When to Ban...

[Reverie]

As a forum administrator, or even a moderator when there are no guidelines... sometimes you may ask "When is it the right time to ban....?" or you might worry that you're overreacting. As a former administrator myself I felt having a system in place helped a lot to make the lines very clear. Do you have any guidelines when it comes to banning someone?

What qualifies as just a "warning", how many "warnings" do members get before becoming banned? Do bans last forever, or do you make any of them temporary? What is an instant ban on your forum and you don't go through the steps of a warning? Do you have this laid out for your staff, or is it somewhat up to guesswork?

 

[Ravenfreak]

I usually go over the warning system in my rules and guidelines thread. Typically I'll have the following system set up, the first time a rule is broken there will be a verbal warning either in the form of a private message or in the thread itself. Next, if the problem continues I will suspend the account for a few days, depending on the situation. If the problem continues yet again after they've been suspended, then they will get a ban. If a person ends up breaking one of my more severe rules, such as sharing illegal material then they get an automatic ban with no chances of that ban being lifted.

 

[guyyanthony]

if you don't follow the rules that i have created to ensure a safe place, unfortunately its a ban no warning if you have read and responded understood.

but if you don't read the rules, or respond with understood you get a warning and you must read the reads and understand if that makes sense.

 

[Debashis]

The right time to ban is when you realize that the member is not going to follow the rules you have set no matter how many warnings you give him/her.

 

[synpastel]

It really is subjective and what exactly the is the forum "environment" so to speak. In my over a decade of being an admin in some shape or form on sites, I think I've only banned maybe less than 5 people total? Suspended maybe 5-10 at the max? Outside of people who join just for the sake of trolling/flaming the site.

If a member is clearly making other members uncomfortable and after 1-2 DM warnings of "hey, we've noticed XYZ going on, it's making a lot of members uncomfortable." and they still doing the same behavior, it's a ban. If a person is dragging a conversation out across multiple topics as a means to just be a jerk/harass people, we ban them.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

I usually go over the warning system in my rules and guidelines thread. Typically I'll have the following system set up, the first time a rule is broken there will be a verbal warning either in the form of a private message or in the thread itself. Next, if the problem continues I will suspend the account for a few days, depending on the situation. If the problem continues yet again after they've been suspended, then they will get a ban. If a person ends up breaking one of my more severe rules, such as sharing illegal material then they get an automatic ban with no chances of that ban being lifted.

Have you ever experienced this?

 

[kensonplays]

What qualifies as just a "warning", how many "warnings" do members get before becoming banned?

For my community, any swears that bypass the word filters count as a notice for the first time, then 2-3 strikes depending on how severe the word they bypass is. We run a PG community, so we have to be more strict than normal.

Do bans last forever, or do you make any of them temporary?

If it is a major offense, yes its forever. The worse the swear, the more likely it'd be permanent. If it's strike 3 with a more minor word, then it may be something like 3 months.

What is an instant ban on your forum and you don't go through the steps of a warning?

Spambots. For sure.

---

However, we do have an unusual rule for our niche. Our community is based on Dinosaurs, but we don't allow "evolution vs creation," or the usual religion or politics. Especially since we want to keep things PG, safe for people of all ages. Since guests may be under 13 browsing our site, you never know.

 

[Miraizar]

I think it’s good to be upfront with what you think are major and minor infractions with members. And something with concrete steps on different situations that is edited over time can exist for staff only. It can grow with experience.

I don’t agree with fixed strike systems. The idea should be, IMO, is this person genuinely trying and is learning/improving?

What if they don’t necessarily agree with the call but genuinely try to do better? Depending on the issue, this may or may not be acceptable.

I have seen situations where bad members intentionally danced at the line with an occasional toe stretched over. And in attempting to be “fair” the staff let them be while the member experience suffered. People who intentionally cause problems, especially repeatedly, should just go.

 

[Ken]

I ban anyone or anybody who try to talk back to me or tell me how to do my job. Since my site's relaunch I banned several members who don't know how to follow my house rules.

 

[Aussie]

Its important to have clear guidelines and be consistent, that is the key and as long as people understand what the consequences of their actions are then ban them if that's how it goes. I normally run a 3 strikes and your out system - out meaning you are permanently banned. Honestly to get to 3 strikes you have to be doing something seriously wrong.. and I am not talking about minor discretions either, that sort of stuff is normally just a quick msg or something. Also may depend on how long the person has been a member which may give them some credit, prior indiscretions as well - but again, you cant seem to be favoring a member over another so you need to tread carefully.

Dont be afraid to hand out permanent bans if people are being absolute idiots.

 

[TwitchisMental]

I typically find the classic 3 strikes rule works. If you continue to break the rules after 3 chances.. typically you aren't gonna follow them in the future.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

I typically find the classic 3 strikes rule works. If you continue to break the rules after 3 chances.. typically you aren't gonna follow them in the future.

Maybe if you temp restrict them, thread ban them or temp ban them they’ll realise your bark has bite

 

[Al]

I ban anyone or anybody who try to talk back to me or tell me how to do my job.

That’s totally the wrong attitude to have. If this was the approach I took I’d probably end up being responsible for about 60% of my forum posts.

 

[Arantor]

I ban anyone or anybody who try to talk back to me or tell me how to do my job. Since my site's relaunch I banned several members who don't know how to follow my house rules.

While I have the deepest sympathy for 'rule 1: admin is god; rule 2: don't be a jerk; rule 3: see rules 1 and 2 in that order' as a management style, the downside is that it breeds a culture of 'admin can never be wrong' which requires a significant degree of self-introspection to not start to believe.

So many of my mistakes over the years were because I laid the smackdown on people who tried to talk back to me.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

While I have the deepest sympathy for 'rule 1: admin is god; rule 2: don't be a jerk; rule 3: see rules 1 and 2 in that order' as a management style, the downside is that it breeds a culture of 'admin can never be wrong' which requires a significant degree of self-introspection to not start to believe.

So many of my mistakes over the years were because I laid the smackdown on people who tried to talk back to me.

Always try to see their point of view and understand why they’re frustrated. I much prefer talking things out to discipline when the user has a valid point.

 

[Lucy Lacemaker]

At first I’ll just delete their post, then if they continue I’ll have to warn them in a pm. If it comes down to the point that this person is ruining my board I will ban them indefinitely

 

[~ True Legend ~]

At first I’ll just delete their post, then if they continue I’ll have to warn them in a pm. If it comes down to the point that this person is ruining my board I will ban them indefinitely

I hope you notify the user when you delete a post

 

[Lucy Lacemaker]

I hope you notify the user when you delete a post

Sometimes I don’t

 

[Jane]

Right..I have guidelines. I assume people can read..so if if they break any of them..a warning will suffice…if however they post porn or use the C word…they're out.. Simple as that. I wont tolerate arguments..you want to row? do it somewhere else.

 

[~ True Legend ~]

Right..I have guidelines. I assume people can read..so if if they break any of them..a warning will suffice…if however they post porn or use the C word…they're out.. Simple as that. I wont tolerate arguments..you want to row? do it somewhere else.

Or in PMs, not on the forums.
Be respectful towards staff, respect their decision.