Anyone who has run a large forum has probably run into that difficult situation when there suddenly appears 1 or more rogue members causing havoc or insults to others. Sure you can ban the IP but that never stops a determined person from re-registereing again and again. It's easy for anyone who has access to internet through multiple sources like colleges, libraries and internet cafes all using different IPs.

Our current forum is fine for a happy friendly group where things go well, but how would we deal with malicious attacks? I would like to suggest a system of selective filtereing for all members of a public forum, that allows an administator or moderator to control not only the forum status of MODERATED - UN-MODERATED - READ ONLY, but also each individual member of the forum.

Looking at the example in the graphic below; if security is an issue, the site administartor typically makes a forum 'moderated by default . He then selects 'MEMBER (inherit default)' Now all new members have their posts moderated to match the forum default setting. If a friend registers, the site administrator can quickly promote that member to 'unmoderated' because he knows the friend is trustworthy.

As other 'moderated' members become trustworthy, their status is also promoted to 'un-moderated' Conversly if any member causes problems on the forum, they can be demoted back to 'moderated' or even 'read only' status. At this point an administrator would be on their guard for all new registrations and carefully scrutinise new registrations again in case it's the 'old bad apple' on a new IP!!

This way the forum has maximum security and filtering of individual members without affecting the general forum status and other members priviledges. New members are screened for good character first, while the member that causes problems, can be quickly removed.

The administartor can also change the default setting for the whole forum, promoting it to un-moderated, or read only. If he clicks 'MEMBER )inherit default' all members are like wise promoted to the new status. Left unchecked, existing members keep old status and only new members are affected. He could also demote the forum to 'read only' and leave 'MEMBER (inherit default)' unchecked. This would effectivly close the forum to new members, while still leaving existing members active (useful if a forum got too large!)

The forum is often the most active and yet the most vulnerable part of a site. Anything that offers moderation in this way surely must be a benefit?

I have drawn up a graphic to illustrate the GUI of a possible system. ALAS, I can not write a module mod script. I would really like to know if others would find this a useful addition to the forum facilities. Perhaps module developers could also comment how feasable this would be to build.


Richard

I've posted a link to this thread in the newBB development forum where the XOOPS developers reside

I think it's a good idea, but XOOPS.org has 13.000+ members, it would take a while to update these settings then. Would using groups be good for you?

Herko

Thanks for the comment. OK, it's easy to make a graphic and talk about what it could do, but the MEMBER (inherit default) setting would bring ALL members to the default forum setting. In the case of XOOPS this would obviously be UN-MODERATED. Individual changes are made on a local basis afterwards if required.

I use groups already to filter content on my site, but the functionality is not the same as specific member moderation. Group filtering is too broad and cannot isolate individual member activity. This is what is needed for maximum security. If there is another way to achieve this, I would really like to know !!

Regards, Richard

I think that's a great idea ! So together with a group functionality it would be a real 'shot'.
IP-banning is almost no longer an option, because most use dialups,just line down, up again - changed. And banning a whole block, would 'kick the normal' users coming from that ISP too.
So such a tool would be greatly appreciated !!

Yes you are right, banning an IP is only a temporary measure these days, besides it has the disadvantage of blocking other users in a block. The option of monitoring and moderating individuals regardeless of the forum status is the safest way I think. Thanks for your comment GoFuYo.