Do you ban members often?

I guess I'm quite a bit of a laid back owner actually, my forum only has 13 rules with most of them just being common sense to keep trolls or flamers out or to keep content in the proper categories. Over half the rules even state that you'll get several warnings before a ban, so I guess the only time I really pull out the ban hammer is if a spam bot somehow gets through my anti-spam setup, which in that case, I ban on sight.

 

I used to ban people willy nilly, but my newest forum has only me and one other member

I normally just delete spammer/spam bot accounts after a day of being banned (I also then blacklist their IP/E-mail).

Liam

 

I don't normally go straight for the ban option when I have a troublesome member. I like to give them a warning first. After that, if the behavior has not stopped, I suspend them for a week. Then, if they continue to cause problems, I give them the heave-ho.

I wouldn't really call my policy laid-back. I like to give the members a chance, as some of them are new and are not really aware of the fact they are causing problems for others. There have been instances where I have banned someone without previous warning or suspension, but that was because it was painfully obvious they were in the forum to troll and annoy everybody.

 

we haven't had to ban any legitimate members from my memory since about 2006 or so. They wouldn't get along with the other members and wouldn't follow the rules and basically thought they were God's gift to the forum.

They thought wrong.

Other then spammers, he was the only one that I remember.

He did get reinstated after a week and behaved.

 

Spammers I definitely block, but members who constantly keep on breaking rules even after being given several warnings, I ban them too, but I usually do this when I have no choice.

 

I just delete spam bots; sure it messes with user ID's but it's not much of an issue.

I've only banned one member so far, and he was from another forum promotion site. Basically I offered so many points for x amount of posts, he joins my forum and proceeded to spam it but such basic responses (EG. "Okay") it just wasn't worth keeping him around.
I try to be fair when banning people, and take each case as it comes.

 

I don't ban very often.

Spambots are blocked from registering automatically via Stopforumspam and a honeypot, and the users of my forum aren't ignoring the forum rules

Only one user is a little bit annoying, I showed him the yellow card, but I haven't block him yet.
The last member I banned permanently was a spammer who posted pornographic pictures...

 

Nope. I have only banned a few members that were really out of control.

I'm not really strict and I give almost everyone a second chance. I like to treat others as I want to be treated.
But if the user gets out of control, I don't hesitate to use the banhammer.

 

I would describe myself as a laid back admin - you can get away with quite a bit on my sites, but I won't stand for trolling. We had a member trolling for a fight about 2 years ago. It got so bad that I banned here. Since that time, she has created at least 8 more accounts....start out by apologizing for her previous behavior, but I guess she just can't keep the troll contained because within two weeks she is up to her old tricks. Troll. Ban. Repeat.