Advanced Warning System (AWS)

Advanced Warning System Version 3.5.0

The AWS version for vB 3.5 has been released. You can download it and get support in this thread:

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?p=770032


Advanced Warning System Version 3.4.16 (latest stable release for vB 3.0.x)


LATEST ANNOUNCEMENT

The AWS has its own Premium Forum here at vBulletin.org, so please use that for questions and discussion on this hack.

The Permium Forum is located at :

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=105





This Warning System owes its existence to Zero Tolerance's Warning Hack (https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=65336). I liked the idea, so I installed Zero's hack in my forums site. However, as in most cases, I was not fully satisfied with the way it worked, so I started customizing it. Other people in the thread above, asked questions, which I had already answered by my customizing work, so I answered, giving away those parts of the code, that I had modified.

In the long run, I almost hijacked the thread and the hack from Zero, so I guess I owe him an apology. However, the mods I did have compiled a new, more complete warning system, with much more functionality. Several members from that thread, asked if this could be released as a new hack, so after discussing it with Zero, here it is.

What it does? Well, it is a Warning System, which means it allows you (the administrative team of your site, in other words the admins, the supermods and the mods), to define offences, which the members of your forum should NOT commit. But as we all know, there are instances where members do not follow the rules. In that case, this warning system, allows you to issue a warning to the member who commited the offence. The warning has some points associated with it, as well as a period over which it is valid. When a member gathers enough points, he is banned from your forums, for a predefined period of time. That's mostly it, but below, you can find a short list of features:

Full warning system with:

- post- and non-post-related warnings
- hierarchical warning schema
- hidden or real warners
- customizable maximum warning points
- automatically bans members who reached the maximum warning points
- customizable ban days
- customizable ban user group and permanent ban user group
- customizable restore user group, where users are restored after they get unbanned
- customizable option for who can see the warning level of the members
- automatically issued warnings for posts which contain censored words
- automatically issued warnings for private messages which contain censored words
- supports incremental banning periods
- supports multiple warnings for the same post
- warned members are notified either by Private Message or e-mail when they are warned and when one of the warnings they have received is either deleted or expired
- maintains historical listings of issued warnings (even if deleted or expired)
- customizable warning types
- each warning type has predefined warning points associated with it
- each warning type has predefined maturity period, after which it is automatically deleted
- reports for admin, mods and members
- cron job included to automatically remove matured warnings
- uses vBulletin's cron job, to automatically unban banned users
- all options are setable in your AdminCP
- user warning points and number of bans viewable in your AdminCP User Manager.
- statistics show warning per type, warnings per warner, bans per user.
- Allows you to warn a user from your AdminCP/User Manager.
- Large "Warn" sign, in posts which have received a warning, for mods, supermods and admins, to easily distinguish those posts.
- Ability to remove user's avatar, signature or usage of the Private Messaging system, depending on the warning points he has collected.
- Supports non-standard admins, supermods and mods user groups.
- Allows you to save a copy of the warning send to the warned user, in a predefined forum.
- Allows you to issue "Alerts" (warnings without warning points, for first-time offenders)
- Allows you to add private or public notes for a user, either post-specific or not. Notes appear in the postbit, above each user's message.
- etc.

Admitedly, this is not an easy hack to install. It requires 20 new templates and modifications to some existing ones too. It requires five new tables and modifications to some others. It requires several new phrases. I've tried to make the installation, as easy as I could, by automating certain tasks in an automatic installer. The installer will add the new templates for you, add the new tables required and change the existing ones, and will add the required new phrases. You will have to manually edit the existing templates and the php files though. I also included an upgrade script, which will upgrade those who are using Zero Tolerance's warning hack (version 1.5) to this one. An uninstaller is also included, which removes what the installer installs.

Please keep in mind, that this is a very difficult hack to install. For this reason, I strongly recommend that you back up your database before starting the installation. I also suggest that you keep copies of each file and template you edit, so that you can always revert to a previous stable condition. Finally, I strongly suggest that you always run the latest release.

The zip file always contains both the instructions and the files required to install the latest version. If you have installed a previous version and want to upgrade to the latest, there is a text file attached, in the zip with upgrade instructions. Follow them.

In this thread, you will also find a more detailed document describing the features of this hack, as well as a document describing its version evolution.

Also keep in mind that the installer, will add the AWS templates only to your default style. If you want to use them in another one, you may try this Zero Tolerance's hack, which copies the templates to other styles you may have.

Another thing, the installation instructions were written when vB was at release 3.0.3, so you may expect to find some differences, with the latest files and templates. As far as I can tell, I haven't faced any such case, but I post this reservation here, since I do not have the time to recheck all the instructions for compliance with the latest vB release. The hack has been installed and is working fine with the vBulletin version shown at the top of this thread.

Finally, if you are using more than one style, the installer will install the templates only in the default one. If you want to use the rest of your styles, here is a hack, that will do this for you.

