Changing username & users who don't use the site

Metty said:
i would delete all the inactive accounts that were made years ago with no list, no favs, no post, no comment, no profile picture. BUT THAT WOULD LOWER OUR TOTAL MEMBER COUNT AND CRAVE WOULD BE SAD.

Also, while i don't think it would effect our old user you now must submit a new email when you apply for a new account so the new members that got deleted would be screwed... til they got a new email

-Yukikaze- said:
Can't you just rename the old users then? It wouldn't delete their profile but they would have to assign new username to themselves if they ever returned unless they wanted to keep what you gave.

-Yukikaze- said:
On another note, why wont my avatar change? The 5min delay is BS and why is there even a delay in the first place? Go to any other forum and the avatar will change instantly. I changed the avatar already yesterday and no change. Today I tried deleting it and then applying a new one, and still no change. It's been hours since then.

saka said:
Problem with this is that you login with your username. That means if you don't know what your new username is, you are essentially locked out and it looks as if your account has been removed or hijacked.

They do actually come back sometimes even when they've been offline for years, though yes most of them are useless accounts. I know that when I first joined mal I really didn't even do much for a couple months. Some people join to preview mal and then lose interest, and come across it again later and want their accounts back.

The policy is not to delete accounts at all, even by the user's direct request, excepting perhaps spambots and egregious breaking of the terms of use; this is both because removing all those old posts breaks conversations in topics they have posted in, and because removing lots of post/comments at once can significantly impact the database servers. Occasionally exceptions are made for empty accounts when they have good reason, but usually just renaming the account is the solution (which users can do themselves).

You can attempt to contact the user and ask them to change their name, but we're not going to go around renaming old accounts just so you can use their names. Deal with it, and try to be more creative~

Despised said:

I don't see why loyal site members would have to be turned away just because some random potentially hoarded many names that others could be making use of.

EfiChan said:
You may try to change it a little so you will be able to use it. Lety's try your current one:
"-Yukikaze-" You added those two "-" and made a new username that never was there before. You can do so with whatever thing you want.

TheMiddleOfDead said:
How to change password?

Aydin said:
Sorry for bringing an old thread back alive. I wasn't aware about this thread since I've actually wrote everything below beforehand....

All the options below are plausible, there shouldn't be a lock-out, considering that users would be reminded before and after expiry (reminder / warning)

My suggestion:

Allow MAL users to change their username to an existing username that has been inactive for more than "x" years (2 to 5 years?), maybe this could be a feature for only MAL supporters.

This can be approached in various ways:
1- Auto expire inactive username after 'x' years. (automatically change username and add number. E.g. "InactiveUser#<number>" ) and possibly purge account for good if they do not login for another ‘x’ more years (…Then proceed to option 2)
2- Auto expire inactive MAL account (account is purged for good after certain ‘x’ years of inactivity)
3- On demand, request an admin/mod to make username changes to an existing inactive username (requiring their approval, possibly through a form submission)
4- Keep inactive usernames and only expire them when another user demands name change to it and complies with all the required checks (E.g. inactive for ‘x’ years and MAL supporter, etc.)

The following describes the process:

1- (Automatic / no demand required) After ‘x’ years total inactivity (access/login) only the username will automatically change to something like: "InactiveUser#<number>" (where <number> increments for each inactive user. The inactive user will receive an email before and after the change with a warning that if he/she is inactive for more than ‘x’ more years the account ‘may’ be purged for good, see option 2)
2- (Automatic / no demand required) When MAL user account is inactive for more than ‘x’ years, permanently purge the account (allowing new users to register under the purged username)
3- (Manual / Admin approval only) Process username changes manually by admin approval (only to those whom are changing it to an existing inactive username) for various administrative reasons but instead this requires admin overhead and approval for the changes. Similar to anime submissions, users can submit a form, requesting username change to an existing/inactive username which is then reviewed by an admin or mod.
4- (Automatic / process on demand) This is similar to the previous one, except the process could be automatic instead of admin approval. When changing username to an existing username, send a query check, determine if the inactive account has logged in for the past "x" years then permit or deny the username change. If it passes through validation check (inactive for more than 'x' years), then modify the inactive username and rename to something like "InactiveUser#<number>" (where <number> increments for each inactive user) then allow the new username change (permit overtake of the username, considering it complies with all validation check)


maybe: ex-mods/admins (privileged users) can be immune to this so their username will not auto-expire.