Ok, my experience with Proboards/Forums.net

Andrea Borman said:

But if they ask the admin or one of the moderators of the forum, they will do it for them.

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If there would be any legal issues involved for demand to delete an account, they would likely get Pro Boards involved. PB allowing for account deletion is preventing them from having to be involved in legal drama. If you don't want users to have that choice, you need to setup a self-hosted solution.

pclinger said:

Our general thought process, especially when it comes to letting users delete their accounts, is that they should be able to. I think that most people, after they join a site, would like the opportunity to remove their account if they so chose. I know that I highly prefer that option if I want to leave a service / forum / etc.

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Might be a good idea though to include an admin setting to require all member deleted accounts be admin approved. Something admins can use or not for member accounts deleted. What happens to a members posts if they delete their account, do they remain listed as guest posts. I've used ProBoard and think they do from memory.

Another thing mentioned higher up. Read somebody mention no option to limit editing time on posts. I was disappointed also to see that feature missing but as you pointed out there is a mod for that which also limits post deleting time as well. But in all fairness, allowing members to edit posts "forever" is not a good idea, all it takes is for them to be upset one day by something said on your forum and they could run around ruining every single topic they posted in.

Shawn Gossman said:

If there would be any legal issues involved for demand to delete an account, they would likely get Pro Boards involved. PB allowing for account deletion is preventing them from having to be involved in legal drama. If you don't want users to have that choice, you need to setup a self-hosted solution.

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I read somewhere there is a law that says if a members of your site or forum wants their account deleted you have to do it for them. But you don't have to delete their posts unless they contain personal information.

When a member asks to have their account deleted you can first go through the options with them. One is to deactivate their account and change their username to something else and remove all personal information from their profile. So then the account s not connected with them and if they want to come back to the forum they can do.

The other option is to delete their account. All personal information and profile is removed and the posts show up as "Guest" under that username or where the name used to be. But then if the member wanted to come back to the forum they will have to register again and start with 0 posts.

Though most members are happy to have their account deactivated if the username is changed and the profile details are removed. I am not sure if this law I read about only applies to the US as I am in the UK, so maybe here it's different.

Though please note a forum admin must honor a members request to delete his or her account if the member asks them to. But you don't have to delete their posts as long as the don't contain personal information. But if that member is under 18 then that might be different, since that person s a minor.

Another thing mentioned higher up. Read somebody mention no option to limit editing time on posts. I was disappointed also to see that feature missing but as you pointed out there is a mod for that which also limits post deleting time as well. But in all fairness, allowing members to edit posts "forever" is not a good idea, all it takes is for them to be upset one day by something said on your forum and they could run around ruining every single topic they posted in.

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No it's not a god idea not to have time limit for editing. On one forum I post on, the admin has post edit but we cannot delete our posts. But in some sections post edit is disabled so we cannot edit at all. Maybe that's not a bad idea. But the problem is I often make spelling and typo mistakes and don't realize it until after I published my post. But then it's too late to go back and correct because I can'r edit my post. Although the admin will do it for you if you ask them.

In the forums that do have post edit in, we can edit for unlimited time as long as the thread isn't locked, then we can't. I suppose some people could abuse this feature but nobody ever has. As for post delete, that should be disabled, as you could delete you post by mistake, it happens!

Andrea Borman said:

I am not sure if this law I read about only applies to the US as I am in the UK, so maybe here it's different.

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It's the Right To Be Forgotten part of Article 12 of the Directive 95/46/EC. While I prefer not to link to Wiki for most things, it's probably the easiest one in this case - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_be_forgotten#Current_legal_frameworks

Morganna said:

It's the Right To Be Forgotten part of Article 12 of the Directive 95/46/EC. While I prefer not to link to Wiki for most things, it's probably the easiest one in this case - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_be_forgotten#Current_legal_frameworks

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Well it doesn't actually say that it's the law in the US that you have to delete a members account does it. You might try to avoid it if say 20 members all start asking for it. But if a member is kicking up a fuss it's best to do what he wants and do it and be done with it to get him off your back!

Andrea Borman said:

Well it doesn't actually say that it's the law in the US that you have to delete a members account does it. You might try to avoid it if say 20 members all start asking for it. But if a member is kicking up a fuss it's best to do what he wants and do it and be done with it to get him off your back!

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I was quoting you because you referred to being in the UK - which is where I am too. As far as I'm aware, it's not in place for the US.

Andrea Borman said:

Well it doesn't actually say that it's the law in the US that you have to delete a members account does it. You might try to avoid it if say 20 members all start asking for it. But if a member is kicking up a fuss it's best to do what he wants and do it and be done with it to get him off your back!

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I run forums in a self-hosting environment. I usually ignore member account delete requests because its in the rules that I don't have to do it. However, if you have 20 members requesting to be deleted, then something is going wrong on your forum that you need to figure out.

