# Account status question



## Bruno@MT (Mar 30, 2009)

What is the difference between 'account closed' and 'banned user', I have seen both, but it is not clear what the difference is.

I assume that both are involuntary on the part of the user, because there is at least one 'account closed' user with a lifetime supporting emmber banner, so why would he choose to close his account?

And There are a couple of posters whose account status only shows something like 'posts: n/a' and they are shown as guests, but afaik (which may be wrong) you can't post without an account so where do the guests come from?


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## MJS (Mar 30, 2009)

Bruno@MT said:


> What is the difference between 'account closed' and 'banned user', I have seen both, but it is not clear what the difference is.
> 
> I assume that both are involuntary on the part of the user, because there is at least one 'account closed' user with a lifetime supporting emmber banner, so why would he choose to close his account?
> 
> And There are a couple of posters whose account status only shows something like 'posts: n/a' and they are shown as guests, but afaik (which may be wrong) you can't post without an account so where do the guests come from?


 
Account closed=  A member doesnt have time to post anymore, a member is unhappy with something.  Not posting for a certain period of time, which I believe is a year.  Those are example of account closed. Those people usually have the option of requesting their account to be reopened.

Banned= Those folks are no longer welcome on the forum.  Examples of a banned member:  Spammers, folks who repeatedly violate the forum rules, typically a serious violation.  Depends on the situation...sometimes its an immediate ban and sometimes it happens over time.


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## Bruno@MT (Mar 30, 2009)

Thanks!
And the guest status?


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## MJS (Mar 30, 2009)

Bruno@MT said:


> Thanks!
> And the guest status?


 
Bob H. may be better to answer this, but I'll give it a shot anyways.   I've seen what you're talking about before.  Usually I see it on very old threads.  I'm thinking that perhaps the guest or n/a status that you see is the same as account closed, just worded differently.  

Bob is always updating the system, so the account closed could very well be the new way of saying it.


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## Grenadier (Mar 30, 2009)

Bruno@MT said:


> Thanks!
> And the guest status?


 
Guest status is for people who are not registered with the forum itself.  Some forums allow unregistered people to post, whereas most forums do not allow unregistered people to post.  

Sometimes, though, when someone has had their account deleted, if they have any posts that weren't pruned, the posts will show up as having come from a "guest" user.


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## Bob Hubbard (Mar 30, 2009)

Banned users are the ones we kicked out, for a variety of reasons.

Closed accounts are those who have either asked that we close them, or who haven't been around in a while. We hold closed accounts for about a year, in case people come back or change their minds. After that we usually delete them.  

Those showing guest are old accounts that were deleted.  Though the account is gone, the posts remain as we rarely remove any content. We do not allow unregistered posting.


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## Dave Leverich (Mar 30, 2009)

What about 'Restricted Account'? I saw that on a user and was curious as well. Does it just mean the posts have to be approved or such?


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## Bob Hubbard (Mar 30, 2009)

Restricted means their access has been restricted due to infraction points. Once the points expire, they go back to normal.

Account suspended means their access has temporarily been limited to reading only.

Seeking Tranquility is a special banned group reserved for "special" people.


a few may say "In Memory of", which indicated that they have died.


I think that's all of them.


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