Clearing up the Dead Wood.

[TMF Jeff]

Well, there we go, then. No one's putting the standard at "posting" anyway, but define "activity" as logging on. 10 lines of code, you say, to count those who've logged on in the last 3 months? Shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience, should it? We get a better grasp of numbers, no one loses membership, almost zero hassle for staff, and happiness reigns. 🙂

Jeff, et al., is this doable?

That's an interesting notion, I'd be interested in that number too. It's certainly not doable by me, but HDS may be able to whip something up if he has time.

But that's my original reason for not loving this idea. It's a time-eater. I'm sure writing these ten lines of code isn't as simple as it sounds, we're asking him to put in several hours I bet.

 

[BOFH666]

Well, there we go, then. No one's putting the standard at "posting" anyway, but define "activity" as logging on. 10 lines of code, you say, to count those who've logged on in the last 3 months? Shouldn't be too much of an inconvenience, should it? We get a better grasp of numbers, no one loses membership, almost zero hassle for staff, and happiness reigns. 🙂

Jeff, et al., is this doable?

To be fair, to do it properly would be a little more than that, especially as they'd need to ensure that the changes would survive any forum updates that came along (more of a pain than you'd think that one). Frankly it's probably not worth doing the development and testing just to get that one stat (although I'd be surprised if someone hadn't done it already as a statistics module plugin for vBuletin). I'd file it under the 'possible but maybe not practical for the benefit it gives' category myself. The outline would be something like:

Module checkActiveMembers (startDate, daysToRegress)
SQL = "select * from tblUsers where lastLogIn => startDate - daysToRegress" -- Yes, I know, not doing proper date arithmetic here, sue me.
Open SQL
If recordset.bof or recordset.eof then
tempValue = 0
Else
tempValue = 0
Do While Not recordset.bof AND NOT recordset.EOF
tempValue = tempValue + 1
recordset.movenext
loop
End If
Add tempValue to ActiveMembers in tblStatistics
End Module

******* Code in run once script to run at midnight *********

checkActiveMembers (today, 180)

******* Code to add to home page *********

(b)Active members: (/b) response.write ActiveMembers

God, sorry for the utter crap psuedocode, it's bloody late and I've mixed at least three different syntaxes doing that. I would do it in php but need sleep and I'd need to go hunting through source code to find the right database fields.

 

[His Divine Shadow]

BOFH, that's more effort than needed. 😀 vBulletin churns out delightful stats, I just have to find where they are. But yes, it could be done easily. Just query the thing for everyone with more than one post and a recently visited date of six months ago, say.

I can tell you I despise the idea of activity deletions. No matter what, we WILL end up deleting folks who would otherwise have returned. There are many, myself included, who have taken very, VERY extended breaks from the forum only to return. The only deletion I can ever see having any grounds would be the one done at the TT: culling all the folks with accounts over a year old and who have never confirmed said accounts.

 

[Capnmad]

That's an interesting notion, I'd be interested in that number too. It's certainly not doable by me, but HDS may be able to whip something up if he has time.

But that's my original reason for not loving this idea. It's a time-eater. I'm sure writing these ten lines of code isn't as simple as it sounds, we're asking him to put in several hours I bet.

Well, ultimately it's you all in management who have to decide what's worthwhile and what's not. But it's good to know that more folks than just you are interested in getting more real numbers around here -- maybe that's worth something, eh? 🙂

Ol' BOFH's a coder, clearly... Maybe he could work a little something up and HDS could just proof it, saving you all time? 'Not volunteering him, mind you -- just don't know any other coders who said it could be done with at least relative ease (actually, don't know any other coders at all)... Dunno -- just looking for some solutions, is all...

But the interest is out there. "Inquiring minds want to know... 'I want to know!'" 😀

 

[Capnmad]

BOFH, that's more effort than needed. 😀 vBulletin churns out delightful stats, I just have to find where they are. But yes, it could be done easily. Just query the thing for everyone with more than one post and a recently visited date of six months ago, say.

Huzzah!!! 🙂

 

[WheresThe Clip?]

In case people are not aware of this, you have to be a member and logged in, in order to download any of the Images or Video Clips that are attached to posts.

For some people that may be their sole reason for registering, as that is all they want to do and wish to remain anonymous. Therefore it would be a little draconian to chase such people away.

 

[cloudgazer2k]

For some people that may be their sole reason for registering, as that is all they want to do and wish to remain anonymous. Therefore it would be a little draconian to chase such people away.

'tis why it was stated that those who log in, posting or not, would be the ones safe. it would be those who have had no user activity for X amount of time that would be deleted.

not for it, or against. if, in some way, it helps the board, great. if not, don't fix something that ain't broken.

 

[Deleted member 66627]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish with doing this? And what difference does it make now? Is the forum being severely affected because of these people who don't sign in?

