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Post by methinks on Sept 26, 2003 4:00:00 GMT -5
Well that thing with an email seems fair. But anyway I still think that connecting post count+inactivity together would be rather fair. Then again - someone may have already forgoten about pixelation but when he gets email he may choose to visit link to not have his account deleted. So he/she may never decide to visit pixelation again but will not take up decision of having account deleted. It is always felt as a loss when you realise it.
I think it would be best if users inactive (that is not even browsing forum) for 3 months would be deleted but ONLY if they have under certain number of posts.
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Post by SabZero on Sept 26, 2003 9:45:05 GMT -5
Simple. Grab the list of inactive users, and send them all an email; include an "I'm just lurking. Please don't delete me!" link. Run this every year or so. Is being registered required to browse the forum? If not, you can delete inactive accounts (i.e. registered and never even posted) regularly. Especially since it's not really difficult to register again...
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Post by SabZero on Sept 26, 2003 9:48:03 GMT -5
I say just toss a Paypal donate button on the page. If people notice it and donate, cool. If not, who cares. If you live out of the US, don't have a credit card or are too young, don't donate. Sorry for double posting Well, that was exactly how I think it should be - if anyone likes Pixelation and can donate, do it. If you like it but are poor, no fret, it's still free. And paypal sound slike tho most simple to set up/maintain. You could also try merchandising on cafepress or similar (although the odds of making profit is very low).
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Post by methinks on Sept 26, 2003 10:56:50 GMT -5
setting bank account would work better for me i dont know is paypal availbe 4 outside US? if not give also account number so i can transfer some money :] [EDIT] oh yeah - true you can browse a forum and stay unregistered. but somehow being registered makes you feel better. you feel like a part of community.
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Post by Sirp on Sept 26, 2003 19:22:08 GMT -5
Deletion of idle members wouldn't help with bandwidth problems at all.
Idle members take space up in the database, but this data is not transferred over the network, so it doesn't take up any bandwidth [1]
In fact, idle members are the only members who take up *no* bandwidth at all. It's the active members who take up bandwidth.
Also, deleting old posts is unlikely to help much, because few people look at them, since they're old.
As for logs, unless there are publically accessible logs that people are looking at all the time, the logs would only take up harddrive space on the server, not bandwidth.
Basic point is, the problem is bandwidth, not harddrive space. Optimizing on bandwidth is much harder than optimizing on harddrive space, because if a certain item is using lots of bandwidth, that generally means it's because it's a popular item to look at.
-Sirp.
[1] It would take up a small amount of bandwidth if someone is browsing through the memberlist, or random user profiles, however this is unlikely to be significant.
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Post by Nemesis42 on Sept 26, 2003 20:34:25 GMT -5
Though, it's still annoying to browse through the memberlist and see so many inactive users.
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Post by Varken on Sept 26, 2003 21:12:24 GMT -5
Though, it's still annoying to browse through the memberlist and see so many inactive users. I agree. The total members counter says something like 2100 i think but subtracting all the member's with 0 post and all the people who signed up looking for artists and leaving with only one post, the number would go down to something like 1700. More with the 2 time posters and ect. Lots of those poeple never plan on posting again or coming to the forum so i think that the member list should be cleaned up a little just for the sake of having a more accurate member count and, even if it has no effect on bandwidth. Sorry, I don't know anything about bandwidth and how you could reduce it. About the whole payment thing, was this an issue about the bandwidth or just a friendly gesture towards Frozen if he need to purchase more bandwidth, or just to let him drop the burden of paying for Pixelation out of his own pocket? Just wondering because I didn't see anyone talk about a problem of money towards pixelation.
