How do I change my email - or delete my account completely?

Talk about stuff specific to the site -- bugs, suggestions, and of course praise welcome.
bonsaipark
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Joined: October 5th, 2013, 9:48 pm

How do I change my email - or delete my account completely?

Post by bonsaipark »

How do I change my email - or delete my account completely?

Every time my email address changes, I have to update over 80 websites (not to mention contacting people in my address book). Every time it gets harder. Websites using email address in place of a login user name, account info that greys out email address... as MozillaZine is doing.

All I want to do is correct my email addie. How do I do it? Second best is to just delete my account altogether, which -- again -- I don't seem to be able to do.

Thanks.
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tanstaafl
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Joined: July 30th, 2003, 5:06 pm

Re: How do I change my email - or delete my account complete

Post by tanstaafl »

Click on the "user control panel" link in the upper right corner of this web page, the "profile" tab, and then "edit account settings".

Why does your email address change so frequently? See https://www.pobox.com for an example of one possible solution.
clem69
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Re: How do I change my email - or delete my account complete

Post by clem69 »

tanstaafl wrote:Click on the "user control panel" link in the upper right corner of this web page, the "profile" tab, and then "edit account settings".

Why does your email address change so frequently? See https://www.pobox.com for an example of one possible solution.
Thanks. I went back into my account setup today and the email field was enabled. Yesterday it wasn't editable. I probably just wasn't being allowed to do certain things here until the phase of the moon changed, or something. (That kind of nonsense makes it hard when I'm trying to run through so many online accounts and update email addresses, credit cards, and so on. If I can't do it in one shot, I'd rather delete the account and move on. Instead I'm having to wait days for a series of confirmation emails... I have no idea what stage things are even at in 20 or 30 cases.)

The reason I have to do this periodically is because I usually use the free email provided by my ISP, and I'm on my fifth one. I also keep a Gmail account as a backup, but to be honest, I have major philosophical and practical problems with Google and use as little of their stuff as possible.

As for POBox, I don't know who they are, feel uncomfortable assuming they'll be around longer than my latest ISP, and can't see any reason to pay them for what Gmail probably does for free. My email needs are exceedingly simple.
bonsaipark
Posts: 3
Joined: October 5th, 2013, 9:48 pm

Re: How do I change my email - or delete my account complete

Post by bonsaipark »

Incidentally, I had to reply to your answer as a guest because I'm still having trouble logging in. Again, I assume there are things I'm not being allowed to do until h freezes over or something else magical occurs. (It's only been a few minutes, but now I can log in again. This is nuts.)
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tanstaafl
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Re: How do I change my email - or delete my account complete

Post by tanstaafl »

I suggest you think about signing up for a free account with gmx.com, mail.com or zoho.com. They're more reliable than yahoo and outlook, and don't have the quirks/restrictions of aol/aim.

FYI pobox.com was bought last year by fastmail.com, my main email provider. I've paid for an inexpensive "full" account with them for over a decade. They've found a good niche, targeting IMAP power users.
bonsaipark
Posts: 3
Joined: October 5th, 2013, 9:48 pm

Re: How do I change my email - or delete my account complete

Post by bonsaipark »

I wonder if it's all academic.

It's hard to get people to check their email anymore, with texting, tweeting, facebooking, etc, taking up all their energies. I prefer email, but trends have moved on. I can see a day coming when I don't use it.

And half of the websites I've tried to update this weekend won't let you change the registered email anyway. It's your permanent ID with them. That shouldn't be... it's just an address and those change unpredictably.
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tanstaafl
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Joined: July 30th, 2003, 5:06 pm

Re: How do I change my email - or delete my account complete

Post by tanstaafl »

It might depend upon your age and circumstances. None of my friends tweet, text or use facebook though several of them seem joined at the hip to their smartphone. We normally use a phone or email. The only time my email seems to get ignored is when I use "secure mail" provided by a banks web page. I've been dealing with several realtors lately and most automatically assume any phone number is for a cellphone that they can text to. I think people tend to over generalize based on their experiences/preferences.
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