patrick.net

A better idea would be to let the individual user decide which authors to ignore. Ignore and ban should have always been independent operations.

I don't know about auto-hiding them. Sensitive people can still make a good post now and then.

I preferred ignore option too.

FortWayne says

Hi Patrick. Can this feature please exist. No point to see threads if blocked. Just convoluted the forum

Yes agree, no point in seeing a thread if you are banned form posting.

lostand confused says

no point in seeing a thread if you are banned form posting.

I read them anyway. You can always comment in the reply thread.

Also, if Patrick wants to develop a coherent reference base, it might make sense to have an 'off topic' flag, which would enable a comment to be moved to a different thread. The spontaneity of a SIWOTI forum motivates people to post, but after a cooling off period, a convenient way to edit threads into a reference might help. What drives the most page views might vary, short term vs long term. The Parkinson's thread combines a lot of interesting research, but it doesn't get many commenters. Maybe the bickering promotes page views in the short term, even if people don't bother re-reading later.