# Keep a VALID email address! **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 16, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-a-valid-email-address/224703 "2004-01-16T03:04:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-a-valid-email-address/224703/1 "2004-01-16T03:04:39Z")
I am about to go and fix someone’s user privileges again, because this person changed his/her email address to a bogus address. When you change your email address, the system will AUTOMATICALLY send you a confirmation email to the new address. You will be locked out of the system until you respond to that confirmation email. If that email address was invalid, guess what? You just locked yourself out of the SDMB. Then you have to email an administrator and ask to have your privileges restored. SO don’t register with an invalid email address. Don’t change your email to an invalid address. Otherwise, it just inconveniences everyone. Lynn For the Straight Dope ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-a-valid-email-address/224703/3 "2004-01-16T22:20:37Z")
Well, instead of this sticky warning folks about it, **Lynn** could always just decide to ban posters with invalid email addresses for breaking the registration agreement. That’s what I’d do. **Lynn** , can I have your job? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-a-valid-email-address/224703/4 "2004-01-16T23:01:43Z")
> [@The Pie Queen](#): > > This is a personal problem, and only a very few other people will ever be affected … I am not getting this, if it’s a joke. If it’s serious, it’s the most mind-bogglingly stupid thing I’ve ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-a-valid-email-address/224703/5 "2004-01-17T00:14:35Z")
> [@The Pie Queen](#): > > This is a personal problem, and only a very few other people will ever be affected. > Yet you will leave this stupid thread here forever, causing a delay for thousands of viewers. Really? You have the stats for the number of users with invalid email addresses who have emailed the board admins to get their access fixed? How does one obtain that info? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-a-valid-email-address/224703/6 "2004-01-17T10:55:38Z")
Manually restoring privileges is a minor nuisance to me. However, it’s a greater nuisance to the posters who have accidentally locked themselves out, because it’s entirely possible that I will not check my email for up to 12 hours at a time on a normal day. If my internet connection is down, then the person who is locked out is even MORE inconvenienced. Even before we upgraded the vBulletin software, I could count on getting one or two people a week who needed their privileges reset. It’s really quite a minor thing, but it happens on a regular basis. We’ve had announcements about this before, but since we’ve got an active, more important announcement, I figured I’d just make a sticky thread because it DOES happen so often. Theoretically, yeah, people are breaking the user agreement and they could be warned, suspended, or banned. Generally, though, I figure that not being able to access the SDMB when they want to will drive the point home far better than any other action I could take. Since this thread is becoming nothing more than a troll magnet, I’ll just lock it. Lynn ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keep-a-valid-email-address/224703/7 "2005-06-24T19:19:36Z")
I figure the best way to draw attention to this is to post to it again. Please, keep a valid email address in your registration!!