what is different between Ban a user and delete his account ?

[TheDragon]

and what happens to his posts for either
and what happens to the replies to his posts for either

[Suki]

If you ban a person, nothing would happen to his/her post/topics,  banning only means this person won't have some privileges, for example, you can post-ban which means the user won't be able to post messages BUT will still be able to log in.

If you delete an account theres an option to also delete all the messages/topics associated to that account.

[br360]

Also; if you delete their account, the handle will still remain, but instead of member the handle will have "guest" underneath it. (assuming you don't delete the member's posts)

Another thing that could be taken into consideration; the more banned members you have will take a hit on your performance. From someone that banned way too many spambots in the past, believe me that too many bans slows down the site.

However, if you have a troublesome member and you want to delete their account, if they try to register again, I have noticed that their old handle won't show up in the duplicates list; so you won't know that this person is most likely the same one you deleted before.

[TheDragon]

Great info / thanks !