Annother banning alternative : Starved Users

This hack is another alternative to banning a user. As the name suggests a user who
gets hit with this hack will be deprived from a lot of the general board features.

So here is what really happens to a starved user:

- Every graphic image on the board will be replaces with a red X icon.
- They don't have access to the search engine.
- They have a 10x flood control time
- They are only allowed to post 20 characters per post (the 20 charcters is
inclusive of the post title.)
- They can not see avatars in posts
- They can not display their signature
- Their user options is set to 0

This hack is another one of my sadistic hacks on my board.

The hack allows you to make your user starved via the admin CP (In the Edit User
screen). It also allows you to search for all starved users through the admin CP
as well.

Also in showthread.php, it appends a red status that is only visibly to admins
and mods stating that a user is starved.

Tables affected by this hack: user

Files affected by this hack: global.php, showthread.php, newthread.php, newreply.php, admin/user.php, admin/functions.php

There is also a new icon that needs to be placed in the images directory: images/redx.gif

################################################## ##########

From the MySQL prompt execute the following statement:

alter table user add starved smallint(5) unsigned DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL;

################################################## ##########

Please click the install button if you like this hack and you install it on your board.

[mistyl]

Thank you!!! I am off to install it!

[Sweet Cheeks]

Today at 02:15 PM mistyl said this in Post #11
Thank you!!! I am off to install it!

*Nods evilly at Misty*

[Boofo]

I think I'll write some code to randomly pick a user for the miserable hack and the starvation hack for April fool's day. Once they log off and back on, it will not pick them again 'til next year.

[filburt1]

It kinda scares me that there are a lot of boards out there that actually need this...that's joy of running a pro community instead of a general community, I very rarely have members bicker to each other

[colicab-d]

i have to say , we get a few immatre folk, but as part of an art community were all tolerant. However is it possibel to say have only parts of this hack like the post limit and say avatar restrictions? or is it configurable via admin cp as to what features the user is starved of.

[cirisme]

Yesterday at 10:24 PM Boofo said this in Post #13
I think I'll write some code to randomly pick a user for the miserable hack and the starvation hack for April fool's day. Once they log off and back on, it will not pick them again 'til next year.

ROFL!!! That would be too much fun.

[Vile]

Yesterday at 10:26 PM filburt1 said this in Post #14
It kinda scares me that there are a lot of boards out there that actually need this...that's joy of running a pro community instead of a general community, I very rarely have members bicker to each other

I know what you mean, but I think it's still cool to have something like this, just in case

[Zzed]

Today at 01:56 PM Boofo said this in Post #7
Zzed, I have both hacks installed. Is this what my showthread.php should look like now?

Also, I have the user's avatar on the forumhome_pmloggedin and it still shows (not the red X) Any way to fix that?

Boofo, the way you have yours set up it will show either miserable, or starved but not both.

They should be changed to 2 successive if() statements. like this:

PHP Code:

while ($post=$DB_site->fetch_array($posts) and $counter++<$perpage) {

  if ($postdone[$post[postid]]) {
    $counter--;
    continue;
  } else {
    $postdone[$post[postid]]=1;
  }

  $onlinestat = "";
  if($post[miserable] == 1) {
    if(($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 5) or ($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 6) or ($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 7)) {
      $onlinestat = "$onlinestat<br><font color=\"green\"><b>Miserable User</b></font>";
    }
  }
  if($post[starved] == 1) {
    if(($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 5) or ($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 6) or ($bbuserinfo[usergroupid] == 7)) {
      $onlinestat = "$onlinestat<br><font color=\"red\"><b>Starved User</b></font>";
    }
  }
  $post[posts]="$post[posts]$onlinestat";

  $post[postcount] = ++$postcount;
  $post[totalposts] = $totalposts;
  $postbits .= iif(empty($postbits), '', '<br>').getpostbit($post);
} 


[Zzed]

Today at 02:26 PM filburt1 said this in Post #14
It kinda scares me that there are a lot of boards out there that actually need this...that's joy of running a pro community instead of a general community, I very rarely have members bicker to each other

Unfortunately, the average age on my board has gone down to 18-20 years of age and we have a lot of trouble makers. This is the only way we can control them. It has been working quite effectively.

I have created a system through which my moderators can actually impose my custom bans on the users along with PM and Email warnings. The bans can last anywhere from one hour to 7 days and they automatically revert back to normal at the end of the period.

[Boofo]

Will you be releasing the code for the timed ban? That would make this really complete.

Thanks, Zzed, for the fix on the code. Now that I look at the old code, I see what you mean. DOHH!!!

What happens if you enable both hacks (Miserable and Starved) for a use at the same time? Just curious. Also, is there a way to set this up so you could make a Miserable Usergroup and a Starved Usergroup and do the hacks by Usergroup, too? Or set them to the Banned usergroup by default and still be able to do them individually per user.