Suggestion: Delete unused accounts for better system and search in VM conversations

[WonderGirl]

Okay, first of all, I have noticed that in PC there are a lot of problems with the system and sometimes there are lags and stuff so sometimes you have to delete things to avoid those lags. Well I was thinking, there are lots of unused accounts here and I think that if you deleted most of them it would make things better for the system, because those accounts are useless anyway. Of course you can say that some people would want to come back to PC again, etc. Well you can send an email to all the people who haven't logged in their account for let's say 3 months or so and those who don't reply or say that they would like to have their account deleted could make the job easier.

Second, some people have really long conversations by VM and when searching for a specific topic you talked about with someone it's really hard since there can be lots of pages and there is no search system, so I was thinking maybe there could be a search mode where you can type the words you're looking for and it finds the VMs for you.

 

[GFA]

Horrible idea. Some people get on haphazardly, I just restarted this month, And had been gone for 3

 

[WonderGirl]

3 months was just an example, and I said that emails could be sent to make sure. Some people weren't on here for a year, so I guess that could be the minimum. I don't know.

 

[starlightartist]

Okay, first of all, I have noticed that in PC there are a lot of problems with the system and sometimes there are lags and stuff so sometimes you have to delete things to avoid those lags. Well I was thinking, there are lots of unused accounts here and I think that if you deleted most of them it would make things better for the system, because those accounts are useless anyway. Of course you can say that some people would want to come back to PC again, etc. Well you can send an email to all the people who haven't logged in their account for let's say 3 months or so and those who don't reply or say that they would like to have their account deleted could make the job easier.

Second, some people have really long conversations by VM and when searching for a specific topic you talked about with someone it's really hard since there can be lots of pages and there is no search system, so I was thinking maybe there could be a search mode where you can type the words you're looking for and it finds the VMs for you.

I like it.
This is a good idea but some mod will have to pick at the idea and say no.

 

[WonderGirl]

Lol I know right. Oh well, I think some of them will take it in account, though. At least I hope so. I tried my best to explain my points.

 

[starlightartist]

yeah and you did explain them well!

 

[derozio]

I'm pretty sure that the admins are more concerned about PC than any other normal member is. Thus, when they feel that there'll be a need to delete accounts or some sort of stuff like that, they'll do it. I guess that the 'deleting' accounts thing just isn't needed atm. They perhaps just don't feel the need to do it. If they would've felt it, it would've been done already.

And as for the VM conversations thingy...I don't really know. I never had a problem, personally.
But that's probably due to the fact that I keep most of my VMs short and haven't really had looooong conversations. 2000+ VMs or something like that, that is.

 

[I Laugh at your Misfortune!]

Maybe say that accounts with under 100 posts that have been inactive for however long are deleted. That way, nobody's going to lose anything significant.

 

[Nick]

I don't think this would ever happen, but I personally would really like administrators to purge unused accounts to clear up the system and delete the accounts that are just there taking up space and the usernames that someone else could be putting to good use... but there should be some clarification before that happens, at least the way I view it.

So this is what I think should be the criteria for an inactive member:
1. Anyone with 0 posts is considered inactive.
2. Anyone who hasn't logged on in X years is considered inactive.
3. Both of the above statements must be true for you to be considered inactive and have your account removed from the system.

I also think there should be a mass email sent out explaining the situation before it happens.

Like I said, I don't think this would happen, but if it were to happen, I think this would be a fair way to determine. Some of you probably question the 0 posts, since there are a few forums on PC that don't count towards your post count, but I think it wouldn't hurt to make them count towards it temporarily just to determine who is inactive and who isn't.

 

[Guy]

I don't think this would ever happen, but I personally would really like administrators to purge unused accounts to clear up the system and delete the accounts that are just there taking up space and the usernames that someone else could be putting to good use... but there should be some clarification before that happens, at least the way I view it.

So this is what I think should be the criteria for an inactive member:
1. Anyone with 0 posts is considered inactive.
2. Anyone who hasn't logged on in X years is considered inactive.
3. Both of the above statements must be true for you to be considered inactive and have your account removed from the system.

I also think there should be a mass email sent out explaining the situation before it happens.

Like I said, I don't think this would happen, but if it were to happen, I think this would be a fair way to determine. Some of you probably question the 0 posts, since there are a few forums on PC that don't count towards your post count, but I think it wouldn't hurt to make them count towards it temporarily just to determine who is inactive and who isn't.