Now if I want to leave a forum, and I've done it many times, I don't request an account delete. I change all my profile information to complete rubbish and then I change the email to an address that doesn't exist which then usually kicks a re-activation email out which goes nowhere since the email is bogus and essentially I lock myself out of the account.

But a forum really have to get on my nerves to make me do that. Bad spam management is usually the case or an inactive forum owner.

Now if I want to leave a forum, and I've done it many times, I don't request an account delete. I change all my profile information to complete rubbish and then I change the email to an address that doesn't exist which then usually kicks a re-activation email out which goes nowhere since the email is bogus and essentially I lock myself out of the account.

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The easy way is to stop posting there. I have been to forums I didn't like I just don't go there again, that's all. The problem is if you delete an account the posts show up as Guest and some admins don't like that.Some forums like V Bulletin and MyBB have the open to delete the members account but the username stays until you change it. But you can change the guest usergroup to anything you want, such a Inactive or Account Closed for example.

Andrea Borman said:

The easy way is to stop posting there. I have been to forums I didn't like I just don't go there again, that's all.

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If I need to leave a forum, its because I'm going to end up getting into it with someone. My method stops me from doing that

Shawn Gossman said:

If I need to leave a forum, its because I'm going to end up getting into it with someone. My method stops me from doing that

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Well one of the admins on my old forum (which is now read only, since I closed it) recently emailed me and one of my other admins to ask to delete her account. He emailed me and I said yes, so we deleted her account, no problem.

She only wanted her account deleted but not the posts, so we did it for her and her posts now show up as guest. But it does not disrupt the threads or the post count, as the only thing that's remove is the members name and profile. If you was on my forum and you asked for your account to be removed, we would do it. I don't see why you have to changed your log in details since that don't remove your username, unless the admin has set it so you can change it, but most admins don't.

Morganna said:

I was quoting you because you referred to being in the UK - which is where I am too. As far as I'm aware, it's not in place for the US.

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Just want to add don't think they have the option for members to delete their own account on XenForo. I have not seen any such setting anyway. So I think only the admin or maybe a moderator can do it, not the member. It's the same with PhpBB.

Andrea Borman said:

Just want to add don't think they have the option for members to delete their own account on XenForo. I have not seen any such setting anyway.

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Addons exist for that purpose.

Addons exist for that purpose.

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I don't think there is one for XenForo.

Andrea Borman said:

I don't think there is one for XenForo.

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Search, don't just declare that there is no such thing:
https://xenforo.com/community/resources/wmtech-user-self-delete.1454/
https://xenforo.com/community/resources/self-delete-by-waindigo.791/

doubt said:

Search, don't just declare that there is no such thing:
https://xenforo.com/community/resources/wmtech-user-self-delete.1454/
https://xenforo.com/community/resources/self-delete-by-waindigo.791/

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Oh I didn't know that. I don't have a XenForo forum myself but I have posted on many other discussion forums that use it. And none of the forums I've been on allow members to delete their accounts.

Andrea Borman said:

And none of the forums I've been on allow members to delete their accounts.

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Most forums don't. But just because it's not the done thing, doesn't mean the ability isn't actually available in one form or other

I installed SMF 2.1 other day and that does let members delete their account via profile option listed under "Actions", with no way to disable it either as admin. Only option you have in Admin CP is a box can be ticked that all deleted members accounts are admin approved.

But from what saw you cannot disable the option entirely to stop members having that ability to do it

Wow, I started this thread back in September and am shocked to see it kept going. Cool for Proboards.

My second forum is now growing and just hit 500 members. I'm taking it to Forums.net tomorrow.
My first forum is now 8 month old and just hit 1300 members and growing.

It's so easy for Admins to get picky on software, themes and plugins. But the most important people, the Members, they are looking for one thing, content.
It's the content on my Forums that are allowing it to grow and dominate for said motorcycles against the "other" similar bike forums.
My competitors are running Vbulletin and Xenforo. I have ten times as many member as them and 20 times the posts.
And, I am doing this with Proboards. Consider this, one night I was having issues (self inflicted) and posted a question or (service ticket). It was like 10PM Saturday night. Within ten minutes I had an answer to my question in my inbox. It was Patrick Clinger, CEO of Proboards. At 10 PM on a Saturday night!
The support that I get from Proboards is outstanding and having them worry about the software and hosting for me free's me up to still work 60 hours at week in my day job, and the rest of my time marketing my forum and billing advertisers.

If you are a programmer, then PB probably isn't for you. But if you are into sales, marketing and welcoming new members ea hour of the day and have limited programming skills like me, Patrick has one hell of a product and very dedicated staff to help you.

Bikenut,

Great to hear that you're moving another forum over to the Forums.net platform. Glad I was able to help you out, even on a Saturday night We pride ourselves on our customer service!

Patrick