[RFC]Who is online - IP click

[Scotster]

Edit:

Discussion has streamlined the idea to a simple addition to the who is on line page. The consensus was that a link "ban ip" next to each user, including guests, would be the simplest method of achieving the objective.

The addition is that Admin/Mods/Definable groups are able to ban IPs directly from the "Viewonline" page by clicking a "ban IP" link next to the user/IP information.

The suggestion is that when the link is clicked the admin/moderator/etc is taken to the Ban IP area of the ADM, the details are automatically filled in and it's simply a click of a button to confirm the banning. This adjustment would make monitoring and banning IPs a very simple process that could be done by simply monitoring odd behaviour on the Viewonline page.

Original post below.

Apologies if something like this has already been covered, I did try searching but after going through a few dozen pages and coming up empty I decided it was time to raise the topic.

When viewing the "Who is Online" page, would it be possible to hotlink the IP address to the IP banning options? I find myself checking "Whois" with guests showing their location as "Viewing user control panel", as it would appear they are trying to get information on my members and generally trying to do stuff that guests can't. From here it would be nice if clicking the IP of the guest took you into administration options for that particular IP in order to quickly, and simply, add them to the ban list.

At the moment it links to "mode=lookup" which doesn't seem to actually do anything?

[tbackoff]

While I would support this option, if you're suggesting it just because a guest is showing as "viewing user control panel", you've got the whole thing wrong. Guests showing as up as such are actually seeing a login box asking them to login to use that particular function (check the support forums, many topics on this before). Also keep in mind that just because you ban by IP doesn't mean they wont be able to access your site. Proxies make it very easy to get around this.

[Scotster]

While I would support this option, if you're suggesting it just because a guest is showing as "viewing user control panel", you've got the whole thing wrong. Guests showing as up as such are actually seeing a login box asking them to login to use that particular function (check the support forums, many topics on this before). Also keep in mind that just because you ban by IP doesn't mean they wont be able to access your site. Proxies make it very easy to get around this.

Yup, I understand that. I actually looked this up yesterday as I was worried that they were trying to collect user information such as email addresses etc. However, due to the %age of guests that are constantly sitting with this activity against them, it suggests to me that they are bots... as real people wouldn't be in that situation in the numbers that I see, and if they got themselves in that situation it would be for a very short time (unlike the bots who seem quite happy to sit on there for hours). I was just describing this scenario as my simple way of finding them

I understand that the proxies make it easy to get around the IP ban feature, but the IP ban feature is already there.... I'm simply proposing a simple, quick and effective method of accessing the feature from the whois page

I wouldn't even know where to begin to help make IP banning more effective lol.

[imkingdavid]

I would support adding a "[Ban IP]" link of some sort for authorized users, which would link to the ACP user/ip banning module.

[Scotster]

I would support adding a "[Ban IP]" link of some sort for authorized users, which would link to the ACP user/ip banning module.

Yeah, even something as simple as that would be ideal.

I noticed that when I wanted to ban an IP, I could select the option when administering a user but when taken to the ban section the IP wasn't automatically filled in. It meant having to go back, manually copy the IP then go back into the ban area to paste etc. Ok, not such a hardship but a minor change could save so much hassle.

[Pony99CA]

When viewing the "Who is Online" page, would it be possible to hotlink the IP address to the IP banning options? I find myself checking "Whois" with guests showing their location as "Viewing user control panel", as it would appear they are trying to get information on my members and generally trying to do stuff that guests can't. From here it would be nice if clicking the IP of the guest took you into administration options for that particular IP in order to quickly, and simply, add them to the ban list.

At the moment it links to "mode=lookup" which doesn't seem to actually do anything?

Actually, it does do something. For example, for GoogleBot, I see this before clicking the IP address:

Code: Select all

Google [Bot] IP: 66.249.73.217 » Whois

and this after:

Code: Select all

Google [Bot] IP: crawl-66-249-73-217.googlebot.com » Whois

So it seems to show a domain name (or domain-name-like) string for the user.

I noticed that when I wanted to ban an IP, I could select the option when administering a user but when taken to the ban section the IP wasn't automatically filled in. It meant having to go back, manually copy the IP then go back into the ban area to paste etc. Ok, not such a hardship but a minor change could save so much hassle.

I didn't know where you tried to ban the IP address, but the following worked for me:

• In the user's profile, click Banning, then click Ban IPs and the IP address is filled in.
• In the ACP user admin area, in Basic Tools, choose Ban by IP in the drop-down list and click the Submit button.

Of course, that won't work for Guests, so the idea seems useful (even if banning by IP address isn't usually), but I would go with David's suggestion because clicking the IP address already does something.

Steve

[Scotster]

Ahh so that's what it does.

Yeah it was the guest I was trying to ban the IP for, hence it wasn't automatically filled in for me

I'm absolutely fine with changing the suggestion to a simple link with "Ban IP" on it. Do I edit my first post or can this be taken as the change?

[imkingdavid]

Do I edit my first post or can this be taken as the change?

Either way. This will also need a ticket in the tracker at some point. Anyone can make it.

[Scotster]

Updated the first post. Does that sound reasonable based on what we have discussed?

I don't have an account to raise a ticket? I also have no idea what a ticket is at this moment.

[DavidIQ]

You have to register and activate the account on the forum at phpBB.com