ab 2.0

[AB Editor]

Hello!

I don't have a lot of time for a blog today, so I thought I'd update you quickly on the goings on here at AB HQ.

A lot of you are aware that I haven't been around as much as I used to be, that's because in the last couple of months work on AB 2.0 has hit the "critical" phase and everything is being prepped for release in just over a months time. This is obviously subject to change by a few days, but the date we have been given by our I.T. is the 31st of March.

I will discuss the changes we will be getting in the first update within the coming week, but they mainly involve improved loading times, running speed, greater admin controls and things like being able to report single posts instead of whole threads. There will be NO visual changes. Hopefully in this first design we will have the "perma-ban" tools in effect, but I will make sure before I make any promises.

As I said in a thread earlier today, sorry for not being around as much as I have in the past. It's been a very busy time, but it will all be worth it in the coming months.

Ed

[Rollo]

Is it going to be tested before release, or is the idea that you are you going to get us to test it once it has gone live?

[Gormless]

That sounds good. Could you explain, in theoretical terms anyway, how a "perma-ban" can be made to work fairly?

[eash]

Cool, I can't wait. Thanks Ed.

[dot.hawkes]

the ability to report, but not remove indivisula posts is good. In the past individual posts could be removed by users reporting them. march 31st is only a day away from april fools though, so don;t be conning us ed

[AB Editor]

It is being tested before it goes live, but if problems occur when it does we'll be on hand to fix them asap.

[Rollo]

Ta!

[dot.hawkes]

can i aslk though, when ab developed the topics as they are now from just a few to having the subs, was that ab 1.5?

[AB Editor]

I'm not too sure what you mean by your question, Gormless, but I think a 'fair' approach would be a 3-strike system for those who break the rules, but perhaps acted somewhat out of character.

I do believe that if someone posts material that seriously breaks our rules then they won't even have 3 strikes, they'll just be banned outright.

[dot.hawkes]

would that have meant that what knobs posted last night would get his isp and him banned as a user or could he use back up knobby ids?

[dot.hawkes]

(he's working his way down to my question i guess)

[AB Editor]

I guess you could call it AB 1.5... and as for your final question... I don't really understand it.

[dot.hawkes]

i AM referring to knobs using a disgusting racist word in one of his posts last night, if he had does that when u launch 2.0, we would have reported the post not the thread, then you could have removed it, but would you ban him as a person or just his one knobs id thus meaning he could possibly repeat his mistake, or would you send him a warning to shape up or ship out?

[AB Editor]

As I said above, if it seriously breaks our rules then it'd be an outright ban. This is obviously at our discretion, but racist comments will not be tolerated.

[dot.hawkes]

thank you. how is it possible to obtain an outright ban though?

[Rollo]

Difficult to understand how you are going to stop somebody just registering a new ID. Email addresses are easy to get, and IP addresses are not static in lots of cases.

[poltergeist]

Ed I happen to know how to change my ip address in less than 1 minute. Have you accounted for this in 'perma-ban'?

[dot.hawkes]

Will there be a clearer wording in the site terms and conditions on this as the new 2.0 would actually mean people could be perma-banned?

[Gormless]

An issue with "perma-banning" is whether the intent is to ban a particular username (very easy) or to ban the entire human individual (very difficult). The discussion is interminable, but once you start banning by ip address without a very high level of confidence, then you will hurt the innocent (innocent! lol)

[dot.hawkes]

however, this is meant to be a self - moderating site which didn't work before, but it could again if the individual report option was reinstated so that we could report the poster and then the ed was able to keep busy ringing them up telling them they had been very very silly

[AB Editor]

The banning isn't done through ISP or email address, its far cleverer than that... I won't go into it any further, all I'll say is that it's an effective tool.