Is there any thread on this message board which states why posters were banned? Is a reason always given as to why someone is banned, or do some just mysteriously (to the other members of the board) have their status changed?
I can often figure out why a person was banned by going to their last posts - the reason is usually obvious. But there is at least one long term poster I have not been able to figure out. Is it bad form to just ask why someone was banned?
Sometimes there is stuff going on behind the scenes that we, as mere mortals, don’t know about. I think the accepted method of finding out why someone was banned is to email a moderator or administrator and ask politely.
Generally, such things are considered bad form and are frowned upon by the mods. When someone is banned, there may or may not be a thread about that specific banning, but a thread generally about past bannings would probably get locked off darn quick.
No, there isn’t a thread stating why a certain poster was banned. If you can see a reason, great. If you can’t and it’s really bugging you, you can e-mail Tuba (at least I think you can).
Typically, if someone with a low post count is banned for what seems like no good reason it is because they are an already banned person coming back with a different username.
So if you see someone who asks several perfectly good questions and is banned with no warning that is usually the reason. What drives people to keep coming back again and again after they’ve been banned is beyond me.
If someone has been banned by mistake they should simply email the admins and they can be reinstated. Sometimes, very rarely, someone can be banned and reinstated. To do that you’d have to email the admins an apology that seems convincing. You’d have to convince them that you understood why you were banned, but have now undertaken to change your ways. Not surprisingly, most of the jerks who are banned are incapable of such a thing.
This is such a perennial question we should probably get together a form letter that we can email to anyone who asks…
testing testing 1 2 3. sorry folks just wanted to see what it says under my moniker after i post, since i was unable to post for 2 days. ever see the words “banned” underneath a moniker?
You are posting here with the Good Will of The Chicago Reader.
They have a lot of Good Will.
They don’t want to get sued (who does?).
Okay, my question is well answered. Thanks for the posts.
Actually, to be more specific-
If you do see someone who was banned, and wonder why, feel free to e-mail any of the moderators to ask. We’ll try to answer, though in many cases we may have to respond with “just trust us”; several recurring trolls have specific traits we recognize them by, and by deliniating those traits, we make it easier for those trolls to hide their behavior rather than stand out.
And Tony- if you’re having problems logging in in the first place, feel free to e-mail Tuba or Lynn; the Administrators are the ones who can actually modify accounts, and they can let you know whether there’s a problem or not. It’s quite possible that the board weirdities of the last few days (quadruple posts everywhere, time-out errors, etc.) may have made problems with your account.
Is it correct to say that once somebody is banned, you can’t search for their posts by username?
I just tried that on a recently banned poster, and it worked okay.
That’s incorrect. You can still do searches on a banned poster’s username.
By the way, Mangetout, I’ve noticed you putting forth some possible explanations in other threads…mostly they are wrong, I must say. I can’t think of any in particular right now, and I SHOULD be getting to bed, or I’d do a search…but I do remember shaking my head over several of your theories, and wondering where you come up with this stuff.
Mayhaps: “The Koalas made him do it.” 
Great news! Now I know where to do some Good Will Hunting!
Easy, just search for their posts, check the posts that they did last & those are usually a hint what happened to them.
But, yes, sometimes things happen behind the scenes that we won’t know about, which could be a bonus, you never know.
Ahh, to err is human; I would, for the sake of my own peace of mind, be obliged if you would be kind enough to point them out to me - “he who hates correction is stupid” - Proverbs 12:1
(BTW I assume you’re talking about my speculations on the internal workings of the vB software here in ATMB, not any other assorted half-assed things I might have blurted out in other fora; I think this is the only one I can think of having done in the past, but I’ve just done it again here) My speculations are based on what may be a complete misconception of the way that the vB database is organised; systems analysis is a big part of my daily work and sometimes I can’t help but speculate about what is happening behind the scenes.
Oh, hang on, I did it here as well.
My assumption about the search thing may be due to something like the one time I tried to do a search on a banned poster, I got no results because the particular posts that fell within the search radius I specified had been deleted (I know this only happens in extreme cases).
Lyn, I might just be reading it wrong, but I thought I detected a touch of annoyance in your post; if you want me to shut up and speculate quietly to myself about stuff like this, please do say so before I inadvertently overstep the mark.