Block a user from a website in ASP.NET

Question

Beside IP blocking and probably using a cookie (if the user changes the IP but doesn't remove the cookie, the new IP is added to the banned list, so the IP has to be changed and the cookie has to be removed together to access the site), is there any tricks one can use to block an annoying user from a website, I know that nothing will work with a savvy user but I'm trying to make it harder for the less savvy ones, any suggestions?

Edit: I already have registration in my website, the point is that this is useless to stop determined users (they can simply create other accounts).

@rifferte, Actually I'm already building a moderation section where moderators can remove posts and suspend members, also members can report abuse and spam, I'm not trying to make this impossible, simply there's no way to do this, I'm just trying to get rid of the less savvy ones (the majority), and not forever, I'm planning to block them for a certain period of time (probably a couple of days or something like that).

Answer 1

I believe you will be in a constant cat and mouse game if the user has that much time to burn.

Your best bet will be to involve some human element to the site's registration process, to properly research any particular users. Not elegant, but without knowing more about your site there isn't too much more one can say.

Answer 2

Now that the question has been further refined with extra information, I'd like to change my answer.

Problem users in forums site exist because other users feed them. How about trying an approach where if you identify a problem user, then you silently hide their posts from your site from OTHER users, but not the problem user. The theory is, that the problem user 'thinks' that their post made it through, but since it's actually hidden from all other users, nobody will reply to the problem user, and with any luck, they'll go elsewhere where they're getting feedback.

Answer 3

What sometimes seems to help is to:

• Make sure that accounts need to be "mature" before they may post.
• A reputation system not unlike stack overflow (Account gone = reputation gone) :)
• Use authentication providers like OpenID. It is more work to create multiple accounts that way

The simple fact of the matter is: If someone can do everything after creating an account, the account does not have any extra value. Once an account has some extra value (i.e. someone needs to put some good work in an account to get more privileges) you'll see that abusers will probably go to other websites.

Answer 4

Any overt form of censure on an existing user could lead to the forum equivalent of an arms race. One school of thought pushed on the SO podcasts is to flag the offending user and remove their posts from normal view, but include it when they (the bad user) are looking at the site. That way, they think the community is ignoring them and it makes flaming less fun. If the site isn't trying to stop them but their efforts at flaming are fruitless, they will likely just walk away.

Answer 5

One of the best approaches I've ever encountered is the "Tachy goes to Coventry" feature in vBulletin. Adding a user to this list places them on a global ignore list that applies to everyone, except themselves.

So, they continue posting and everything appears normal from their perspective, yet their posts don't disrupt other users. Amazingly, these users rarely seem to figure out what's going on, they're so satisfied with the havoc they think they're wreaking undeterred.

Disruptive users tend to fizzle out very quickly when everyone's ignoring them. Once they give up, you can bulk delete all of their content in one pass that takes relatively little administrative effort.

Answer 6

Can you trust your "good" user base to flag bad/annoying users?

Something like craigslist: if a user is flagged as annoying by a few users, their account is temporarily unable to post for a period of time. If this happens a few times, their account is suspended?

Just a thought.