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Tuzvihar View Drop Down
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Points: 13536 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Unused accounts
    Posted: December 20 2009 at 08:05
Here's my post from the User Names thread:

Originally posted by Tuzvihar Tuzvihar wrote:

Originally posted by someone_else someone_else wrote:

Mine is chosen to emphasize that I prefer internet anonimity, even to my best virtual friends. The underscore is an unwished must-have because someone else signed in as "someone else", about two years before me. But this guy has not logged in for more than three years now...


That makes me think... Shouldn't unused accounts be automatically deleted after some time, say a year, of inactivity? Why do we keep them? If someone wished to come back on the forum after a couple of years he could just register anew.


I think this matter deserves a separate thread. By "inactivity" I mean a situation when somebody hasn't logged in for a long period of time (like a year or more).

Opinions?
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."

Charles Bukowski
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The Pessimist View Drop Down
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Joined: June 13 2007
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Points: 3834 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 13:36
Well there's a certain IDM forum I used that does this. They delete you if you haven't been on for about 365 days, I think PA could do the same. It would also free up servers and keep the data a lot more roomy (correct me if I'm wrong).
"Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value."

Arnold Schoenberg
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harmonium.ro View Drop Down
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Points: 22989 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 13:44
20000 users (whether active or not) mean 20000 pages for PA (for each user one profile page), which is very good for Pa because it makes the site more relevant to search engines. I don't think the inactive users will ever be deleted. 
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Pekka View Drop Down
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Points: 6442 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 14:00
When I changed my username from Keppa4v to Pekka there already was someone with that name. But as he had registered in 2005, left five minutes later and never returned, there was no problem in giving the name for an active user. The old Pekka still exists with a slightly different name, so I guess the point made by the poster above is a valid one.
It's on PA!
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Easy Livin View Drop Down
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Points: 15585 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 14:54
The problem with deleting profiles is that all the reviews and forum posts hang off them. Delete the profile, and the reviews and forum posts attached to them no longer have an "owner".
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The Doctor View Drop Down
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Points: 8543 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 15:43
Originally posted by Easy Livin Easy Livin wrote:

The problem with deleting profiles is that all the reviews and forum posts hang off them. Delete the profile, and the reviews and forum posts attached to them no longer have an "owner".
 
Whatever happened to the old "guest" tag when people were kicked off the site?  Couldn't that be used for those who haven't shown up in a long time? 
 
Or am I just drunk and confused and the "guest" tag never existed in this forum?  Confused
I can understand your anger at me, but what did the horse I rode in on ever do to you?
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Tuzvihar View Drop Down
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Points: 13536 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 15:58
^Yes, it did exist.
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."

Charles Bukowski
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Tony R View Drop Down
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Joined: July 16 2004
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Points: 11979 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 16:03
We cant just go deleting members just because someone might want to use the name some time in the future. Now deleting them because they get on my nerves, well...Clown
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SaltyJon View Drop Down
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Points: 28772 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 16:04
Originally posted by Tony R Tony R wrote:

We cant just go deleting members just because someone might want to use the name some time in the future. Now deleting them because they get on my nerves, well...Clown


Man Tony you've been posting like a pro. Wink
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memowakeman View Drop Down
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Points: 13032 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 16:34

Though I share Tuzvihar's point, I believe it would be hard work for an admin to delete all of those unused accounts. But in another idea, and of course in my opinion, I believe it would be nice to remove some Prog Reviewer tags, to those members who once were PR, but have not logged in for ages, some of them stopped visiting and reviewing back in 2004 Confused

Follow me on twitter @memowakeman
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Tuzvihar View Drop Down
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Joined: May 18 2005
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Points: 13536 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 16:54
Originally posted by memowakeman memowakeman wrote:

Though I share Tuzvihar's point, I believe it would be hard work for an admin to delete all of those unused accounts.

I said "automatically". I believe it's possible, just like it was with setting all threads to lock up after a period of inactivity.
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."

Charles Bukowski
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clarke2001 View Drop Down
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Joined: June 14 2006
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Points: 4160 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 20 2009 at 17:09
I wouldn't mind seeing some old accounts deleted, but if and only if they meet some conditions:

1) haven't been logged in for 2 years or more,
2) have 0 forum posts,
3) have 0 ratings/reviews,
4) have 0 unread PMs waiting for them to be seen (if that data is available to the webmaster).
Percussion, sir!
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The Runaway View Drop Down
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Points: 3144 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 21 2009 at 13:17

Don't delete them, it'll be a waste and a sad expelsion of a forum member, one of our own.

 
I say we add a form on PA that you can send to Max or something that says that if X user is inactive for quite some time and has your name, you ask of Max or some other admin to change his name for you and e-mail him regarding the latest name change.
Trendsetter win!

The search for nonexistent perfection.
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