[The Finman]

Originally Posted by Alfa1

Could you please make an option to connect this to the Miserable users member group? After getting re-banned right away, most banned members will start to think about clearing their cookies. But if a returning banned member is automaticly put into Miserable users, then it will just seem like the site is acting weird and is much more fun as well.

I agree...I would love to be able to use this with Paul's fantastic "Miserable Users" hack

I am trying to work on a Mod (hack) that I would like to develop. My mod would display a user's registration IP and E-mail in their profile for Mods and/or Admins only. Mods/Admins could instantly see a user's registration IP & E-mail by clicking on that user's profile without having to log into their ModCP or AdminCP...and would be able to view their E-mail address even if the user chooses to hide it from regular members. Mine really isn't doing anything new, just reorganizing information so it's easier to get. I've have a few people trying to help with mine, I will see what they think about yours, as I feel it could be useful in adding another "layer" of difficulty in stopping trolls/problem posters.

A great example is I have a user that uses anonymous proxies to get back in, I ban his new proxy IP and he changes it. I've also installed Paul M's (I think Paul makes the bulk of the hacks I use! ) Proxy to Real IP hack, so it's become a fight between he and I over proxies, so adding a cookie might help, even if only temporarily.


My troll spends a good part of his day looking for workable anonymous (I'm not sure he even knows that he needs anonymous proxies, as I think he just sits there going through proxy after proxy, looking for one that works). Even though the probability in the long run may be that he figures out that it's now also a cookie blocking him...I think it would at the very least make it a little more difficult for trolls as it's another "monkey wrench" thrown at them.

Although there is no technique for getting rid of troll and problem posters that is 100% foolproof (when I resorted to putting new members in the moderation queue, he started getting family and friends to register new accounts with valid IPs and E-mails for him, then giving him the new account), but I think each layer combined (while still not 100%) does increase the "hoops" trolls and problem posters must jump through, thus increasing the difficulty level for trolls versus their stubbornness.

Another thought on your mod (hack), or maybe even a completely different one (might be better) altogether, is I had a friend of mine that ran a UBB board and he developed a mod (hack) that checked what port a user was connecting on and the hack blocked all connections to his forums except for port 80 (http). Same problem, even though many proxies connect using port 80, a very large portion of them don't and he was at least able to cut down on the numbers of trolls using proxies by blocking those proxy connections that weren't on port 80. He moved back to Hungary, and I have no way to reach him, but your idea and the other's (like Paul's) would really help turn the table for admins when it comes to fighting trolls/problem posters. I just wish I was a lot better at PHP and could help directly. :ermm:

I will bookmark this thread and I will check back occasionally, or I will PM you or post if I have something useful to contribute.