Discouraging users

Discouragement

At times, banning a person may not be entirely effective. With the design of browsers, it's easy for a problematic user to register a new account.

The principle

Discouraging aims to make using the site slow and painful for a problematic user, such that they eventually give up and leave. According to the system configuration, each time a user subject to discouragement attempts to load a page, there is a chance that it will fail to load, a change that it will result in a blank page, a change that it will take a very long time to complete etc.

Discouraged users are not made aware that they are subject to this special treatment.

You may fine-tune the diabolical behavior of the discouragement system using the options at Setup > Options > User discouragement and discipline.

Discouraging specific users

A user can be discouraged by editing the user in the control panel and enabling the Discouraged option. The behavior of the discouragement system can be controlled by options in the User discouragement and discipline group.

Discouraging by IP address

Alternatively, specific IP ranges can be discouraged. This helps ensure that the behavior is maintained even when the targeted user is not logged in.