# Ed, can you restore TubaDiva's profile? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 12, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660 "2022-01-12T20:54:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/21 "2022-01-14T19:04:22Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > No, “security” isn’t a explanation. Yeah, it actually is. Accounts with a lot of privileges are always a security risk. Unneeded ones are a bad idea. Could they have removed the privileges instead of deactivating the account? Probably. But she’s dead, and is never going to need that account again, so it doesn’t seem crazy to deactivate it > [@mordecaiB](#): > > BTW, were you made aware that access to Tuba’s profile was removed when it happened? Or did you just find out now? No, i wasn’t made aware until this thread. And having been made aware, I’m completely indifferent and don’t feel like it’s something i needed to know. I’ve never used profiles for anything except removing spammers. It would never have occurred to me to look up tubadiva’s. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > TubaDiva would happily explain what the problem was, either privately or publicly. Yes, She poured endless time and energy into this board, and we all mourn her death. It was a great loss to the board. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > That’s the whole point of the profiles Well, they have other points, seeing as i use them in other ways… > [@mordecaiB](#): > > it’s still wrong to erase her profile and have Discourse label her name as **invalid**. She deserves better. It’s her account, not her name, that’s invalid. But this is far and away your strongest point. On the other hand, we do have a couple of memorial threads, and i think the board still remembers and respects her. Fwiw, if you are hoping to effect change, i think “pretty please” is more likely to be effective than righteous outrage. Nothing outrageous has happened here. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/22 "2022-01-14T19:25:03Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Yeah, it actually is. Accounts with a lot of privileges are always a security risk. Unneeded ones are a bad idea. Could they have removed the privileges instead of deactivating the account? Probably. But she’s dead, and is never going to need that account again, so it doesn’t seem crazy to deactivate it Then why isn’t Ed’s account a security risk? Why haven’t the deceased mods had their profiles deactivated? > [@puzzlegal](#): > > And having been made aware, I’m completely indifferent and don’t feel like it’s something i needed to know. I’ve never used profiles for anything except removing spammers. It would never have occurred to me to look up tubadiva’s. I’m pretty sure most people here don’t use profiles the way you do. We’re not mods, we don’t do anything to spammers. Sorry that I make use of profiles in a way you don’t feel is useful to you. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Fwiw, if you are hoping to effect change, i think “pretty please” is more likely to be effective than righteous outrage. Nothing outrageous has happened here. I didn’t realize I had to say pretty please to get an answer to a question about the board. I don’t remember that in the rules. If that’s all it takes, here it is. @Ed_Zotti would you pretty please restore Tuba’s profile? And there is no righteous outrage, I’m saying it was a shitty thing to do, and probably totally unnecessary. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/23 "2022-01-14T19:37:05Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > I don’t remember that in the rules. Nobody said it was. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/24 "2022-01-14T19:42:56Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Then why isn’t Ed’s account a security risk? Why haven’t the deceased mods had their profiles deactivated? 1. Ed is alive, and able to quickly address things if someone were to hack his account. 2. Mods don’t have the same level of abilities on the board that an admin account does. > [@mordecaiB](#): > > I’m pretty sure most people here don’t use profiles the way you do. OTOH, are you sure that most people here use profiles the way _you_ do? Jenny’s profile being inaccessible seems to hamper you, because of the way that _you_ use profiles while using the board. Reading this thread, it doesn’t sound like others are running into the same issue. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/25 "2022-01-14T19:43:35Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Just type it out and the search will work. > > [Search results for '@TubaDiva' - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/search?q=@TubaDiva) > [@Max\_S](#): > > add “post:1” and it will only show OPs. > > [Search results for '@TubaDiva post:1 order:latest' - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/search?q=@TubaDiva%20post:1%20order:latest) Am I the only one who noticed those helpful posts? ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/26 "2022-01-14T20:13:05Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > - Ed is alive, and able to quickly address things if someone were to hack his account. > - Mods don’t have the same level of abilities on the board that an admin account does Ed almost never visits the board unless called by the mods, I’m not sure he would even know about it. And that still doesn’t explain why he didn’t just take away her admin standing if that was a significant worry. Mods can do all kinds of stuff like ban people, temporarily hide posts or threads, even cornfield them forever. They could do all kinds of crap. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > OTOH, are you sure that most people here use profiles the way _you_ do? Well yes I think they do. How do you use them? That’s why the profiles are there for posters, like a one stop info spot for everything you need to know about a poster. There’s no other reason for a poster to even look at them if they don’t want some kind of info. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Reading this thread, it doesn’t sound like others are running into the same issue. What you are talking about is workarounds when you don’t have access to the profile, which is a totally different thing. The profile already has all that info and more, all in one spot. Restore the profile and you don’t need to use workarounds. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/27 "2022-01-14T20:16:28Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Well yes I think they do. How do you use them? To be honest, I rarely use them. When I do, it’s mostly to see if the poster has put in any information like their location, and to see when they joined, or the last time that they were active. It’s even more rare for me to use the profiles to find posts. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/28 "2022-01-14T20:27:49Z")
I did some digging, and it turns out that Discourse automatically deactivated TubaDiva’s account after 365 days of no activity. Reactivating the account isn’t really an option, since the software would just keep deactivating it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/29 "2022-01-14T21:00:33Z")
