The Infraction System, Probation and Bans - Q&A and Explanation

[Rankenphile]

A Brief Explanation of the new Citation/Infraction System

The Infraction System is a new method of rules enforcement that we are starting here at TBCS, effective immediately. Quite simply, it will allow moderators and administrators a method of handing out warnings and punishments in response to inappropriate behavior here on the forum.
The Infraction System is, essentially, a points system. There are three levels of severity in the system, currently. Each point will remain on your record for thirty days, and each concurrent point will reset the timer for previous active strikes.

For example, let’s say NoobUser321 has just joined the forums here at TBCS. He immediately jumps in, tells everyone where they are messing up, points the finger at everyone but themselves, uses harsh and inflammatory language and is basically rude and malicious to everyone. A moderator will contact them and let them know, “Hey, calm down, we’re all friends here.”

Well, NoobUser321 chooses to ignore this advice. He continues his tirade and ends up posting a vicious flame against another user. Inappropriate. ModeratorX sees this, sees that he’s been warned, and gives him an Infraction.

Strike 1.

Well, the first infraction is basically a warning. It puts NoobUser321 on Probation. This will last 30 days, and places a number of restrictions on what he can and can’t do. Specifically:

• Can no longer open or close their own threads.
• Can no longer rate other's threads.
• Cannot post polls.
• Mailbox size becomes 50.
• Cannot post events on the TBCS calendar.
• Cannot set self to invisible.
• Cannot use a custom title.
• User loses all signature privileges.
• User cannot use the reputation system.

Let’s say NoobUser321 learns his lesson and behaves himself for the whole 30 days. If he does, the infraction point will disappear automatically and he’ll be able to do all the things any other user can do – at least until he gets placed on Probation again.

But what if he doesn’t learn his lesson? Well, say 15 days from his original Infraction NoobUser321 decides to lose his temper and posts multiple hateful rants about the moderators, the admins and other users all across the forum. That’s a real big no-no. So what happens?

Strike 2.

If you get a second Infraction while your first is still active, you get an automatic 7-day ban. Go for a walk, take some deep breaths, we’ll see you in a week. This second infraction lasts a full 30 days, after which the user will be dropped to regular Probation status for 30 days. So, NoobUser321 manages to learn his lesson this time, doesn’t get anyone else angry at him, doesn’t go on any more crusades, he’s back in the clear. But what if he doesn’t?

Strike 3. You’re out.

If you get a third infraction while your first and second infractions are active, you’re out. You’ve been warned many times and you have shown that you cannot be a team player. Therefore, you’re banned for good. No coming back, you had your chance. Hopefully nobody will ever get this far, but it is here if we need it.

[Rankenphile]

This program goes into effect today. Does anyone have any questions?

[Mitternacht]

None here. Looks good. :up:

[xRyokenx]

Looks good to me... a bit harsh, but you have to get the point across... now I'm a bit nervous even though I shouldn't be... I guess that when there's some kind of discipline system going on I tend to get nervous, and my mind amplifies how bad the situation looks, even though it's not that bad, but whatever...

Hopefully this should straighten up the little bit of oddness the forums have had recently/lately...

[Rankenphile]

None of this is in response to any "oddness", this is just a system we've been meaning to implement for a while now. No infractions of these actions given out without warnings first.

No reason to be nervous, this is just establishing a clear set of standards and methods of enforcement, rather than just doing everything from the hip.

[xRyokenx]

I know that there's no reason to be nervous, I just get a little paranoid, like right now when I've got this awful sinus headache... and I also know it's not in response to oddness, but I was just thinking that it might help as some people had been getting a little too... confrontational.

With luck, we shouldn't have to use this system too often. :D It will be better to have a set system for doing things, that's necessary everywhere, unless it gets crazy like at school, where they take you to court and throw you out of school for any meaningless comment you may have made... but this is reasonable. Sorry if I'm seeming a little dense, I'm kinda light headed from allergies.

