New process to manage inactive members

[NoGi]

SKF has done well because it's a community of like minded people that go out of their way to support each other with all things tank related. Members contribute through asking questions, answering questions or just by sharing knowledge and photos. We also have members that have signed up and not contributed in anyway. To encourage member contribution, I have implemented an inactive member process in the backend and have just finalised the final tweaks.

 

The following is the PM/Email that will be sent if any member has not posted in a 90-day period. It has to be a post in a forum for the counter to reset, simply logging in and out will not be enough. Hopefully, this will stimulate an increase in member interaction with those sitting back and watching. Failing that, at least the member groups will be kept clean with only active members present.

 

Down the track, inactive members will be automatically deleted. You've probably gathered with the user count drop from 3,000 to just under 1,000 that I'm not about the member count. I want people here that want to be here and contributing in their own way. I purged 2,000 accounts as they've been sitting idle with 0 post count for some time. An unfortunate effect of a comp that was run a little while back.

 

This only applies to regular members, sponsors and SKF subscribers are excluded from this process.

Hi <member name>,

 

We've noticed that you've not posted on Shrimp Keepers Forum for at least 90 days and we feel you are missing out!

 

Please note your account will become inactive after 120 days of not interacting and then have reduced privileges.

 

The inactive accounts cannot access to the following forums and their sub-forums: Shrimp Species, Spnsor Forums, Other Tank Creatures, Plants, Tanks & Aquascapes and Other (including competitions). Access to the Personal Message (PM) system will be severely restricted as well.

 

To keep privileges active for your account please login and post to one of the forums

 

Many things on the site have changed and we would like for you to check us out! We think you will be happy with the changes we've put into effect since you've last been active on the site and we believe that you will be happy to see all the new content and tutorials on our site!

 

So why not check us out?

http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/

 

If you don't remember your password, you can request it here: <password reset link>. Details on how to reset your password will be sent to the email address that you registered with.

 

We hope to see you soon!

 

 

Regards,

Shrimp Keepers Forum Staff

http://shrimpkeepersforum.com/forum/

 

[This is an Automated message]

 

 

 

[Squiggle]

Great idea NoGi.

[smicko]

Awesome idea, I like community feel of this forum and this will go a long way to keeping it.

Cheers mick

[ineke]

Great idea .

[OzShrimp]

Good idea,

I think you could lower the time from 90 days though that agessssssssss lol

Even i didnt disappear for that long :P 

[newbreed]

Awesome way to keep everyone active! Brilliant!

[yeswaitnosorry]

 great idea.

[keego]

Great ID, being activate helps, I talk from personal experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

[Daydream]

This will make me post useless info as if the questions have been answerd I dont post and lets face it me and computers are a bad combo.like the idea of active members but why have post that say the same thing.

[NoGi]

You don't need to answer as question for the post. It can be as simple as sharing pictures of your shrimp or blowing off steam in Wipe your chin. Someone that doesn't make a single post in a 4 month period isn't exactly active.

Automatic deletions when it comes in will be very generous - e.g. 12 months of no posting.

[K9932]

Brilliant idea. Quality over quantity.
And a great way to push those shy guys watching in, out into the open SKF world. lol

[BristledOne]

if someone gets deleted what happens to the content they've already posted? Does it go with them? I'm not a huge fan of deleting accounts unless it's necessary

I like the idea of keeping everyone active though, as NoGi said it doesn't necessarily mean you have to answer a question you've answered 4 times before but it could be something as simple as welcoming a new member or updating a tank journal thread. I know I like to see how other peoples projects are going :) Pictures are always a plus!

[NoGi]

I'd configure it not to delete the content if I went down this path. The author I believe gets a guest_ prefix. So, if user nemo got deleted, all their posts would change to being written by guest_nemo.

[viridisornatus]

The assumption would be that they were deleted for wrong doing and may have the effect of discrediting the content of their posts.

[NoGi]

Don't confuse banned with deleted. Banned members don't get deleted as we need to ensure they don't pop back up under a different alias. There is no negative behavior associated with deleted accounts.The exception being spammers, they are deleted but with the improved registration process, they seem to have died down.

[NoGi]

With this going fairly well I've enabled the auto delete. These are the conditions that must be met in order for the account to be automatically deleted:

• Must already be in the inactive members group
• 0 posts
• No activity (<- note activity not post) in at least 365 days

So essentially, if you signed up, never posted and didn't return to the site to post, lurk or whatever in 365 days your account will auto delete. It's kind of like, signing up at the local library, reserving a book and then walking out never to return.

[cory1]

I have just read this topic and yes I had received a reminder of my inactivity , it can be difficult sometimes to remain active on sites like this - even this excellent one 

My darling wife of 41 years died in April of this year and she not only left me physically she also took my motivation for most things including this 

I am slowly getting some form of motivation back and I hope to be back more often in future ... I am or was a premium member I don't know what happens with that now but I am sure everything will work it's self out

Cheers

Barry 

[NoGi]

@cory1, sorry to hear mate. But you shouldn't have received a notification as you don't have 0 posts? This process is to weed out the members that register and never post or come back. Alot of forums don't cull them as it helps to artificially inflate numbers where as I am more interested in showing the numbers of contributing members. The rules in the backend are only to send to 0 posters. I'll need to see what happened.

 

As for premium membership, if you subscribed pre-me taking over the site, it won't autorenew. The auto renewals are only post April from memory. Hope that helps clarify things.

Edited November 30, 2014 by NoGi