 

[Ticklerguy4u]

Awhile back I took a few months from visiting the forum. Its tough living in a state that apparently has really no people in the tickle community so its like being hungry and watching others eat. It got pretty depressing..*lol I have recently come to terms with it and returned to posting again. Besides I have worked real hard to get my color feathers and I would hate to have them deleted because someone decided I wasn't active enough on the forum for his/her opinion without even knowing the reason.

 

[venray]

Ten months went by that I could not sign into the forum a while back.....

No I dont think it is necessary to know the exact number of active members here. You can usually tell by the number of currently online users that the active membership is quite low in comparison to the number of members listed.

I see no real benefit to deleting accounts unless space is needed for the forum......

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

Anyone agree?

Not I! Everyone has their own life to worry about BEFORE coming here to the forum. Trying to dictate how much time must be spent here is totally unreasonable IMO. Perhaps we need to take a closer look at the realities that the majority of those who enjoy this forum face. Not everyone is able or prepared to be as vocal or active as others...for a variety of reasons.

There's enough friction over post count. We don't need to add more by now doing what they're already afraid of and judging people by how much they do or don't post. Curiosity about how many folks really get active is reasonable. But, trying to set ultimatums (which I believe this would do) is just plain the wrong message to be sending.

 

[Mitchell]

I don't like this idea. Bottom line, people's forum activities may change due to real life issues. Illness, job loss, family problems, computer problems, or lack of a computer at all for a time. What happens if, for example, someone was a very active member, and then life happened to them for a time, and they just didnt want to, or couldnt get here? After that period, they might decide :" Hmm, TMF was a pretty cool place, should check that out again". During my years here, I've talked to people who registered, and were afraid to post, so they didnt log in for a while, and then finally, they did log in, and post, after a long period of time, when they got more comfortable, even if they hadn't read the forum for a while.

A while ago, Myriads mentioned the number of "active members", but I dont recall what he said, and it would be unfair of me to post a number that I dont recall. Also, the forum has grown since then, of course.

I say, it is probably best to leave things as they are, to allow those members who might have just wanted a break from the forum, or couldnt be here for a while, due to life. Unless Jeff and Myriads see any merit to doing what you suggested, I, for one dont see the point. Just my opinion.

Mitch

 

[Tamia78]

People have very strong opinions on something I don't think the OP really thought was a big deal.

What I get out of it: Libertine was simply suggesting that those who had made accounts and for whatever reason probably don't log on anymore because of life, boredom with the forum, or whatever have their accounts deleted. I'm almost positive that some of these usernames haven't been used since the beginning of the TMF. I think some active members here have previous names and for whatever reason, they created another name. I don't see any harm in deleting inactive accounts if the admins want to take the time to do it. Maybe lengthen the time of inaction to a couple of years or so, but you get my point.

If they wanna come back after a couple of years, they can create the very same name and just come back. No biggie.

What I'm NOT getting is how people are turning this into "who's worthy and who's not worthy". That's just crap. It's a simple suggestion, people.

I support the suggestion as long as the Mods feel like doing it.

--T

 

[Myriads]

I've always held the opinion that if person took the time to create an account, they have made a mindful statement that they are part of the tickling community.

I feel it would be wrong to delete folks who are inactive based on my above view. It would negate the statement they made, and lessen the message that their statement makes to those that are yet to even find us. That there are many in the world that share our like of tickling.

On the practical side, the accounts take up trivial space and server resources so having them about is not a burden.

I would not support the removal of accounts, and I it's not something I'd consider doing.

Myriads

 

[4Pawz]

As Mitchell pointed out, this would have deleted members who were absent for reasons beyond their control, including people that get deployed, etc.

A lot of people take a break from the internet, or like me, have to leave town, be rather poor and not have internet access, etc. I would have been rather peeved if when I was finally able to come back that my profile would have been deleted.

Worse yet, what if someone else decided to register under someone's old name? Talk about a swarm of dookie.

 

[TickleTheater]

If I may offer some advice, one forum owner to another...

Pruning your total registered member count is no longer necessary. There is a much easier way now to see how many active users visit your board with the advancement of vBulletin.

In AdminCP > vBulletin Options > Forum Home Page Options:

- Set "Show total number of active members" to active.
- Change "Active Members Time Cut-Off" from 0 to whatever cut-off amount of days you desire. i.e. 90 days, 365 days, etc..

At the bottom of the Forum Home Page, next to the Members count, there will be a new field called Active Members which will initially state 0 until the next cronjob. To update this immediately..

Scheduled Task Manager > Daily Statistics Log > Run Now

Have at it.

 

[Aimee]

I joined in 04 and didn't start really posting til dec 08 .. i would have been pretty pissed if my account was deleted!

 

[Reflex]

someone who just lurks would not be deleted.

Whether this idea will realise or not, it's good to know that.

If they wanna come back after a couple of years, they can create the very same name and just come back.

