Why not clean up (delete) inactive user accounts?

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by Ed Cave

Cees:

Here are some other statistics to consider.

Of the 1,360 total "members" who have claimed a 'name' in this group, 560 of them have never posted or responded to a single topic. In fact, fewer than 500 have posted more than twice.

I'm not against people coming in and learning from others without actively participating; there are probably some who just don't care to post their comments.
 
I'm just wondering if it is possible to determine which of those (non-paying) basic members have not even logged on to this site in say, the past 12 months and delete them from the data base? It seems that the longer the organization exists, the less accurate our demographic becomes and,in turn, begins to distort some of the data used in guiding the group.

You know, kind of "clean it up", so to speak. Just an idea, not sure if that is possible.

Ed Cave

quote:Originally posted by Douglas

Ed, there are a TON of people who lurk here and rarely, if ever, post. Many of these people are even Full Members.

quote:Originally posted by Ed Cave

Douglas:

It's not the lurkers, rather the ones who registered in 2003 or 2004, looked at the site once or twice and haven't been back since.  Can you identify those and purge?

Maybe I'm missing your point and the majority of those people are   still out there lurking. I'm not sure if you can even determine that or not. I just have to think that with 69 pages of members and those on page 25 or higher have posted once, twice or never, there have to be several hundered that don't even remember registering in the first place  :?:   :?:   :?:

Ed Cave

quote:Originally posted by rwmastel

Ed,
Last October our WebMaster sent all members a direct e-mail regarding several issues, remember?  See this thread for details.
http://index.php?topic=4350

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

quote:Originally posted by Ed Cave

Rodd:

Yes, thanks for the reminder of that email.

I guess my point is this.

At that point in October there were 557 people that had not visited since '03 or '04. Should the ones who were not encouraged by that email to "come on back" be purged from the data base? I mean, it seems obvious they no longer have an interest.

Here is one type of example of a deadbeat member. I signed up as "Ed" on February 1, 2004, made 4 postings, the last of which was February 3, 2004. Then in June of that year I woke up [:0] (apparently), registered again as "Ed Cave" and have posted 250+ times since. Apparently I forgot I had registered the first time or forgot my password and simply re-registered or whatever.

Ed Cave

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[rwmastel]

Ed,
I understand your desire to keep information correct (accurate count of users, in this case), but I don't think it's up to any one person or group of people to decide if a member should be removed from the group because of inactivity.

Example, what if you had "woke up" as you put and actually used the "Forgot my password" function of the website and it didn't work because we had deleted your whole account?  Can't you imagine some people getting upset by that?

Example from another Club.  The MBCA has thousands of members.  Many don't EVER go to a Club event.  They just read the magazine.  Should the MBCA kick them out because they're not "active"?  We have people who don't contribute to the Forum, but that doesn't mean they don't read it.  They might read it, they might even buy a poster or something else from the Group's store.

Who's to say who should go?

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[waltklatt]

I agree with Rodd,  just because one is not active doesn't mean they have to be kicked out.
Only those with malicious schemes, like spammers or fraudulent individuals get the boot.
Walter Klatt
1967 220SL-diesel
1963 230SL-gas

[J. Huber]

Here's one more example -- illustrating what, I don't exactly know...

I had joined the Yahoo 113 group several years ago. Then I got obsessed with Pagoda113 and this here Pagoda site... Fact is, I didn't even look at the Yahoo list for years -- until one day recently I ran across an old bookmark. I somehow remembered my password, and enjoyed being "in" again there.

My take is, if they registered once, it showed they had at least a little passion for these cars -- that seems good enough to keep them on -- even if they get filed in an "inactive" field...

James
63 230SL

[Ed Cave]

Rodd:

I'll respond to your most recent post regarding this topic (and by the way, thanks for moving this, didn't consciously mean to hijack the other one) then I'll consider my point made, you and the board can do what you choose.

