# How to find old SDMB user account? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 22, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693 "2013-03-22T23:15:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/1 "2013-03-22T23:15:25Z")
Several discussions lately have made me wonder if I can recover my original user account here. I created it, made some number of posts, then was one of those chased off when it went pay. I have completely forgotten what the user name might have been and as it would have been 1999-2000 it is likely tied to an email account long gone. How might I find this account again? I’d love to pick up as a '99er instead of as an apparent newb… So fast I made the edit window: **I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT! I’M A '99er - APRIL 1999! WOOT!** Now I have to figure out how to get the accounts merged, like, mebbe, or something… mods? ---
**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:** [March 22, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/2 "2013-03-22T23:35:23Z")
What’s it worth to you? Heh, heh, heh. Seriously, send me an email with all your names, tell me what you want to be and we’ll sort it all out. It won’t cost you … much. Rubbing hands together expectantly ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/3 "2013-03-23T16:44:26Z")
Whee, I’m now officially restored as a 99er. Thanks, TubaDiva! (An early '99er, if I read things right… what is the earliest registration date - March or February?) With reference to the “lapsed Dopers” thread, I may be near the top of those identified, with a gap from October 2003 to November 2012. I suppose there’s a reason for no posts in that gap, but darn if I can come up with one. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/4 "2013-03-23T18:04:28Z")
Hm, I can remember the kerfluffle when it went pay to play as it were, I have no idea how I ended up with a 2004 charter member deal. I know I was participating in the Dope well before 2004. I don’t think I was posting under any other name, other than perhaps Margali? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/5 "2013-03-23T19:06:35Z")
I wouldn’t mind being a charter member, given my duration in the Cecilverse, but as I’m one who chose to opt out instead of pay - although the original pay-or-go-away model was a little brusque - I am probably disqualified from even the most lenient retroaction. Looks like we are fairly close neighbors, **aruvgan** ; are you significantly north of the shoreline? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/6 "2013-03-23T19:50:24Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Hm, I can remember the kerfluffle when it went pay to play as it were, I have no idea how I ended up with a 2004 charter member deal. I know I was participating in the Dope well before 2004. I don’t think I was posting under any other name, other than perhaps Margali? That can’t be it. **Margali** was registered in July 2004, several months after you signed up as **aruvqan** - you never posted as **Margali** and never used the account after that one day. Maybe you can think of some other account names or email addresses you might’ve used? If so, send them to me in a private message. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/7 "2013-03-23T20:04:10Z")
Got any old abandoned usernames from 1999 that I could claim I signed up with, then forgot about, thus backdating my signup to 1999? I’d want to keep my current posting name of course. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/8 "2013-03-23T20:25:44Z")
Tell them you were loverock. ---
**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:** [March 23, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/9 "2013-03-23T20:53:37Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Got any old abandoned usernames from 1999 that I could claim I signed up with, then forgot about, thus backdating my signup to 1999? > > I’d want to keep my current posting name of course. > > 😉 How about **Krispy Original**? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/10 "2013-03-23T21:01:58Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Got any old abandoned usernames from 1999 that I could claim I signed up with, then forgot about, thus backdating my signup to 1999? > > I’d want to keep my current posting name of course. It’s no trouble atall, laddie, if your prior account is under your verifiable real name and tied to email and web domains you still verifiably own. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/11 "2013-03-24T00:04:14Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > It’s no trouble atall, laddie, if your prior account is under your verifiable real name and tied to email and web domains you still verifiably own. Was I right about your old username [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15695695&postcount=74](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15695695&postcount=74) ? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/12 "2013-03-24T01:59:49Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Was I right about your old username [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15695695&postcount=74](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15695695&postcount=74) ? Very possibly. I don’t think I ever saw the query you have linked, or it might have led me to it earlier. I rely on the “new posts” search a lot, and it misses things. ---
**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:** [March 24, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/13 "2013-03-24T04:05:57Z")
What I think is interesting is that in your previous incarnation all of the threads you started\* were in “Comments on Cecil’s Columns” or “Comments on Staff Reports” (two forums which are merged now). But you haven’t started a thread there since. \*I haven’t gone so far as to research your posting habits in other forums. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/14 "2013-03-24T06:26:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Got any old abandoned usernames from 1999 that I could claim I signed up with, then forgot about, thus backdating my signup to 1999? > > I’d want to keep my current posting name of course. > > 😉 I tried that a while ago. The best suggestion I got was to claim to be **handy**. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/15 "2013-03-24T16:51:18Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What I think is interesting is that in your previous incarnation all of the threads you started\* were in “Comments on Cecil’s Columns” or “Comments on Staff Reports” (two forums which are merged now). But you haven’t started a thread there since. Well, it looks as if I only made about 20 posts total in my earlier incarnation; I was probably still spending more time in AFCA, where this board wasn’t well thought of. Most of the reasons to post were to respond to Cecilisms. The more general crack had other outlets in those days. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/16 "2013-03-24T18:32:25Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Very possibly. I don’t think I ever saw the query you have linked, or it might have led me to it earlier. I rely on the “new posts” search a lot, and it misses things. I should have sent you a PM. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/17 "2013-03-24T18:41:04Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I should have sent you a PM. Ah well. Well, I found it, and thanks for the effort anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/18 "2013-03-28T01:26:48Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > . . . I was probably still spending more time in AFCA, where this board wasn’t well thought of. . . . Merciful Heavens! You’re not just a 99er, but an AFCAer! A Cloud Minder walks among us! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/19 "2013-03-28T02:16:32Z")
What’s AFCA? Google (so far) is not helping. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693/20 "2013-03-28T02:35:01Z")
alt.fan.cecil.adams There was also another group that looked down on the message board mfsd (misc.fact(s?).straight.dope) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-find-old-sdmb-user-account/653693.md?page=2)