Not really. I've got chucked out of a similar (not English) forum for not posting and now I can neither log in nor reregister with the same name, someone else must have taken it. I wasn't happy at all. Just put me off.

I've always held the opinion that if person took the time to create an account, they have made a mindful statement that they are part of the tickling community. I would not support the removal of accounts, and it's not something I'd consider doing.

Well said!

 

[DownUnder]

I think it's putting an unfair restriction on people who don't feel the need to log in as often as the 'core group' does.

Isn't there enough of the "Us & Them" mentality going around?

Next thing you know the "in group" will start demanding the weeding-out of folks who do not fit into their mentality.

This could open a very large can of worms.

 

[Capnmad]

Well, let's talk time limit, here, folks... Let's say two years. Barring the rare and most extraordinary circumstances (say cancer or some similar lingering powerful illness), if someone doesn't log in even once in two years, how many of us can really suspend disbelief enough to think these folks have a significant, legitimate interest in the material offered here?

*raises dragonscale shields*

 

[Skipadeedoodah]

Wow. Alot of strong arguments and even stronger opinions for/against something that the OP likely didn't think was more than a technical discussion.

I understand both sides of the coin. As an active member, I am curious how many other active members we have here; and by active, I, personally, mean people who actually log in and poke around every so often.

That having been said, I wouldn't support the deletion of accounts for any reason, unless they're known aliases of banned members.

I do, however, support Capnmad's idea of having a number of users who have logged in (i.e. been active) in the past few months available somewhere on the site. It would satisify the curiousities of those such as myself, and also satisfy those who don't agree with account deletion based on activity.

Ultimately, I don't think the OP had any intention of causing a Us VS Them ruckus, or making anyone feel unwelcome. He stated his opinion respectfully, and I don't think that he should be jumped on about it.

There is, undoubtedly, a compromise that will make everyone happy. So instead of getting angry and offended with one another, let's try and find it hm?

 

[His Divine Shadow]

In AdminCP > vBulletin Options > Forum Home Page Options:

- Set "Show total number of active members" to active.
- Change "Active Members Time Cut-Off" from 0 to whatever cut-off amount of days you desire. i.e. 90 days, 365 days, etc..

At the bottom of the Forum Home Page, next to the Members count, there will be a new field called Active Members which will initially state 0 until the next cronjob. To update this immediately..

Scheduled Task Manager > Daily Statistics Log > Run Now

Have at it.

I figured there was an easy way to see these stats. vBulletin has a feature for every need buried somewhere inside it. 😀

 

[Amnesiac]

I agree with Libertine on basic principle and because of one glaring, overt, salient observation:

Have you guys ever tried to do a fucking MEMBER SEARCH on this site?! It's an exercise in FUCKING FUTILITY! It's like trying to pick gnat shit out of pepper!

I can't tell you how many times I was trying to find the name/account of some obscure member whose name was spelled similarly but differently than another member and I had to look up the name in the member section only to be greeted by about 101 pages in one letter ALONE! You look for someone whose first 3 letters are "Mob" and you click to page 31 thinking "Oh, it's far enough away from page 1 that I'll be pretty close" and page 31 is still in the "Me-"'s!! And I wonder how many of those 30,000 names I scroll over are people who joined in 2002 and haven't been back for even a cursory glance since 2003! I used to fantasize about the day when every inactive member who left us behind would login and CANCEL their fucking membership so I can finally search people's names and get an answer in 1 minute instead of 5!

I understand, we have lurkers, non-posters, deployed members, internet-no-worky dead zone dwellers, but Libertine I think has a point that if you haven't even looked around here in about 1-2 years, it's time to GO!

I mean, after all, if someone didn't want their membership canceled, couldn't we send an e-mail asking if they wanted to hold off? That way nobody got cleared out without knowing?

"hey, you haven't been here in 2 years, you want to cancel your membership?"

"Oh shit I fergot about you guys, yeah go ahead, s'awright"/"ooopS! Sorry, no I wanna stay joined, I just got some personal shit going on for a while. Keep me on."

There! Easy! What's the problem?

 

[BlackestLily]

Wow. People are getting a little weird here. It's a suggestion, not a mandate. No one is insulting your mother or stealing your furniture. Just a little group dialogue of an idea thrown out there.

 

[Tamia78]

Well, let's talk time limit, here, folks... Let's say two years. Barring the rare and most extraordinary circumstances (say cancer or some similar lingering powerful illness), if someone doesn't log in even once in two years, how many of us can really suspend disbelief enough to think these folks have a significant, legitimate interest in the material offered here?

Exactly what I was saying! Thank you!

Not really. I've got chucked out of a similar (not English) forum for not posting and now I can neither log in nor reregister with the same name, someone else must have taken it. I wasn't happy at all. Just put me off.

Fair enough. Also, your account wouldn't be deleted for not posting, just not logging on for a good bit of time.