I've kept asking and know one seems to know

[JustPassingThrough]

I've private mailed I, Brian, whom I am to understand is the main moderator, the only other person who was mentioned is the dude who owns the site and I don't see a way to contact him, so can one of you please give me the information on how one deletes their profile on here (thanks to those who have already did their best to help).

Thanks.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Brian is the one who owns the site, and you can send him an email by clicking on "Contact us" at the bottom of the page. He is very busy these days, and not often here, so you may not get an immediate answer from him.

So I will try to answer your question myself:

I'm not sure what you mean by "delete" your profile. Do you mean to expunge all evidence that you were ever here? Can't be done by you, and won't be done by the administrators or the moderators. It's not our policy. The most you can do in that direction is remove all the information in your public profile (see below) and then just stop posting. If this is what you want to do, I assume it is because you have some grievance ... which might possibly be resolved were you to privately contact a moderator (me, for instance), explain what it is, and ask what can be done about it. Maybe something, maybe nothing, but you won't know until you ask.

If you simply mean that you want to change or remove the details in your public profile, just go up to the top of the page and click on "User CP." You will find several options there, and one of them will be "Edit your details." That should allow you to make the changes that you want.

[JustPassingThrough]

I see. Yes, I sent this Brian a private message and you are telling me not to expect an answer. Interesting.

Let me explain: Delete profile means to delete my user name. Obviously you have made it clear that the messages stay, that is apparently your policy, yet I did not see any policy about deleting the user name. Withdrawing from your group. You are saying that this cannot be done and that my user name, whether I am here or not, has to stay forever and a day. Interesting.

[TheEndIsNigh]

JustPassingThrough:

I'm saddened by your disenchantment with the site. I do wonder why, or how, this unique situation has arisen.

To my knowledge, (not massive, it has to be said) you must be the first to want to be deleted from the site.

Some have had user name changes but I can't recall people being so dissatisfied that they felt the need to leave. Other than those that just stop posting and visiting of course.

All the more surprising as you have contributed at least 230 times.

I noticed that you started the:-

"I'm the Only One UP" thread.

I myself have noticed a distinct drop off in new posts and threads recently. However, I think this may be due to the time of year. A lot of the less addicted, find other things to do during the summer months (Incredible I know) which can make the site seem deserted.

If you do decide to leave us, then the site will be the lessor for it as I have enjoyed reading some of your posts in the past.

Regards

TEiN

[JustPassingThrough]

Most of ya'll are extremely polite, a few of you are very keen people indeed (P-Man and Silvo to name a few) that is indeed something you should hang onto.

Thank you TEiN for your kind response. I am taking it that there is no way to delete one's profile/username, or at least this Brian has not made it knowledgeable to you moderators. That's a pity.

[Teresa Edgerton]

No, I didn't say you shouldn't expect an answer from Brian, I said you should not expect one immediately. If you don't intend to wait around a few days for him to write to you, then, I suppose, you shouldn't expect an answer. The small ads you see at the top of the page don't begin to pay all the expenses of this site, Brian pays the rest out of his pocket, and these days he's mostly away running the very time-consuming business that allows him to do so.

For which reason he has appointed Dave as co-adminstrator. You could write to him, but he would tell you exactly what I told you. Not our policy. Your name and profile will not be deleted. Not by a moderator. Not by Dave. Not by Brian. If you wish to end your association with this forum, stop posting. However, if you are having a problem with someone you can tell a moderator and he or she will attempt to clear up any misunderstandings, and if there are any rules being broken, the Staff will take action. You've posted a lot, you seemed to like it here, and if something has happened to change that, you do, of course, have the option of leaving, but you also have other options. Deleting your profile isn't one of them.

TEIN is wrong when he says that nobody has ever asked to have their account deleted. We try to keep these matters private to avoid embarrassing people later, so it is not surprising that he doesn't know. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen, and the answer is always the same, "No." Usually it happens when someone is on the verge of being banned for abusive behavior, although sometimes it happens when someone decides to take issue with some minor rule that we have. Interestingly, most of those in the latter category cool down after a few months or a year and return to the forums. Presumably, they were eventually glad that their accounts were not deleted. Others have never been seen again. Whether you leave us forever or decide to return later is up to you.

Your account will not be deleted. Even if you were banned, your profile would still be here, but it you aren't posting the likelihood that others will consult it becomes less and less as time goes on and your posts drop away into obscurity.

[Dave]

Yes, everything Teresa said is correct:

• To contact Brian there is a big "Contact Us" link right in the centre on the black bar at the bottom of every single page, but don't expect an immediate response. Give him a little time please. He has a day job! He's not on tenterhooks awaiting your call.
• Accounts are not deleted. I'm surprised at your surprise, as you actually agreed to this when you joined. The Terms of Use are also here: Terms of Use Not exactly hidden.
• You can withdraw from the group easily. You just stop posting. You can delete all your personal details, but the user-name has to stay. Apart from anything else, it is remains yours and prevents someone else using it with all the complications and misunderstandings that would create.
• We'd all be interested in feedback about why you feel this is necessary though. As Teresa said, if there has been a problem that we need to address, we don't know what it is because we haven't been made aware of it. If we are just not interesting enough, then maybe we can learn from that too?
• "Forever and a day", well I seriously doubt that, but thanks for having such confidence in the website.

Best wishes

Dave

[RJM Corbet]

Originally Posted by JustPassingThrough

... there is no way to delete one's profile/username ... That's a pity.

You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave ... ha! ha! ha! ha!

[Ursa major]

I suppose if something really distasteful, in whatever way, was posted, it would be removed with or without a request from the poster, given that this is a family-friendly site. Beyond that, I can't see why posts shouldn't remain here for the lifetime of the Chrons. One should always post in the knowledge that anything posted here is, in effect, being published and made available to anyone with Web access. That real names are rarely used - and JustPassingThrough doesn't seem like a real-world name - makes the potential damage or embarrassment to the poster even more limited.


I seem to recall a case where a user posted quite a lot of their fiction and then returned later (possibly after a year or more) wanting it to be removed. As far as I know, it's all still here. I assume that the poster involved was worried that he'd posted too much, possibly concerned that the posts might affect his chances of getting his fiction formally published (by some means or other). But as it had been already been the public eye, i.e. here, for at least a year, it would have been a case of shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted. So even in this rather extreme case, the site was quite right in keeping the posts (assuming that they did).

[JustPassingThrough]

Like I said TEiN, most here are nice. You are one of them. And taking a cue from you, I am not going to comment any more on the situation. I will delete what I can and change what I can so as to leave a hibernating username. I suppose trust is what counts here that this user name is not going to get hacked or god knows whatever else goes on in cyber space.
Good day.

[Teresa Edgerton]

And since this thread no longer serves any purpose, it is now closed.