Way back in 2022, we launched the ability for people to become members of The Autopian. It’s been awesome. In retrospect, it’s one of the best things we could have ever done. At the same time, we already had users in the form of commenters, which created a bit of a technical conundrum. The resolution of that conundrum has left us with a long list of accounts that do not seem active. Removing these accounts will probably not impact anyone, but there’s a small chance they will for a tiny percentage of readers.
If you are a member of the site or you signed up for your commenter/member/whatever account after 12/7/2022, then this should not affect you. If you signed up before 12/7/2022 and have not become a member, then there’s a chance you’ll need to re-register your account.
This is more information than most of you need to know, but I like to be transparent about changes being made to the website. We use Memberful as our membership platform, and it nicely ties in with our Content Management System (WordPress). When you create a Memberful account, it creates an account on the CMS side that matches, and when you log in, you’re doing a handshake between the two.
Because we had the CMS before Memberful, we had to migrate all of the existing accounts over to Memberful so they’d play nice together. On 12/7/2022, we did just that.
So that we can more effectively and efficiently communicate with readers who signed up for an account but are not members, we’re going to cleanse the list of anyone from this pre 12/7/2022 period. Many of these are spam accounts, and others are people who signed up to tell us some very important fact about, say, the Matra Rancho, and then vanished.
By removing them from Memberful, it just means that when we want to do an email to non-member commenters, there will be fewer people curious about who the heck we are and sending us to their spam folders. It won’t delete any comments and shouldn’t otherwise change anything on the site.
It’s possible that someone signed up for a commenter account before 12/7/2022 and isn’t a member. If that’s you, it shouldn’t be a big deal. If you get to the page and it says “account not found,” you can just reregister, and it should all work as before, although your comment may be held up in moderation the first time you try.
If anyone experiences any issues, you can always email me, and I’ll work to fix it. I did a spot check of the list of accounts being removed and didn’t find anyone who is actively commenting, but it’s a long list, so there may be a small number of individuals I missed.
Thank you for your understanding!
Top photo: Ford
Oh no, I don’t feel so good, Mr. Hardigee *snaps fingers*
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Does this mean I am going to need to make a third account? I don’t remember dates, but about 2 or 3 years ago I think, I needed to creat a second account, hence the double cheats name.
signed up early, don’t think i’ve commented, but here i am…
I suppose this is as good a place as any to voice a thought..
Yesterday, there was an event that happened in a Ford Motor Company Plant between the President and a Ford employee, that elicited a response by the UAW. Friends across the world have commented on it, so it isn’t localized to the US. Except…no mention of it.
While I have always enjoyed that The Autopian has been a bastion of un-politicized media, a celebration of all things good and positive, this strikes me as a conspicuous absence. A quick search of the archives indicates that there is no hesitation of The Autopian to comment on past events relating to Trump (and going back further, Biden) so it’s not as if there is a complete blanket on politics.
I’d like to think that The Autopian Collective is on the side of basic human rights, dignity and freedom, so a story about an incident in a Ford plant shouldn’t be too incendiary…of course it is 2026, so who knows.
The Ford plant may not be incendiary, but a nearby aluminum recycling facility is very flammable. It caught fire twice.
Why not get a date of last activity and use that to better target the purge?
I can’t find my join date. The oldest mail message I have is Matt’s about account merging issues dated 12/8/22. So I’m guessing I’d be on the purge list?
You’re correct! But I’ve got you covered.
I’m gonna get nuked.
Not if I have anything to do with it.
Will those purged commenter accounts still have names next to them? Because if you get the 9,532th version of Roberto, it helps to be able to trace his current troll comments to AveoMan69420 in 2022 when AveoMan69420’s name is still on the comment and he emails from AveoMan69420@hotmail.com. (And then say, “Hey, you’ve been banned 9,531 times before this! No, we’re not unbanning you.”)
Also, it just looks nicer on the website when there’s a name next to an account, y’know?
I am amazed at the number of people who don’t pony up at least $50 a year for the wonderful content here and become members. I realize you can get about 90% of the good stuff for free, but these people have to eat, and the servers have to be fed electricity etc. I sympathize if you’re some poor college student eating Top Ramen for dinner every night like I did back in the 70s.
I can’t speak for others but when you have less than $1000 in the bank and you are being harassed for 16k in medical debt $50 just hits differently.
I understand and I am sorry for those in that situation. I apologize if my comment came off as insensitive.
The lights are growing dim Otto. I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am.
Lol, you are fine.
Thanks. My Lithuanian astrology calendar says 2026 is the year of Autopian Membership and I plan to follow through.
I’m worried, because the Matra Rancho is exactly the sort of thing I would comment on.
Oh hey, this account dates to April of ’22. Been planning to do the membership thing, but just in case, hi!
I have you covered.
I suspect I’m going to be deleted ????
It looks like you’re in the clear to me.
Excellent ????
Yeesh, I have no idea when I got my account. Can I look that up somewhere?
