Remove inactive members with 0 posts after a few months

[rspassey]

I think that inactive members who joined but never posted anything for over a certain amount of time should be removed, I was bored and browsed the members list and there are pages of members with 0 posts who have joined a while back. IMO, If they want to make a thread or post again, then they can make a new account. Wouldn't that free up a whole lotta space?

[Kov-Ice]

I've wondered that before. There are quite a few people who will browse and never post, but do log on as members. It may also keep the member count correct.

When trying to find someone in the list, you do have to sift through lotsa inactive members, tho. You can sort the list by post count to remove the non-postering members. It would be nice if there was a sort feature that allowed for the removal of inactives.

[peekaboo]

i'll bet advertisers are charged also according to the number of registered members, so it's in the owner's interest to keep as many as possible.

[Paintbait]

That's a good idea. Considering PCMECH uses vB that can be automatic vB has that built in. It's the "prune" function, you can set it to go every month or so and prune inactive memebers with 0 posts for a month or however long you want to set it.

[rspassey]

I think a month for 0 posts would be a good idea, but if someone like me with over 800 decides to take two months off, then i would be disappointed to have to start all over again, only to remove the ones with no posts after x months.

[Paintbait]

Yeah. Exactly. I did that with my forum, remove people without any posts that is. I did it once a week on the weekend it was even marked in the calender so everyone knew about it and there was an announcement and it was in the FAQ and Forum rules.

[glc]

Why should I delete any members? I don't see a point, it's not like we have a huge database.

[Paintbait]

I'm willing to bet there are thousands of members that signed up and never posted. It's just my personal opinion that it speaks more about a site that lists only active members. And granted, there are thousands of more active members, people who signed up and post when they need something.

That's just my opinion

[blue60007]

You could possibly have a seperate member count. Actual count and active count.

[rspassey]

Originally Posted by glc Why should I delete any members? I don't see a point, it's not like we have a huge database.

I was just thinking wouldnt it free up even more space, I am not saying that you have too delete members, but each inactive one with an avatar must take up some space, and a few of the ones I looked at just had like corperate emails, perhaps trying to advertise, I dont know.

[Jaggannath]

1. Who cares, they're not hurting us by being there
2. Posts aren't everything, there are people called lurkers (I used to be one) who log in and read the threads to learn and just randomly read.

[glc]

Only custom avatars take up extra space - and members with 0 posts don't have them.

What is this fixation on numbers anyway? This is just like discussing post counts.

If anything, I may go through the database and remove members awaiting email confirmation that are more than a year old, but I'm not going to remove ANY members that are properly registered.

[glc]

I just pruned out ~2800 members who registered over a year ago, were still awaiting e-mail confirmation, and had 0 posts.

[rspassey]

How much space would that free up? Or are you not going to bother deleting them?

[Force Flow]

How much space would that free up? Or are you not going to bother deleting them?

pruning = deleting

Probably nothing more than a few hundred KB, if that.

Remember, most of that stuff is simply stored as plain text in a database.

[Thebranded]

the only time ive seen the prune function being useful was where by being a member you get access to extra sub-forumns, so people would sign up to see whats there) the prune function was good to clear those and kinda force them to participate.

here though people who come for information mostly. (i used to come here for years before actually signing up and then a couple more years before posting!)

[rspassey]

I guess thats true, I just browsed here until I had a question then signed up and posted that day.

[Paintbait]

The point is merely a cosmetic one. If they're inactive, 0 posts and, like GLC said, awaiting email confirmation for more than a year why not?

[nedotap]

Originally Posted by Jaggannath 1. Who cares, they're not hurting us by being there 2. Posts aren't everything, there are people called lurkers (I used to be one) who log in and read the threads to learn and just randomly read.

that is exactly what i am , a lurker, just because we are in the learning process and reading a lot of threads does not mean we are inactive, i am on this site 7 days a week and when i feel i need to post something , i will

[Kov-Ice]

Originally Posted by nedotap when i feel i need to post something , i will

nedo, you just did!

[glc]

Originally Posted by nedotap that is exactly what i am , a lurker, just because we are in the learning process and reading a lot of threads does not mean we are inactive, i am on this site 7 days a week and when i feel i need to post something , i will

I believe that reinforces my decision.

I'm not going to remove ANY members that are properly registered.

Any further comments?

[puccini]

Just because they don't post doesn't mean they're necessarily inactive. Some people use the forums to get information. Perhaps they don't post because they find answers in the db. I don't post often myself, but I log in every day to see what's new and if I have a problem I search for an answer before posting a new query.

[Marke522]

I used to be a lurker, I found out about this place from either PC World or PC Magazine. I had a new build that used the psu that came with the tower, and after two weeks, it went poof, but didn't yet know what part poofed.

While reading the magazine, I found a bunch of forums links, registered to all of them, and started searching for people that had the same problem and how they fixed it.

This is the only one I still visit. The other sites had people giving bad advice, calling each other names, or giving advice and never following up if that didn't work. And I visit it every hour, even had the forum set as my home page for a few months.

I think I'll start posting more so I can get my own avatar soon.

[MaxRat]

I give alot of credit to the active "lurkers"....It just shows there willing to do some research and learning before just posting something that maybe posted a 1,000 times before....

I am sure a 1,000 post on the same thing takes up more space the 1,000 lurkers....

I personally lurk and post....

I am glad each and every member is here active or not....It just shows you the words out....they know we are here....

" If you build it, they will come" WW2 (Waynes World 2)

[mouse1]

It's agood thing that I dont worry about post count,this has been my home page ever since I joined,and I mostly LURK...

[Force Flow]

Originally Posted by gsrat " If you build it, they will come" WW2 (Waynes World 2)

Wasn't that from "Field of Dreams"?

[MaxRat]

nope....

That's what Jim Morrison told Wayne.... About the concert...

[Panama Red]

Let's see, Field of Dreams (1989); Wayne's World 2 (1993). Guess where WW2 got it from! 1 point for the Forcemeister!

[MaxRat]

But I'm quoting it from where I saw it.....!

[glc]

You weren't *wrong* - you just weren't totally correct!