User Security
Other than being able to manage your users on your board, it is also important to be able to protect your board and prevent unwanted registrations and users. The User Security section allows you to manage banned emails, IPs, and usernames, as well as managing disallowed usernames and user pruning. Banned users that exhibit information that match any of these ban rules will not be able to reach any part of your board.
3.5.7.1. Ban emails
Sometimes, it is necessary to ban emails in order to prevent unwanted registrations. There may be certain users or spam bots that use emails that you are aware of. Here, in the section, you can do this. You can control which email addresses are banned, how long a ban is in effect, and the given reason(s) for banning.
To ban or exclude one or more email addresses, fill in the Ban one or more email addresses form. Once you are done with your changes, click Submit.
Ban one or more email addresses
Email address: This textbox should contain all the emails that you want to ban under a single rule. If you want to ban more than one email at this time, put each email on its own line. You can also use wildcards (*) to match partial addresses.
Length of ban: This is how long you want the email address(es) to be banned for. The available options include some common durations, such as number of hours or days. You may also set a date for which the email address(es) will be banned until; to set this, select Until -> from the selection menu, and specify a date in the format "YYYY-MM-DD" in the textbox located below the selection menu.
Exclude from banning: You should enable this if you want to exclude the entered email address from all current bans.
Reason for ban: This is a short reason for why you want to ban the email address(es). This is optional, and can help you remember in the future why you banned the email address(es).
Reason shown to the banned: This is a short explanation that will actually be shown to the users with the banned email address(es). This can be different from the above Reason for ban.
Other than adding emails to be banned, you can also un-ban or un-exclude email addresses from bans. To un-ban or exclude one or more email addresses from bans, fill in the Un-ban or un-exclude emails form. Once you are done, click Submit.
Un-ban or un-exclude emails
Email address: This multiple selection menu lists all currently banned emails. Select the email that you want to un-ban or exclude by clicking on the email in the multiple selection menu.
Tip
To select more than one email address, you have to use the appropriate combination of mouse and keyboard commands. The most common way to do this is to press and hold down the CTRL button on your keyboard, and then click all of the emails you want to select. Let go of the CTRL button once you are done.
Length of ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the length of the ban for the currently selected email. If more than one email address is selected, only one of the ban lengths will be displayed.
Reason for ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason for the ban for the currently selected email. If more than one email address is selected, only one of the ban reasons will be displayed.
Reason shown to the banned: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason shown to the banned for the currently selected email. If more than one email address is selected, only one of the shown ban reasons will be displayed.
3.5.7.2. Ban IPs
Sometimes, it is necessary to ban IP addresses or hostnames in order to prevent unwanted users. There may be certain users or spam bots that use IPs or hostnames that you are aware of. Here, in the section, you can do this. You can control which IP addresses or hostnames are banned, how long a ban is in effect, and the given reason(s) for banning.
To ban or exclude one or more IP addresses and/or hostnames, fill in the Ban one or more email addresses form. Once you are done with your changes, click Submit.
Ban one or more IPs
IP addresses or hostnames: This textbox should contain all of the IP addresses and/or hostnames that you want to ban under a single rule. If you want to ban more than one IP address and/or hostname at this time, put each IP address and/or hostname on its own line. You can also use wildcards (*) to match partial addresses.
Length of ban: This is how long you want the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) to be banned for. The available options include some common durations, such as number of hours or days. You may also set a date for which the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) will be banned until; to set this, select Until -> from the selection menu, and specify a date in the format "YYYY-MM-DD" in the textbox located below the selection menu.
Exclude from banning: You should enable this if you want to exclude the entered IP address(es) and/or hostnames from all current bans.
Reason for ban: This is a short reason for why you want to ban the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s). This is optional, and can help you remember in the future why you banned the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s).
Reason shown to the banned: This is a short explanation that will actually be shown to the users with the banned IP address(es) and/or hostname(s). This can be different from the above Reason for ban.
Other than adding IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) to be banned, you can also un-ban or un-exclude IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) from bans. To un-ban or exclude one or more IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) from bans, fill in the Un-ban or un-exclude IPs form. Once you are done, click Submit.
Un-ban or un-exclude IPs
IP addresses or hostnames: This multiple selection menu lists all currently banned IP address(es) and/or hostname(s). Select the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) that you want to un-ban or exclude by clicking on the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) in the multiple selection menu.
Tip
To select more than one IP address and/or hostname, you have to use the appropriate combination of mouse and keyboard commands. The most common way to do this is to press and hold down the CTRL button on your keyboard, and then click all of the IP address(es) and/or hostname(s) you want to select. Let go of the CTRL button once you are done.
Length of ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the length of the ban for the currently selected IP address or hostname. If more than one IP address or hostname is selected, only one of the ban lengths will be displayed.
Reason for ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason for the ban for the currently selected IP address or hostname. If more than one IP address or hostname is selected, only one of the ban reasons will be displayed.
