Invisible usergroups for our fools??

[digital3]

We all have them, ladies and gentlemen; the user we cannot easily get rid of and who thrives on negative attention. The attention +++++. We want to ban them (and we try) but this is old news to them. They have learned long ago to use anonymous proxy servers to create new accounts. After all, every board they have ever been to has banned them. Proxy blockers are out there, I realize, and I have tested them. They all have the disadvantage of also banning people that we don't want banned. We're never quite sure how many good potential new members we are preventing from connecting to our boards because we are trying to keep out a few misfits and rejects.

How sweet it would be if we could create a usergroup, to banish them to, that was totally invisible to all members (except staff). One where they could create their hate threads and no one could see them, let alone respond to them.

Nothing kills the attention +++++ quite like a lack of attention. So, brilliant coders of vBulletin land, I ask thee how can we deprive these social misfits of their meal and send them on to new dumpsters to forage for their sustenance?

[louis_chypher]

The ever popular "Mserable users"for vb 3.6. Basically a way to really annoy anyone you don't want visiting your forum. This version is based on the vb 3.5 version. Credit to Zzed, and KuraFire for the pre 3.5 versions.

When classed as miserable, a member suffers ;

1. Slow response (time delay) on every page (20 to 60 seconds default).
2. A chance they will get the "server busy" message (50% by default).
3. A chance that no search facilities will be available (75% by default).
4. A chance they will get redirected to another preset page (25% & homepage by default).
5. A chance they will simply get a blank page (25% by default).
6. Post flood limit increased by a defined factor (10 times by default).
7. If they get past all this okay, then they will be served up their proper page.

Note: All the above options are set in the vBulletin Options.

The above hack has been loads of fun for those users that you no longer want around. We created a user group called the "VIP Treatment" and boy do they ever get it. So it seems the site has some major issues. They send us emails informing us of the issues and we say we are looking into them. Then after a while they tell us that our site is lame and they go away.

[digital3]

Yes I have that one. Hmmm, annoying them *might* just do the trick. I haven't tried that one on her yet....

There's something inherently funnier about these idiots posting and not being seen though.....

Let's call this the "Amuse the Board Owners' Hack"

Also, let's bear in mind that we are talking about users who are *very* board savvy. We must assume that they have had the Miserable Users hack pulled on them before and are smart enough to just create a new account by proxy. We want them on auto-ignore here for all other usergroups except staff. Occasionally a staff member will respond to them so they don't become suspicious and we get to sit back amused as they have no one to taunt but each other....

C'mon, guys.

Someone here has to see the humor in this...

[msvi007]

You don't need a user group for that , that is what Board Wide ignore is for. I think this option is standard in vbuletin and it is called Tachy Goes to Coventry. It makes all their posts visible only to them and admins. Try it out. It is in vbulletin options User banning options.