Why do monthly signup counts change over time?

Data & reporting
1

I have noticed something odd with our sign-up numbers when looking back at previous months.

For example, I recorded 98 new user sign-ups for May, but when I’ve gone back to check today, it’s now showing as 95.

This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed monthly sign-up figures changing when I look back at older months.

Could someone explain why this happens? Does Discourse recalculate historical sign-up counts based on current active users? Is it linked to account deletions (like spam accounts being removed) or is there something else in the way the data is calculated that I should be aware of?

I just want to make sure I’m explaining this accurately in our reporting.

Thanks!

2

Hello and welcome @Shukrati :slight_smile:

The reports are based on the current data in the database at the time you run one. So, if a user who joined in May was later deleted then they’ll no longer be in the data when you run the report in the future.

You should be able to see those missing 3 users in the staff logs (/admin/logs/staff_action_logs) if you filter for ‘delete user` and have a peek in the ‘show’ button for more details.

For a bit more info, you can see the sql version of the query in this topic: Dashboard Report - Signups

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