# My wish regarding all the old members who are not Guests **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 30, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789 "2009-10-30T23:42:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/41 "2009-11-13T14:00:17Z")
It also occurs to me that a member of long standing might be banned for some reason; it seems to be no trouble at all to substitute the word “banned” for “member” in every post that person ever made and yet it is an impossibility to substitute “charter member” for either “member” or “guest.” And there are cases, I believe, in which banned members may be returned to their previous status, dependent on some act of contrition. But this is simply an observation of mine and not a complaint; I would never complain about any rule of the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/42 "2009-11-13T14:15:03Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > \it seems to be no trouble at all to substitute the word “banned” for “member” in every post that person ever made and yet it is an impossibility to substitute “charter member” for either “member” or “guest.” That’s all handled by the board software. Your status is your status, it’s only kept in one place. My memory is vague on this but I recall that there is special code (tied to a separate DB IIRC) that runs though nightly to check memberships and charter memberships and updates your status. Since it’s tied to money, it’s out of the hands of the admins here. They could change your membership status, but it would be changed back by the script if my memory is correct. Yes, there are plenty of technical solutions to the problem but TPTB don’t feel that this issue is worth the effort to change. Frankly (even though I’d be upset if I lost my charter status) neither do I. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/43 "2009-11-13T15:24:43Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > That’s all handled by the board software. Your status is your status, it’s only kept in one place. > > My memory is vague on this but I recall that there is special code (tied to a separate DB IIRC) that runs though nightly to check memberships and charter memberships and updates your status. Since it’s tied to money, it’s out of the hands of the admins here. They could change your membership status, but it would be changed back by the script if my memory is correct. Yes, there are plenty of technical solutions to the problem but TPTB don’t feel that this issue is worth the effort to change. Frankly (even though I’d be upset if I lost my charter status) neither do I. Thanks for the info; it was more informative than "no.’ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/44 "2009-11-13T15:37:14Z")
[Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11210789&postcount=98) is a post in which TubaDiva explained in detail why once a charter membership is gone, it can’t be easily restored. > [@LouisB](#): > > I don’t understand this. I paid the price to be a charter member for a long time and then got careless and missed the window. Why couldn’t we have a new category named “window missing morons” or some such? Or what if we paid double or even triple the old rate? I hate being a guest. I want some recognition. And as for this, I assume that you know that you could pay fifteen bucks (i.e., twice the original rate) and become a regular member. It would be some recognition. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/45 "2009-11-13T15:49:48Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Ok, thought you were saying that **Klondike** shouldn’t be asking for it because it’s not important. No, that would be me saying that. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/46 "2009-11-13T19:07:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11210789&postcount=98) is a post in which TubaDiva explained in detail why once a charter membership is gone, it can’t be easily restored. > > And as for this, I assume that you know that you could pay fifteen bucks (i.e., twice the original rate) and become a regular member. It would be some recognition. I could and I probably will. If my smart mouth doesn’t get me banned before hand. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/47 "2009-11-13T20:33:57Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > No, that would be me saying that. Just so I’m clear then, your logic is this: “I **Lanzy** don’t think it’s important, therefore nobody should think it’s important” ---
**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:** [November 14, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/48 "2009-11-14T21:28:03Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Oh, and a really shit search function for them too. Make them wait ages between searches or something. We’ve already got that. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789/49 "2009-11-14T23:39:21Z")
> [@](#): > > **KlondikeGeoff** was suggesting that we extend that benefit to former members whose membership lapsed (the “old-timers” as he put it). That would result in two tiers of guests; those who are former members and get this information displayed and those who are not. Imagine trying to police that system. Who wants to decide who qualifies as an old-timer? Hence **TubaDiva** ’s response of no to the request. This and other complications involved with the billing system make it a feature that won’t be implemented. > [@TBG](#): > > Yep. Having your info displayed to everyone if you pay is apparently a bigger perk than if they did it so that paying members see everyone’s info and non-paying members don’t see the info. I don’t see the logic in that, but apparently Ed does. > [@Yookeroo](#): > > Right. Being able to display the info isn’t much incentive to pay up. Displaying my info doesn’t really do me much good. I don’t need to see it. The incentive is ass backward. It would be much better to only let paying members see this info. I see the disconnect, and I agree that it would be better to have paying members be able to see everyone’s post count and location. Is this something that the vBulletin software supports? I don’t know. If it doesn’t, it’s probably not going to be changed and this whole discussion is moot. If it does, there’s still a chance it might not be changed, because that’s a decision not for mods and admins to make, but for the management of this board, and I don’t know if it’s a priority for them at this time. However, to answer your questions, yes, I see the disconnect too. I will bring this to the notice of the management. > [@Fetchund](#): > > I thought the major difference was that the “members” don’t see the ads. They don’t bug me, so I don’t pay. I don’t really care how many posts a person has, or how often they pay SDMB. This is one of the primary benefits of being a paid member. > [@Telemark](#): > > That’s all handled by the board software. Your status is your status, it’s only kept in one place. > > My memory is vague on this but I recall that there is special code (tied to a separate DB IIRC) that runs though nightly to check memberships and charter memberships and updates your status. Since it’s tied to money, it’s out of the hands of the admins here. They could change your membership status, but it would be changed back by the script if my memory is correct. Yes, there are plenty of technical solutions to the problem but TPTB don’t feel that this issue is worth the effort to change. Frankly (even though I’d be upset if I lost my charter status) neither do I. The billing side of things is out of our purview as mods and admins, and yes, the member status is tied to billing, which makes it more complicated even for small changes. Things that we have the authority to change, we can consider and make changes to if we agree they are necessary. Things we don’t, we can only recommend up the line. Thank you for your understanding. - **xash** Administrator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-wish-regarding-all-the-old-members-who-are-not-guests/515789.md?page=2)