16

Really quickly, this question is about being banned from asking questions on StackOverflow and my earning those privileges back.

I'm a high school technology teacher. I primarily teach 'software' (Adobe products, Google Apps and Joomla CMS) and I'm not a code guy, but over the last year or so MANY of my students have expressed sincere interest in learning CODE. Over the past year I developed a few simple .php lessons using what I've learned on http://www.tizag.com/phpT/ and other similar .php tutorial sites. I started teaching those lessons this year and student LOVED them!

Students regularly asked more complicated and complex problems that I do not have the knowledge to answer so I turned to message-boards and help forums but I wasn't happy with the 'quality' of the help is was receiving. I'm a regular on message-boards related Joomla and Adobe products, but the help on the .php forums was subpar. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was told about StackOverflow so I registered and QUICKLY posted a question. Can you echo money_format() inside of ""? That question received some negative and positive feedback. I acknowledged the correct answer and thanked all contributors.

My second question, php session variables using explode function was the one that really hurt me. This question was detailed (I thought) and I made everyone aware that I was "new" to .php and StackOverflow. For some reason, EVERYONE piled on me and down-voted this question.

Then I asked a few questions that helped me earn rep point and badges. I 'thought' I was moving in the right direction on StackOverflow. I recently returned to ask another question and received this message - Sorry, we are no longer accepting questions from this account. See http://goo.gl/C1Kwu to learn more. I read the entire article and understand the difference between what a general "help" forum is and what StackOverflow is designed for.

The one thing I do not understand is "how" to get my account "unbanned" from asking question? Can someone PLEASE point me in the right direction?

I've answered a few question and earned the "teacher" badge. I'm really trying to be an active member of StackOverflow as a student and teacher (where I can) but I have to admit I am more than 'discouraged' right now. I've had several people tell me to just 'create new account', but I'm sincerely interested in correcting what I need to and regaining my privileges on StackOverflow.

Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthly question and thank you in advance for your help.

Have a great week, Todd

Improve this question
22
  • 5
    @JoshMein They've already read that; please read carefully. OP: It looks from the vote counts on your questions like you shouldn't be banned. Have you deleted any questions?
    – user206222
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:40
  • @Todd -- in regards to this question, I only see one downvote; maybe you meant another question? One downvote is not "EVERYONE piled on me and down-voted this question"
    – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:48
  • Honestly, none of us can explicitly tell you what is causing you to be banned as the complete algorithm for banning is unknown to anyone but SE developers. I am not a moderator so my best guess is you may have deleted some questions in the past. Too many deleted questions is one of the most common causes for an account being banned.
    – Josh Mein
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:48
  • 1
    @LBT I updated that link to a different (deleted) question which asked the same thing. I'm not sure if that's the only deleted question, but I'm sure it contributed to the question ban.
    – Rachel
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:50
  • @Rachel - aha! I took a while to submit my comment, I must have started my comment before your edit, and posted afterwards. Thanks for the clarification.
    – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:53
  • 1
    I found a "reputation" is S.O. and in that tab there is a checkbox to show 'deleted' posts. I found this one there - stackoverflow.com/questions/15838775/… This is the one that I think caused me to get banned, but I'm confused because I was able to post another question later.
    – Mr. B
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:53
  • Does anyone know "IF" it is possible to get 'unbanned'? If yes, can someone please point me in that direction? I've searched the web and the S.O. but I have found anything that outlines the steps. thanks
    – Mr. B
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:58
  • 3
    There aren't exactly steps per se to become unbanned; mostly just what's outlined in the post you've read. It is definitely possibe, though. I'm not sure what exactly is causing this ban, which makes it harder as well. We're going to have to wait for a moderator and/or dev to see what's going on with this in particular.
    – user206222
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 18:59
  • @ToddBenrud Just wait until any moderators notice this question. They'll post with relevant information about unbanning soon.
    – hjpotter92
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 19:01
  • 4
    From your profile it's clear that you have a number of deleted questions; more than just the one that's linked. That will be where your problem lies. As to what to do about it, see the link on the error message you've seen. A moderator won't really tell you anything different. They'll help us see what other deleted questions you have, but it won't really change what you need to do.
    – Servy
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 19:05
  • 3
    Usually you have to gain reputation to get your question answering privileges back. Typically that means answering questions, so I'd recommend visiting the Unanswered list, filtering by a tag you know, sorting by newest, and see if you can find any beginner-level questions that you know the answer two. You probably only need to provide decent answers to a few of those and get upvoted in order to get your question-asking privileges back.
    – Rachel
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 19:08
  • 1
    (Also a slightly related note, you might want to limit your use of ALL CAPS for words in your posts. Words typed in all caps are usually seen as "shouting", and it makes your post hard to read. If you want to put emphasis on some of your text, you can use italics by putting a star around it like *this*, or highlight your word(s) and click the [i] button at the top of the text editor. But you'll usually want to keep your italics to a minimum too)
    – Rachel
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 19:30
  • 1
    I can delete it right now, if you want.
    – user102937
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 19:46
  • 6
    +1 for trying to do the right thing. Tangential to the actual question, but I suggest building up your technical baseline through books/training. It's hard to build a foundation just using the help you find from an online community (even one with helpful people). With your semi-technical and educational background (and being motivated), you probably could exceed "beginner" status quickly.
    – Tim M.
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 19:46
  • 2
    @ToddBenrud Please consider the type of question that the Stack Exchange network works best for. Questions such as "recommend a good forum" are ones that don't have good answers (and thus people downvoted and closed it). The chat system is much more forgiving of such questions and might be a good resource if you are looking for a range of opinions or discussion on a topic (a good forum, or "what do you think of"). If in doubt, one can also ask in chat before posting a question so that people can help refine it to be the best question possible (getting upvotes and answers).
    – user213963
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 20:05

0

Reset to default

Browse other questions tagged .