[intergalacticman]

sounds like a plan

[GT40_GearHead]

you guys should put jail bars under the user name
where now you have the custom title

so everybody can see the jail bird :D

[Airbozo]

you guys should put jail bars under the user name
where now you have the custom title

so everybody can see the jail bird :D

Hehehe I like!


+rep for the laugh!

[Ironcat]

Personally I don't like it. I think it's too much.
I liked it the OLD way... people came in, spoke their piece and we all got along, some people liked what you had to say, some didn't, and some people didn't care... we could even argue intelligently but we didn't step on toes, and we didn't point fingers, and we weren't @$$holes.

We are all (or mostly) grown ups of some flavor. If you can't get along then go. If somebody is screwing around, a nice message from a mod should clear their head, if someone is still a jerk then boot them.

We aren't in grade school where we need time outs and a written paper trail of referrals, detentions, etc... Hell, this isn't even a democracy. It is an OWNED website which should function the way the OWNER says it should.
If people can't read over the last 3000 posts about whatever and figure out the right way to talk to people then they don't need to be here.

[Rankenphile]

Personally I don't like it. I think it's too much.
I liked it the OLD way... people came in, spoke their piece and we all got along, some people liked what you had to say, some didn't, and some people didn't care... we could even argue intelligently but we didn't step on toes, and we didn't point fingers, and we weren't @$$holes.

We are all (or mostly) grown ups of some flavor. If you can't get along then go. If somebody is screwing around, a nice message from a mod should clear their head, if someone is still a jerk then boot them.

We aren't in grade school where we need time outs and a written paper trail of referrals, detentions, etc... Hell, this isn't even a democracy. It is an OWNED website which should function the way the OWNER says it should.
If people can't read over the last 3000 posts about whatever and figure out the right way to talk to people then they don't need to be here.

I agree that we should all be civil and get along, and that everyone should know how to behave.

Unfortunately, that isn't always the case and measures like this are sometime necessary. Hopefully we won't ever have to use it, and options to remove users' ability to use the forums are always available if we need them, but this provides a clear-cut deferral and detention system for the moderators and administrators to utilize as they need, in addition to the usual avenues of approach.

[.Maleficus.]

I think that it's great. Not too harsh, not too lenient (sp?) And I also like the jailbar idea heh heh.

[Crimson Sky]

The harshest infraction (3) is basically there to blast the damned spambots with a ban... (say that 5x fast?) The rest of the system is just a quick way to tell people when they get out of hand that we are serious about keeping it civil.

I really don't care if people argue about a topic until they are blue in the face; as long as it doesn't get stoked to a flame. Even then I'll just delete posts that are fanning it and see what happens from there. I'll admit I have an itchy delete finger sometimes, depending on my mood.

This is really a forward-looking system in place for when the site grows and changes.

[xRyokenx]

I vote that one of the mods or admin sticky's this thread (or just the part describing the system) and/or puts it in the TBCS Handbook.

[gaz_the_chav]

Guys -

Trust me this system is here for good intentions and as long as everyone behaves in a good way as everyone does, no-one will have a problem. How do you not know that this system has been in place for the last six months but you guys did not realise.

Basiclly don't let it stay on your mind beacuse tommorow you will forget it is even there!

-gaz

[gaz_the_chav]

I vote that one of the mods or admin sticky's this thread (or just the part describing the system) and/or puts it in the TBCS Handbook.


There already is if you have a look :)

http://thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7332

-gaz

[xRyokenx]

Gaz, I mainly meant the description of the discipline system, not just the FAQ thread. :D

[DaveW]

This will go into the handbook once everyone's clear on what it is and when Rankenphile is happy that you guys understand his explanation. :)

-Dave

[Drew]

:up:

Works for me... gives everyone a clear line on what's acceptable and what's gonna lead to a binning.

And love the bars idea......

[Rankenphile]

This will go into the handbook once everyone's clear on what it is and when Rankenphile is happy that you guys understand his explanation. :)

-Dave

my thoughts as well.

