# Ignore list limit? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 12, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474 "2011-08-12T16:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/1 "2011-08-12T16:51:59Z")
Is there a limit to the number of people you can put on your ignore list? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/2 "2011-08-12T17:04:06Z")
Well, I imagine you could ignore everyone by not logging on. OK, just kidding. I think we’ve determined that you can’t ignore mods, so there’s that. But seriosuly, just how many people are you going for? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/3 "2011-08-12T17:23:58Z")
There does not appear to be a limit. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/4 "2011-08-12T18:20:58Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > There does not appear to be a limit. That’s interesting, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/5 "2011-08-13T01:13:36Z")
Just from a general knowledge of how databases work, I would speculate that the bigger your list, the slower your page loads, because the hamsters have to check every name on your list against the names on the page that’s loading. So your _effective_ limit is your tolerance for slow page loads. Without knowing specifically how the board software works, the best I can say is that limit might be in the dozens, or it could range up to a substantial fraction of all registered users. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/6 "2011-08-13T01:16:46Z")
120,785 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/7 "2011-08-13T01:46:50Z")
43 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/8 "2011-08-13T18:44:22Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Just from a general knowledge of how databases work, I would speculate that the bigger your list, the slower your page loads, because the hamsters have to check every name on your list against the names on the page that’s loading. Wouldn’t the hamsters have to check every single name on the page regardless? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/9 "2011-08-13T18:48:22Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Wouldn’t the hamsters have to check every single name on the page regardless? Depends entirely on how the match function was written. Well-written functions use programming tricks to avoid that; poorly written ones bog down the longer the lists get. I don’t know how the vBulletin one is coded, but you can’t assume. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/10 "2011-08-14T01:42:33Z")
I haver professional experience writing database code for websites. No it won’t slow it down. For each page you view, 40 messages max on the dope, you would have to check each of those messages against a blocked list. It makes very little difference whether there’s 1 name on the list, or a million names. We’re talking a difference of microseconds. Then the code has to generate the HTML for the page. This takes far longer than retrieving the list, so any difference in the database query is lost. After that, you will then have to download the HTML from the server, which takes even longer. And then your browser will have to render the HTML into what you see, which takes more time. But here is a possible saving. If you have several messages hidden, then the page might load faster for you. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/11 "2011-08-14T01:58:27Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I haver professional experience writing database code for websites. No it won’t slow it down. > > For each page you view, 40 messages max on the dope, you would have to check each of those messages against a blocked list. I think the actual limit is 200 messages per page. At least, that’s as high as I can set mine. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/12 "2011-08-14T02:05:59Z")
I did not know that. I’m sure it used to be 40 max. When did they change it? ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/13 "2011-08-15T05:21:33Z")
I’ve been able to view 200 posts at once since I signed up. It makes it easy to keep up with long threads. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/14 "2011-08-16T16:45:58Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > 43 Is that a real number or a joke like “42”? Not that I have any chance in hell of reaching that number, it just occurred to me the other day when I saw the limit of PMs. **Peter Morris** , why does retrieving the HTML takes so much longer than the database info? ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/15 "2011-08-17T00:40:19Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Well, I imagine you could ignore everyone by not logging on. OK, just kidding. > > I think we’ve determined that you can’t ignore mods, so there’s that. But seriosuly, just how many people are you going for? I hope I don’t get in trouble for saying this but you can ignore moderators with ffvb. Not that I do of course! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/16 "2011-08-17T15:47:00Z")
It’s not a case of “retrieving” the HTML because it isn’t stored anywhere. It’s a case of having to construct a page of HTML on the fly each time a page is viewed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/17 "2011-08-17T15:59:51Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Is there a limit to the number of people you can put on your ignore list? Anyone answer you yet? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/18 "2011-08-17T18:29:40Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Anyone answer you yet? > [@TubaDiva](#): > > There does not appear to be a limit. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/19 "2011-08-18T13:39:46Z")
☹ Still no answers, huh. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ignore-list-limit/592474/20 "2011-08-18T13:40:51Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > 😉 Woosh, mi amigo.