Upgrade the ignore function to 'block' / Blocking Ignored Users

[Razasharp]

I think ignoring someone on a forum has never really worked from a users perspective. On vB you could still see the 'ignored' person had posted, and on XF when you ignore someone it doesn't prevent them from quoting you, seeing your threads, posting in them.

Usually when someone 'ignores' someone, what they really want to do is block them.

Any chance of this being included?

 

[QenTox]

I am not sure if it is explained somewhere here, but when you ignore someone, what exactly that person can not do (see, ...)?

 

[Paul B]

Ignoring someone only affects content you see, not what they can see.

 

[Razasharp]

If you ignore someone you can't see their threads or posts - but if you follow a link to their thread you can see it (minus their post).

 

[TLMD]

So you don't want to see the user's posts as well as not allow the user to see your posts? Am I getting this right?

 

[Razasharp]

So you don't want to see the user's posts as well as not allow the user to see your posts? Am I getting this right?

Yep. So a user can 'block' someone else if they want to - where neither can see each other's posts/threads etc.

 

[Amaury]

No from me.

You can choose to ignore them and not see their posts while they can do the same. Plus, I don't see what's so bad about people you ignore seeing your content.

 

[HWS]

No from me.

You can choose to ignore them and not see their posts while they can do the same. Plus, I don't see what's so bad about people you ignore seeing your content.

If you're a fan from "Ignore", both features can live together happily.
"Ignore" and "Block" are 2 different features.

I know "ignore" has historic roots in the forum world, but today in our online social networking world a "Block" feature would be much more important for such web sites.

 

[MagnusB]

I really don't see how block would make any difference, unless the forum is completely private. For example, if I would block user X here on xenforo, user X just would have to log out to see my posts / threads.

 

[TLMD]

The problem I see is that when you ignore someone else, this is your very own decision. If you block someone else from seeing you, you basically decide for this other person what to see and what not.

On the other hand... well, it is something like an advanced privacy setting, if you want to call it that way. Only certain people (or in this case: certain people don't) get access to your posts. I think I like this -- if it is an optional setting. The original ignore function should still remain.

 

[twhiting9275]

Ignore works the way ignore works everywhere else. Block is a completely different story however.
Personally, I'm all for leaving it as it is and creating a 'block' addon. Let ignore work the way it always has (and likely always will) in the forum world.

 

[Paul B]

It has been suggested and discussed previously.

For reasons already stated, it's not a practical application for forums as threads would be rendered nonsensical if members were blocked from seeing content by other members without their knowledge.

 

[Razasharp]

I think people would get used to it - just like they have on twitter or other sites. Or better still, fine-tune it so that it works for forums.

A blocked person could at the very least be prevented from seeing the threads of a person who blocked them without many problems. Preventing the quoting or replying to a person who has blocked them (via a message if need be) should be ok too.

That way it is not a full block - they can still see all posts, but they can't respond to the poster who has blocked them. That would be a fair compromise IMO.

On our forums we have a Forced Block request, which means anyone can block anyone by sending an official request to admin. Both parties are then prohibited to contact or refer to each other via the site in any way shape or form - doing so results in a ban. Why? Because we have to respect our member's rights to engage with whoever they do, or don't. If you have any experience of people with mental illness you will know that sometimes things like bullying can be very subjective - what may not phase you or I might crush someone who is already feeling very low. That's why we take forced blocks very seriously, but they are obviously difficult to manage without being automated.

 

[Razasharp]

Another set of long-standing members on one of my forums now saying they are going to leave because of a thread where no rules were actually broken - but abrasive tones and slightly condescending attitudes did play a part (but not enough to be moderated).

People used to take a lot more years ago - but with the advent of social networks people prefer more control over their threads, especially personal threads.

Some additions to the ignore feature would come in really handy in situations like this. Ignore someone, and they cannot see your threads as well. But can see your posts in other people's threads - think that's a fair compromise. Hope this gets added.

 

[twhiting9275]

Another set of long-standing members on one of my forums now saying they are going to leave because of a thread where no rules were actually broken

This is nothing new. Drama on forums happens all the time.
Those that claim 'we're leaving' never really do, they're just attention seeking individuals

As others (and myself) have mentioned, this behavior is how forums always have been, and will always be. If you don't like something, or someone, just ignore them and move on. Block aint happening

 

[Razasharp]

Just because how some things have always been doesn't mean they're good or should continue to be the way of doing things.