Since this was a pretty important new change to the forums, I dropped it in the Chatterbox to make sure everyone saw it and had a chance to give their feedback.

I think everyone is pretty clear on it now, though.

[Omega]

I think that this system sounds pretty good to me. Most of the regulars know better than to flame or fuel the fire, and for the most part, we're quite civilized.


Might I ask, however, what's up with the censors? The "F" word wasn't censored before, but it is now... What's up with that? I believe that most of us are quite mature and have heard or read this language before, so I don't see why we should need a censor.

Just my 15.39$.

[xRyokenx]

The F word is prolly censored to make our forum seem more civil and/or inviting to our guests and new members, or something on those terms.

[chaksq]

I like the idea, every forum need its own rules and its own enforcement.


We are all (or mostly) grown ups of some flavor. If you can't get along then go.
We aren't in grade school where we need time outs and a written paper trail of referrals, detentions, etc...
I believe that most of us are quite mature and have heard or read this language before, so I don't see why we should need a censor.

I would just like to point out to you that not all of our members are nessesarily as mature as you claim to be. We have a decent number of 13 year old members who are still at an impressionable age. Not to mention but they still are in grade school. We must respect that and provide content that is apropriate for all ages.

[Crimson Sky]

Might I ask, however, what's up with the censors? The "F" word wasn't censored before, but it is now... What's up with that? I believe that most of us are quite mature and have heard or read this language before, so I don't see why we should need a censor.

Just my 15.39$.


You can blame the several people who were using it far too frequently in friendly posts, and not so friendly posts. It was my call to censor the word.

[progbuddy]

You can blame the several people who were using it far too frequently in friendly posts, and not so friendly posts. It was my call to censor the word.

Good call.

Yeah. I think it needed to be censored because some people here overabuse the word (I have used it a couple of times, nothing harsh). I don't mind it, it's just there to block "mean" posts.

[xRyokenx]

...and say a parent walks in on one of their younger teen kids and sees some words or something that they would find offensive, we'd probably end up having one less member on our forums to debate with, etc.

[DaveW]

It's the only censored word. I'm sure you can think of other words to use.

-Dave

[Bucko]

I like Smeg myself. It can be smegging used for most smeg.

[DaveW]

Maybe i can configure the censor to replace f**k with smeg? That would rock!

-Dave

[Bucko]

Smegging oath it would!

[Zephik]

I second smeg. That would totally kick ass!

[progbuddy]

Or one of my favs:

Frack.

lol

[Drew]

Sorry progbuddy, I gotta go with Smeg.

Lister, you have a lot to answer for.

[DaveW]

I don't think VBulletin will let me... :(

I think it would instead say smegsmegsmegsmeg. It says it's non-reversible and on-to-one, so if i try it and i'm wrong, then i can't undo it.

Then again, it's only going to be replacing the f-word with smegsmegsmegsmeg, and as we've allready replaced it with ****, then the censor wouldn't find it in it's search...i'll think about it. ;)

-Dave

[progbuddy]

I don't think VBulletin will let me... :(

I think it would instead say smegsmegsmegsmeg. It says it's non-reversible and on-to-one, so if i try it and i'm wrong, then i can't undo it.

Then again, it's only going to be replacing the f-word with smegsmegsmegsmeg, and as we've allready replaced it with ****, then the censor wouldn't find it in it's search...i'll think about it. ;)

-Dave

Evil strings...

[xRyokenx]

What the hell? I'd have to say that VBulletin is great, but what the hell? Irreversible censoring? Really now... you're a modder and a moderator (well, the rank above), so you should be able to edit it somehow, heh heh.

[DaveW]

What the hell? I'd have to say that VBulletin is great, but what the hell? Irreversible censoring? Really now... you're a modder and a moderator (well, the rank above), so you should be able to edit it somehow, heh heh.

So I'm lazy. Bite me.

