# Titles (i.e. Member and Subscriber)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [March 19, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990 "2009-03-19T04:16:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/1 "2009-03-19T04:16:13Z")
I know it is of extremely low priority, but are we ever going to our titles fixed. If I remember correctly:
Guest -\> Member
Member -\> Subscriber
everything else -\> the same
I’m probably being OCD about it, but, it bugs me that someone who has been posting to the boards for over 8 months is still called a “Guest”.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [March 19, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/2 "2009-03-19T05:13:45Z")
I’m going to essay an answer to this, and bear in mind that I do not speak in any way for the boards; I’m guessing what the situation is.
**Jdavis** said that, when the new server and software were being implemented, as one item on his list of things-to-do, fairly low on the list IIRC.
**Ed** has since told us that the Reader has had a bunch of cutbacks, including Jerry’s staff – so he’s keeping the Dope, the Reader, and anything else managed from Chicago in operation singlehandedly. He’s coping with fun stuff like the perennial search malfunction/
And my guess is that, simple as it sounds, modifying automatic titles is something he hasn’t gotten to, doesn’t have time to get to, and willl take care of sometime before the world comes to an end – but don’t hold your breath waiting. (And knowing a very little about VBulletin, I have a hunch that telling the software, “Call everyone meeting these criteria X, except those that meet these criteria, who are Y, and call everyone else Z – except for special tites; don’t change them at all.” is a bit more complex than it sounds.
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/3 "2009-03-20T01:25:33Z")
Just bumping this for comment or correction from somebody who actually knows what’s going on, as opposed to my educated guess.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/4 "2009-03-20T01:26:32Z")
I think the idea of the new titles was abandoned. I’m not sure why and I don’t remember exactly when. Ed did say so once, but I couldn’t find the post in a quick search.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/5 "2009-03-20T04:05:40Z")
@Marley Well, in that case, if you find it, I’d love to know why.
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### Author:  [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2009, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/6 "2009-03-20T04:33:14Z")
The idea was that everyone would be the same. After that announcement was made – considerably after that announcement was made – it was decided that it would be nice to retain some subscriber revenue. (And there was some “you will take my Charter Member from my cold dead hands” sentiment, which may have had something to do with that, I don’t know.)
So Member = Subscriber, which is as it has been for a bit and will continue. Members have more options than Guests but everybody gets to write posts, search, etc.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/7 "2009-03-21T23:40:12Z")
Is that perhaps the reason that posts in CCC and CSR disappear after a certain amount of timefor me, yet I’ve seen other people ressurect them?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/8 "2009-03-21T23:54:46Z")
The posts don’t disappear; they just drop off the display. At the bottom of the forum, there are options for how far back you want to see. You’re probably only noticing this for those two fora, because for most of them, threads will end up on the second or third page before the time cutoff.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/9 "2009-03-21T23:57:05Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#):
>
> And there was some “you will take my Charter Member from my cold dead hands” sentiment, which may have had something to do with that, I don’t know.
When the upgrade got close over the summer, what was proposed (as I remember it) was that Charter Members would stay the same, with the other titles changing as **BigT** described.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/10 "2009-03-22T00:43:12Z")
So why not just make everyone a Charter Member?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/11 "2009-03-22T00:47:13Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> So why not just make everyone a Charter Member?
What for?
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/12 "2009-03-22T01:47:27Z")
Marley’s version is what I remember, as well. That’s why I said that all other titles would stay the same.
And, no, not everyone should become a “Charter Member”. The title only seems to mean something to those that already have it.
ETA: Thanks Chronos for the info. The whole reason I joined when P2P was over was because there were threads that I had read in those sections that I wanted to comment on, but I thought they had disappeared when I finally joined.
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### Author:  [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/13 "2009-03-22T03:21:07Z")
**BigT** ’s got it right, at least from my original understanding.
I have a technical background, although I admit to a limited knowledge of this bulletin board software. I can’t for the life of me understand why this is so difficult.
Any special title (admin, SDSAB, mod, etc, remains the same)
Charter Members should remain so.
Members are changed to Subscribers (which they are and are identified with a special title)
Guests become Members
This can’t be that hard.
However, when it was asked a while back where this was (I didn’t bother looking for a post and it’s not worth the time), the response was “low priority”.
Jerry has a finite amount of time. That’s understood. But the idea that this is a major fix or time consuming task mystifies me.
The posters of this board have become used to things being pushed off, but this one has been pushed off to the point of actually being, for all practical purposes, cancelled.
**Polycarp** , I hear what your are saying about vBullitin software… I know less than you. But a simple global search/replace? If the software is so convoluted to not allow this simple action, vBullitin would cease to exist as a message board software option. vBullitin is everywhere.
Before I call “bullshit”, I’ll make some inquiries about vBullitin. But it sure smells funny.
