I don't draw the same conclusions, Kirbert. There may be boxers who simply wanted to list their plants at AQ. They may be lurking under one or more aliases. I don't think members with P or F counts were deleted no matter what the last login date is. I don't see a problem with those not having a spider web. More mystery.

I didn't even realize that the spiderwebs had been added until yesterday.

Both of my sons have accounts and, though they are actively letterboxing with me as time allows, their accounts had webs on them. Apparently, I lost track of time and didn't log into their accounts for a couple of months. It's been a couple of months since they've needed finds logged. *shrug*

I don't see a need for spiderwebs to show up on the boxes since chances are the box is viable even if the planter may not have logged in under that name in a while. There are lots of aliases out there. :-)

Knit Wit

There are too many for *me*, personally, to get any real information out of the icon.

I agree completely. And besides that, the webs are so similar----who has time to count the lines in the webs and then remember exactly each means. Sometimes things are OK just the way they are. We are premium members because we enjoy using AQ very much.......but that doesn't mean we expect changes to be made to AQ every few weeks.

If you don't care how many accounts are created and then become disused, fine. If you *do* care, as you seem to....

I don't really care. The reason I deleted all of those old accounts was mostly to free up trail names so I wouldn't get as many requests from people asking for a specific name used by someone who created an account years ago then never used the account after the day they created the account.

I don't see the need to differentiate between those who haven't logged in in a year versus those who haven't logged in in two, three or four years.

I don't see that need either. That wasn't my point, though. My point was that if you only want webs to show up for a relatively small number of accounts (perhaps no more than 20% of accounts), it means I either have to delete another several thousand accounts for anyone who hasn't logged in within the last few months, or I have to increase the "age limit" for inactive accounts to be several years. I don't want to delete an account that's been inactive for a few months--the person very well might come back. But waiting until several years goes by before adding a web seems mostly useless too. AQ could wind up in a situation where 90% of the accounts haven't been used in more than one year and almost none of them have webs.

I feel like people are asking, "I want to see spider webs on accounts that haven't been used in at least one year, and only a maximum of 20% of accounts should have the web." You can't have both ways, though. The first I think can be pretty useful, but it means that the vast majority of accounts will have spider webs. The second is pretty useless, but it "looks prettier." So I go with the former.

-- Ryan

Can't win for losing, can you?

GG **throws confetti**

I don't want to delete an account that's been inactive for a few months--the person very well might come back.

Thank you for that. I had an injury that kept me inactive for 3 years. It was nice to come back to an active account. Sometimes, things happen beyond our control and we have to leave for a time, be it months or even years. I had plants and finds on my record so I'm not sure I would have been deleted anyway, but as I said, it was still nice to come back to an active account and pick up exactly where I left off. =)

I went ahead and changed it so the icon only shows up for accounts with more than a year of inactivity. It looks "pretty," but that's only because of the 13,000 inactive accounts I had deleted. As time passes, it'll start looking just as cluttered with spider webs as before. I doubt it would take more than a year or two before more than 50% of the accounts have webs on them again. *shrug*

-- Ryan

So, does this mean Blooming Flowers account will be deleted eventually for inactivity? Kinda sad if so; but, I'm guessing there's now way around it.

does this mean Blooming Flowers account will be deleted eventually for inactivity?

No, I don't think so. Hers has the marker that she is on the memorial list. (Tried to think of a nice way to say that. Man, I miss Janet.)

See this link.

Knit Wit

Can AQ be programed to auto delete accounts after no activity after a certain period of time (determined by GT) such as 2, 3, or 4 years.....unless special circumstances are communicated to GT or a moderator, for special circumstances, where a manual override would take place?

The reason I deleted all of those old accounts was mostly to free up trail names so I wouldn't get as many requests from people asking for a specific name used by someone who created an account years ago then never used the account after the day they created the account.

Applying a spider web icon is one thing, deleting an account is another. For applying the spider web, I'd just as soon there were only one, and it was applied when the registrant hasn't logged in for a year. For deleting the account, though, a couple of other criteria should be applied. For one thing, was the registrant ever an active member? If they were reasonably active, found more than a couple of boxes, planted one or two, attended an event or two, etc., I'd just as soon their account was never deleted, even if they hadn't logged on for five years. But if they just registered and then were never heard from again, and it's been more than a year, yeah, go ahead and delete the account. If they show up again, let 'em reregister.

I hope that those were the ones kept.

