# About dopers gone: died, inactive, whatever **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 3, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256 "2013-02-03T21:26:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/21 "2013-02-04T18:10:50Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Or trident, as the case may be. I have to keep posting here. You decide. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/22 "2013-02-04T18:28:09Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I have to keep posting here. You decide. So, hot enough for you? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/23 "2013-02-04T19:38:58Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > The very first thing at the top of every posting is the date the posting was made. > > That’s a piece of important information and would answer a lot of the questions people have about the viability of that particular post but people rarely look at it. And the “last posting date” shows in the member’s profile (but not always; why is that?) but that doesn’t tell us someone has died. I suspect most posters who are absent for a long time are NOT dead, but it takes extra research to find out much of anything. If there isn’t a memorial thread, it remains unknown. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/24 "2013-02-04T19:47:30Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > And the “last posting date” shows in the member’s profile (but not always; why is that?) but that doesn’t tell us someone has died. If you set your profile to ‘invisible mode’ it will not show your last activity. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/25 "2013-02-04T19:50:10Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I suspect most posters who are absent for a long time are NOT dead, but it takes extra research to find out much of anything. And you have to have something to base the research on, as well. Not everyone leaves enough clues about their offscreen life to allow Dopers to figure out that “Doper A” was actually “Person X,” and here’s the obituary. It is nice to know when a Doper who goes silent has died, but most of the time there’s just no way to know for sure what has happened to them. They’re just gone. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/26 "2013-02-04T19:52:59Z")
So, could one of the Mods please edit the “In Memoriam” thread to add **Khadaji**. The thread announcing his death is beginning to fall pretty far down the page; it would be a pity to not add his name to the list just because no one remembered to do it before the thread disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/27 "2013-02-04T20:01:00Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > And you have to have something to base the research on, as well. Not everyone leaves enough clues about their offscreen life to allow Dopers to figure out that “Doper A” was actually “Person X,” and here’s the obituary. The first research I thought of was looking for a memorial thread, or the last post, or posts _past_ the last post with the Doper’s name in it, not on it (might be a posthumous mention). > [@](#): > > It is nice to know when a Doper who goes silent has died, but most of the time there’s just no way to know for sure what has happened to them. They’re just gone. Of course. And I don’t expect every poster to include in their will a provision for emailing a mod. But some situations are obvious and not questionable. I certainly don’t want to balloon the modularly duties, but if a very short line could be inserted in a profile like “deceased 2010”, it wouldn’t be necessary but a few times a year. I hope – unless there is a world disaster or the Rapture occurs. Here’s my best suggestion yet. How about replacing “member,” “charter member,” or whatever that field is called with “deceased July 2010”? Only a mod could do that, and it would show for ALL posts of that member without anyone having to call up the profile. Or using the optional field just below (I don’t know what that is called, but I think it could easily be customized by a mod)? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/28 "2013-02-04T20:02:43Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > So, could one of the Mods please edit the “In Memoriam” thread to add **Khadaji**. The thread announcing his death is beginning to fall pretty far down the page; it would be a pity to not add his name to the list just because no one remembered to do it before the thread disappeared. Shouldn’t that thread be a sticky? That would be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/29 "2013-02-05T00:25:41Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > So, could one of the Mods please edit the “In Memoriam” thread to add **Khadaji**. The thread announcing his death is beginning to fall pretty far down the page; it would be a pity to not add his name to the list just because no one remembered to do it before the thread disappeared. I’ll do it soon. I usually wait a week or so and I’ve been a little busy. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/30 "2013-02-05T00:42:26Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > So, could one of the Mods please edit the “In Memoriam” thread to add **Khadaji**. The thread announcing his death is beginning to fall pretty far down the page; it would be a pity to not add his name to the list just because no one remembered to do it before the thread disappeared. Wait- what happened Khadaji? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/31 "2013-02-05T00:46:18Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Wait- what happened Khadaji? [He died on January 25th.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=680331) A friend said he contracted the flu, became dehydrated, and then suffered a heart attack. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/32 "2013-02-05T00:48:59Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [He died on January 25th.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=680331) A friend said he contracted the flu, became dehydrated, and then suffered a heart attack. Oh, so sad. So sad. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/33 "2013-02-05T07:57:36Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Shouldn’t that thread be a sticky? That would be helpful. It’s always been a sticky, as long as we’ve had that thread. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2013, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/34 "2013-02-05T12:02:23Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Shouldn’t that thread be a sticky? That would be helpful. The thread announcing Khadaji’s death is not a sticky. The In memorium thread is a sticky. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/35 "2013-02-06T03:18:38Z")
I vote to make Khadaji’s notice a sticky for at least a while. Maybe a month? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256/36 "2013-02-06T03:38:56Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > The thread announcing Khadaji’s death is not a sticky. The In memorium thread is a sticky. I didn’t find it in ATMB, but it’s a sticky in MPSIMS. Seems more appropriate for ATMB. Whatever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-dopers-gone-died-inactive-whatever/649256.md?page=1)