Reindexing request

[serenity2018]

Forum URL: (private)

Hello,

I deleted my account a few months ago (no issues with the service, just left for personal reasons). I have recently checked on the 'search' section of this website where you can enter in a members username. My username still appears under 'by at least one of the members' section even though my account is deleted.

I checked some other people's usernames who also had deleted their account even longer ago than mine and their usernames still appeared as a search option. I understood that Proboards reindexing removed deleted members usernames from being selected within the search. This has been quite a while now and I just thought I should bring this to your attention as it would seem the automatic reindexing is not working. Hopefully, you can issue a manual reindex and solve this problem.

Thank you

[Craig]

Hi

Just for reference, what was the username?

Craig

[serenity2018]

Hi, whilst I appreciate it may be useful to know the username to check if the re-index has been successful I must decline. Without trying to be difficult I'd rather not share my username for the sake of privacy. You can choose any semi-recently deleted accounts username to see if the problem has been resolved as this issue is widespread across the entire forum. So if it alters for another username, in theory it should correct the others.

Thanks

[Brian]

Hi, serenity2018.

Deleted users being searchable is the intended effect. Their removal following a manual reindex is a byproduct of the fact that the reindex is performed manually, so this isn't a request that we fulfill.

[serenity2018]

Jul 9, 2018 9:59:21 GMT -8 Brian said:

Hi, serenity2018 .

Deleted users being searchable is the intended effect. Their removal following a manual reindex is a byproduct of the fact that the reindex is performed manually, so this isn't a request that we fulfill.

Hi Brian, I'm not sure I fully understand. I thought reindexing removed deleted members from appearing as a search option. This would be the case for plenty of historical accounts. Also from my research I've seen reindexing explained in such a way, that it's just a matter of time before the reindex updates and thus removing the deleted usernames. 

[Brian]

A manual reindex removes them but that's not an intended result of a reindex. Deleted users are searchable to begin with so that their content is still searchable. For example, I can't use the forum cleanup tool in the admin area on a user if they don't appear as a search result.

The only information tied to a username following an account's deletion is the username itself and any posts tied to its numerical ID. Even with all the admin abilities I have available to me on this forum I'm not able to deduce whether or not any deleted accounts that currently show in search results on this forum belong to you without having to resort to extensive scanning of server logs or other server-side things exclusive to employees of the company.

[serenity2018]

Jul 9, 2018 10:13:45 GMT -8 Brian said:

A manual reindex removes them but that's not an intended result of a reindex. Deleted users are searchable to begin with so that their content is still searchable. For example, I can't use the forum cleanup tool in the admin area on a user if they don't appear as a search result.

The only information tied to a username following an account's deletion is the username itself and any posts tied to its numerical ID. Even with all the admin abilities I have available to me on this forum I'm not able to deduce whether or not any deleted accounts that currently show in search results on this forum belong to you without having to resort to extensive scanning of server logs or other server-side things exclusive to employees of the company.

I appreciate that even if the username does not appear under the 'by at least one of the members' it can still be searched on the forum and posts, etc can be found. As you have said, a manual reindex would remove these usernames from that search even though that isn't the desired result of a reindex. I understand that posts etc will still show on this forum under my old username, but what I am primarily concerned with is removing it from the 'by at least one of the members' section. As I said, even if this is successfully removed via a reindex I know it's still possible to find the posts etc via the search. Regardless of this, it's still something I would be grateful if it could be altered. It doesn't just impact me, it also impacts all the other deleted members as of late. Also this is in keeping from my understanding of how Proboards works.

Here are some quotes that lead me to my understanding of reindexing: 

support.proboards.com/post/7027790

support.proboards.com/post/7027760

Irrespective to my request, you'd have to assume that the search in it's current state is incorrect since a reindex does resolve this issue even if it's not its primary function. 

Thanks 

[Brian]

The key part of my post in that thread is this:

Aug 17, 2017 8:00:05 GMT -8 Brian said:

...when your forum's user list is reindexed.

A reindex is only ever performed by our staff and consists of rebuilding the entire index from the ground up. The forum itself is only capable of the initial index of the user and updating that index with new information. It doesn't delete them.