Well done, ecg ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/30 "2022-01-14T21:00:54Z")
So when you use them, you want info on the poster all in one place, no? So you use it exactly like I do. > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I did some digging, and it turns out that Discourse automatically deactivated TubaDiva’s account after 365 days of no activity. > > Reactivating the account isn’t really an option, since the software would just keep deactivating it. Thank you very much! That’s an great explanation, I appreciate it. Does that only happen to admin accounts? I know in some cases you can merge accounts, could you create a **TubaDiva2** or **Tuba\_Diva** account as a guest or member and merge the two accounts? Is that a possible thing or would it be a real hassle? It seems guest accounts last forever. Thanks again for taking the time to look this up. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/31 "2022-01-15T03:46:55Z")
Good god, dude. You’re obsessing over a dead woman. They’ve already told you that Discourse deactivates a profile after a year. You’ve belabored a point, refused to accept an explanation, and now you want them to go back and create a new profile because you can’t be arsed to actually let the issue go, nor can you utilize any workaround that’s been mentioned above? Jesus, dude. Get over yourself already. They shouldn’t have to take any steps to placate you just because you’re unsatisfied with the situation. You’re really being a “Karen” here. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/32 "2022-01-15T04:51:22Z")
We’ve done some more digging. It appears that: 1. As **ecg** has said, Discourse automatically deactivates accounts after 365 degrees of inactivity. 2. However, apparently it only does this for _admin_ accounts that have been inactive for a year, presumably as a security measure. 3. I deduce, therefore, that if I revoke Tuba’s admin status, and re-activate her account, she will no longer be subject to automatic deactivation, and her account will be active forevermore, or anyway for as long as STM keeps paying the Discourse bill. 4. I have now done these things. It should now be possible to access Tuba’s profile. Why anyone would want to do this I don’t fully understand; the profile itself contains nothing of interest, and there are easier ways to search for her posts. But whatever floats your boat. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/33 "2022-01-15T04:59:54Z")
Damn, Ed. I shouldn’t have doubted you. I appreciate your willingness to help. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/34 "2022-01-15T06:39:00Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > They shouldn’t have to take any steps to placate you just because you’re unsatisfied with the situation. Well apparently they thought differently and could fix it without all the workarounds. And the situation was explained as to exactly what happened, which we did not know before. More information about a situation is always better. And as I explained multiple times already, this had nothing to do with me. I had a request, I put it where requests go and it was worked out. I consider it time well spent. > [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > I have now done these things. It should now be possible to access Tuba’s profile. Thanks for doing this **Ed**. It works perfectly. I know you didn’t have to respond to this request at all and I really appreciate you took the time to help out. Thanks again. > [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > the profile itself contains nothing of interest, and there are easier ways to search for her posts Maybe for mods and admins, but a profile is by far the best way for a poster to get info or search for posts. Thanks again to @Ed_Zotti and @engineer_comp_geek for stepping in and doing the extra work. It was beyond your normal duties and I fully appreciate what you’ve done here. If you would like to close the thread, I’m okay with that. You’ve already done more than I thought would be possible when I started it. ---
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/35 "2022-01-15T09:40:43Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Good god, dude. You’re obsessing over a dead woman. They’ve already told you that Discourse deactivates a profile after a year. > > You’ve belabored a point, refused to accept an explanation, and now you want them to go back and create a new profile because you can’t be arsed to actually let the issue go, nor can you utilize any workaround that’s been mentioned above? > > Jesus, dude. Get over yourself already. They shouldn’t have to take any steps to placate you just because you’re unsatisfied with the situation. > > You’re really being a “Karen” here. Never give up! Never surrender! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/36 "2022-01-15T12:44:32Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@ShadowFacts](#): > > **MordecaiB** , does demanding to speak to the manager work for you in real life? > [@Superdude](#): > > You’re really being a “Karen” here. Do not attack other users in ATMB. Treat others with respect. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/37 "2022-01-15T12:44:59Z")
---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2022, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660/38 "2022-01-15T12:45:20Z")
Since this issue is resolved, let’s close this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed-can-you-restore-tubadivas-profile/957660.md?page=1)