ban ip address...

[DCX]

is there a way to ban an ip address of someone who is not a part of the forum.... i've been having someone on my forum for the longest time, viewing member profiles, e-mailing threads, viewing bb codes and this and that for a LONG time.... i checked the ip address and it looked like it was coming from microsoft.... and again, this person is on as a guest and i have it set up where you have to register to view most of the threads and all this other stuff..... i know they may be using a proxy or whatever but how do i ban ip or what would you guys do in this situation?

[DCX]

oh yeah, and i have tried to look in the admin cp to ban ip address but i can't seem to find it....

[Steve Machol]

This is almost certainly the MSN search engine robot. If you really want to ban it (which I wouldn't) go here:

Admin CP -> vBulletin Options -> User Banning Options -> Ban IP Addresses

This will stop it from seeing any content on your site, but it won't stop them from trying. For that you'd need to set up a robots.txt file. Do a Google search for how to do this.

[DCX]

thanks for the fast response.... but it's really fishy cause the member has been on for the longest time.... 2-3 days if not more.... and trying to view almost every thread, trying to e-mail threads, and viewing member profiles......

[Steve Machol]

Yep, that's what the search engine bots do. It's their job.

I've had some on my site for more than a week at a time. I like it because it means my site is being indexed for the search engines.

[DCX]

k, thanks for the info....

[I, Brian]

Heh, I was looking under User Options on the main admin nav bar - glad to find it answered here. Search engine spiders I like, trolls I don't - IP ban now effected.