OK, I have one more minor suggestion: Can the spider web icon be made a little prettier? For starters, I think the strands should be thinner.

I ran across a tracker with Blooming Flowers name on it last night. Made me sad all over again, and I barely new her. She was sweet to me when I first started boxing. Enjoyed reading a lot of her messages on the boards over time. She is still with us in the archives, and in our hearts.

Man, I miss Janet.

I miss her too, KW :-(

She was my "late night posting buddy"... We'd troll the halls wrecking havoc wherever we could...

I miss her a lot..

Just,
Nanni

late night posting buddy

I enjoyed reading all of your late night escapades. I hadn't started doing my own posts yet, but it was nice having someone up late with me. She always was so funny but never at someone else's expense. She has definitely left a hole in many people's hearts. I wish I would have known her sooner. -storm rider-

Thank you Storm Rider :-)

And you're right, we never did anything or said anything at anyone's expense, just to get a laugh... If we "picked/teased" someone, it was because we knew they'd be all right with it and would get a reaction/participation from others..

I know some, that know me, have noticed that I haven't been posting much lately and that is a big reason why... We never met face-to-face but we had privately talked/e-mailed about how excited we would be to finally meet each other in NC in January.. All the things we were gonna try to pull on our friends.. but I guess that was not meant to be :-(

Thanks for listening Storm Rider... and as always, I'm still trolling the halls of AQ most nights around this time to answer anyone's "shout out", since I work 2nd shift... I would just be getting off work when she would be at work, she worked 3rd shift... Such a beautiful person with a beautiful soul and determination... a person who is sorely missed by many...

Just,
Nanni

I feel liike I got to now some of you, just from all the fun you had online. I hope you go through with some of your pranks in NC. It may help some of the lonliness to know that your late night collaborations were put to good use. I work a weird shift. I start at 4 pm (pacific time) and get off when I am done. :-)

so what happens to any plants made by those 13,000 deleted accounts? or do none of them have plants?

I don't really want to get into exactly what criteria I used for deleting accounts. If you're reading these message boards, it's not something that would affect you. I did preserve a little over 2,000 accounts that had no logins in over a year, however. Chances are, if you're concerned about a specific person or account, it's doubtful it got deleted. I did use a little common sense in deciding what qualities made an account deletable.

I don't really want to open a can of worms by getting into specifics, though. If you're reading these message boards, it's generally not even something you need to worry about. =)

-- Ryan

The only people who don't get criticized are those people sitting on their tail not doing anything. If you try to help and 50% are happy you are doing a good job.
Ryan is doing great.

So then were would the boxes be listed that they had and are now considered abandoned?
Can there be a special place for misfit boxes now?

Besides, nobody wants a Charlie-in-the-box?
David (Team New Hampshire)
Travelin' with Team New Hampshire

Besides, nobody wants a Charlie-in-the-box?

But, I like Charlie-in-the-box. He's different, like me.

For one thing, was the registrant ever an active member? If they were reasonably active, found more than a couple of boxes, planted one or two, attended an event or two, etc., I'd just as soon their account was never deleted, even if they hadn't logged on for five years. But if they just registered and then were never heard from again, and it's been more than a year, yeah, go ahead and delete the account.

I totally agree. My cousin had found about 7 or 8 boxes and a whole bunch of virtuals, but she hasn't been active lately because she is in college and doesn't have time. She does want to do more letterboxing when she has time, but now her account has been deleted so all the finds she had recorded are gone. It's been a while, and she may not even remember which boxes she had found anymore. That kinda stinks.

TG

It's been a while, and she may not even remember which boxes she had found anymore. That kinda stinks.

The bar for which accounts I didn't delete wasn't particularly high, though admittedly, the number of virtuals solved didn't play a part in that. If she doesn't even remember which boxes she has found, though, she can have the enjoyment of finding them all over again. =)

But I did write in the terms of service that I could delete accounts that show "extended periods of inactivity." This shouldn't be a big surprise for anyone. If you create an e-mail account on Yahoo or Hotmail, they probably aren't going to keep it around for several years "just in case" you decide to use it again later.

As a general rule of thumb, if you want to be pretty much 100% certain I won't delete an account, just make sure it's logged into at least once per year. Your cousin may have been busy because she is in college, but not to have time to log in even once in over a year?

I had to draw the line somewhere. The average 'inactivity' time for a deleted account was a little over two years. How much longer should I wait?

The main reason I deleted a lot of the old accounts was to hopefully reduce the number of "Can I have this trailname?" type of requests, but there are other good reasons to prune inactive accounts. A lot of them are actually from the very people who created the account but couldn't remember their password after so long. I don't really have any way of verifying they are who they say they are since their e-mail address has often changed--assuming they even put in a real one to begin with. The accounts do take up space in the database, albeit a small amount of space. They are security holes--entryways for hackers to enter Atlas Quest. Especially the first 15,000 accounts or so on AQ are particularly ripe for hacking into since I didn't not disallow people from using "bad" passwords.

I've also made some significant updates to the registration process that will automatically create favorite searches based on the person's location, subscribe them to boards related to their location, subscribe them to bloggers who live nearby, etc. Most of those old accounts didn't customize much of anything, so setting up a new account from scratch could actually be a benefit if someone later decided to come back. They won't have to figure out how to create favorite searches for their city, area searches for their state, or set their state message board as a favorite.

Anyhow, long story short, if you have an account and you want it to last, make sure to log in at least once per year. I don't delete all accounts with more than a year of inactivity, but it does have to show some sort of serious interest in the hobby at some point--be it planting boxes, finding boxes, becoming a premium member, etc. Recording finds on seven or eight boxes doesn't really show a lot of commitment, though. To me, that just shows someone who was "experimenting" then moved on to other things.

Anyhow, sorry if I ruffled any feathers. I just wanted to explain where I was coming from.

-- Ryan

The main reason I deleted a lot of the old accounts was to hopefully reduce the number of "Can I have this trailname?" type of requests...

Hmmmm. Presuming hard drive space isn't an issue, might it be possible to free up trailnames without deleting the account? Like, replace the trailname on the account with a placeholder number or some such. That way, the trailname would be available for use, but the account -- with records of finds, plants, whatnot -- is still available in case the user ever shows up. It'll still be associated with the original e-mail address, so it should be possible to look it up without the original trailname.

Besides, nobody wants a Charlie-in-the-box?

Dina B probably does... ;)

It's been a while, and she may not even remember which boxes she had found anymore. That kinda stinks.

If she kept her own log-book, she should have a paper copy of all of her finds. With only 7 or 8 finds, it shouldn't take her long to re-enter her list.

Elisabeth
who has no intension of offending people that search for virtuals, but since I don't I'm not sure what the logbook entails

Can the spider web icon be made a little prettier? For starters, I think the strands should be thinner.

Maybe these are his first spider webs and it takes a while to perfect fine lines!! Everybody has to start somewhere! ;-)

Hmmmm. Presuming hard drive space isn't an issue, might it be possible to free up trailnames without deleting the account? Like, replace the trailname on the account with a placeholder number or some such. That way, the trailname would be available for use, but the account -- with records of finds, plants, whatnot -- is still available in case the user ever shows up. It'll still be associated with the original e-mail address, so it should be possible to look it up without the original trailname.

Kirbert, your idea sounds plausible, but my guess is that if he did that, he would eventually get a "I know I didn't sign on for 3 years, but that was my trail-name first and I want it back! *stamping feet*" email. THAT's not something I would look forward to!

T2R

my guess is that if he did that, he would eventually get a "I know I didn't sign on for 3 years, but that was my trail-name first and I want it back! *stamping feet*" email.

As it is now, it's "I know I didn't sign on for 3 years, but my entire account is GONE! There is no record of my finds, my plants, the events I attended, or anything else! And to top it all off, somebody else is using my trailname!"

Hey, I just thought it might be possible to lose less. Besides, deleting their trailname and replacing it with a number doesn't necessarily mean someone else will claim that trailname; it may actually still be available when they log back on.

I don't think it'd be unreasonable to apply a disclaimer to this site that says "If you fail to log on for more than a year, your trailname might be reassigned to another user."

I'm still a little put off by that idea, because if I were signing up new I wouldn't want a trailname that once belonged to someone else -- and therefore I'd want to know if it once belonged to someone else. It sounds like, once these accounts are deleted, you can just pick a trailname that once belonged to someone else and not even know it. It'd be nice to have a warning of some sort; that way, if I really wanted that particular trailname, I could make the informed decision to accept that it once belonged to someone else or to opt for a different trailname.

I also wonder how many of these people are actually registering the same trailname because they themselves registered it before and just forgot that they had, or forgot their password, or some such.