Brion Vibber wrote in part:
Tim Starling wrote:
>Banning with cookies could cause problems for
>Internet cafes, because it would be difficult to lift the ban after a
>complaint.
The cookie or session variable could store a
random-generated ID number
which could sit in ipblocks and be displayed in the "you're blocked"
notice, and used to unblock by if someone complains.
The cookie should also expire after the same amount of time as a block.
(See below.)
(Also, if one is blocked accidentally, it's not
very clear how to
contact anybody about it. It tells you the username of the person who
made the block, but you can't leave a note on their talk page. You can't
e-mail them through the "e-mail this user" function because you're not a
logged-in user with an e-mail address set...)
That's why somebody added a link to [[Wikipedia:Administrators]]
(at least on [[en:]]). Then they find the list of administrators.
And they can't email mav, and they can't email Ilyanep ...
but they can email me! (And on a few occasions, they have.)
>Automatic expiration? Piece of cake, give me 24
hours. Any suggestions
>for the lifetime?
24 hours? :)
Everybody says a week. That's probably too long if it works,
and too short if they keep coming back on another line.
You might consider offering a range of options in a radio button,
with the short one as the default (for new vandals).
-- Toby