This hack can also be integrated with Zero Tolerance's vBChat. However, since I am using a heavily-modified version of vBChat, I haven't included instructions, on how to patch the original vBChat files, in the documentation. If you are interested in having AWS issue automatic warnings when one of your user enters a censored word in a vBChat message, or if you want your moderators to be able to warn a user, who misbehaves in vBChat, please post a thread in this forum and I'll help you through.

This is my first officially released hack, so please don't be to harsh with me, if I broke any rules or made any mistakes. The mods have been tested extensively, both by me and two volunteers (thank you gentlemen), but I am only human.

Closing, let me thank Zero Tolerance, who got me started in this, and who owns a big part of the code of this hack. I definnitely couldn't have done it, without his code.

Special Note
For those who upgrade from Zero Tolerance's hack to my AWS, even though I have included a script which will do some of the work automatically, not everything is done by that script. Read the installation instructions carefully. You have to run the upgrade script first and then do several things manually. If you just run the upgrade script and just upload the files, the AWS will not work properly. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to post here.

Also, let me add here, that version 3.3.0 wouldn't have been possible without the contribution of Revan.

And a couple of warnings:

PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE LATEST ZIP FILE FROM HERE, BEFORE YOU START INSTALLING THIS HACK. JUST BECAUSE YOU DOWNLOADED IT A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, THAT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS THE LATEST VERSION. MAKE SURE YOU DOWNLOAD THE ZIP, JUST BEFORE YOU START INSTALLING THIS HACK.


LATEST VERSION

Version 3.4.16 (released Thursday August 25th, 2005 GMT 18:18)

A couple of bugs fixed in this version. One is related to the Notes feature, and it allowed plain users to see the notes entered, if the "Who can view warning points" setting was set to "All".

Features.txt a new version of this file has been uploaded on April 4th2 005 GMT 09:30, which covers the latest additions to the hack. The original Features.txt file hasn't been updated since the first release of this hack, so it was time for an update.

John

[ChrisLM2001]

That did the trick, I didn't add these details....

Varname: messagetag
Setting Group: Site Name / URL / Contact Details
Title: Message Tag
Description: Tag to be appended at the front of the subject line in messages send by the forums.
Option Code: (blank)
Default: (blank)
Display Order: 35

Now it displays perfectly.

Chris

[sv1cec]

Originally Posted by ChrisLM2001

That did the trick, I didn't add these details....

Varname: messagetag
Setting Group: Site Name / URL / Contact Details
Title: Message Tag
Description: Tag to be appended at the front of the subject line in messages send by the forums.
Option Code: (blank)
Default: (blank)
Display Order: 35

Now it displays perfectly.

Chris

Glad you have it OK now.

Keep in mind, that if you want, you may use this tag in other messages as well. For example, I have added in every e-mail send out by my forums, the registration e-mail, the welcome e-mail etc. Then your members can filter on that tag, and move all their forums messages in a folder of their choice. I know they can do it with the e-mail address too, but what if the admin wants to e-mail someone for some reason? If you are filtering with the e-mail address the admin's e-mail will end up in the Forums folder and might not be seen.

Just a thought!

[mcyates]

Originally Posted by sv1cec

Glad you have it OK now.

Keep in mind, that if you want, you may use this tag in other messages as well. For example, I have added in every e-mail send out by my forums, the registration e-mail, the welcome e-mail etc. Then your members can filter on that tag, and move all their forums messages in a folder of their choice. I know they can do it with the e-mail address too, but what if the admin wants to e-mail someone for some reason? If you are filtering with the e-mail address the admin's e-mail will end up in the Forums folder and might not be seen.

Just a thought!

Its the Number Of Days Members Are Banned which is messing things up.

1st warning (4 points) issued on 01/01/01 (ends on 11/01/01)
2nd warning (2 points) issued on 07/01/01 (ends on 18/01/01)
3rd warning (6 points) issued on 09/01/01 (ends on 20/01/01)

The member will only be banned for 2 days (after he received the 3rd warning) untill the 1st warning has expired. Its better to remove the "Number Of Days Members Are Banned" and just let the warnings work on their own, like the above one did. If they go over the warning limit, then they just have to wait untill one of the warnings have expired which will make them unbanned.

Is there anyway I can disable the Number Of Days Members Are Banned on my forum?

It is a great hack btw i already banned someone lol!!

[SamirDarji]

Originally Posted by sv1cec

The question is...Do you still keep his warning points after he is banned, or do you erase them and let him start from scratch when he is unbanned?

I think that the warnings themselves define whether a user should start with a blank slate or not. For example:

A user is warned with a warning that has a duration of 5 days
The same user is warned with a warning that has a duration of 90 days (serious offense)
The same user is warned with another warning that has a duration of 10 days. This warning causes the user to be banned for 30 days.

Now, once the user is unbanned, the lessor offense warnings have expired, so the points don't count anymore. But the more serious offense is still on record, so another few minor offenses or one major one can get them banned again.

I think it is important for them to not have a clean slate because some things are too serious to give them a completely fresh start.

[sv1cec]

Originally Posted by mcyates

Its the Number Of Days Members Are Banned which is messing things up.

