Lack of interest Allow moderators to issue custom ban reasons when issuing Warnings

[LukeWolf]

It's been difficult to find this customisation anywhere on the forum.

I would have thought this already existed:

Moderator is issuing a warning, so allow them to enter custom ban reason for that ban.

But it does not, so in that case, I would like to put this forward as a suggestion so we can correctly communicate with users why they are getting banned.

Thanks!

 

[beerForo]

You mean this from the user card?

Ban member
Ban length
Permanent
Until:
Reason for banning
This will be shown to the user if provided.

 

[LukeWolf]

I mean on the warn member screen after pressing warn.

 

[beerForo]

Are you warning or banning?

 

[LukeWolf]

Banning through issuing the warning.

 

[beerForo]

It would be nice if the ban reason was auto-filled by the "Warning type" title (including the custom title). So if the warning results in a ban, it fills in the public ban reason field with the warn title with perhaps some default text about reaching the threshold.

 

[LukeWolf]

That's not what I mean!
I mean allow the moderator to type in a custom reason field for the ban when issuing the warning so the user would then see what the moderator typed as an option to giving a standard automatic reason given to them by the system.

 

[beerForo]

So why not just ban them using the ban function and enter the reason? The warning system is for warning and warnings add up to a ban. If you have another reason for banning just use the ban function.

 

[LukeWolf]

The idea of the warning system with points and warning actions is to do things automatically.
It's a no brainer - if the user is going to get banned from receiving a warning by the system then allowing them to enter a custom reason for the ban to show the user at that time is efficient and productive. Warning them and then manually banning them defeats the purpose of the whole idea!

 

[beerForo]

Right. So no need to enter any reason when the reason was the warning they got and they are messaged.

 

[LukeWolf]

As I've been explaining, allowing moderators the option to enter a custom reason when issuing the warning is the point. This is called communicating effectively. We want the flexibility to teach our users why they are getting banned. This is so they see it immediately and do not have to wait for the ban to expire to find out why they are banned from the message they were sent (hopeless for permanent bans because they would never find out).

 

[beerForo]

That's why this would be ideal

It would be nice if the ban reason was auto-filled by the "Warning type" title (including the custom title). So if the warning results in a ban, it fills in the public ban reason field with the warn title with perhaps some default text about reaching the threshold.

 

[LukeWolf]

That's interesting but still not what I'm saying. I mean specifically the ban reason field to be different to the warning title.
The reason for this is because if the ban reason has some length to it, then the way this would appear in profiles as a warning reason would be messy. It's best to keep warning titles and ban reasons separated. Although, the idea of automatically logging warning actions to log bans on a user's record is a good idea but that's different to my suggestion.

 

[beerForo]

Okay sure. So the system would need to check if it is going to ban and then prompt you, and perhaps use this instead of a message.

This warning is going to ban this user for X (whatever)
Enter a ban reason here, that the user will see:

 

[LukeWolf]

Yes, you're on the right track now. Maybe not instead of a message, though, but as well as a message, so they have a reference for later if their ban expires/is lifted.
The point of all this is being able to communicate effectively with the ban reason in an efficient way with the use of the warning system. It's good to do that immediately and with no delay.

 

[PaulB]

This is called communicating effectively. We want the flexibility to teach our users why they are getting banned. This is so they see it immediately and do not have to wait for the ban to expire to find out why they are banned from the message they were sent (hopeless for permanent bans because they would never find out).

I would think the best way to go about this would be to have each warning start a conversation with the user, an option already supported by XenForo. This would allow you to communicate every individual offense, rather than only the last offense--the one that pushes them over the point threshold. It would also give them an opportunity to learn prior to being banned.

Once they're banned, they've lost their opportunity to learn, at least until enough warnings expire to bring them below the ban threshold. At that point, they have access to their conversations again anyway.

 

[LukeWolf]

I would think the best way to go about this would be to have each warning start a conversation with the user, an option already supported by XenForo. This would allow you to communicate every individual offense, rather than only the last offense--the one that pushes them over the point threshold. It would also give them an opportunity to learn prior to being banned.

That feature only communications effectively for offences committed that they are not banned for, not for giving details on the last instance that triggered the ban should they get confused about that which could be likely depending on the forum and its culture, and in a general sense they would just blame the forum administrators for their lack of design in communicating ban reasons. The best way to design this system is to allow functionality that provides the option for communication in all instances to cover all basis, not just some instances. Typically, it would reduce complaints and improve the experience for users.

Once they're banned, they've lost their opportunity to learn, at least until enough warnings expire to bring them below the ban threshold. At that point, they have access to their conversations again anyway.

It should be up to the specific forum's administrators as to whether or not the user has lost their opportunity to learn, not dictated by the forum software they are using or anyone else for that matter. The information should not then become exclusive for them on the if basis their ban expires.