# Does the board not remember 14 year old usernames? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 15, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096 "2013-06-15T23:13:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/1 "2013-06-15T23:13:47Z")
In this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=22393](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=22393), I can’t see any user names before post #96. Each post just says Guest. I can figure out who posted some of the things. Someone quotes **Tomndebb** , but the original post was just marked Guest. Was **Tomndebb** a guest back then? Is there a reason 14 year old User names are dropped from posts? (Sorry for bringing light to a 14 year old zombie of the least interesting debate topic in GD) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/2 "2013-06-15T23:17:40Z")
If I recall correctly, the board’s software got updated or changed or something, fairly early on, and any posts that were made before that point now show up with missing usernames and weird dates and other such oddities. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/3 "2013-06-15T23:37:05Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > If I recall correctly, the board’s software got updated or changed or something, fairly early on, and any posts that were made before that point now show up with missing usernames and weird dates and other such oddities. We switched from UBB to vBulletin back around 2000. The earlier post didn’t carry over. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2013, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/4 "2013-06-16T21:20:42Z")
samclem is correct; when the switch was made to the vBulletin software the files did not convert totally. We were lucky we were able to save any of them, really. So anything from that period will render in “archived” form, with missing names, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/5 "2013-06-16T21:23:17Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > samclem is correct; when the switch was made to the vBulletin software the files did not convert totally. > > We were lucky we were able to save any of them, really. > > So anything from that period will render in “archived” form, with missing names, etc. Totally off-topic, but would the user name “Guest” be allowed? 😃 ---
**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:** [June 16, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/6 "2013-06-16T21:34:46Z")
Also off topic, but I was reading an old thread (the one announcing **Persephone’s** death), and a poster had the title “registered user”. Everyone else were guests, charter members, member, banned etc. Found it unusual. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/7 "2013-06-17T00:20:34Z")
That indicates a user that has somehow ended up in the security holding queue – this is what happens with new registrations, they have to receive, open, and trigger the confirmation email before they can get moved into the regular database. This is what also happens when someone has changed their email address or their password, which moves the registration out of the regular database pending disposition of the confirmation email. I would hope anyone in this situation would let us know so we could help them. There’s also thousands of bogus spambot registrations that got that far and no further so it’s hard to tell if it’s a legit registration or not. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/8 "2013-06-17T00:30:32Z")
This was the poster: [Straight Dope Message Board - Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/9 "2013-06-17T00:35:47Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > This was the poster: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=31157](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) How come they have no “friends” tab? And why does it say “Registered User” instead of “Guest”? ---
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/10 "2013-06-17T00:44:56Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > How come they have no “friends” tab? And why does it say “Registered User” instead of “Guest”? See **Tuba’s** post above mine… ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2013, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/11 "2013-06-17T00:49:45Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > See **Tuba’s** post above mine… Oh yeah, oops… Sorry about that. :o ---
**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:** [June 17, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-board-not-remember-14-year-old-usernames/661096/12 "2013-06-17T14:58:17Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > This was the poster: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?u=31157](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) Moved. Thanks.