Use the Infraction System!

[SWCAdmin]

The infraction system very efficiently delivers a one-two punch of a cautionary / advisory PM to the user, and a notice thread to mods. USE IT! It rocks.

To start, find the relevant post, then click on the little yellow/red card under the userid/avatar.

NOTES:
1) A Warning is a 0 point infraction. It shows as a yellow card on the thread. 1 point or more is an infraction w/ red card.

Don't reserve this just for heinous evil acts. FEEL FREE TO USE THIS for even some fairly innocent off-sides situations. A warning is just a warning, and you can even temper it further in the PM.

2) If the post is not deleted (and not every infraction warrants a delete), the red/yellow card stays visible to all. Not real prominent, but a visibile deterrent nonetheless and many users will see and understand the mild correction.

3) If you do want to delete the post, that is a separate step using the moderator tools.

4) All the mods can see the full text of the PM in the Reported Posts forum, along with a link to the subject post. This is a great record and efficient communication -- reason alone to use the infractions. If you want to add additional commentary (i.e. for the other mods, not in the PM-to-offending user), another post in that mods-only thread is a good spot for it.

Note that the system sees you as having read the thread that you automatically spawn by this system, so it won't show for you under "New Posts," since. But it does show for all the other mods in their New Posts, for you in Recent Posts, and for all of us in Reported Posts forum listing.

5) Mods can also see a record of a user's warnings / infractions in the User Profile of any member. e.g. look at Sean Osborne's profile. Regular users can't see that.

6) What are reported posts? Only mods+ see the icon to award an infraction/warning. The average user sees the little triangle traffic sign which allows them to report posts, spawning a thread in the same infractions / reported posts forum. But a "reported post" is just an alert to us. There's no infraction or warning until we weigh in. Also, since the forum is closed to all but us mods, a post in the reported post thread thanking the user for the citizen's arrest DOESN'T WORK. You have to PM them if you want to be gracious and commend them for their citizenship.

[SWCAdmin]

Bumped, moved, and stuck. This is a good system that we should all be comfortable using for even routine calls.

Note also that the infraction points add up and create automatic time outs or bans:

"Die Spammer Die" awards 50 poiints and an automatic permanent ban. It kills spammers dead. (Still need to delete their posts. In the rare cases you don't beat me to it, I go to their username, find all posts by user, and select all there)

[SWCAdmin]

I'm still a fan of the infraction system and the Die Spammer Die thing, but there's a new feature that I could get to like.

In the moderator drop-down, there's now "Delete Posts as Spam." Not sure when that came in with the various upgrades. But it lets you move smoothly from delete the posts to banning the user in a continuous click-through -- a nice upside. It does not seem to spawn the automatic notification thread in the infaction forum, which is the only down side I see - the rest of us don't get to share the fun.

As a reminder on the fun sharing --

For the average offender, a well worded PM via the infraction system is really important. However, for the spammer getting banned, they will never see as they can no longer access PMs, so don't bother writing if for their death bed.

The "Ban Reason" field is the only thing they'll ever see when they log in under that userid. So make that a good one (i.e. worthy of us and them, not viciously spiteful).

What I tend to use is:
Identified as a spammer. If you believe that is an error, contact webmaster@smallwarsjournal.com.

[selil]

In the moderator drop-down, there's now "Delete Posts as Spam." Not sure when that came in with the various upgrades. But it lets you move smoothly from delete the posts to banning the user in a continuous click-through -- a nice upside. It does not seem to spawn the automatic notification thread in the infaction forum, which is the only down side I see - the rest of us don't get to share the fun.

Delete as spam was added like two updates ago. It not only allows the delete but as you said it can delete ALL the offending users posts in one swipe while banning. It is slick.

[Jedburgh]

faced with 77 spam posts and all in different threads I started with a PM to author, then banned them and tried to use the Delete posts as spam option. Alas no good. So then moved threads to one consolidated, new thread and deleted that. It took time, but the work had to be done.

Is there a guide to multiple Spam management?

David, if they're all posted by the same individual, then all you have to do when you check the box and go to the Moderation drop-down menu, select Delete Posts as Spam and then when the Spam Management page comes up make sure you check the box at the top - Delete other posts and threads started by the affected users, as well as the Ban these users box. That will get rid of all of them at once. No need to hunt around and delete them all individually.