VBulletin will search through every thread and censor the words in our list. If I mess it up and it changes every instance of * to smeg, then we're going to have some funky looking forums for a while. I can fix it by performing MySQL queries on the server, but why bother? It's complicated and to be honest there's more important stuff that needs done about here.

-Dave

[xRyokenx]

Actually, you've got a point there. "****" does pretty much the same thing as "smeg," although without the bit of humor... is there any way to put it in quotes like when searching Google and have it change it that way? If worst comes to worst, you just put **** for smegsmegsmegsmeg.

[Redundant]

Actually, you've got a point there. "****" does pretty much the same thing as "smeg," although without the bit of humor... is there any way to put it in quotes like when searching Google and have it change it that way? If worst comes to worst, you just put **** for smegsmegsmegsmeg.

Wow. A censor for a censor...

If that doesn't crash the servers than I don't know what will...

[progbuddy]

So I'm lazy. Bite me.

VBulletin will search through every thread and censor the words in our list. If I mess it up and it changes every instance of * to smeg, then we're going to have some funky looking forums for a while. I can fix it by performing MySQL queries on the server, but why bother? It's complicated and to be honest there's more important stuff that needs done about here.

-Dave

I've done some very simple programming like this. If I did this, then I would have to index the word, then make a simple if-then-end statement:

:If Str1=(the F word :p)
:Then
:"Smeg"->Str1
:End

[DaveW]

That's not valid MySQL.

I'm finishing my 3rd year of a Software Engineering degree. The last program i worked on was a fully comprehensive instant messenger with file transfers and profiles, built up on fully encrypted client server communications architecture.

Honestly, if it was as simple as

:If Str1=(the F word )
:Then
:"Smeg"->Str1
:End

Then i would have done it by now.

-Dave

[progbuddy]

That's not valid MySQL.

I'm finishing my 3rd year of a Software Engineering degree. The last program i worked on was a fully comprehensive instant messenger with file transfers and profiles, built up on fully encrypted client server communications architecture.

Honestly, if it was as simple as


Then i would have done it by now.

-Dave

I know, but any language has to have an "if" statement.

[DaveW]

I know, but any language has to have an "if" statement.

SQL: Structured Query Language.

You have 3 basic commands:

SELECT [fields you want to select]
FROM [table to select from]
WHERE [conditions]

So say you wanted to know the ages of all the dogs called charlie. You would say...

SELECT Name, Age
FROM Dog
WHERE Name='Charlie'

This would return a result with this data. If you wanted to do something like what you're doing, then you would use a modified version using the update statement. But SQL queries are cumbersome and difficult to structure when you start using things like UPDATE, DISTINCT, UNION, etc.

The alternative option is to create a PHP script which runs through the database looking for substrings with the fword. The database is nearly 100Megs of Text, so you can imagine the server load involved in that; PHP is notoriously inefficient at things like this. Of course, in practical terms, the script would probably complete in about 5 minutes or so, but the chance of me getting the correct SQL statement first time is fairly slim: about 80% i'd say. It's really not worth the effort.

VBulletin handles this by changing it when you try to submit. Single operation. So if turn it on, we should be fairly safe. But the VBulletin documentation is quite frankly awful concerning this and i'm not 100% certain about the implications of turning it on.

I'm still considering it though. :)

-Dave

[xRyokenx]

Hey, you still haven't changed the color/font scheme on the rules yet.

Let's get crackin'! Chop chop! Mach Schnell (sp?)! Tally ho! Oh crap, I have to get to work! *Runs out of room and forgets to change into his uniform, and then realizes that he needs it right as he's going out the door, runs back in, changes, and somehow makes it to work with time to eat something before starting his shift*

[DaveW]

Ach! Gimme a break!

Airbozo, AJ, can one of you guys take care of this one for me? :p

-Dave

[xRyokenx]

I'm just messing with ya. :p If anybody needs a break at the moment it's me... damned people eating buffet for an extra half hour after it's supposed to close, I feel like somebody parked a car on me for the past four and a half hours...