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Post by oNyx on Sept 26, 2003 21:13:25 GMT -5
I'll slit my wrists, the day pixelation puts up an advertising banner! haha There was always a banner... the pixelation bruce lee thingy :> If the banner is integrated nicely into the design it's ok from my pov. It's on top of the page and the first thing you do is scroll down... so what? You won't get cancer from having an ad for 1 sec on your screen
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Post by FryChiko on Sept 27, 2003 1:48:37 GMT -5
There was always a banner... the pixelation bruce lee thingy :> If the banner is integrated nicely into the design it's ok from my pov. It's on top of the page and the first thing you do is scroll down... so what? You won't get cancer from having an ad for 1 sec on your screen "ADVERTISING" banner. that isn't advertising, the bruce lee banner, its just the site banner. (which I dig)
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Jer too lazy to sign up 1400
Guest
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Post by Jer too lazy to sign up 1400 on Sept 27, 2003 1:48:45 GMT -5
I don't know about the post count thing or the 3-month rule. If those had been implemented a long time ago I would have been deleted and not very happy. Perhaps after 4-6 months of not even browsing the forums you could be sent an E. - mail that would notify the member that he/she has 30 days before the account is deleted, then a 2 week, 1 week, and final day notice if the member failed to reply to previous E. - mails. They could look like this: From: Pixelation (activewatch@pixelation.swoo.net) To : Bob (random_guy@hotmail.com)
Subject: URGENT: 30-day notice!
Body:As you have been inactive at pixelation.swoo.net for 5 months, your account will be deleted in 30 days should you fail to log into your account within that time period. If you wish to save your account, simply visit pixelation.swoo.net and login with your username a password. User: Bobbaloo Password: BobiscoolThank you for your time. We hope to see your soon. -Pixelation Staff[/i] What do you all think?
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Post by oNyx on Sept 27, 2003 2:43:52 GMT -5
"ADVERTISING" banner. that isn't advertising, the bruce lee banner, its just the site banner. (which I dig) Yes, I know. But what's so bad about having a little ad there for a game... or a hardware shop? You don't have to look at it... click on the page, twinkle and scroll down... et voila - no ad for you. I guess most people would be fine with that - at least I can say that about myself. There simply isn't another way for me to support pixelation.
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Post by methinks on Sept 27, 2003 4:01:00 GMT -5
Jer too lazy to sign up 1400:
I think it's purposless. If you cannot take part in pixelation comunity by leaving a fewa posts within 3 month break from a post to post then probably you do not need it. Plus if you are unregistered you still can reply to threads in WIP, FW and CF. I don't know if you can start threaqds in CF being unregistered. Anyway 3 months of not even browsing is enough. If you don't even care to browse the page for 1/4 year then I believe you have no need for. Still, to make less active members happy, period could be extended to let's say 4-5 months. Maybe half a year.
Anyway - ad will not make me happy but if it composes with site design I can bare it.
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Post by oNyx on Sept 27, 2003 4:09:25 GMT -5
>Maybe half a year.
Sounds sensibe.
2 years ago I had a 3 month off time each year... and I was really pissed that some of my accounts got auto deleated in that time.
However unused accounts doesnt create traffic or anything therefore it doesn't make much sense to be too strict there.
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Post by FrozenEmu on Sept 27, 2003 4:17:33 GMT -5
To be honest, an ad banner doesn't really generate all that much money for a site anymore. Companies aren't willing to pay much for normal rotating banners and such anymore (since they're so eaisly abused), and finding a sponsor would be kinda difficult since pixelation is basically just a message board with no attached site.
Ads always make me feel cheap anyway, so unless it becomes absolutely nessisary, I don't think we'll be having ads on pixelation anytime soon. heh. Pretty sure it won't be needed anyway, once I clean the board up a bit.
As for the member list... I like the idea of sending out an e-mail after n months of not posting.. particularly for people who sign up and never post (half of the member list has 10 posts or less)... maybe use that "magic number" of 15 posts as a level to stop it. Actually, I could just have it hide people on the member list that haven't shown up in over n days, but keep their record online just in case they ever come back. Something to think about either way.
- FrozenEmu
(side note: 4 Pages of posts in 10 days... No wonder this thing is sucking so much bandwith. heh. Real pixelation back in 3 days.)
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Post by Dadoo on Sept 27, 2003 5:17:46 GMT -5
Another way to understand where doest the bandwith went...
When I search for pixel art on either google or anyother, I often find a pixelation link.
That means that bots are regularly visiting the borard and follows the links to images.
I'm wondering if these bots could be in cause?
May be adding some "follow=no" and other understanble words for bots in the meta tags would help?
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