members able to cancel account

[gdws]

I would like to see a feature where members can login to their account and remove their account including all posts they started. Instead of the admin having to go in via acp and find the member and manually remove them.

thanks

[Cyrem]

That is the worst feature for a forum ever. All it takes is a member with a few 1000 posts to rage quit because of some issue they have... then bam all posts gone, all the topics he posted in are now broken because of missing replies. This sort of thing ruins forums.

Besides, I'm pretty sure the user doesn't own his 'posts' (legally speaking) unless you've stated otherwise. Don't take my word for it though... i've just read topics discussing this problem on admin sites.

Don't do it IPS!

[• Jay •]

I'm with Cyrem on this one. Rage quits destroy communities.

If somebody wants to leave, they can simply leave.

[Ros58]

I am with Cyrem too, please dont add this as a feature IPS for a future upgrade, we owners have a hard enough job now trying to recruit, like you say it only takes once member with a gripe to devastate your forum and all for what take a minute to put a members name in search and cancel? if you banned a member you wouldn't think twice on finding them

Sorry gdws if we're not with you on this one

[Jinkler]

It'd be admin configurable, so what's the problem ? simply don't enable the option

[soccershouts]

I think it would be far better if a user could opt to remove their account, but have all posts retained and marked with a guest prefix. Better yet would be if the account was only soft deleted so an admin could restore the account a few days later when the user changes their mind.

[• Jay •]

I think it would be far better if a user could opt to remove their account, but have all posts retained and marked with a guest prefix. Better yet would be if the account was only soft deleted so an admin could restore the account a few days later when the user changes their mind.

Or even better if COPPA laws were respected and children weren't allowed to register in the first place, because "leaving" a forum in such a fashion and then wanting to come back and have all their information intact is pretty childish.

[Peter F.]

Or even better if COPPA laws were respected and children weren't allowed to register in the first place, because "leaving" a forum in such a fashion and then wanting to come back and have all their information intact is pretty childish.

COPPA is a US law, not an international treaty.

Either way some jurisdictions in the EU have a requirement that users be able to delete any PII from a website should they choose to do so. So it's not something that is restricted to those engaging in "childish" behaviour. There are legitimate situations whereby a user can make such a request.

[• Jay •]

COPPA is a US law, not an international treaty.

Either way some jurisdictions in the EU have a requirement that users be able to delete any PII from a website should they choose to do so. So it's not something that is restricted to those engaging in "childish" behaviour. There are legitimate situations whereby a user can make such a request.

So delete the account. There is no EU requirement that such deleted accounts have to be able to be restored. That kind of functionality promotes tantrum quits by members who know they can always have their data restored after their little fit is over.

[Peter F.]

So delete the account. There is no EU requirement that such deleted accounts have to be able to be restored. That kind of functionality promotes tantrum quits by members who know they can always have their data restored after their little fit is over.

Absolutely. I agree that such tantrum quits should be discouraged, however that doesn't mean that members shouldn't be given the ability to delete their account and content. (which is after all what the topic is about)

[soccershouts]

So delete the account. There is no EU requirement that such deleted accounts have to be able to be restored. That kind of functionality promotes tantrum quits by members who know they can always have their data restored after their little fit is over.

That would be fine too. I wouldn't care so much if the account was recoverable or not, but user access to close the account would still be nice. And in any case, I did suggest the restoration be an administrative option. That means the member doesn't have to have their data restored if an admin chooses otherwise.

[Jυra]

The guest prefix is hideous to look at.

[gdws]

there needs to be a feature for at least having them opt out of the site.

here is my friends issue. he has a forum about business opportunities. he makes his money off the forum via advertising like banners and text ads, but his biggest seller is email solo ads. he has over 20k members which have been members of the forum since 2006, some have forgotten they ever signed up, or possibly their email account was deleted and then recreated by another person who in turn gets emails.

his rules are clear on his site before they join that they WILL get advertisements if they join, if they do not want to receive those ads, then do not join, its posted above the signup form, on the rules page and in the tos which they much checkmark before joining. but he still gets the odd person who yells at him or reports his emails as spam and to delete them from his forum.

he ended up making a thread to have people post if they wanted to be removed.

Like something like facebook or other membership sites they all have the option to delete their account under user profile. as it should be up to the member to do it not the admin. what if a persons email addy was hijacked and they requested it to be deleted, he deletes it but then finds out it was not a real request...

So definitely a feature that needs to added for at least allowing them to deactivate their account.

It would also be nice to see a bounce manager or list cleaner to verify all email addresses to ensure all accounts are still valid.