# "Hide My Profile" option will be disabled Sunday, 7/14/2024 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 13, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175 "2023-01-13T15:51:18Z")\ **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:** [January 13, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/1 "2023-01-13T15:51:18Z")
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:** ![CorpusNeptune](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corpusneptune/32/17561_2.png) [@CorpusNeptune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorpusNeptune)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/3 "2023-01-13T16:30:17Z")
Incredible. Glad to see him return. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/4 "2023-01-13T16:34:51Z")
Huzzah! ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/5 "2023-01-13T16:35:12Z")
A suprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/6 "2023-01-13T16:36:19Z")
Hooray! However, inquiring minds want to know: Is Slug back, too? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/7 "2023-01-13T16:39:56Z")
Great news! ---
**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 13, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/8 "2023-01-13T16:40:29Z")
I was about to alert @Beckdawrek to the happy news, but I see that she’s already posting a reply! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/9 "2023-01-13T16:40:33Z")
Yay! I knew the big guy could do it! ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/10 "2023-01-13T16:48:33Z")
Thank goodness! There’s a serious backlog of ignorance that needs to be fought! We’ve been doing our best here on the Board, but it keeps overflowing. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/11 "2023-01-13T16:51:14Z")
BTW @Cecil_Adams , no need to wait for solicitation, on my part. Just send me my personal message ’ over the transom’ , I’ll get it😌. (yeah, you kinda walked right into that one) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/12 "2023-01-13T16:57:01Z")
🎶 _Somewherrrrre over the transom,_ _Questions fly,_ _Cecil answers_ _The what, when, where, who, and why._ 🎶 Seriously, great news! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/13 "2023-01-13T16:58:07Z")
I have contributed to the longtermism thread, and endorse anything that brings in new posters who are rational and can communicate with opinions and facts that do not involve immediate flaming or links to easily falsifiable ‘facts’. Seriously, more people here would be great for a host of reasons! We need people to shake us out of our habits of the same 3-5 posters digging into their own very specific ruts on certain subjects. And more knowledgeable people can give us a wider range of skills to share. And cats. More cats. And snakes and lizards for me, but also more cats. Some dogs I guess are fine too. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/14 "2023-01-13T16:59:51Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > Cecil won’t limit himself to whatever comes in over the transom. (And yes, we know some of you are thinking: what’s a [transom](https://civiconcepts.com/blog/transom-windows)?) I thought “over the transom” was a nautical phrase. I’ve sailed a lot, especially on old wooden boats. The transom is generally the top of the stern of the boat. It is usually a strong solid piece to reinforce the hull. A following wave can be pretty awful on a low boat like the [Tuckerton Garveys](https://navesinkmaritime.org/TuckertonGarvey) and Skipjacks I’ve done most of my sailing on. One of the reasons these are mainly river and bay boats. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/15 "2023-01-13T17:08:25Z")
I have transom windows in my house. Cats love them. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/16 "2023-01-13T17:29:24Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > As a dry run to see if the Master can still endure the grind of producing 1,000 scintillating words _every week_ TBH, I visualize this as more like whether Doctor Manhattan can summon enough interest in the frail, fallible, and largely irrelevant unwashed masses to continue to share his insight and wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/17 "2023-01-13T17:37:30Z")
Great news! Looking forward to reading the new columns. ---
**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 13, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/18 "2023-01-13T17:39:16Z")
About damn time! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/19 "2023-01-13T17:59:17Z")
Well bowl me over with a feather. Welcome back Unca Cece. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/20 "2023-01-13T18:02:27Z")
Supposedly, the German word for transom is vas ist das, because Germans traveling to France would point at the transom and deman to know, “What is that?” That would be an excellent urban legend to as the Master about. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175/21 "2023-01-13T18:04:50Z")
Question came up in ATMB on how to subscribe or otherwise get an email when Cecil posts a new column in that forum? > [@New Cecil Columns](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-cecil-columns/978183): > > Is there any way to subscribe or otherwise get an email when Cecil posts a new column in that forum? I don’t want to miss them when they come out. So I wrote up some simple steps to pretty much do this: * * * * * * Click on the category (forum), [Cecil’s Columns/staff Reports](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/comments-on-cecils-columns-staff-reports/7) Click the bell icon button to the far right, after the New Topic button. I recommend selecting Watching First Post as this will let you know when a new topic is started in this forum. * * * * * * As far as Email notifications, those are all under your profile preferences. However, there is not a lot of fine tuning on these options. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hide-my-profile-option-will-be-disabled-sunday-7-14-2024/978175.md?page=2)