FAQ about Banning

Banning

Members often ask about banning. Banning means to deny someone the ability to post messages in the WordReference forums.

Those who have come here only to post spam or to post obscene messages are banned quickly. Apart from that, banning happens very rarely. The paragraphs that follow explain this in more detail.

Spammers

Spammers try to use the forums to sell a commercial product, or to promote a political or other viewpoint. They are banned instantly by any moderator who sees them. Moderators are helped by all members who report spam threads and posts. Many spammers are banned each day. Probably 99% or more of all banned user accounts are spammers.

Vulgar posters

Vulgar posters are here only to post obscene messages. They are banned instantly by any moderator who sees them. Moderators are helped by all members who report vulgar threads and posts.

The formal warning and banning process

Apart from these very obvious offenders, very few members are banned. Those who are banned have persistently, and despite many requests and warnings from moderators, broken the forum rules or contravened the forum guidelines.

Those whose forum behavior violates the spirit and letter of the guidelines or rules are first contacted by Private Conversation and told specifically what behavior is causing difficulty. This usually happens several times before a formal warning, clearly identified as such, is issued.

If there is no improvement, another formal warning is issued. The second warning is clearly labeled "Final warning."

If there is still no improvement, the username is banned.

Member banning requires one moderator to propose and another to second the banning.

This process is usually slow, often taking place over many weeks and involving lengthy discussion within the moderator team.

These are the standard procedures. There have been some very extreme situations in which a member has become so extremely abusive and offensive in the public forums that these procedures have been accelerated.

Banning clones

Clones are members who have already been banned but have registered with a new member name. They may be banned quickly by any moderator who sees them and has taken steps to confirm that the new member is indeed a clone. Members' reports or Private Conversations to moderators often help identify clones.

Temporary banning

We have tried short-term banning. Short temporary bans are sometimes used, hoping to get the full attention of a person who has not yet reached final warning status. Our experience has been that temporary bans do not resolve problems. We may use them again in the future, but they will not prevent permanent banning of people who continue to ignore the guidelines and rules.

Post count/seniority and banning

A small number of people with thousands of posts have been banned. This is very rare. They may have believed that their seniority gave them the right to create individual rules for themselves. As part of the process outlined above, they were also told directly that this was not so. They received many Private Conversations advising them of the dangers of acting in such a manner. They received formal warnings. These were ignored.

Who should be concerned about banning?

Anyone who makes a consistent effort to abide by the forum rules, and in particular this forum guideline, The Forums promote learning and maintain an atmosphere that is serious, academic and collaborative, with a respectful, helpful and cordial tone, should have no concerns about being banned.

Typically, it is only members who have received many Private Conversations asking them to change behavior in order to comply with that guideline and with specific rules who risk loss of posting privileges.