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### Author:  [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/14 "2009-03-22T03:32:56Z")
There’s no technical hurdle to overcome. As **Tuba** said, the decision was made–after the initial discussion–to keep guests as “Guests”, subscribers as “Members” and “Charter Members” as “Charter Members”.
In this link from January, **Ed** confirms **Stink Fish Pot** ’s [understanding of user titles](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10638049#post10638049).
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### Author:  [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/15 "2009-03-22T06:34:09Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#):
>
> There’s no technical hurdle to overcome. As **Tuba** said, the decision was made–after the initial discussion–to keep guests as “Guests”, subscribers as “Members” and “Charter Members” as “Charter Members”.
>
> In this link from January, **Ed** confirms **Stink Fish Pot** ’s [understanding of user titles](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10638049#post10638049).
**SkipMagic** , thanks for digging that out. I knew I looked around for that stuff in the past, but my patience with the search function isn’t with me at the moment.
It does seem to me, however, that this question keeps popping up, simply because folks either:
1. Remember the initial plan to re-do the poster/member titles and,
2. Forgot the decision to leave things as they are, and/or
3. Never realized the decision was made to take this item off Jerry’s to-do list because they aren’t following things too closely (forgivable, given its initially stated importance), reading stickies or the 5+ page upgrade of changes, OR
4. No matter how many times it’s stated that this is the way it’s going to be, people just can’t wrap their heads around the idea that this board continues to call regular posters “Guests”.
Now, considering everything else, this is peanuts. However, after the amount of time wasted over the past two plus months, where more nonsense was hashed and rehashed about what can and cannot go into the pit, thread titles, etc., perhaps another towel could be thrown in and a bone be tossed to the “Guests”.
Or not. After all, it’s the principle of the thing. :dubious:
A suggestion: Change Guests to Member, without the additional functionality given to paying Members and Charter Members. Everybody’s happy, no more threads like this exist, and free posters don’t get any functionality the paying folks get.
As an addendum, it appears from my limited reading on the subject, that titles can be changes with a post counter. So a “Guest” could become a “Member w/o Privileges” after 100 posts or so.
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### Author:  [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/16 "2009-03-22T06:46:22Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Marley’s version is what I remember, as well. That’s why I said that all other titles would stay the same.
>
> And, no, not everyone should become a “Charter Member”. The title only seems to mean something to those that already have it.
Not all of us. I could care less that I’m a “Charter Member”.
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### Author:  [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/17 "2009-03-22T07:42:25Z")
I (and some others) have been trying for a while now to get a response to this idea, most recently [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10948289&postcount=53):
> [@VarlosZ](#):
>
> 1. Can we please have the post count and location for “Guests” turned back on? Having it turned off reduces the functionality of the board for **everyone else** , not the Guests. Knowing post counts helps us to better understand posts by putting them in context. For example, if I see a post that is uncustomarily hostile or snarky for the SDMB, the first thing I do is look at the post count – if the person in question only has a few hundred posts, then I know that he’s probably just not quite familiar with the mores of the board just yet; on the other hand, if the person has a few \*\*thousand \*\*posts, then chances are the poster either has a personal problem with the target of his snark, or is simply a jerk.
>
> And if, for some reason, TPTB don’t buy the concept of post counts being useful things, then they’re still nice to have as simple curiosities, which alone should be sufficient justification for them in the absence of a really compelling argument for their deactivation.
This seems like an uncontroversially good idea to me. Is it not feasible for some reason? Thanks.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/18 "2009-03-22T20:35:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> What for?
If, as **Tuba** pointed out, people were so adamant about not letting go of the title, why not just say, “okay, you’re all charter members!” Otherwise, the whole thing is ridiculous.
I still don’t get the big deal about “Charter Member”, other than it’s because you resigned up by a certain date. (Originally, I thought it was going to be those who had been here before PtP?)
Seriously, I’m not being nasty, I just never got the big fuss over it. Why can’t we have something more fun, like “Teeming Million” or something like that?
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/19 "2009-03-22T21:12:36Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> If, as **Tuba** pointed out, people were so adamant about not letting go of the title, why not just say, “okay, you’re all charter members!” Otherwise, the whole thing is ridiculous.
What would that have accomplished? People were asked to pay if they wanted the title, so giving it away for free later would have been a slap in the face. I know not everybody cares about the Charter Member name, but some people do, and they were told they could keep it.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/titles-i-e-member-and-subscriber/489990/20 "2009-03-23T00:14:19Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> What would that have accomplished? People were asked to pay if they wanted the title, so giving it away for free later would have been a slap in the face. I know not everybody cares about the Charter Member name, but some people do, and they were told they could keep it.
I know-I personally just feel that it’s silly for people to put so emphasis on a title.
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