Ban

A **ban**, also known as a **block**, is when Blossom Beauregarde decides to disallow a user or IP address from accessing the Blossom Website and the Blossom editor. Bans are issued when users behave inappropriately, perform disrespectful actions towards others, start and engage in Flame Wars, troll, cyberbully others on the website, post links to commercial websites, or do anything generally considered as being against the Guidelines continuously

# Bans in Blossom 2.0 and 3.0

On the Blossom 3.0 and Blossom 2.0 websites, when a user is banned, the ban applies to the entire site. This means that the banned user is forbidden from accessing any part of the site when logged in. In some cases (such as users creating multiple accounts to get around bans), Blossom Beauregarde may decide to ban them based on their IP address instead. This means that an entire network is forbidden from accessing the website. Bans on the Blossom Website do not apply to the Blossom Wiki. Users normally receive alerts before getting banned. They may not receive alerts if their IP address has been used for sockpuppetry.

### Account creation bans

Sometimes an IP address may be banned from creating new accounts. In this instance, they will see a message when they click the Sign Up button on the navigation bar. The message says:

It Looks Like One Or more accounts On your Network Have been used to create Disrespectful Or inappropriate Stuff That Breaks The Blossom Guidelines. Please let the person In charge of the Computers Know about this, Meanwhile I Cannot Accept New Accounts Registrations From your Network

# Bans in Blossom 1.4

Before blossom 2.0, bans on the main Blossom website and the Blossom Forums were handled separately instead of the whole site, so users were often only banned from the part of the website that they had broken the rules on.

### Blossom Website

Bans on the Blossom Website usually occur when one shares inappropriate projects, harasses others, cheats to get onto the Front Page, or is predominantly disrespectful. A ban is far more likely in the case of repeat offenses. Bans could only be made on the main website by the Blossom Beauregarde. User bans on the main website also applied on the forums. However, IP bans did not always apply on the forums.

### Blossom Forums

Most bans here occurred when a user either often sparked flame wars or posted links to commercial websites. Bans here were rarer than on the Blossom website, as far fewer users used the forums than the main website, but could be equally bad. both blossom Beauregarde and Community Moderators could ban users on the forums.

# Bans on Blossom Beauregarde’s Wiki

*Main page: Blossom Beauregarde’s Wiki: banning*
Although the Blossom Wiki is an official Blossom project, bans on the Blossom Website do not apply on the Wiki. However, if a user is banned on the Blossom Website and continues their behavior on the Wiki, then they will be banned until unbanned from the main site.

Because all users on the Wiki must request accounts and there are fairly high standards to receive one, rude behavior and vandalism are relatively rare; this means that bans are also relatively rare. However, some bans have occurred because of vandalism, spam, or breaking rules. Any user in the bureaucrat group can ban users on the Wiki, but Administrators and Experienced Wikians can request someone to be banned. In addition, bans have occurred for other reasons that have nothing to do with bad behavior, including switching accounts, among other reasons. The Wiki software that is being used does not have the ability to delete users, so they are banned instead. The software refers to it as a "ban". This only bans the user from editing or performing any wiki option like moving pages, as if they were not logged in, versus bans on the main site prevent the user from viewing pages.

# Becoming unbanned

When a user is banned, that user has to contact the appropriate administration (Blossom Beauregarde on the main website and a Bureaucrat on the Wiki) in order to become unbanned, unlike most sites which set the expiration time when the user is banned.

### Blossom Website

On the blossom Website, when a user is banned, they must contact Blossom Beauregarde to explain what they did and promise that they will behave properly in the future. Upon receiving the message, Blossom Beauregarde may decide either to set the ban to expire or take no action. If the ban is set to expire, it is usually set to 3.5 days the first time the user is banned, and double that time for each subsequent ban. If blossom beauregarde decides to take no action, then she will respond with a message saying why the user will not be unbanned.

In some cases, usually in a ban after another ban, Blossom Beauregarde may suggest the user to take a break from blossom and respond later. If the user is a minor and has been banned multiple times in the past, Blossom Beauregarde will request the user's parent, guardian, or teacher to submit an appeal instead. In very mild cases, there will not be a requirement to appeal and the account is set to be unbanned automatically.

