[John]

User Thread Banning (Includes Time Banning Feature)
By Shaolyen
email: John@eovie.com
msn: John@eovie.com

Brief intro:
------------------------
This hack enables mods, supermods and administrators to ban
users from viewing OR just replying to specific threads. It also
allows users to be banned from threads for specified amount of
time. After this time has expired, they will gain access/be able
to post again.

It adds a small link underneath the "Posts: #" in the postbit
template. Providing the user who posted did not start the thread,
a "[Thread Ban This User]" link will appear. (Only to mods, super
mods and admins.) For users who are already banned from a thread,
an "[Unban This User]" link will appear.

Forum leaders cannot be banned from threads. (The link will not
appear in their posts.)

When a forum leader clicks on the "[Thread Ban This User]" link,
they are taken to another page where they can:

a) choose whether the user can read the thread, or just not reply to it.
b) choose the length of the user's ban (in days).
c) type in a reason for the user's thread ban. This is displayed
when the user tried to access or reply to the thread.

When a user tries to access a thread or reply to one when banned,
the error message will provide a link to send a PM to the
moderator who banned them. This is something that some people
might not like - but if they're too scared to own up and explain
why they banned the user from the thread in the first place,
maybe they shouldn't be moderating! (If it really bothers some
people, I can provide them with the lines of code they need to
find and delete.)

A new page in the AdminCP will allow the admin to check all of
the current bans, as well as view archived ones. The reason for
the ban will be displayed in the Admin CP when the cursor passes
over the "Reason" link.

Enjoy.