People like social networks for a reason - they have much more control over their content and who they do and don't interact with for starters.

People leave forums through attrition all the time - I'd rather try and figure out ways to combat that.

 

[RandPrint]

It has been suggested and discussed previously.

For reasons already stated, it's not a practical application for forums as threads would be rendered nonsensical if members were blocked from seeing content by other members without their knowledge.

This is nothing new. Drama on forums happens all the time.
Those that claim 'we're leaving' never really do, they're just attention seeking individuals

As others (and myself) have mentioned, this behavior is how forums always have been, and will always be. If you don't like something, or someone, just ignore them and move on. Block aint happening

Sorry for Necroposting.

As time moves on and the way forums are used changes, I have to add to the requests for blocks to be a feature. Taking part on forums where created content is shared, and each thread I start is a post of some project I've put time and effort into, there is always the new users to a community where they don't understand that content has to be made through work and effort and are unappreciative, rude, demanding, entitled. I don't think it's wrong if such users alienate themselves from being able to see any content if their behavior dictates such. The number of people on forums like that that understand etiquette are a minority already.

If I can't just stop sharing my work with users like that through blocking, I'm likely to just stop sharing there all together to achieve that result, que sera sera.

I went to look for a way to add blocking and there is now a paid add-on to achieve this. But. casting my 2 cents into the wind, my days would be improved if a blocking feature was rolled out in an update. Thanks.

 

[Martok]

As this suggestion was duplicated in another thread (and may be closed), I'll put my responses here too.

This is a big no from me. This facility works well on Facebook because it is social media that centres around you, the user. You can decide what you post and who can see it and you can choose what you want to see and what you don't by following/blocking.

Forums are different, they are communities for discussion and are not centred around individuals. It should only be up to the admin/mods to determine who can see threads by having forums which are available only to particular user groups. It shouldn't be up to individuals to decide who can and who can't see their posts/threads (though of course they can control whether they see other people's content with the ignore feature).


It's the role of moderators to keep an eye on the forums and to deal with off-topic posters/aggressive responses/garbage etc. It's not the role of ordinary members to decide who should and should not see topics of discussion.

I'm sure you wouldn't like it if you found a bunch of people on a forum deciding that they didn't like you for some reason and then excluded you from threads they started which may be of particular interest to you. I certainly wouldn't. Similarly I'm sure you wouldn't want users excluding others from discussions for hateful reasons such as they don't like someone because they are gay/black/different religion/etc.

The ignore feature should be there and maybe some tweaks and enhancements could be made, but outright blocking other users from topics of discussion is a can of worms and really shouldn't be included in the core software.

 

[Spartan]

Whether or not this is used, should be up to the forum admin. If it were offered, I'd use it on each of my sites.

 

[RandPrint]

As this suggestion was duplicated in another thread (and may be closed), I'll put my responses here too.
(snip)
It's the role of moderators to keep an eye on the forums and to deal with off-topic posters/aggressive responses/garbage etc. It's not the role of ordinary members to decide who should and should not see topics of discussion.

I'm sure you wouldn't like it if you found a bunch of people on a forum deciding that they didn't like you for some reason and then excluded you from threads they started which may be of particular interest to you. I certainly wouldn't. Similarly I'm sure you wouldn't want users excluding others from discussions for hateful reasons such as they don't like someone because they are gay/black/different religion/etc.

The ignore feature should be there and maybe some tweaks and enhancements could be made, but outright blocking other users from topics of discussion is a can of worms and really shouldn't be included in the core software.

Yes that's is exactly what I would want. I like free speech, I also enjoy being free *from* speech. There are plenty of sites out there that use forum software, but mostly function around sharing creations, The Nexus is a good example. Millions of users and they don't all block each other or start hate groups. But users can block harassing users and it cuts down probably significantly on moderation. It was even an option for admins/mods to do it would be useful. I don't think it's right to dictate how other sites should operate, I just think it would be a great addition to have this common feature in xenforo.

If there was a website out there that might have things I was interested in, but I had no idea because for whatever reason everyone blocked me, I don't think it would bother me one bit. There's probably buried treasure I've walked right over but being oblivious to that I'm okay with it. I think optimally if it was a problem, which I've only seen it solve problems on forums with that feature, still it would be something site owners could allow or not.

Whether or not this is used, should be up to the forum admin. If it were offered, I'd use it on each of my sites.

Agreed, without that feature it's not even easy for admins to resolve problems without the ban hammer, and then people just make new accounts.