I agree, even though higher staff states they do not delete accounts. The thought of removing a majority of the inactive members here always came to mind every so often. It came to me more often when I'd want a username to use, but it was already taken. :( Seeing as how name changes are gone and for a member to have a new username they'd have to make another new account, it seems to me it only puts more strain on the server with unwarranted extra users.

I would back up the idea of removing inactive members who have maybe less than 15 posts and haven't logged on for X years (I'd suggest three years and over). A sent out e-mail with warning prior to this would be a good idea though - giving notice to those who may just want to return.

 

[Sydian]

I agree, even though higher staff states they do not delete accounts. The thought of removing a majority of the inactive members here always came to mind every so often. It came to me more often when I'd want a username to use, but it was already taken. :( Seeing as how name changes are gone and for a member to have a new username they'd have to make another new account, it seems to me it only puts more strain on the server with unwarranted extra users.

I would back up the idea of removing inactive members who have maybe less than 15 posts and haven't logged on for X years (I'd suggest three years and over). A sent out e-mail with warning prior to this would be a good idea though - giving notice to those who may just want to return.

I was going to post this idea earlier, but decided not to. But since I'm looking at the thread again and Hiiro has said it, I will just second this notion. After all, most people join and post a few times before completely burning out of PC. So just 0 posts seems like a bit of a minority. And 15 is where the links/images can start being posted so I guess that has some correlation to this.

 

[Banjora Marxvile]

I agree, even though higher staff states they do not delete accounts. The thought of removing a majority of the inactive members here always came to mind every so often. It came to me more often when I'd want a username to use, but it was already taken. :( Seeing as how name changes are gone and for a member to have a new username they'd have to make another new account, it seems to me it only puts more strain on the server with unwarranted extra users.

I would back up the idea of removing inactive members who have maybe less than 15 posts and haven't logged on for X years (I'd suggest three years and over). A sent out e-mail with warning prior to this would be a good idea though - giving notice to those who may just want to return.

Problem with these "less than 15 posts" and post count things is that sometimes (and very rarely) people do contribute a huge thing with less than 15 posts (for example, a major new breakthrough in hacking. There are probably more examples, but this is the first that came to mind). That crucial post could be deleted because they didn't post anywhere else, as they only posted it to help. It is possible, and extremely rare, but still possible.

 

[parallelzero]

Ultimately this is something that Rukario decides. Not even the Staff Admins really get any say in it (since Rukario is responsible for server upkeep and the like, not us). While I would like to see a pruning of some sort, I find it very unlikely he'd be game... for some reason.

 

[Spinor]

I brought this up a while ago. Not too much agreement. But still, I would think it should be done. Maybe it'll have a positive effect.

 

[W4r p4nda]

good suggestion. I am kinda new so I have no reason to delete my account. But for the sake of others. When I quit the site I'll delete my account. If possible.

 

[Lady Gaga]

I like the email part, and this should be done. I think the criteria would be this:

1. Less than 15 posts (cuz some people make one or two posts, and then thats it).
2. Havnt logged on for a year.
3. If both criteria are met, email is sent for clarification. If email is not replied to in 1 month, then the account is removed.
4. If owner of account replies and agrees to it, then account can be removed.

 

[Serene Grace]

Doesn't pruning accounts actually create holes in the database? Also doesn't it automatically changes usergroups to "Guests" which, when done constantly like a mass pruning would, can also put more strain on the server? This is something I've heard so feel free to prove me wrong. XD

 

[Honest]

Not sure if my points were already said, and I'm not gonna read every post to find out but here's what I have to say:

The deleting the accounts part is a bad idea, because people might wanna come back, and they might be busy to check there email, and by the time they do, they might be to late. However, as for permabanned accounts... not sure if they get deleted, but if they don't then why don't you?


As for the VMs part... well, you can always send him/her a VM, then try to send another one within 45 seconds. It'll take you to a page that shows the whole entire conversation on one page. Just saying.

 

[wolf]

The deleting the accounts part is a bad idea, because people might wanna come back, and they might be busy to check there email, and by the time they do, they might be to late. However, as for permabanned accounts... not sure if they get deleted, but if they don't then why don't you?

I doubt they would miss an account that has almost no posts. If they want to reserve a name or just lurk, it's not hard to make 15 posts.

 

[Honest]

I doubt they would miss an account that has almost no posts. If they want to reserve a name or just lurk, it's not hard to make 15 posts.

You've gotta point. Maybe they should delete them according to post number then. Makes more sense.