Question for Mods & Admins

I'm an Admin for a very large forum --- large, but not very active.

I'd like some input on something.

We had a user, who became a very good board member. He eventually made his way into The Lounge of Admins & Mods. But, for some unknown reason went off the deep end with some members privately thru emails and pm's. Needless to say, they didn't represent the forum well at all.

His Admin/Mod status was revoked and he posted for a time. Then, he disappeared for awhile.

Now, he's back -- but, the twist. He signed up under a new user name and identity. It didn't take long to figure out who he was and then after some investigating with his ip address and questioning him, it's out in the open now.

My question --- do you allow him to continue posting under the new identity? As far as I know, no others active members know what he did under his old identity.

If he wasn't banned, I'd say let him post.

However, since he made up a new moniker instead of using his old one, it does seem kinda fishy.

I'm not concerned with him posting, so far, he's been very helpful again and back to old self.

Being the admin of a forum...

I wouldn't do anything to his account if he isnt doing anything wrong. If he starts stuff and gets nast etc. I would ban both accounts.

Personally we don't allow duplicate accounts here. I would drop the member a private message and ask which name he/she wants to keep and then merge the accounts.

You have some history with the guy, if he's really hell bent on having a new name but not his old posts associated with it and you're in a good mood, ban the old account just to be safe.

Depending on the topic of your forum, it may possible that two people in the same house or business are posting thus they have the same IP. We have a few people here like that, we know about it so we don't get itchy with the merge or ban button. :)

Also a very remote possibility is that it's two completely different people with the same IP. Most internet connections have dynamic IPs, which means their IP address will change from time to time and their old one will go back in to the ISP's pool to be assigned to another customer.

Hope it helps. :)

(moved to websites)

He's admitted to signing up under the new account after being outed. Said, he couldn't sign in under the old one? I then asked him to post under his original username and reset his password for him. He told me to delete the old one. But, I'm hesitant to because I think he's just trying to get away from baggage that he brought on himself.

Randy:

Let him get rid of the baggage and delete the other account. You'll soon determine if he really is trying to turn over a new leaf.

Being the admin of a forum...Brian,

At the tender age of fourteen, you have yet to aquire the neccessary experience and ability to offer advice in the management of a professional forum. Your teenage BBS friend causing trouble over here is testament to that. His arrogance and Sybil account got his ISP banned. :rolleyes:

But I digress.

Greets, Randy.

The forum admin is ultimately responsible to the majority of the members. As admin, if you have 400 members you have 400 bosses, lol. :D

Just my humble opinion: This member should be required to use his original login. The "Sybil" login should be closed. If he doesn't like it, tough. Them's the rules. That's how it should be.

Reason I say this ~ if you permit one member to get away with it, you're opening a Pandora's box. By allowing it, you effectively allow every member to get away with it. Permit that long enough and you'll have a handful of members posting under several different logins and jacking you around. I have seen this happen.

If this member truly wishes to straighten up and fly right, he can prove it on his own without hiding behind a pseudonym.

The WWW is filled with countless bbs sites that are essentially mismanaged. Poor oversight can kill a forum site. This is why Dan and I don't permit ODJT to be misused with Sybil accounts.

I hope it helps. :)

Thanks for everyone's input. With the advise I recieved from several, I advised him of his two options.

1. Dump the nonsense with the new id and continue posting under his original name. His new id would be merged into this old.

2. If he wished to continue posting under the new id, we would merge his old into the new and he would be required to use his old id name in his signature, helping to eliminate confusing in threads he had participated on.

He was advised this would be our last time in dealing with his account and any further problems would get his ISP banned.

He made the right choice and selected to keep his old id.

Thanks again.

Thanks for everyone's input. With the advise I recieved from several, I advised him of his two options.

1. Dump the nonsense with the new id and continue posting under his original name. His new id would be merged into this old.

2. If he wished to continue posting under the new id, we would merge his old into the new and he would be required to use his old id name in his signature, helping to eliminate confusing in threads he had participated on.

He was advised this would be our last time in dealing with his account and any further problems would get his ISP banned.

He made the right choice and selected to keep his old id.

Thanks again.

Excellent move.

As moderator one must think out of the box, step aside and act on behalf of the entire group.

You've done the right thing in my opinion.

Randy only 1 little question if his isp or ip addres is dynamic that would or could affect a lot of other users that can come from that ip/isp - would you like it if that happened to more than say yourself and banned over 20,000 from one ip address

thats the worst thing about banning that way - you may have to do a restricted account that can only go where you allow him/her and post at certain times or anyway thats just a few more things to consider..

I've very well aware of the circumstances and how it works.....fortunately, we didn't have to take it that far.

no worries thats why I asked and so you also thought on what could happen if it did

great work :)

If he wasn't banned, I'd say let him post.

However, since he made up a new moniker instead of using his old one, it does seem kinda fishy.

That is exactly what I was thinking