possible problems with the hosting provider or database

[pompeiisneaks]

All,

I've been getting quite a few people telling me they registered and can't login days later. I know Xtian gets those pretty quickly and there are rarely any there, but the username they say they registered with doesn't exist. I also just had someone say they updated their email address to a new one and usually that locks the user out until restored by myself or Xtian, but instead their user account disappeared.

At this point I'm wondering if there's either some major problem with the hosting providers backend database we're using (which I have no direct access to) or some other major issue going on with them. So basically a warning, it's entirely possible that the db may just die, and/or start deleting users/posts or who knows what else.

~Phil

[xtian]

Phil, your fears are probably caused by my method, not by some bug.

Each morning, I have been reviewing the list of new account requests, normally 10-20 of them, activating a small number of likely candidates, and deleting the rest. This likely deletes some valid requests.

I will begin a new practice today. Instead of deleting the accounts, I will just ignore them, allowing the list to grow, and then when requests are a week or more old, I'll purge them. This will allow us to go back and activate accounts if we hear from the applicant via some other means, like the thread at thegearpage.

[pompeiisneaks]

Ahh gotcha, also if you see accounts that are older and temporarily deactivated, it's because they updated something like their email address... usually I just reactivate the account at that point.
Whew I was starting to think something was really going off on the site.
~Phil

[xtian]

if you see accounts that are older and temporarily deactivated, it's because they updated something like their email address... usually I just reactivate the account at that point.

Yes, have been reactivating these.

[dorrisant]

Thank you for your efforts guys. I appreciate you!

[johnnyreece]

Kudos, indeed! Thanks!