[KevinM]

I've been thinking about attempting a 'killfile' feature (a common newsreader feature) which would allow the administrator to set some parameters and stop the downloading of certain posts into the forum.

I propose it works like this:

In the admin control panel, you enter the phrases (surrounded by {} ) which you would not want downloaded (similar to the censorship feature).

As each post is processed, it checks the headers, author and title of a message to see if it matches with the phrases, and if it does, discard it.

Possible uses:
You could stop a specific troll's posts from reaching your boards by putting the posters name into the killfile (although any replies by other usenet users will get through).

You could block messages originating from a specific server (for trolls that keep changing their posting name), although you risk blocking anyone else using the same server (small risk).

You could set up common 'spam' message titles to block.

Downsides:
Performance. Putting dozens of words or phrases into the killfile will slow down the processing of messages while the gateway script is being run.

Pureists. Some people using the newsgroups may consider this a form of moderation in an unmoderated group.

I'd really appreciate others users of this scripts thoughts.

Is this worth pursuing and is it the right approach?