Deleting members with 0 posts.

[The Ad]

I don't delete Members with 0 posts only because my forum is so small and doing that would make it even smaller and a lot of times people don't join forums when they're so small like that.

 

[noreturn]

It depends on how big my forum is if it has over 125 members and aat least 2500 post on it.. I do it, not to often, but it doesn't hurt... But after they get really big lots of members just join to join and not post so I wouldn't waste my time after 30,000 post.. But I dont know I haven't ever owned a forum that has gone past 30k post.. I'm going to change that soon though.

 

[Xuan Zhongda]

Umm. Absolutely not. Unless they are obvious spam bots (see Hat Tipper's post) there is a chance someday, they may return. I've seen it happen a LOT. Also sometimes people just lurk for a month or two without posting, having their account deleted because they weren't ready to post might be slightly upsetting.

 

[Poopy Head]

I think you should delete their account within a certain amount of time joining if, which is up to you if they have no posts.

 

[Deleted member 8254]

i leave it as it is , to show an increase in the number of users

 

[Adamsappleone]

Some good info here.
I would say, if a member has 0 posts and hasn't returned for 6mos. to a year, they most likely are not going to return at all and I would delete that account.
A high member count and low post count doesn't look good and could, as someone mentioned, hinder future visitors from joining.
I've also seen a high member count, good post count and very low to nil daily activity among registered users and a low member count and a high post count and still a low to nil daily member activity, so what do you do in a case like that?

 

[Kaynil]

I do.

I used to defend the keep the account specially because it has been of help to receive the odd newsletter and finally getting back the link. Sure, not very likely scenario but It has happened to me, getting my computer broken or the links lost just a few hours after joining a site.

However, it is very hard for me to keep accounts when many wait for six months before logging on again and revealing themselves as SPAM bots. Things just got too out of hand so I have been announcing prunes periodically, sending a newsletter to the accounts in danger to invite them to join the conversation, alert them of their account being in risk and offer a way to reach me if they are having trouble with their accounts. I also make sure they know these measures are not something personal and that they are encouraged to recreate their account should they wish to take part in our communities.

Another good thing is that in definitive niches certain characters username are desired and is a big turn off that people with no posts gain them. Pruning accounts makes them available for other potential active newcomers.

There is also the people who actually comes back that usually ends up CREATING other account because they don't remember their past username or changed email address so they cannot use the lost password feature. Pruning here may be of help since you release their username and email.

Anyway, nothing is right or wrong and I can sympathize with both positions. Both have bright and downsides.

 

[Poopy Head]

Meh, I guess you should just delete their accounts after a couple of months or so.

 

[AnAccount]

I do.

I used to defend the keep the account specially because it has been of help to receive the odd newsletter and finally getting back the link. Sure, not very likely scenario but It has happened to me, getting my computer broken or the links lost just a few hours after joining a site.

However, it is very hard for me to keep accounts when many wait for six months before logging on again and revealing themselves as SPAM bots. Things just got too out of hand so I have been announcing prunes periodically, sending a newsletter to the accounts in danger to invite them to join the conversation, alert them of their account being in risk and offer a way to reach me if they are having trouble with their accounts. I also make sure they know these measures are not something personal and that they are encouraged to recreate their account should they wish to take part in our communities.

Another good thing is that in definitive niches certain characters username are desired and is a big turn off that people with no posts gain them. Pruning accounts makes them available for other potential active newcomers.

There is also the people who actually comes back that usually ends up CREATING other account because they don't remember their past username or changed email address so they cannot use the lost password feature. Pruning here may be of help since you release their username and email.

Anyway, nothing is right or wrong and I can sympathize with both positions. Both have bright and downsides.

Yeah, there are up and downsides to this, that's for sure. Sometimes the odd newsletter or email can be helpful if you were once active on the forum and suddenly forgot about it for whatever reason. I know I've had this happen to me before, and they're quite helpful in that regard. But as you said, newsletter and those lovely "We Miss You" emails can be quite annoying, so the chances of them actually reminding a person that a site is still around is pretty up in the air.

Meh, I guess you should just delete their accounts after a couple of months or so.

That wouldn't be very fair, so I'm actually against this idea. Sometimes people register on your forum and then something comes up and they forget about it. A two month notice is probably not a good idea at all. This is why many people prune accounts on a once a year basis. That would make more sense, because by waiting it out like that, it gives you a chance to see if they're going to come back or if they're just done with your site and it's likely they won't return.

 

[Hotspot]

All of my old forums, I did nothing to the members with 0 posts. But on my current forum I do delete them after 6 months if they do not make a single post; I don't mind if they make one post and vanish forever; but having so many members that never contributed.... it's just a waste of space and can make the forum look bad with so many members that just don't post ever.
I actually send three notices, one for not posting after a month, another for not posting after three months and a last one after six months saying their account has been deleted.

It's really annoying, because I have this one member who has not made any posts at all. But they have an avatar and their profile fields say things, as well as being on every day. But they have not made a single post yet...

 

[Eternal]

I delete members with 0 posts after they have been registered for a month. Before I actually delete the account I check to see when the last time they visited the forum was, and if it was the same day they registered then I go ahead and delete them.

 

[Hotspot]

I delete members with 0 posts after they have been registered for a month. Before I actually delete the account I check to see when the last time they visited the forum was, and if it was the same day they registered then I go ahead and delete them.

I feel a little bit bad when I delete a member, but when their last visit date was the day they joined, I have no remorse when I delete those particular members.

 

[Chadook]

Well, i'm not planning on members prune yet, i'll perform it when time comes.

 

[juststeven]

I think I'll probably prune members on my new forum after waiting a while.