Which setting(s) to allow a moderator to ban people?

Jupiter · August 5, 2017 at 7:38 PM

Sorry, but as I am really struggling with the setup of my forum more than two months after installing the software and there is still no manual... I've got to *up* the amount of questions I ask here, otherwise nothing will get done.

My moderators were unable to ban people, so I have made them temporary admins. I thought I had set the correct options in the admincp, but clearly not. As per the thread title, which settings do I need to change in the admincp to allow my moderators to ban people?

For info, in the usergroup moderators, I changed the option Administrator Permissions-User option for "Can Ban users" to "yes", so that Moderators can ban people, but it doesn't work.

This is the exact link on my site to this option, no one here should be able to access the link, but at least you can see which option I am looking at:

https://www.forumbox.co.uk/acp/index.php?…dmin-admin.user

thanks

Jupiter

**Alexander Ebert** · August 5, 2017 at 8:05 PM Official Post

All user related functions are dependend on an additional permission Accessible User Groups. The target user's groups must all be contained within the selection, then the moderator is able to execute the ban action. This prevents moderators from performing actions on users they shouldn't, such as the administrators group.

Anyway: It may be much easier for you to use the infraction system. You can define a special infraction that gives like 100 warning points and then set a suspension to trigger at that amount. One possible option for the suspension is to permanently ban a user, which is pretty much what you're looking for.

This approach might be a bit better for you, because you don't give out administrator permissions and you can see who issued the warning by looking at the affected user's profile.

Jupiter · August 5, 2017 at 8:26 PM

Quote from Alexander Ebert

Anyway: It may be much easier for you to use the infraction system. You can define a special infraction that gives like 100 warning points and then set a suspension to trigger at that amount. One possible option for the suspension is to permanently ban a user, which is pretty much what you're looking for.

This approach might be a bit better for you, because you don't give out administrator permissions and you can see who issued the warning by looking at the affected user's profile.

Thanks for this, I will setup as you suggest, but...

Quote from Alexander Ebert

All user related functions are dependend on an additional permission Accessible User Groups. The target user's groups must all be contained within the selection, then the moderator is able to execute the ban action. This prevents moderators from performing actions on users they shouldn't, such as the administrators group.

I just don't understand this bit at all, and I've got to fully understand the software to get the full use out of it.

I certainly don't want moderators banning administrators such as myself , but where do I find this Accessible User Groups and which exact settings have I got to change to allow my moderators to ban people? thanks.

Although the front end of the ACP is gorgeous to look at and easy to use with its simple yes/no options for many parts of the site, there is so much I do not understand. The concept of the Everyone usergroup is totally alien to me, I do not understand it all or see the point of it and that will be my next question.

**Alexander Ebert** · August 5, 2017 at 8:50 PM Official Post

Quote from Jupiter

but where do I find this Accessible User Groups and which exact settings have I got to change to allow my moderators to ban people? thanks.

Type it into the ACP search (top left, next to the logo) to set the values for all groups. Or just edit the moderator group and head to Administrator Permissions > Users > Section "User Groups".

Quote from Jupiter

The concept of the Everyone usergroup is totally alien to me, I do not understand it all or see the point of it and that will be my next question.

It represents literally all users. Permissions set to it will be applied to guests (including search engines), registered users, moderators and even administrators. It is special in two ways:

You cannot assign or unassign users to this group, it is always set.
It is considered the only weak group, that is, it's permissions are used as the base line.

Especially the 2nd property is rather interessting, because it opens up some really easy forum permissions. For example, lets assume that you have 500 user groups and want to establish a small forum that is only accessible to the user groups "VIP" and "Administrators":

Without the "Everyone" group, you would have to deny access for all other 498 user groups, and grant access to the 2 intended groups only.
With the "Everyone" group, you simply set "Everyone" to "Deny All Access" and then grant permissions for "VIP" and "Administrators". You're done.

Since it's a really basic group that does pretty much on your own, you can ignore it completely and only make active use of it, when you want to.

darjeeling · August 8, 2017 at 12:19 AM

Jupiter If you have stuff you want to run past another fairly recent admin but without posting it here, drop me a PM. I had loads of these sort of issues when I started out and would be happy to help if I can.

Jupiter · August 8, 2017 at 12:46 AM

That's very kind darjeeling, thanks.

I'll probably keep posting the questions in open forum so everyone can see, but how on earth was I to know that this Accessible User Groups existed? There is still no manual for this software and besides, new admins need a guide of how to setup a forum beyond just a dry technical manual.

Participate now!