Reason shown to the banned: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason shown to the banned for the currently selected IP address or hostname. If more than one IP address or hostname is selected, only one of the shown ban reasons will be displayed.
3.5.7.3. Ban Users
Whenever you encounter troublesome users on your board, you may have to ban them. On the page, you can do exactly that. On this page, you can manage all banned usernames.
To ban or exclude one or more users, fill in the Ban one or more users form. Once you are done with your changes, click Submit.
Ban one or more usernames
Username: This textbox should contain all of the usernames that you want to ban under a single rule. If you want to ban more than one username at this time, put each username on its own line. You can also use wildcards (*) to partially match usernames.
Length of ban: This is how long you want the username(s) to be banned for. The available options include some common durations, such as number of hours or days. You may also set a date for which the username(s) will be banned until; to set this, select Until -> from the selection menu, and specify a date in the format "YYYY-MM-DD" in the textbox located below the selection menu.
Exclude from banning: You should enable this if you want to exclude the entered username(s) from all current bans.
Reason for ban: This is a short reason for why you want to ban the username(s). This is optional, and can help you remember in the future why you banned the user(s).
Reason shown to the banned: This is a short explanation that will actually be shown to the banned user(s). This can be different from the above Reason for ban.
Other than adding users to be banned, you can also un-ban or un-exclude usernames from bans. To un-ban or exclude one or more users from bans, fill in the Un-ban or un-exclude usernames form. Once you are done, click Submit.
Un-ban or un-exclude usernames
Username: This multiple selection menu lists all currently banned usernames. Select the username(s) that you want to un-ban or exclude by clicking on the username(s) in the multiple selection menu.
Tip
To select more than one username, you have to use the appropriate combination of mouse and keyboard commands. The most common way to do this is to press and hold down the CTRL button on your keyboard, and then click all of the usernames you want to select. Let go of the CTRL button once you are done.
Length of ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the length of the ban for the currently selected username. If more than one username is selected, only one of the ban lengths will be displayed.
Reason for ban: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason for the ban for the currently selected username. If more than one username is selected, only one of the ban reasons will be displayed.
Reason shown to the banned: This is an uneditable information box that shows the reason shown to the banned for the currently selected username. If more than one username is selected, only one of the shown ban reasons will be displayed.
3.5.7.4. Disallow usernames
In phpBB3, it is also possible to disallow the registration of certain usernames that match any usernames that you configure. (This is useful if you want to prevent users from registering with usernames that might confuse them with an important board member.) To manage disallowed usernames, go to the ACP, click the tab, and then click on , which is located on the side navigation menu.
To add a disallowed username, locate the Add a disallowed username form, and then type in the username in the textbox labeled Username.
Tip
You can use wildcards (*) to match any character. For example, to disallow any username that matches "JoeBloggs", you could type in "Joe*". This would prevent all users from registering a username that starts with "Joe".
Once you are done, click Submit.
To remove a disallowed username, locate the Remove a disallowed username form. Select the disallowed username that you would like to remove from the Username selection menu. Click Submit to remove the selected disallowed username.
3.5.7.5. Prune users
In phpBB3, it is possible to prune users from your board in order to keep only your active members. You can also delete a whole user account, along with everything associated with the user account. allows you to prune and deactivate user accounts on your board by post count, last visited date, and more.
To start the pruning process, locate the Prune users form. You can prune users based on any combination of the available criteria. (In other words, fill out every field in the form that applies to the user(s) you're targeting for pruning.) When you are ready to prune users that match your specified settings, click Submit.
Prune users
Username: Enter a username that you want to be pruned. You can use wildcards (*) to prune users that have a username that matches the given pattern.
Email: The email that you want to be pruned. You can use wildcards (*) to prune users that have an email address that matches the given pattern.
Joined: You can also prune users based on their date of registration. To prune users who joined before a certain date (be careful with this setting), choose Before from the selection menu. To prune users who joined after a certain date, choose After from the selection menu. The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD.
Last active: You can also prune users based on the last time they were active. To prune users who were last active before a certain date (be careful with this setting), choose Before from the selection menu. To prune users who were last after a certain date (this is useful to prune users who have disappeared from your board), choose After from the selection menu. The date must be in the format YYYY-MM-DD.
Posts: You can prune users based on their post count as well. The criteria for post count can be above, below, or equal to, a specified number. The value you enter must be a positive integer.
Prune users: The usernames of the users you want to prune. Each username you want to prune should be on its own line. You can use wildcards (*) in username patterns as well.
Delete pruned user posts: When users are removed (actually deleted and not just deactivated), you must choose what to do with their posts. To delete all of the posts that belong to the pruned user(s), select the radio button labeled Yes. Otherwise, select No and the pruned user(s)' posts will remain on the board, untouched.
Deactivate or delete: You must choose whether you want to deactivate the pruned user(s)' accounts, or to completely delete and remove them from the board's database.
Warning
Pruning users cannot be undone! Be careful with the criteria you choose when pruning users.
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