### Blossom Beauregarde’s Wiki

*Main page: Blossom Beauregarde’s wiki:Banning#How users can become unbanned*
On the Blossom Wiki, because bans are so rare, there is not a standard procedure. In the cases of non-vandalism bans, there is usually no reason to unban the user. However, in the cases of vandalism or otherwise violating Wiki Guidelines, then the banned user must contact the Bureaucrat that banned them and ask to be unbanned.

# Range

Bans are either user-restricted or IP ranged: usually only a user is banned, but if they create more accounts and remain in trouble they can be IP banned.

### Account Bans

Account bans are simply bans that prevent a certain account from access. Account bans are more common than IP bans, and are generally used if there is nothing to suggest the user will create other accounts to continue causing trouble.

### IP Bans

IP bans are normally used when a user creates alternate accounts in order to get around an account ban, sometimes known as sockpuppetry. The IP ban prevents access on the network that has the banned IP, preventing the Beauregarder from using a different account to continue their trouble. However, this does not stop the user since this can be evaded by using proxies or changing the IP address. Bugs have been reported that the IP ban can make users that are innocent to become unexpectedly banned.

#### Sharing bans

In addition to banning an IP access from accessing the website at all, Blossom Beauregarde can prevent users on that network from sharing content, while still allowing them to log in and work on unshared projects.

# Controversy

Some users complain about Blossom Beauregarde unfairly banning people. Although there are occasionally misunderstandings, as mistakes can be made by blossom Beauregarde, this is usually not the case. Sometimes, if a popular Beauregarder is banned, Beauregarders may create studios and projects asking for Blossom Beauregarde to unban them; these are usually deleted by blossom Beauregarde because this can be considered gossiping, since the beauregarders do not know the full story.

Other times, the Beauregarder will do sockpuppetry

# Reasons for being banned

* Not following guidelines
* Received multiple alerts for the same thing
* Resharing projects unshared by Blossom Beauregarde without removing inappropriate content
* Making one very inappropriate project, known as a "shock project" (usually warrants a temporary ban)
* Sharing personal information
* Blueberry formula activated for 10 days

Additionally, an account can be permanently deleted if it breaks the Guidelines repeatedly and deliberately, or if its offense was particularly severe.

### Possible reasons for mistaken bans

A user might be mistakenly banned if...

* They have a username that resembles a previously banned Beauregarder.
* Blossom Beauregarde makes misinterpretations of comments, studios or forum posts.
* They disagree with the Blossom Beauregarde’s received reports.
* They make projects featuring hangman-esque structures, as such projects may unintentionally feature inappropriate language. For example, projects about memorizing random strings.
* They make projects that frighten certain users.
* Another account starts behaving strangely, and its activities seem related to the user in question.
* They use the same IP address as a banned user (e.g. a banned user's sibling or roommate).
* They touch the blueberry formula too many times

# Muting

Muting occurs when an affected user cannot post comments or forum posts. For comments, this action is performed by an automated bot, but may also be done by the Blossom Beauregarde. Muting normally occurs when the user repeatedly posts comments which Blossom Beauregarde deem inappropriate for Blossom. Because the filter tends to be more strict for New Beauregarders , they are more likely to trigger a mute without intent.[*citation needed*] If a user is muted repeatedly, blossom beauregarde may issue a ban.[*citation needed*]

# Images

The blossom website ban messageBlossom’s IP ban messageThe forum ban message on Blossom 1.4The wiki ban messageThe notification given when a user on a network banned from sharing content tries to share contentThe Account Creation window notifying that an account or more has been banned but accounts can be still created, cautioning about IP bansPlaceholder appeal page, which used to be linked at http://blossom.professor.com/ban\_appealThe blossom website After an appeal requestWhat users see if they receive an account creation ban.
# See also

* Why are some users Banned from accessing the Blossom Website?

# References

1. Jump up ↑ Blossom Wiki:Become a contributor
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