1st warning (4 points) issued on 01/01/01 (ends on 11/01/01)
2nd warning (2 points) issued on 07/01/01 (ends on 18/01/01)
3rd warning (6 points) issued on 09/01/01 (ends on 20/01/01)

The member will only be banned for 2 days (after he received the 3rd warning) untill the 1st warning has expired. Its better to remove the "Number Of Days Members Are Banned" and just let the warnings work on their own, like the above one did. If they go over the warning limit, then they just have to wait untill one of the warnings have expired which will make them unbanned.

Is there anyway I can disable the Number Of Days Members Are Banned on my forum?

It is a great hack btw i already banned someone lol!!

What you are asking is not the simplest thing to do, with just a parameter. It requires logic change, the unbanning method is now based on the standard algorithm provided by vB. If I were to implement your way, we had to have a different algorithm, which would check the warning points of the banned members versus the maximum number of points, and if below, it will unban them.

It's not a bad idea, but it is a totally different method of handling the problem.

Maybe in release 2.0, I 'll build in different scenarios, and let the admin select which one he/she likes to use. Until now, I have three in my mind, the existing one, another one where the warning points and the warnings of a banned member are deleted and yours. The second one can be easily implemented with a conditional and a Warning Option, in the code, as it is today. Yours needs more work, but hey if the twins allow me, I'll do it.

Rgds
-----------
John

[sv1cec]

Originally Posted by SamirDarji

I think that the warnings themselves define whether a user should start with a blank slate or not. For example:

A user is warned with a warning that has a duration of 5 days
The same user is warned with a warning that has a duration of 90 days (serious offense)
The same user is warned with another warning that has a duration of 10 days. This warning causes the user to be banned for 30 days.

Now, once the user is unbanned, the lessor offense warnings have expired, so the points don't count anymore. But the more serious offense is still on record, so another few minor offenses or one major one can get them banned again.

I think it is important for them to not have a clean slate because some things are too serious to give them a completely fresh start.

I tend to agree with you.

The only problem is, that with the system as it is now, when a member reaches the maximum points and he is banned, his total warning points get reset to the maximum warning points. When the lesser warnings start getting removed, he artificially ends up with fewer points than he should have. In your example above, and assuming that the first offense was worth 2 points, the second 7 and the third 5, when the user was banned, he had 14 points, but the moment he gets banned he is left with 10 (let's assume the limit is 10). When the two minor warnings expire, (2+5) he is left with only 3 points.

I think that this is something I should address, by not resetting his total points to 10, but leaving them at whatever they were the moment he got banned, i.e. 14 in this case. In that way, even when the minor offenses are removed, he still has the 7 points from the major one, and with 3 more he gets banned again.

What do you people think?

------------

John

[Shack Networks]

The problem that I have is my added groups can not be warned/banned by Mods.

I have 2 user groups VIP and VIP+ and the mods can not see any way of warning them as the links do not show up for this group.

They can only warn/ban the default registered user group.

Admin can warn/ban all groups..

Any work around for this or will they be immune to being warned forever...

H

[Shack Networks]

ALSO

Can this be adapted so say for instance a member types a banned word or link to a website that is in a banned list he is automaticaly added a set amount of points with no mod intervention needed ?

If this feature could be added this hack would be 101% fantastic as aposed to 100% it is at the moment...

H

[mcyates]

Originally Posted by sv1cec

I tend to agree with you.

The only problem is, that with the system as it is now, when a member reaches the maximum points and he is banned, his total warning points get reset to the maximum warning points. When the lesser warnings start getting removed, he artificially ends up with fewer points than he should have. In your example above, and assuming that the first offense was worth 2 points, the second 7 and the third 5, when the user was banned, he had 14 points, but the moment he gets banned he is left with 10 (let's assume the limit is 10). When the two minor warnings expire, (2+5) he is left with only 3 points.

I think that this is something I should address, by not resetting his total points to 10, but leaving them at whatever they were the moment he got banned, i.e. 14 in this case. In that way, even when the minor offenses are removed, he still has the 7 points from the major one, and with 3 more he gets banned again.

What do you people think?

------------

John

I think that this is something I should address, by not resetting his total points to 10, but leaving them at whatever they were the moment he got banned, i.e. 14 in this case. In that way, even when the minor offenses are removed, he still has the 7 points from the major one, and with 3 more he gets banned again.

What do you people think?

That would be better, just let the points warning do the job. and when one warning is removed and the points go below the banned limit he is unbanned

[sv1cec]

Originally Posted by Shack Networks

The problem that I have is my added groups can not be warned/banned by Mods.

I have 2 user groups VIP and VIP+ and the mods can not see any way of warning them as the links do not show up for this group.

They can only warn/ban the default registered user group.

Admin can warn/ban all groups..

Any work around for this or will they be immune to being warned forever...

H

I'll see what I can do about your VIPs, as for the list, this needs more investigation. I have to see how the forbidden words are handled, and see if this can be incorporated in the hack. Possibly somewhere in the postbit or when you post a new post.

And I was planning to do some chores tomorrow morning.....

Rgds
-------
John