Jul 9, 2018 10:20:55 GMT -8 serenity2018 said:

Irrespective to my request, you'd have to assume that the search in it's current state is incorrect since a reindex does resolve this issue even if it's not its primary function.

Not exactly. A reindex constitutes an intervention on our part that contradicts normal forum functionality. In other words, we're forcibly making the forum perform an action that it's not intended to perform.

[serenity2018]

Jul 9, 2018 10:43:08 GMT -8 Brian said:

The key part of my post in that thread is this:

Aug 17, 2017 8:00:05 GMT -8 Brian said:

...when your forum's user list is reindexed.

A reindex is only ever performed by our staff and consists of rebuilding the entire index from the ground up. The forum itself is only capable of the initial index of the user and updating that index with new information. It doesn't delete them.

Jul 9, 2018 10:20:55 GMT -8 serenity2018 said:

Irrespective to my request, you'd have to assume that the search in it's current state is incorrect since a reindex does resolve this issue even if it's not its primary function.

Not exactly. A reindex constitutes an intervention on our part that contradicts normal forum functionality. In other words, we're forcibly making the forum perform an action that it's not intended to perform.

Thanks for the reply. That's fair enough, but the staff are reindexing forums by request, and I am requesting one for the same reasons. If this was the case, then why do members who have been deleted well over a year not appear under the ''by at least one of the members'' category? Does this mean a manual reindex has happened? Otherwise from what you're saying if you let the forum operate at it's normal functionality these members would still appear. So in theory that suggests there has been a manual reindex at some point since they don't appear. Thanks 

[Michael]

Hi,

It is likely that the index for deleted members drops off at a certain point, or that the index simply errored. We reindex forums on request if there is an issue with the index. There is no issue with the search index of this forum and therefore there is no reason to reindex the forum.

[serenity2018]

Jul 9, 2018 11:19:37 GMT -8 Michael said:

Hi,

It is likely that the index for deleted members drops off at a certain point, or that the index simply errored. We reindex forums on request if there is an issue with the index. There is no issue with the search index of this forum and therefore there is no reason to reindex the forum.

Hi Michael, thanks for the reply. I am beginning to understand that from your perspective there is nothing wrong with the index at this current moment of time. Thank you to yourself and Brian for trying to explain this to me. 

When you say the index for deleted members 'drops off at a certain point' do you mean that after a certain amount of time deleted members do not show up in the search 'by at least one of the members'? This is what would explain why members who have been deleted 1yr+ do not show up? Am I understanding this correctly? 

Also if you say that it may have 'errored', does that mean that these deleted members should not show up and are showing up through error? So is that just a case of waiting and they will eventually be removed? Although without trying to go round in circles, wouldn't that mean if there was an error with the search, then wouldn't that mean that a reindex would be required? Apologies for my misunderstanding 

Thanks 

[Michael]

Hi,

I'm saying that an index may drop off at a particular point, or that the reason they dropped off was in error. Deleted members should be searchable at all times. I will make a note for when we next work on search to ensure that deleted members are never eliminated from search as this is the incorrect behavior.

[serenity2018]

Jul 9, 2018 11:31:53 GMT -8 Michael said:

Hi,

I'm saying that an index may drop off at a particular point, or that the reason they dropped off was in error. Deleted members should be searchable at all times. I will make a note for when we next work on search to ensure that deleted members are never eliminated from search as this is the incorrect behavior.

I see. Well there have been many years worth of members that have slipped through. Although if you ever have an issue with the search and have to reindex presumably these deleted members will disappear anyway. I appreciate you making a note to stop this from stopping in the future. Is there nothing that can be done then in regards to my issue? Thanks 

[Brian]

As Michael mentioned no reindex will be performed on ProBoards Support at this time.

[serenity2018]

Well thanks to the both of you for taking the time to reply and explain things to me, it is appreciated. However, I do find this outcome somewhat unsatisfactory as I've seen numerous requests for a reindex and it's fulfilled without any questions asked or evidence. It's just difficult to accept that nothing can be done when I've seen other requests without even specific complaints being fulfilled. Also this is a relatively new problem as I said before plenty of members have disappeared from this search who haven't been gone that long. Sorry to complain, I just was hoping something could be done. From what I'd seen from other posts and people's requests it seemed quite likely that something could be done to resolve this. Thanks