Please close my account and delete it

MelancholyMan · Jan 7, 2012

ATTENTION AW ADMIN PLEASE CLOSE MY ACCOUNT AND DELETE IT...THANK YOU

To those that lent a hand:

Thank you for your help and taking the time giving me your suggestions. Good luck with your work and goodbye.

alleycat · Jan 7, 2012

Accounts are not deleted.

Good luck.

dpaterso · Jan 8, 2012

If you don't sign in and don't post, after a period of inactivity your account will time out.

FAQ: How do I delete my account?

-Derek

NicoleJLeBoeuf · Jan 8, 2012

*worries*

How long would that period of time be?

Because I've disappeared for months on end and thankfully my account is still here. Was I just lucky?

Edit: Oh, wait, you said "time out," not "auto-delete." Presumably you're talking about the automatic log out. (Besides, accounts are not deleted. I should not be worried.)

Bartholomew · Jan 8, 2012

dpaterso said:
If you don't sign in and don't post, after a period of inactivity your account will time out.

FAQ: How do I delete my account?

-Derek

I'm not very computer-literate lately. What does time out mean, here?

Deleted member 42 · Jan 8, 2012

Oh, look! We have, in addition to our FAQ: on how to flounce, one on How do I delete my account

dpaterso is referring to the fact that if a member does not log on, their account will, in the fullness of time, be purged.

He is not referring to cookie decay.

Jersey Chick · Jan 8, 2012

Cookie decay. That's what I find when I lift up the sofa cushions. Dang kids.

Deleted member 42 · Jan 8, 2012

Bartholomew said:
I'm not very computer-literate lately. What does time out mean, here?

It means someone has been very very naughty.

Bartholomew · Jan 9, 2012

Medievalist said:
It means someone has been very very naughty.

Ahh. So when someone's name isn't a link anymore, their account timed out?

Sophia · Jan 9, 2012

I think in this case, Medievalist was referring to people on a "time out", which is a short enforced break from the forums.

When someone's name isn't a link anymore, those accounts have been "purged". In a washed out of the system way, not a Stalinist way. Usually.

Deleted member 42 · Jan 9, 2012

Bartholomew said:
Ahh. So when someone's name isn't a link anymore, their account timed out?

No; it means they were inactive (not logging on) for long enough that we purged them.

Purge--remove an account from the active list.

Time out--this means that a process on the server has been killed based on a timer, usually tracked by a cookie. The "New posts" feature relies on a cookie functioning as a timer. There's a preset time; a member who has logged on and done nothing for a certain period of time will be regarded as inactive for the purpose of "new posts". If they do not have the "keep me logged in" box checked, then they will be logged off as well when that time expires.

kborsden · Jan 9, 2012

About this 'mass-deletion spree' that can lead to an account being locked. How many posts count as a spree? If I've several pieces posted as SYW which are no longer relevant because I've either reposted as a revision, or whatever, or that I'm not comfortable with being public after revisions, how many can I delete before my account is locked? What if I'm simply no longer comfortable with a post because I've changed as a person and/or writer; what exactly is my right in terms of said data??

Maryn · Jan 9, 2012

I'm not a policy-maker, kborsden, but what I've seen people do is to edit rather than delete their SYW post, replacing the text with something along the lines of See post #36 for revised version or I've changed my mind about the wisdom of arguing sociopolical agendas with you lovely people, like that.

Then you haven't really deleted a post.

Maryn, sure someone will correct her if this is a bad idea

kborsden · Jan 9, 2012

Thanks for that, Maryn. I guess that would certainly be the best and most workable suggestion, and something I currently do as well. Never hurts to ask for some more clarification, should there be an alternative, though.

Cyia · Jan 9, 2012

kborsden -

What I've done with SYW is open AW on 2 tabs, with one set to the PM feature directed at the SYW mod. I explained to the mod in question that (in my case) I didn't feel comfortable with my old posts being on the board and gave my reasons why, then with the 2nd tab set to search out my started threads, I cut and pasted the url for each into the PM.

I think they were set to invisible, rather than deleted, but they're no longer accessible from the board itself.

MacAllister · Jan 9, 2012

We DO delete posts and threads in SYW, upon request, as a matter of policy.

You have the power to delete you OWN posts, both in SYW and elsewhere -- but we don't delete accounts, and we don't delete threads, anywhere except SYW -- and we won't go and delete hundreds of posts for someone whose having a tantrum and wants to stage a big flounce. All those things are bad for the conversation, and that in turn is bad for the community.

The kind of "mass-deletion spree" that may get your account locked is something like deleting hundreds of posts inside an hour -- then basically we might lock the account and double-check to be sure something weird hasn't gone wrong on either your end or on ours.

Deleted member 42 · Jan 9, 2012

kborsden said:
About this 'mass-deletion spree' that can lead to an account being locked.

There's a software trigger having to do with queries to the database. It's not something that's easily modified, and it's a fairly standard safety measure on sites with content in a database.

What you're talking about--careful selection of specific posts--isn't going to trigger it.

It can be triggered by someone doing a select-all-and-replace very rapidly--as in mere seconds between deletions on multiple posts. Multiple edits on one post isn't likely to have the same problem.

Go slow and you're not going to have a problem.

Maryn · Jan 9, 2012

Thanks to Mac and Medi for clarifying for us all.

It's good to know stuff, yes?

Maryn, almost too old to learn but not quite

shakeysix · Jan 9, 2012

wow--this place. it's like another world. i don't mean the soap but guess that comparison is valid, too--s6

SRHowen · Jan 9, 2012

I was going to say, I was away for a couple of years I think and when i came back I was still here. LOL

Please close my account and delete it

MelancholyMan

Wear Thick Armor

alleycat

Still around

dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels

NicoleJLeBoeuf

a work in progress

Bartholomew

Comic guy

Deleted member 42

Jersey Chick

Up all night to get Loki

Deleted member 42

Bartholomew

Comic guy

Sophia

Deleted member 42

kborsden

Has a few recurring issues

Maryn

I Tried

kborsden

Has a few recurring issues

Cyia

Rewriting My Destiny

MacAllister

Tired and worried.

Deleted member 42

Maryn

I Tried

shakeysix

blue eyed floozy

SRHowen

Erotica is not a four letter word!