# Is it feasible to disable post counts? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 24, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205 "2003-05-24T08:20:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/1 "2003-05-24T08:20:51Z")
Is disabling post counts something that’s an option for the Administrators? As in not displaying them, or maybe not even keeping track of them. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/2 "2003-05-24T09:48:22Z")
Yep. They can be configured to not show. I sometimes think that would be a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/3 "2003-05-24T10:06:40Z")
Take a look at [Fathom.](http://fff.fathom.org/forums/) Opal’s turned off the post counts there. You can still see them by looking at a user’s profile (that’s a picture of a face in profile with a question mark next to it). Fathom also uses vBulletin, despite the rather different appearance of that site. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/4 "2003-05-24T13:45:22Z")
You can’t disable keeping track of them (without modifying the software), but as other posters have said, you can disable displaying them. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/5 "2003-05-24T22:01:18Z")
Okay thanks. Then I have another question. Then is there a reason you display them, or did you just leave it as the default? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/6 "2003-05-24T22:15:30Z")
Just in a spirit of honest inquiry, what would actually be a good reason for _wanting to_ disable post counts? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/7 "2003-05-24T22:59:11Z")
I was just thinking that’s one less thing the server would have to worry about. I also think they don’t serve much of a purpose, but I could be wrong. That’s why I asked if there was a reason we keep them. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/8 "2003-05-24T22:59:56Z")
I find them very convenient. _Under 8,000:_ Feckless Newbie. _Over 9,000:_ Pathetic Nerd. And I’m sure that **Arnold** would agree with me. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/9 "2003-05-24T23:05:43Z")
You mean I’m still a newbie!!?? :eek: Oh, but wait, that make you a nerd! _snort_ ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/10 "2003-05-24T23:26:36Z")
I’d like to see post counts grow exponentially. Maybe post count = posts^2 I’d be over 17.6 million. He’s practically perfect in every way Q.E.D. Look again. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/11 "2003-05-24T23:31:57Z")
Well, if you feel the desire to treat newbies different than you treat nerds, do we need both post counts and registration dates? Wouldn’t that be redundant? ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/12 "2003-05-25T00:14:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Just in a spirit of honest inquiry, what would actually be a good reason for _wanting to_ disable post counts? \*\* Eliminate post parties and post padding, for one. From what I’ve seen, some people use the post counter as a kind of social status indicator. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/13 "2003-05-25T00:32:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*I was just thinking that’s one less thing the server would have to worry about. I also think they don’t serve much of a purpose, but I could be wrong. That’s why I asked if there was a reason we keep them. \*\* That might turn out to be a wash – for one, I tend to access profiles more often on boards where post counts are disabled simply in order to see what post counts are. (It doesn’t do much, but I’m just nosy, I suppose.) I could imagine that on a larger scale, this could lead to the server having more strain on it. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/14 "2003-05-25T00:42:07Z")
It wouldn’t have to be if post counts were not listed in the profile, either. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/15 "2003-05-25T00:43:47Z")
Man, I’m all about incoherent sentences in this thread. What I meant to say was: If post counts were not in users’ profiles, then we wouldn’t have people accessing profiles just to get post counts. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/16 "2003-05-25T03:08:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > Then is there a reason you display them, or did you just leave it as the default? I imagine (though I don’t know for sure) that at the beginning they were left as default. If we got rid of them now, I can guarantee that there would be a bunch of people complaining because they like seeing post counts. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/17 "2003-05-25T03:10:35Z")
Also, I personally find it helpful in the course of my duties to see the post counts under the poster’s name in a thread. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by U.I._ - And I’m sure that Arnold would agree with me. Only temporarily, my dear chap, only temporarily. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/18 "2003-05-25T04:54:39Z")
Okay, well I dislike seeing post counts. However, I don’t think you should decide which features to keep around just based on what people like or dislike, so I’m not complaining. One question, though, and I think it will be my last. Is it possible to set it so that Moderators can see post counts, but everyone else can’t? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/19 "2003-05-25T05:08:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*One question, though, and I think it will be my last. Is it possible to set it so that Moderators can see post counts, but everyone else can’t? \*\* Nearly any feature you want is _possible_, however, to do this in vBulletin would require software modification, I’m almost positive. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205/20 "2003-05-25T05:16:43Z")
Sorry, I meant, is it possible without software modification. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-feasible-to-disable-post-counts/177205.md?page=2)