Have I been BANNED from the message board?

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bbsadmin
Posts: 3469
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 7:03 pm
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Have I been BANNED from the message board?

#1 Post by bbsadmin »

Spammers are the number one reason for bans on this message board.

Spammers are a huge problem with message boards like this. As webmaster, I am constantly removing junk registrations from the board. I get dozens of these each week. Often they are "automatic scripts" (bots) or actual low-paid workers -- usually in countries like Pakistan, the Ukraine, or China. I have installed some automated safeguards on the site which catch some (but not all, obviously) of these spammers. These spammers are often trying to boost their search engine rankings by posting their URL somewhere on as many message boards as possible.

Well, not this one. I work diligently to keep them off the site. Part of my work involves banning certain domains, certain types of user names, and certain words. You should see the ban list for this message board; it's huge and grows larger each day.

This is just one example of a reason why a normal "good" user may think that they have been banned, when in fact I had to make a global ban of a specific domain or IP range or disallowed name.

If you receive a Ban notice when you try to log in or register, and you are an honest real user, please keep this in mind. It isn't you, so don't take it personally. Maybe it's your IP address, the email address you are trying to use, or a phrase that is not allowed. Try registering again with a different email address or a different name. If it's your IP address, chances are that you have an account that changes your IP address every time you connect. You need to renew your IP address to change it, and then chances are you will be able to register or log in. The other alternative is to use a VPN (like TunnelBear or ExpressVPN) to connect to this website.

If you have done all these things and still think that you are being banned for no specific reason, please email me at webmaster (at) archwired.com. I do not ban members for "no reason." Chances are, it has nothing to do with you personally and can be fixed so that you can register or log in successfully.

Of course, users who abuse the message board are banned outright. This has happened in the past. Abuse constitutes: using profanity or racial slurs; provoking hatred or controversy; trying to scam members by telling lies; registering under multiple IDs; reposting members' photos without their permission, contacting members with fetish emails, posts, PMs or IMs; and outright spamming.

Thanks for understanding.
Last edited by bbsadmin on Wed Sep 02, 2009 3:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
I'm the owner/admin of this site. Had ceramic uppers, metal lowers ~3 years in my early 40's. Now in Hawley retainers at night!

Lisa65
Posts: 3469
Joined: Thu Jun 01, 2006 12:12 pm

#2 Post by Lisa65 »

We all appreciate the hard work you put in to keep this site safe and spam-free for us!

New to braces 45
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 3:25 pm
Location: California

#3 Post by New to braces 45 »

you are right lisa 75 :D

bbsadmin
Posts: 3469
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 7:03 pm
Location: Northern California
Contact:

#4 Post by bbsadmin »

I want to add one more piece of information about being banned.

Sometimes if the message board's database gets messed up, one or two records may get dropped or corrupted. This means that, after the mess is fixed, the database may not "recognize" one or two members who were logged in while the table got corrupted. This could result in an innocent member receiving a "banned" message the next time they try to log in.

If you think that this has happened to you (being banned for absolutely no reason), then you should totally clear your browser cache (history, files, cookies -- everything). After your cache is clear, you should be able to log in again.
I'm the owner/admin of this site. Had ceramic uppers, metal lowers ~3 years in my early 40's. Now in Hawley retainers at night!

Juthoff
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 4:52 pm

Re: Have I been BANNED from the message board?

#5 Post by Juthoff »

I really like this policy. Most forums allow way too many trolls.

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