How to make it so BANNED users can not contact sellers?

[snowbird]

Went through the cp and it seems you can control every function but that. Banned users are still contacting sellers. This is wayyy bad. Am I overlooking something? Thanks

(I have the classifieds integrated with vBulletin)

[snowbird]

I see that the catagory editor can be set to prevent certain user groups from viewing ads... perhaps that is the best way

[Chuck S]

Yes that would be the way to do it

[snowbird]

A new issue has become a problem, where new registrants awaiting moderation are able to contact sellers. This is an unwanted scenario because scammers can just register to make contact with a buyer/seller in order to scam them. Even though the admins may deny the registration attempt, during the period the user was in the moderation queue, which could be a day or so, the scammer is able to contact any buyer/seller they want.

The only way I saw to stop this is was by again editing the catagories so that Users Awaiting Email Conf and Users Awaiting Moderation can not view ads. This is a problem because, imagine the frustration when, after you have been viewing ads for days then see an ad you want to respond to, so you register, then you can't see ads anymore. The new registration might sit in the moderation queue for hours or days if the admins are busy.

Does anyone have a suggestion to keep users awaiting moderation from contacting sellers, yet still be able to view ads?

[snowbird]

Would anyone be able to suggest a code modification perhaps?

[Chuck S]

From a support perspective I would suggest removing them from being able to view the categorie. You may feel free to post about code modifications in the modifications forum here which fall outside product support. They can be found at the bottom of the forum list in THE MOD CORNER.