions, comments etc etc. on photojournalism photos, members can only comment on the photo it self technically etc.

One thing I have been considering, is having the politics forums as a subscription level (free) so that I can ban particular members from that forum only, and those members who dont want to participate dont have to be bothered with it.

Excellent idea, and is one I toyed with last year on tMO for my Random Threads area Joey. People started making some noises about the random nature of some threads nto fully understanding that (1) they didn't have to read them and (2) there was already a method of searching the forums without returning any random category threads.

As soon as people discovered I had search functions already available so they didn't have to read any random type posts, they were happy again so I sort of forgot about exploring that further.

Is an excellent idea though as I say.

I was debating on offering either that -- or an "opt out" subscription - so people who dont want it can opt out - but it still gets seen by search engines.

Funny that you guys are still fighting with that lame brain TOOT over at DP, I love it man :D :p :wave:

Not fighting - entertainment. :)

Stupid people are entertaining huh?? Funny that he brought up the thread about the missing links on VBW and claimed you bumped it just to self promote, hell I was the one bumping it to make fun of you and TOOT claimed you were using it as an opportunity to promote your forum :D :p :p

You all should just quit posting in any threads he starts, that will teach him :eek:

You all should just quit posting in any threads he starts, that will teach him :eek:


No, I know he loves to see my name in posts he makes :D

If there was even a grain of truth in any thing TOOT posts I would not think anything bad of him, even if he attacked me, but he fabricates stuff that is completely out of this world :D

One thing about TOOT is he hurts himself more than those who he attacks so he should just drop out of the attack mode for his own good :o

What's up TOOT ;) :wave:

I think if Toot attacks you - it gives you more credibility :D

:p TOOT does anything to get his name in the lights, even if it is in a bad light :p

Anything to move onward, upward into the sky of popularity :D

warn them and tell em you close the thread if they keep going.

warn them and tell em you close the thread if they keep going.


I really try very hard not to close threads.

Yeah, closing threads I've found only angers members more, and then they start a new thread.

-Raymond

I won't close a thread unless I see no other way to control the problem.

Later at night like right now I'm more likely to start changing avatars, member titles, etc. :evillaugh:

LOL - you're so bad, Ray.

I hate to see oter members fight, specialy when both claim they can hack. Usually I just tell them to take it to aim or something:spank:

Lemme at 'em :fight:

close the thread temp and let them cool off. had to do that 2 times so far. they wouldn't make a new thread, or they would be on a vaca

close the thread!!!!!! heck i got banned... and i was staff :mad: untill 8/08
this is what happened to me
so i am starting my own board.

this would be a few of my avatar's back at that site these days :D

if any one would like i can post the owners avatar's i would pick as well :no:

:rolleyes:
Personally I would not stoop to avatar games etc. its childish. We have a no pissing match rule on the sites. Pretty much if you want to fight and argue, take it elsewhere. It and games do nothing but bring drama and disrupt the community. Warnings are given and trolling is not put up with, threads get closed if its to bad and bans will be issues in the most extreme cases

We went through a change of ownership, banned like 10% of the active members (that were also troublemakers, or at the very least were actively working against the direction the owners/admins wanted to take the site in...) , and are moving along just fine right now. 5 of the top 10 posters are gone, but several new members starting posting. I guess they don't fear being attacked by the angry mob that is now gone. ;)

-Raymond

If this happened to me (fighting etc) I'd just ask them to go into Flashchat and sort things out between themselves in a private (but moderated) conversation. I think that almost all arguments online occur because forum posts are static once written. I mean you might read a positive post two or maybe three times but if someone insults you it's different.

If you're insulted you tend to read the static insults over and over again getting more annoyed each time. If you're in a bad mood you might post a harsh reply but by the time you change your mind and calm down the words have been read by your opponent and unfortunately they still read the same. Therefore I think live chat is the best option, no time to wait and brood on your responses like with posts, you just get in there and sort it out.

Often times you'll no doubt find out that the argument was just a misunderstanding or flippant/angry thought from a person during the heat of the moment with each side saying "I didn't start it..." These things only effectively get resolved by real time communication. Like the dinner party you're worried about because two friends of yours don't like each other. The answer is that you sit them next to each other and then they have to talk or leave.

The new admin on my old site banned all of them.

The site is basically dead now.

-Raymond

Ha, the difference between the last post and three above is interesting to me. :)

-Raymond

hehe, Banning is a great tool but if not used properly you can hurt your forum. Sometimes the loudest guys generate a lot of traffic and keep a lot of people responding.. Ban them and your forum posts per day drops by like half.

Banning is s double edged sword, folks. :)

Put em in the Miserable User thing.