Sort of deleting members ?

[aegersz]

for very good reason (for everybody's benefit) I have to remove a bunch of members (well almost but sort of).

what i want to do is rename them to something of relevance to me as I wish to retain their account data BUT i want posts to reflect their original name.

actually, what i want to do is save their "Track IP" data (collected via a mod that works well), email data and anything that may help me later, should something untoward happen.

(yes, i can save the DB, restore it elsewhere etc. but that's going to get messy AND writing a whole bunch of SQL with my limited skills is going to tie me up too much)

i don't mind modifying the DB but at this stage I don't know what I should so.

if you could discuss this here then i would be most grateful.

[Steve]

*

That info could be sent by pm if requested and needed to help you ... no reason to post it ... especially as I know what your forum is about ...

[aegersz]

Thanks Steve, i hadn't even thought of that ... I will leave it out and maybe you can edit my post accordingly ?

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

Now this might sound tricky, and I think it perhaps is a bit in all honesty.... So a backup might be a good idea before getting started.

But, this could work I think...

1) Rename the existing accounts you wish to archive the user data from ( so that you still know which is which )
2) Create new user accounts with the original names you wish to have the posts showing
3) Install Enhancements to reattribute posts
4) Reattribute the posts from the old accounts in step 1, to the newly created profiles from step 2.
5) Optionally delete the new accounts, leaving the posts untouched making them look like guest posts with the profile names still visible.

[Steve]

Not sure what you want edited aegersz.

[aegersz]

Steve, whatever you wish to but i was specifically refering to your quote.

Aleksi,

i will give that a try and report back.

Thanks for taking the time - i have a few test environments and oodles of backups so fear not.

[Aleksi "Lex" Kilpinen]

I edited to remove the line you referred to in the earlier messages. I hope I understood you both right.

I understand the enhanced reattribute function is a bit tricky to work with, so if you run in to trouble using it let me know and I'll see if I can help.