# "Hide my profile" option will be disabled Sunday, 7/14/2024 **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 12, 2024, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071 "2024-07-12T00:32:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [July 12, 2024, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/1 "2024-07-12T00:32:08Z")
**“HIDE MY PROFILE” OPTION WILL BE DISABLED SUNDAY 7/14/2024** We’re going to disable the “Hide My Profile” option on Sunday, 7/14/2024, at roughly 8pm CDT. After this time, you will no longer be able to hide your profile and any optional information you’ve posted in it will be publicly accessible. If your profile is now hidden and you put something in it you don’t want others to see, now’s the time to edit or delete this material. To access your profile, click on: _Your avatar (graphic or initial at upper right) \> Preferences icon (bottom of list) \> Profile_ This calls up a page showing any Profile information you previously entered. Please edit or delete anything you don’t want others to see. All entries on this page are optional and can be changed at any time - you can leave all input fields blank if you want. The reasons for this change and a fuller explanation of what Profiles are may found at: > [@We plan to disable "Hide my profile" option](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-plan-to-disable-hide-my-profile-option/1003903/1): > > After much investigation and internal debate, we’ve tentatively decided to disable the Hide Profile/Presence toggle in the Preferences section that enables users to customize their SDMB experience. However, we’ll leave the Presence feature enabled. Below is an explanation of what that means. We’re going to leave this thread open for comments before we do this in case there’s some downside we’ve overlooked: Your Profile is what pops up when somebody clicks on your user name in a post. It contai… ---
**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:** [July 12, 2024, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/2 "2024-07-12T00:32:46Z")
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**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:** [July 12, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/3 "2024-07-12T00:39:21Z")
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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/4 "2024-07-12T01:56:48Z")
Just checked my profile (I wanted to amend it to reflect my preference AGAINST avatars). Oddly enough, everything I had written about myself twenty-four years ago was missing. I wonder if there’s any way to get it back. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/5 "2024-07-12T02:48:24Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oddly enough, everything I had written about myself twenty-four years ago was missing. I don’t believe the profile info from the old board survived the transfer. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/6 "2024-07-12T04:08:24Z")
Isn’t this the kind of notice that should be emailed out? I think many here don’t check in for months. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/7 "2024-07-12T16:16:54Z")
Speaking of email, do we need to scrub that too? I get enough spam already… ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/8 "2024-07-12T16:47:45Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Isn’t this the kind of notice that should be emailed out? I think many here don’t check in for months. Your question is answered here: > [@We plan to disable "Hide my profile" option](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-plan-to-disable-hide-my-profile-option/1003903/22): > > We’re not aware of any way to send a notice solely to those with hidden profiles, and if we emailed everyone there’s a good chance we’d get flagged as a spammer. We agree it’s unlikely anyone would have gone to the trouble of putting sensitive info in their Profiles and then hiding them. We’re thinking that, if we decide to go ahead with this change - and the reaction seems positive so far - we’ll post a global announcement a few days in advance of implementation to give people a chance to revi… ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/9 "2024-07-12T17:50:08Z")
Yeah okay, that’s understandable. I’m not worried about it. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/10 "2024-07-12T19:11:14Z")
I’d like to ask your opinions on filling out Location Website Profile header User card background ? Speaking for myself I am so excited for the big reveal Sunday 🪄 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/11 "2024-07-12T19:23:40Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Isn’t this the kind of notice that should be emailed out? I think many here don’t check in for months. But people check email? Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/12 "2024-07-12T19:44:56Z")
Is a pull versus a push. That’s the key difference. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/13 "2024-07-12T20:08:13Z")
I’m giving a quick link to this thread while everyone has their profiles open. > [@I Locationed - Have you? A thread with a Community Benefit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-locationed-have-you-a-thread-with-a-community-benefit/925454): > > Hi folks - Just like vBulletin, Discourse has a place for you to enter your location. Which will be displayed if somebody clicks on your avatar. Try mine and look just below the big pink/purple L. Back in vBulletin most of us put something in the location in our profile. Some as a joke, most as legit info. During the conversion to Discourse that info was not transferred. So nearly everybody now has a blank location. And nearly everybody doesn’t know that, and also doesn’t know that they can… ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/14 "2024-07-13T07:07:02Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > Oddly enough, everything I had written about myself twenty-four years ago was missing. > > I don’t believe the profile info from the old board survived the transfer. And yet it was perfectly capable of migrating our reported birthdates over. Which, IIRC, was part of my vBB profile. Huh. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/15 "2024-07-13T16:13:09Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Speaking of email, do we need to scrub that too? I get enough spam already… The email address you put in the spot where it says “never shown to the public” is, in fact, never shown to the public and is not affected by this change. ---
**Author:** ![bodangus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@bodangus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bodangus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/16 "2024-07-13T16:33:19Z")
In a panic I guess, I changed my ‘never shown to the public’ email address to some randomly generated disposable email address. After reading the above ““never shown to the public” is, in fact, never shown to the public and is not affected by this change.” How can I verify that this statement represents what’s really gonna happen? I kinda liked getting reminders from this website in my inbox. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/17 "2024-07-13T17:04:36Z")
It’s true, emails are not part of one’s public profile. You can check any member or mod profile and you will never see their email. Now otoh members may add a website to their public profile. ---
**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:** [July 15, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/18 "2024-07-15T02:02:13Z")
The change is done. If anyone has any issues, please let us know. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2024, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/19 "2024-11-13T22:03:47Z")
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**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/1004071/20 "2024-11-16T21:06:10Z")
Just an FYI here… > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > The change is done. If anyone has any issues, please let us know. > > {Removed this banner 2 days ago. It will no longer appear at the top of every page. > } I just noticed that the banner was removed, but I’d forgotten what it was for. So I found this.