You got it very early, I’ve got you on the DO NOT DELETE list.
A commenter from the first days of the Autopian. Already been moderated and hopefully regaining full citizenship.
Great job, Matt!
I have checked your passport and you look good to me.
Thank you, Matt! I normally don’t look good to me!
Pretty sure my account is older than 7th of December 2022 and 12th of July 2022.
If I could be put on some whitelist, that would be appreciated.
American dates are a nightmare.
No one else puts the smallest unit in the middle.
I propose a joint meeting to resolve this issue.
The American team will meet on 2/3/26 and the European team can meet a month later on 2/3/26.
I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.
Or on March 32th
Copy that!
Pretty sure I signed up as soon as I could, but haven’t become a paying member yet. I’m still here and posting occasionally!
I would appreciate being on a list (usually a bad thing) but thanks for the warning as well!
White listed!
Thank you Matt!
Completely ignoring the point of the post, I’m going with a C-900 and F-800 in the picture, guessing from 1973.
Bit of a tangent, but since you brought it up, just last week I had a comment held up in moderation even though I am a card-carrying member. There was no profanity or anything untoward in my comment, but there were a couple of links to car pics referenced in my comment. Is this normal if more than one link is included in a comment?
Was it a link to pictures of the 2006 Malibu? Some would consider this profanity.
especially if its a maxx, although im starting to like them if only for how quirky and far and few between they are. the last one i saw was a malibu maxx ss of all things.
It’s not normal, but there are some random words that can sometimes trip a filter. Also, more than three links will put you in temporary moderation. Mercedes is the one who usually handles this, but she was on the road so we got a little backed up.
The fact this site is that old makes me feel ancient. It seems like 3 or 4 years ago I saw David make his first article not over 10.
Did I miss it, or did you tell us how to check that date?
This does seem kind of important
I just searched back through my emails checked the date on the “your account has been activated” email.
(this only works if like me you haven’t cleaned out your inbox 😛 )
You can also go to your account page on memberful to check, but your welcome email is probably the easiest?
Maybe they just haven’t yet seen anything else on the site that’s as important as the Matra Rancho. I’d say more important but then I’d be stuck struggling to come up with an example.
Speaking of the Rancho, whilst it may be sacrilegious to the purists, anyone not following the restoration/conversion/reanimation of Jonny Smith’s Rancho on YouTube being done by Yorkshire Car Restorations needs to do themselves a favour and get on to it.
I’ve invested too much time in this chimera of a build already but hoping its not going to end up all project blinky / the TV series Lost and come together quickly in the end.
/Fuzz checks signup date
5/10/2022
Or is that 10/5/2022?
I know it’s October 5 2022.
The cutoff is 12/7/2022. So I’m either safe by ~3 months, or, as I suspect, vanishing like David Tracy’s rust riddled automobiles.
Hah, oh no. You’re toast! (I will ask them to remove you from the rolls)
I’m 2022-04-05, could I get on that list too? Or I could be patient and just re-register if needed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’ll also add you to the list.
Shields up. Me to, please.
Copy that, making a list.
Me too, please.
Ditto Data, DK date.
Add me!
Done!
As long as you’re making a list, me too please.
Me too. Seems easier to get on this list than it is to re-register. Thx.
I’m guessing that I fall into this category as well, so would add me to the list too, please. Thanks.
You are correct! White-listed!
After publishing an article about my namesake yesterday it would be terrible if I got struck off the role. Please add me.
White listed!
Thank you good sir!
Can I get on said list? I know I am not a heavy commenter but would be nice to keep what I have for when I become a member
Of course, I got you.
Please add me
I signed up early too, although at some point had to resign up because of some technical thing.
So I guess pencil me in on the list?
I don’t see you on the list.
I registered on 2022-06-15, and did a password reset on 2022-07-06 and got a second “thanks for signing up” confirmation at that time. Please do not delete.
Don’t worry, I got you.
Me too pls! According to Gmail I joined on Oct 22.
You’re in the clear!
Oh me too please!
Copy
Thank you!
I have no idea when I signed up. It was early. But I remember my old Windows 10 computer doing a Windows Update and the next time I tried to comment on this site I had to re-log-in and then I was “in the greys” for a couple of months until some awesome person on this site fixed it for me.
So I might have had to sign up a second time already.
You look good to me, I don’t see you on the list.
Thanks!
Please add me too.
Copy that!
OOF. I got a welcome email from Jazel on 2/15/22. (I’m guessing this was a “sign up to know more?”)
PLEASE EXCLUDE.
You’re active, so you’re fine.
Ah ha! You’re the one who got my usual username!
“There can be only one.”
But we don’t need to fight over it. I’m open to all sorts of bribes.
Good of you to make that announcement.
Ironically, it’s precisely because of this sort of kindness toward the non-paying customer, that makes me proud to be a paying one.
Rootwyrm, where did you go?
While at times condescending, I miss his/her contributions.
it was right…their