Ghosts on Physics Forums: Who's Here & Who's Not?

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The discussion revolves around the presence of "ghosts" on Physics Forums, which are believed to be users who have hidden their online status. Participants clarify that these "ghosts" are likely robots, specifically search engine bots, rather than actual users. The current statistics show a total of 910 visitors, including members, guests, and robots. There is curiosity about the purpose of these bots, with speculation that they may be indexing new threads and responses for search engines. Overall, the conversation highlights the confusion between ghost users and bots while providing insights into the site's visitor statistics.
RaulTheUCSCSlug
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The website on the main page on the lower right will tell you the staff that is on, and some of the members, along with that it tells you how many guests and how many "ghosts" are these just random computers that have left Physics Forums open in another tab? (Something I have been guilty of many times!)
 
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I am not 100 % certain, but my wild shot in the dark is that those are members who have chosen to not show their online status.
 
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Ghosts? Do you mean bots?
 
That's what I see:
Total: 910 (members: 57, guests: 771, robots: 82)
I hope these forums are not haunted!
 
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mfb said:
That's what I see:

I hope these forums are not haunted!
Same -- I've never come across the term 'ghost' in the members list.
 
Woah, creepy, I thought it said ghosts, but now it says robots. Maybe it was always robots and I just got mixed up. .Oh well, the world will never know. :rolleyes: :biggrin: but why would anyone ever have a bot on this site? Leeching the data of new threads/responses?
 
Or maybe I am not sure what a "robot" is, anyone care to explain?
 
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Those robots are mainly search engines, looking for new things in the forums.
 
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