Membership Numbers

Okay, done. We're down to 584 members now.

 

So if I read this thread correctly:

Purge #1
Nov 2019 Start: 945
Nov 2019 End: 648
Culled: 297

Purge #2
Feb 2021 Start: 1,081 (added 433 new accounts in just over a year)
Apr 2021 End: 548
Culled: 533

 

That's probably right. This was a harder cull than the last one. In late 2019, I only culled those who 1) had never participated in forum discussions; 2) had not logged into their accounts during the past year; and 3) did not have an Avatar. This time, I culled those with avatars too and culled those without avatars who hadn't logged in during the past two months.

 

I see.

So some of the 533 that you culled in Purge #2 would have been culled in Purge #1 had the same stringent rules been applied.

So the culled# of the two purges might have been pretty darned close to each other.

 

Yes. I assumed, wrongly, that if someone took the time to upload an avatar, they were probably interested in being a part of the forum so, to save time, I didn't even look at any accounts with an avatar. However, plenty of people register for an account, upload an avatar, and then never come back.

I don't want to prohibit someone from lurking if that's what they want to do, and I don't want to delete someone's account just because they've been busy and haven't logged into the forum for a while, and I haven't, thus far, removed accounts from anyone who has posted in the forum because that would leave a post attributed to someone who no longer has an account, and I think that looks tacky. However, in some of the forums with huge membership numbers, that number simply reflects the total number of people who have ever registered for an account.

 

The annual January purge didn't happen last (this) year because I was afraid of getting Covid if I got too close to member profiles. Actually, I was busy with a lot of other stuff and didn't get to it.

However, I will be doing it this year, and I might start before January. What this means is that any registered member who has never posted, and h hasn't logged into the forum within the last year will be removed from the database. Before anyone asks, the reason that I don't remove those who haven't posted in the past seven years is that this would replace the member name on their post with GUEST and that will both look crappy and confuse people. There have been several members who have contributed some good stuff to forum discussions but have not been active here in years, but this doesn't change the fact that their posts are part of this forum.

Anyhow, if you've posted even once, your member account will remain, so the member count will not indicate the number of active members, but this is true of every forum I have ever visited. Removing those who haven't posted will add a degree of realism to the numbers.

I am mentioning this only because, otherwise, someone will wonder why the membership numbers are decreasing.

 

No.

 

While they are not mandatory, it is preferred that you have an avatar. It can be whatever you like, and does not have to be a picture of yourself, or even of a person.
If you click on your name at the top right corner of the forum page, it will open a little box with options for adding an avatar, signature, and setting your preferences for alerts.
If you need help with an avatar, you can either post a picture and Ken (Admin) will set it up for you, or you can just tell us what kind of picture you want if you are unable to post a picture here for some reason, and we will find one for you.

 

That's interesting. I just figured that some folks are not that tech savvy.

Joy Martin has been here for 3 1/2 years and she is sans avatar.

 

Removing the avatar is something that a lot of people do to demonstrate their discontent. For others, new members, in particular, it might be that they're simply unsure of how to upload an avatar, or don't consider it to be worth their while. In reality, the avatar is a significant point in establishing an identity and a place in the forum community. Some people don't (or no longer) want to have a place in the community, so that's why they tend not to stay long.

 

In the following days or weeks, you will see our membership numbers going down. This won't mean that people are leaving in droves. Rather, I will be starting the annual purge of people who have created accounts but never made a post. Member accounts of those who has never posted and haven't logged in within the past year will be deleted. Those without an avatar will be removed if they haven't posted and haven't logged in during the last six months.

At the start of the annual purge, we have a listed membership of 922.

 

Okay, enough for today. I've gone through the D's and we're down to 881.