Help proxy-banning some trolls

[Bad2DaBone]

Okay, so my friend's got a little message board.

Bad news is, these two psychos that hate her won't stop trolling her there.

Now, these aren't the good trolls that can be kinda funny... they're more like,

"You're an ugly, slutty bitch!"  "You're an ugly, stupid faggot!"  "Stop lying about me, I'll have this whole place shut down!"

She's at wits end dealing with these morons because they use their "1337 hacker skillz" proxy server to avoid being IP-banned/blocked.  They're devoid of reason/morals, so she just wants to block them and be done with them.

Does anyone here have any idea how to ban/block them?  She'd be forever grateful!

[Klytos]

You'll need to provide more info such as what forum software she uses.

For our SMF forums we can ban via IP, part of an IP, region, name, part of a name, and any number of other options.

[Intendant S]

I know over at the Replay Games forums, we can ban via name, IP, and e-mail address.  I believe we use phpBB, but I'm not the administrator, just a mod.

[Bad2DaBone]

You'll need to provide more info such as what forum software she uses.

For our SMF forums we can ban via IP, part of an IP, region, name, part of a name, and any number of other options.

It's phbb software, she's kind of a newb to running boards which is why those 2 psychonuts haven't been banned yet.

[Intendant S]

If they're really that determined to make her life hell, then just banning user names won't cut it.  If she can get their IP addresses then that would be the best way to do it.

[Lambonius]

Speaking as a person who has been banned from a number of different forums over the years, I can definitely tell you that IP banning will do absolutely nothing to solve the problem if the person is determined enough and knows to access the forums via a proxy server.  There are plenty of free proxy server sites out there that will randomly generate IP addresses and let you surf at your leisure, so unfortunately, there's probably not anything else your friend can do other than developing a thicker skin.

[Bad2DaBone]

There's gotta be some way to block proxies, I've read a few guides online about it but I was never computer-smart enough to know how to apply them.

http://www.wikihow.com/Block-Proxy-Servers

Also, I can tell you from experience that these 2 clowns are dumb as hell, they aren't elite hackers or anything so if they can be proxy-blocked their asses should be gone for good.

[nidoking]

I'd say go to moderated membership and call it done - if there's some application process for joining the forum, she can at least prevent undesirables from posting in public.

[Collector]

Most modern boards, including phpBB, do allow both admins and mods to ban by IP, but as noted, a proxy can get around this. If this is a board that she is not looking to expand the membership, she could just either disable registration or set it to by admin only.

[Bad2DaBone]

Most modern boards, including phpBB, do allow both admins and mods to ban by IP, but as noted, a proxy can get around this. If this is a board that she is not looking to expand the membership, she could just either disable registration or set it to by admin only.

I'm getting some ideas here...

Does phbb enable IP-blocking from a board?

Also, if she enabled approving, could she confirm whether it's a proxy or not and simply not approve any proxies?


Additionally, how difficult would it be to alter the format to non-phbb to proxy-block?  Can she do that and retain the old topics in a smooth transition?

[Unfamous]

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=282525

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=183268

might help

(Make the AE Detector based on cookies, not IP Addresses (so they need to clear the cookies before they sign up))

[Collector]

Moderators in phpBB can ban an IP from the moderator panel and admins can from either the MCP or the ACP. As to approving posts, information about a post can be checked, such as the registration IP address, IP lookup, etc. Keep in mind that a proxy may assign IPs that are not obviously associated with the proxy.

Importing a database from one forum software to another can be rather hit or miss. Even with a successful conversion there may be plenty  that will need to be fixed manually. Is she familiar with phpMyAdmin? I would not place too much faith in recognition as anyone that knows how to use a proxy would not find dealing with cookies much of a challenge.