Implemented Pruning users with 0 posts

[Floren]

Another important administration related feature that is missing in XenForo, but present into vBulletin.
I need the ability to find several users who has been inactive for X days and delete them. This can be done easy by modifying the existing search functionality in ACP.

Also, we need some sort of option that allows us to delete with one action the results obtained into search query, like vBulletin does. On my small forums, I get a ton of spammers who create weird accounts like fGsd67Wq with emailfGsd67Wq+spw3@gmail.com and never post because they don't want to attract attention in the beginning. If this happens on a small forum, how do you deal with this issue on a large community?

The main features that are missing on the current user search are filtering the results with less than X results and an action to delete at once the search query results. I just cannot click on the red X for 100 users (yes, I got 100 new spam accounts recently).

Being able to search on IP and last visit date as criteria for pruning is most useful as well.

+1

 

[swatme]

agree, we need to have users trimming...
users with zero posts, date search, etc etc...

its time to have a better management features

 

[KozmoK]

Agreed! I like to keep active users and prune every 6 months. No sense in keeping users who havent logged in for a long time!

 

[gldtn]

I'm patiently waiting for this, I was hoping it was going to come as a surprise on 1.1, but probably on the next feature version , lets like the first post ppl so we can get this in there..

 

[HannahP]

I'm a member of a lot of forums that I log in to very infrequently, or only when I receive an email telling me someone has responded to an ancient thread that I participated in. And I'm sure everyone here has seen people disappear from forums for extended periods and then come back and participate. I guess for those reasons, pruning inactive users seems like unnecessarily hostile administration to me.

That's not to say I disagree with adding more administrative user options, I don't. I just don't see any benefit to pruning users.

 

[Floren]

mjp, I agree with you. However, most large forums deal with a ton of users who never post or are nested spammers that create accounts based on similar emails and plan to invade the forums with spam weeks/months later. This is a really needed feature.

 

[HannahP]

I hear you. Those accounts are annoying to see, but until they spam (if they ever do), it's a non-issue. I don't allow users with no posts to edit their profiles (or do a lot of other things), so they can't create "profile spam" with links.

What I would like to see eventually is auto-moderation of URLS and keywords (applied to those same 0 post users). That stops 99% of the spam on a couple of <cough>vB</cough> forums I manage. Stops it from being visible to the users, anyway.

 

[Floren]

You cannot do that, how do you distinguish the real users from spammers. This is a moderator job and we have to live with. Therefore, the search filter is even more needed. We are not talking only about profile or signature spam, but rather fake users who create accounts to inject hidden images related cookie stuffing or other types of similar links. I'm sure you tried some forums who stop you to post links on the first X posts, for example. How stupid is that? I mean, I'm a new member and I want to post a picture with my broken disk cable... but I cannot. I have to troll the forums for X posts in order to post my problem?

My goal is to be able to delete these fake accounts who have zero posts for X amount of time. I don't care if I delete an user who never posted and get a complaint, let them register again. I don't know about you, but I don't like to have my database filled with garbage user accounts. Plus, I want you to tell me how would you trace those accounts who post invisible image links to stuff cookies with them. I rather be safe and delete them in advance, before they insert a post that is practically impossible for you to detect as spam.

 

[mrGTB]

And I'm sure everyone here has seen people disappear from forums for extended periods and then come back and participate. I guess for those reasons, pruning inactive users seems like unnecessarily hostile administration to me

Keep in mind if your pruning away users with a ZERO post count, they won't be auto subscribed to anything because they've never posted a single message. The only way they could be subscribed, they have manually done so to a thread by hitting the subscription button/link. But who needs users who can't be bothered posting anything, yet can find the time to manually subscribe to a thread.

 

[HannahP]

how do you distinguish the real users from spammers.

Spammers seem incredibly stupid and obvious to me. But maybe I'm just a super-genius. Never rule out that possibility.

Keep in mind if your pruning away users with a ZERO post count, they won't be auto subscribed to anything because they've never posted a single message.

Good point.

But I still belong to forums that I rarely log in to. And personally, I would rather have 5,000 idle, unused or abandoned accounts in one of my databases than delete even one person who participates, even if it's only one post every two years.

But that's just me, what do I know.

 

[mrGTB]

Recently there seems to be a trend kicking of with human spammers registering on sites posting nothing, adding no spam links in signature or website fields e.t.c. But later they come back creating messages full of spam links when you least expect it. It's rather sneaky that one and removing new members with a Zero post count after a short period does help combat that, but that's my opinion.

The problem with how you prefer things for me, they could be spammers sitting there waiting to come back two weeks later adding spam you'll miss posted on the forums, or they come back adding them in profile signature and website fields. After two weeks passes, or whatever time. You've totally forgot about that member account, so they can very easily sneak profile spam links without being noticed at all.

 

[Reeve of Shinra]

I thought XF automatically deleted zero post users after a period of time? or is that just unconfirmed?

 

[Brandon Sheley]

I thought XF automatically deleted zero post users after a period of time? or is that just unconfirmed?

Not that I've seen
I'd like the request of the OP

 

[HannahP]

or they come back adding them in profile signature and website fields. After two weeks passes, or whatever time. You've totally forgot about that member account, so they can very easily sneak profile spam links without being noticed at all.

That's easily prevented by not allowing 0 post users to update their profiles.

 

[Floren]

That's easily prevented by not allowing 0 post users to update their profiles.

You are talking about a million options that don't exist in Xen. Why not only deal with what was asked into OP? You are proposing alternative solutions that involve 1000% more coding, comparing to the original request.

 

[Floris]

Spammers seem incredibly stupid and obvious to me. But maybe I'm just a super-genius. Never rule out that possibility.
Good point.

But I still belong to forums that I rarely log in to. And personally, I would rather have 5,000 idle, unused or abandoned accounts in one of my databases than delete even one person who participates, even if it's only one post every two years.

But that's just me, what do I know.

If the user has registered, isn't active, has 0 content ..

If they get deleted and at some point come back - surely they can just register again?

 

[Trekkan]

Or email people that have zero posts and aren't active that their account will be deleted in X days. Then do so. As Floris said though, it's not like registration is difficult and if they don't have any content to tie them to you, it's also not that big of a deal. Could also create a flag to "never prune" on some accounts so they never get the email and wouldn't get deleted. Just some ideas.

 

[digitalpoint]

Being able to search on IP and last visit date as criteria for pruning is most useful as well.

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Being able to search on IP and last visit date as criteria for pruning is most useful as well.

Yes please.

 

[Liam D.]

+1 for this suggestion.