In response to your points:

"I don't think it's up to any one person or group of people to decide if a member should be removed from the group because of inactivity"

I believe this should be the responsibility of the Board of Directors of this group, certainly no one else.

"Example, what if you had "woke up" as you put and actually used the "Forgot my password" function of the website and it didn't work because we had deleted your whole account? Can't you imagine some people getting upset by that?"

Quite frankly, if I had not visited a website that I had previously registered with in over a year I would not at all be surprised or upset that I may have been 'deleted' and may now have to re-register.

"Example from another Club. The MBCA has thousands of members. Many don't EVER go to a Club event. They just read the magazine. Should the MBCA kick them out because they're not "active"? "

Yes, but those MBCA members are dues paying members and have to do so on an annual basis or they aren't reading the magazine, so to speak. They aren't people who visited the MBCA website once or twice, never paid anything and never came back. I guarantee you the MBCA is not trying to keep up with them.

I'm not in any way suggesting that you boot anyone who accesses this site, whether they contribute or not. Its the apparent 'several hundred' that yes, once registered but with no visits, posts or other activity for say 12 - 18 months are they really "members" of this group or are they more likely someone who signed on and registered once and never came back?

I am suggesting that, over time this really begins to distort the reality of who participates in and cares about this group.


Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA


1971 280SL
1973 911S
2004 A4 3.0
2006 GS430

[admin]

[CROSS POSTED IN TWO THREADS...]

Dear all,

Ed's point on cleaning the system of users is good. However, I looked into this when over 100 e-mails of users bounced. Since these people cannot be contacted, and if they last accessed the system in 2003, I could delete them. However, I found that this forum system is not really designed to delete users. It can be done (and I do it occasionally when someone joins to leave commercial messages) but to take a bounced e-mail address, to find the associated user name, and then to delete the user is a manual process that takes a long time.

I cannot just delete the record from the database, because there is a danger that it leaves the forum databases in an inconsistent state: if such a member has ever posted a message, that message would then dangle.

So I found no straightforward way to:
 

• delete members with bouncing e-mail addresses
• remove duplicate memberships
• or to remove people who have not been on the site for many months

Hence I am just accepting that this is the way it is. The membership list of full -- fee paying -- members is being kept up to date. After all, if membership details there are incorrect, you do not receive the Pagoda World.

Peter

[Ed Cave]

Peter:

Thanks, good response. I am also a member of an early 911 group that sends a hard copy listing of its membership to all dues paying members annually. Members have the opportunity to choose how little or how much of their personal information is shared when they sign up (and can modify those choices at their discretion).

That might be something the Board could discuss. It would probably feel good to those who ante up their annual dues to feel they are getting something more than those who don't. Pagoda World is a nice benefit but is pretty inconsistent in its arrival which is ok, I'm not complaining, just thinking maybe you guys could think up other benefits for dues payers that are relatively simple to offer, but you've got to pay to get them.

Quite frankly, I can't even remember if there are parts of the website that are accessible only by members. If so, that certainly helps justify the dues, too.

Just some thoughts.

Ed Cave
Atlanta, GA


1971 280SL
1973 911S
2004 A4 3.0
2006 GS430

[Cees Klumper]

One item that is in the works for full members is the publication, as part of one of the upcoming Pagoda Worlds, of the color-coded wiring diagrams that were drafted by Achim Ahlert. I spoke with Achim earlier this week and, him being the copyright holder, he will allow us to publish these. Since Mercedes never published the color codes with the standard diagrams, these are very much a 'nice to have' (if not for yourself, then perhaps for your trusted mechanic, when some electrical work needs doing).
We have in fact talked among the board about publishing a membership roster in print, I agree it's something that can add benefit to the members.
We did also negotiate a discount for full members on the purchase of the wind deflector from a Dutch manufacturer (it's in the "for sale" forum).
We hope to get the publication schedule for Pagoda World up to the intended 4 x a year soon. We could use some more volunteer help with that!

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic