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.

i was just going to say something similar

we just moved from NE
wheer we did not LB except in the summertime
inactive most of the year

IMHO- think 2 years inactive should be minimum
life can sometimes get in the way of our pleasures

dixie darlin'

IMHO- think 2 years inactive should be minimum
life can sometimes get in the way of our pleasures

I guess I got lucky because it seems he deleted accounts around that age. I was inactive almost 3 years. Some might think that I should have logged in, but when I was extremely depressed from not being able to walk, it would have made matters worse to come to a website that centers around being outdoors. There weren't any handicapped-accessible boxes here, so staring at a computer screen would have just reminded me what I'd lost. And this area isn't very handicapped-friendly as far as having many activities for wheelchair-bound people. (This is a reason I'm passionate about making sure as many as possible of my recent plants are at least somewhat handicapped accessible.)

I was inactive almost 3 years. Some might think that I should have logged in, but when I was extremely depressed from not being able to walk, it would have made matters worse to come to a website that centers around being outdoors.

Dizzy, I'm sorry that happened to you, and I'm glad you're back boxing. Good for you! However, as far as coming back to the hobby after an extended absence, I'd be willing to bet you are one of the few exceptions to the rule. Of course, I don't have statistics, but it's quite probable that an overwhelming majority of people who don't log in after a year are never coming back. I don't think it's entirely reasonable to maintain accounts "just in case."

Lemon Drop

I don't think it's entirely reasonable to maintain accounts "just in case."

THe other thing to keep in mind is that this is not JUST based on "haven't loged on in x amount of time" - there are other variables taken into account as well. Ryan doesn't say exactly what those are, but I suspect if you have a certain amount of finds and/or plants, or were active on boards, or something along those lines, then your account will NOT be deleted, even if you are inactive for an extended period.

All good points. I hadn't spent near as much time thinking about this as obviously you did.

T2R

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.

you can not register 'your' trail name 'twice', or any 'new' trail name if you forgot the name/ password/ or some such. The account is based on your email addy and it will come up with "you can not register again you are already here"...... or some such phrasing.

Dizzy, I'm sorry that happened to you, and I'm glad you're back boxing. Good for you! However, as far as coming back to the hobby after an extended absence, I'd be willing to bet you are one of the few exceptions to the rule. Of course, I don't have statistics, but it's quite probable that an overwhelming majority of people who don't log in after a year are never coming back. I don't think it's entirely reasonable to maintain accounts "just in case."

Oh, I totally agree. I'm sure a good portion of people that don't log in in a year don't come back. I did have my paper logbook so I wouldn't have been in too much trouble if I had been deleted. I had been a board admin for several years and we had a higher number of return-ees than I would have expected, but it was still low compared to how much traffic we got on a daily basis.

(Sorry for the late response, but right after posting, I skipped town and came to stay with relatives so I could box in a different area. Had a great weekend hunting several boxes!)