[Irish Se7en]

Myself personally, I wouldn't PM someone who hasn't visited the site in weeks/months. It's kind of pointless isn't it?

[Nexttime]

Two thoughts. Letting people know how long it's been since someone has logged in when they send a PM is a great idea. Sounds useful.

Deleting accounts that haven't been accessed in a LONG time time like 2 years sounds like a good idea as well. If you haven't logged in for 2 years are you really coming back?

[dad604]

I am against deleting accounts. I could be gone for over a year and come back.

[BigBrando]

That's why I suggested this:

Originally Posted by BigBrando

I wanted to offer the suggestion that, after one year of inactivity on ChipTalk, an email be sent to the registered email address notifying that the account will be closed unless further action is taken.

Originally Posted by dad604

I am against deleting accounts. I could be gone for over a year and come back.

[BCR_9er]

If the reason you want to get rid of the nonactive users is so you can search easier, why not just make a second list of 'active users'? I agree though, it's difficult to look around when over half of them are 0 posters.

[TenPercenter]

I've considered it, and I don't remember the actual reasons. Just database integrity upkeep really.

I dont think I would ever delete an account that had 1+ posts (disable maybe, but not delete). But a two year old account that hasn't logged in or posted... that is a waste of a username at the very least. We have a new sponsor that can't use their site's name because an old user already has the name. [not a good example, because the user in question is pretty active]

I can see how disabling/deleting "0 post" accounts might help a Member Search, but I can't see how they affect regular searches.

Mods have discussed this (pruning accounts) before but it's a backburner issue. I am ok with ideas being discussed here. Here's where we ended up in the Mod discussion:

Question: How long should an account be dormant (not logged in at all) before getting deleted?

Answers: In general, we thought "6 months inactive" would get an account disabled. Also, it was clear that deleting accounts altogether was not good because some folks might be absent for up to a year and then come back.




Reference: In July I did a search on the database. I chose to list members that have a) Not logged in in a year, and b) have never posted. The result is about 1300.

Same search, but for 6 months "no login": 2270

[hachkc]

On a somewhat related note, why do some users not have a date or at least not an accurate date for their last active date?

[Harlequin011]

Originally Posted by hachkc

On a somewhat related note, why do some users not have a date or at least not an accurate date for their last active date?

Those are from people who keep their accounts from showing when the log in. (Green Dot)

[jamby]

Aren't those folks the red dots and the green dots representing those who are currently and visibly logged in?

Originally Posted by Harlequin011

Those are from people who keep their accounts from showing when the log in. (Green Dot)

[dad604]

I would say at least a year before disabling.