Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Blocking Destructive Users from Websites?

Posted by Cliff on from the eliminating-those-who-spoil-it-for-others dept.

billmarrs asks: "I occasionally need to block a user from using my website because they are abusing the system in some way, but the tools I have to work with for blocking them are easily circumvented. Once I identify them, I can block their IP; but they can just hang-up their modem and dial-in again to get a new IP. I can also stick cookies in their browser to identify them, but they can delete the cookies (or turn them off altogether). Are there other ways to block unwanted users from one's website?"

1 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. User accounts by Boba001 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Sometimes you can get away with a massive ban of a group of IPs.. but if your site gets a lot of hits you end up pissing off normal visitors.

    If your problems stem from some kind of forum where the person is posting crap, spamming, etc. you might try requiring people to create a simple account where they need to supply a valid e-mail address.

    The disadvantage to that is that having to register for an account is pretty annoying and many users won't sign up for them if they don't visit the site all the time... Other (non-registering) solutions would require you to program some advanced filters on forum posts, or having a limit on how many messages a person can post in X amount of time.