# SDMB Renewal Count **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 24, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871 "2005-04-24T16:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/21 "2005-04-27T12:38:29Z")
> [@Ed Zotti](#): > > The FAQ was posted in ATMB several weeks ago. An announcement linking to it is visible in all forums. There’s a notice in red with capital letters and exclamation points on our home page. We sent out an e-mail to all non-renewers last night, and will soon (if we haven’t already) send out a notice to all who registered as guests in the past year telling them about our limited-time lower rate. I’m not sure what else we can do short of going door to door, but I’m sure we’ll get complaints after the deadline passes that nobody TOLD me. Thanks for the update **Ed**. Sounds to me like you pretty much covered all the bases. I am disappointed in the renewal rate. I thought the first year would be less successful than it was, and I expected the second year to be more successful than it is turning out to be. ---
**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/22 "2005-04-27T13:02:28Z")
> [@citybadger](#): > > Make that 4701 as of 3 minutes ago 😃 At least 4702 now. [/QUOTE] Well, as of tomorrow it will be at most 4701… Buh-Bye ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/23 "2005-04-27T21:13:47Z")
> [@Ed Zotti](#): > > As of Tuesday morning, Apr. 26, we had 4,700 subscribers, of whom 2,396 had expiration dates later than 4/28/05. As of now, the remaining 2,304 will see their subscriptions expire Thursday. May I inquire about the notation “Members: 52,450” at the bottom of the main message-board page – what does that mean? If it covers the total history of the board, does it seem a bit misleading to anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/24 "2005-04-27T21:25:34Z")
That’s roughly the total number of people who have ever registered, since member accounts are rarely (ever?) deleted. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/25 "2005-04-27T22:50:54Z")
Berkut is correct. The “member” total on the page is the number of people who have registered for the Straight Dope Message Board since our move to cyberspace. This includes all guests who have ever registered, people who subscribed, and all the trolls, spam artists, and etc. we’ve ever thrown off the board. We rarely delete or remove screen names . . . but even if we did, the system does not keep track of that and the counter does not decrease for every removal. It’s just a counter of registrations. your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/26 "2005-04-30T17:05:24Z")
> [@Ed Zotti](#): > > As of Tuesday morning […] How 'bout now? ---
**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:** [April 30, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/27 "2005-04-30T18:56:17Z")
As of Saturday afternoon April 29, 2:53 EDT, we have 4,747 total subscribers, past and present. 3,141 of these subscribers have expiration dates later than 04/28/2005. This includes renewals and new subscriptions. 1,606 subscriptions have expired and have been reset to “guest” in the system. your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/28 "2005-04-30T20:59:13Z")
> [@](#): > > If it covers the total history of the board, does it seem a bit misleading to anyone else? Yes, it is a bit misleading, but unfortunately, there’s really no good way to define “active member” or the like, without which one can’t produce an accurate count of active members. So the total count of all who have ever signed up is about the best the stats can do. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/29 "2005-05-01T00:22:54Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > 1,606 subscriptions have expired and have been reset to “guest” in the system. Does that include banned accounts? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/30 "2005-05-01T01:03:54Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > Thanks for the update **Ed**. Sounds to me like you pretty much covered all the bases. > > I am disappointed in the renewal rate. I thought the first year would be less successful than it was, and I expected the second year to be more successful than it is turning out to be. Actually, that’s a raw 66%+ renewal rate. That’s what I would expect from the second round of a print publication (magazine or newsletter). For a pay-to-play web site that’s pretty sweet. It’s a number to be proud of. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/31 "2005-05-01T02:33:10Z")
> [@Silver Fire](#): > > Does that include banned accounts? If they were subscribers who got thrown out, yes. They didn’t resubscribe. your humble TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/32 "2005-05-01T04:15:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yes, it is a bit misleading, but unfortunately, there’s really no good way to define “active member” or the like, without which one can’t produce an accurate count of active members. So the total count of all who have ever signed up is about the best the stats can do. Pay-to-post solves this problem: display the number of paying members. Sure the stat has a granularity of a year, but that is a lot better than the current granularity of five years. ---
**Author:** ![Rikster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@Rikster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rikster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/33 "2005-05-01T04:34:03Z")
damn hope I renewed in time, never noticed anything about renewing or recieved any emails about it. Can’t believe its been a year already. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/34 "2005-05-01T22:27:30Z")
True, the number of subscribers might be a better measure, but that misses all of the guests (who provide most of the questions on the Board, if nothing else). Perhaps a better measure would be all those who currently have posting priveliges? That is to say, all members with up-to-date subscriptions and guests still in their trial period. Of course, this is all hypothetical unless the board software has some easy setting to display it. The admins are not going to go to the trouble to re-code that counter on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871/35 "2005-05-06T18:28:10Z")
How many subscribers do you need for this place to make a profit? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-renewal-count/300871.md?page=1)