Privacy

[TheIndianGirl]

What is the difference between the highlighted rows?

 

[TheIndianGirl]

Is there an option where others aren't able to search through my posts or threads?

 

[Magenta]

I think the only way others cannot search your post history is when you become a guest by having your account deleted by request. I suspect this is a prime reason why some people have repeatedly had their account removed, and then returned under a new user name, which, by the way, is not against the rules, unlike being banned. Even when a person is banned, their post history is still searchable.

People can conduct searches in another way than the one you have shown, too. So even if you were to make your profile private or viewable only by friends, people could search out posts you made.

 

[TheIndianGirl]

I think the only way others cannot search your post history is when you become a guest by having your account deleted by request. I suspect this is a prime reason why some people have repeatedly had their account removed, and then returned under a new user name, which, by the way, is not against the rules, unlike being banned. Even when a person is banned, their post history is still searchable.

People can conduct searches in another way than the one you have shown, too. So even if you were to make your profile private or viewable only by friends, people could search out posts you made.

If I delete my account, then I show up as "Guest" and people cannot click on my name? However, it seems like the posts would still be associated with my (old) name.

 

[TheIndianGirl]

Anyone know the difference between "View your details on your profile page" and "View your Identities" (see first post), and how that impacts what the viewer sees? I can't test on my own since I can see my own profile.

 

[Magenta]

If I delete my account, then I show up as "Guest" and people cannot click on my name?
However, it seems like the posts would still be associated with my (old) name.

Your posts remain as a guest, but nobody can do a search for them. They could only find
them accidentally, so to speak, by reading through threads, as they remain where they are.

Really old threads do eventually fall off the back end. That takes years.

 

[Magenta]

If I delete my account, then I show up as "Guest" and people cannot click on my name?

That is correct. By becoming a guest, your profile page and everything associated with it is deleted, and that includes links to your posts and all other history and media. This does not happen when someone is banned because (apparently) their profile is not deleted, though it may be inaccessible. In doing a search of such a (banned) person's post history, it also seems necessary to remember their name in full, as the name field does not automatically give options from which to select after entering in the first few letters of the name as it normally does. You cannot do this for guests. Nothing is found for them; such a name no longer exists in the site data banks. Sometimes in extreme cases, a person is banned and their whole account including every post gets deleted. That happens to some spammers.