[pattycake]

cookies my friend... he will get on once with his new name then..., never again.

No exact code because I am new to VB and havent' examined the code yet but.... here is the "english" version.

in index.php, first check if usergroup is "banned" group.

if usergroup is banned, add the code to place a "non descriptive" cookie on his pc.
don't use words like "banned" in your cookie ... use something non-descriptive - i use a weird number for the cookie name and the cookie value.

also: do not use the vb_setcookie because it gets cleared out when the user logs off - use normal cookie functions.

Ok, at top of index.php, create code to look for that cookie.

if cookie found, you can do several things...
1. redirect to someplace like google or some porn site.
2. have the system send you an email telling you that a banned user just tried to get on with a username of and an ip address of xxxxxx
3. you can also let him on, but set him where he cannot view the forums, or cannot post - this frustrates the crap out of them

here's the scenario.
1. he gets on with new username - he is not yet banned, so index will let him in.

2. you see him (or see his "work", wait for him to log off then set him to banned. You can get the "logoff user mod" that I've seen floating around - it works great.

3. warning: don't set him to banned while he's on or he'll know you found him... wait for him to log off then ban him or, use the loggoff user mod that is floating around and then ban him.

4. not suspecting anything, he will log in again with the newly banned username and thats when your index will see that he is banned, and set the banned cookie, and since he is already banned, the system will not let him in.

5. he'll then know that you spotted him again and he'll again, sign up with a different user name but as soon as index is run, it will see the previously set banned cookie, and then you do what you want with him...

sooner or later, if he's smart, he will clear out his cookies and then you gotta start over but, I've been using this for years at my forum and no one has been the smarter yet

Understand??



-pat-

--------------- Added [DATE]1236054470[/DATE] at [TIME]1236054470[/TIME] ---------------

here is my old code from my old forum... it lets the guy on but writes out his new info to a log file that I can watch. It writes his banned name, and his new name.
You'll need to change the code so it reads VB usergroupid

In my forum a banned group=groupid=5

// check for cookie - not forum cookies, these are my own
$da_bmgroup = intval($std->my_getcookie('bmgroup'));
$da_bmname = $std->my_getcookie('bmname');
$da_mgroup   = $ibforums->member['mgroup'];
$da_member=$ibforums->member['name'];

// default write to a log = Y
$write_to_log = 1;

// don't log guests
if ($da_member == 'user name' | $da_member == 'Guest') {
	$write_to_log = 0;
}

if ($da_bmname == 'user name' | $da_member == 'Guest') {
	$write_to_log = 0;
}

// heres where I check for a previously banned user
if (($da_bmgroup == '5') && ($write_to_log==1) ){
		$da_member=$ibforums->member['name'];
		$dtime = date('r');

		$logline = $dtime . "|" . $da_member .'|' . $da_mgroup . '|' . $da_bmgroup . "|". $da_bmname . "\n";

		$logfile='/var/www/html/forum/bb.log';

		 if (!$handle = fopen($logfile, 'a+')) {
			 //die('Failed to open log file');
		 }

		 if (fwrite($handle, $logline) === FALSE) {
		 	 //die('Failed to write to log file');
		 }
	 fclose($handle);
	}

// and just to be safe, I set his new username to banned too
if (($da_mgroup == '5') && ($write_to_log==1)) {
	$std->my_setcookie("bmgroup", 5, 1);
	$std->my_setcookie("bmname",$da_member , 1);
	$da_member=$ibforums->member['name'];
	$dtime = date('r');

	$logline = $dtime . "|" . $da_member.'|'.$da_mgroup . '|' . "WROTE NEW"  . "\n";

	$logfile='/var/www/html/forum/bb.log';

	 if (!$handle = fopen($logfile, 'a+')) {
		 //die('Failed to open log file');
	 }

	 if (fwrite($handle, $logline) === FALSE) {
		 //die('Failed to write to log file');
	 }
	 fclose($handle);
}

confused???

.