user wants to be deleted at my forum

erich37

Well-known member
a user at my forum has posted many posts, but now he wants his account deleted.

So should I go ahead and delete this user?
What will happen to his posts? Will those be deleted as well ?
How do I go about that ? Should I just delete this user in ACP or is there a soft-delete or any other option which makes sense?

Appreciate your help!
 
It's your decision.

Deleting a user via the ACP does not remove any content that user has created.

Just make the user aware that once deleted, there is no going back.
They will never be able to recover their account in the future if they change their mind.
 
I get this request all the time. I never comply.

I have one member that has "left" the board about 6 times. He always asks for his posts to be deleted. I do not comply and he meanders back to the board within a month or two.

It's normally just a temporary meltdown or a cry for attention. Those retired members will be more inclined to return later if they still have a history with the board (posts, well-established moniker).

Give them a little attention: Let them know that it's not the policy of the board to delete users or posts unless they violate the TOU. Tell them you hope they will reconsider leaving or you hope they will return after a "break from the board". Let them know they are an asset to the board.

Then just leave it at that. They'll most likely be back, unless you delete them...then it's final.
 
I wouldn't ban them. That may be a slap in the face to an already fragile ego. Just let it cool down without any action, especially negative action.

Part of growing a forum is knowing how to deescalate situations like this.
 
is it possible to make a specific profile invisible also for registered users?
Only if you change the privacy settings to "People You Follow Only" can you stop others viewing the profile page, but not the member card.
You will then of course have to unfollow any members.

You should however be careful messing around with a user's profile in this way.
If they do return they're going to be very annoyed most likely.
 
Only if you change the privacy settings to "People You Follow Only" can you stop others viewing the profile page, but not the member card.
You will then of course have to unfollow any members.

even if I do so, I guess the member will still get email-notifications on threads he is watching......
 
Make a custom usergroup called deleted and place the user in it. Remove the user from member lists and such, change the user's password etc.

Basically, make them invisible whilst retaining their content.
 
I had to delete the user completely as per request.
It now says "Guest" as user-title which is fine. But the username still appears. Is there any chance to change the username after user has been deleted ?

Thanks!
 
You really should have changed the name before you deleted the user.
It would require SQL queries now to change the name in all the posts, etc.
 
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