unused member accounts

[Lord Orwell]

is there some way for you guys to run a script or something that will delete accounts that have never been used, and are say... over a year old? There are 92,000 accounts and a huge percentage have zero posts. This could only improve the speed of the site and take a burden off the server.

[MartinLiss]

Sorry but we never delete accounts.

[RhinoBull]

Not everybody has to post - people also come to get information.
And there is also CC forum that doesn't get counter increased.

... my 2c anyway ...

[brad jones]

We've removed some unactiviated and otherwise fully unused accounts from some of our forums in the past.

I don't believe this will make a noticeable impact on the overall performance of the site.

Brad!

[dclamp]

Sorry but we never delete accounts.

out of curiosity, why dont you ever delete accounts?

[brad jones]

out of curiosity, why dont you ever delete accounts?

If an account has posted, then we don't delete because it has been used.
If an account has not posted, then we don't delete because the person might be lurking on the forum.
If an account has not psoted and it has been a long time, we don't because the person could still come back. I get a lot of emails asking for help with an old account.

The only ones we could safely delete are ones created and not fully activated.

Brad!

[dclamp]

I understand if the account is used or if they are new, and havnt posted (lurking), but if some one signs up May 2, 2003 and their last action was May 2, 2003, then it should be deleted. And if they decide they want to come back, then it is not like they have lost anything (post count, rep, etc)... they could just make a new account.

[si_the_geek]

I have actually seen someone in the last week or so who came back after not posting for several years (I think their last post was about 2002, but am not sure), and I regularly see people who registered over a year ago and are only just making their first post (which is similar to what I did myself, with my original account).

As Brad mentioned earlier, removing "unused" accounts is unlikely to give any performance benefit, so the main effect of doing it would be causing inconvenience to those who don't post regularly.

[syntaxeater]

Customer: "Your business solution is too slow."
Response: "Try getting rid of some customers."

Interesting model. Let me know how that works for you.

[dclamp]

Customer: "Your business solution is too slow."
Response: "Try getting rid of some customers."

Interesting model. Let me know how that works for you.

that's an interesting way to look at it.

[Lord Orwell]

how about this one:
"it's taking me too long to alphabetize the names of everyone in city for your phone book"
"IDIOT! Only use the name of people with phones!"

If you look at the member list there are plenty of accounts like the ones listed above or that have untenable names such as just a period. It was just an idea though. As for people who never make a post but still troll the forums, they don't actually have to have an account for that and if they are actually logging on i am sure there's a record of that since the system knows how long it's been since i've logged on.
I was never suggesting delete accounts that haven't been used in a couple of years. I personally missed 2005 thru 2007 (i believe). All my rated posts have been since july 2007. It was just an idea. No big deal.

[penagate]

It won't improve performance, so there are no reasons to do it and several reasons not to do it.

[bpd]

The only beneficial reason I can think of to delete "unused" accounts is so that people who really do want to participate can use the account name. It'd be unfortunate if someone couldn't register the name they'd like because someone signed-up before them but never utilized it.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I'm sympathetic to that idea, since my first choice was already taken, but that's life. Had I been a year earlier then maybe I could have had my first choice, but at what point would the rules be changed to accomodate the wishes of a new user? And if I were to change my name now (though it isn't really an option), what of all the posts? Just think of that SevenHalo guy who wandered off and orphaned all his threads...and now is back with a new name, and has posted in THIS thread.

Of course, now there will never be another Jacob Roman.

[Lord Orwell]

I'm sympathetic to that idea, since my first choice was already taken, but that's life. Had I been a year earlier then maybe I could have had my first choice, but at what point would the rules be changed to accomodate the wishes of a new user? And if I were to change my name now (though it isn't really an option), what of all the posts? Just think of that SevenHalo guy who wandered off and orphaned all his threads...and now is back with a new name, and has posted in THIS thread.

Of course, now there will never be another Jacob Roman.

so what WAS your first choice?

[MartinLiss]

This isn't Chit Chat guys so lets not post unless you have something to contribute.