We wanted to give the members a heads-up on what's going on with the promised cleanup of our member database.  This also plays in to our major plans for bigger and better things in 2012.  Since we don't rely on numbers for advertising we are responding to member calls to only keep active members visible on the site.  Here's what we're doing:

Over the last 2 months we've been making adjustments behind the scenes, and we've removed all "unconfirmed" profiles and profiles with no membership plan set.  This has made it simple to check for both on a weekly basis now, which not only keeps the numbers down but also enables us to easily ID and assist members who've registered that week & run in to trouble with their registration.

Next up we looked for members who registered but never logged in after doing their initial setup.  This has become VERY rare since we started our new, easier registration procedures.  All accounts created but never logged in from the time the site began until the 1st of September 2011 have been sent a notice to log in by Friday, October 14th.  If they can't or don't their accounts will be moved to "Inactive" status, which will also remove them from "Search."

Accounts with no location set (again rare since we went to our new system) will follow, and then accounts with no avatars or no images.  This will mainly affect accounts set up in the earlier days of the site that have been sitting vacant.  All accounts moved to "Inactive" will have a year at that status & a final warning before being permanently removed, so those members have plenty of time to address issues.

To go along with the above changes we're going to have updated and revised rules for all profile types posted in the next 2 weeks.  With one exception, these will not be major changes to existing site policies, simply clarifications of what the basic requirements as far as information & images are for each type of profile.  For instance we currently have some image requirements spelled out for photographer & model profiles but not for any other profile types.  This will be addressed and profiles without at least 2 qualifying images will be suspended.  Several new members who've joined with landscapes, stock images, etc have already been warned.

Finally, the one exception deals with the main premise of all this, ensuring that all active accounts are, well, active.  We're adding a requirement to the rules that all accounts log in a minimum of once every 6 months to remain active.  We'll do a monthly check & any account that hasn't logged in for 6 months will receive a message to do so.  If they can't or don't the account will be moved to inactive status (we'll make exceptions, for instance, if someone who's traveling responds & says "I can't for 2 weeks") as per above, so they'll no longer show in search.  After aprox. 1 year on Inactive they get a final notice & then will be removed.

We hope none of you see this as Draconian or arbitrary, we're responding to member demands to keep the membership here ACTIVE.  Since we don't have the pressure of needing big numbers, you've resoundingly told us you'd rather have active members than "dead" accounts, and we're listening.  Keeping things dynamic should dovetail with our plans to bring in many NEW members in the near future.  As always if you have any questions or concerns please express them, & we'll listen.

Thanks!