eytanz
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Could the way post deletion is handled be changed so that deleting the first post in a thread no longer eliminates the thread? It's not very common that this happens, but I feel it's really unfair for all the other posters that spend time and thought writing posts only to discover their posts melted into nothingness because the thread creator didn't like the direction the conversation was going.

I'd prefer if only admins could delete whole threads.

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eytanz
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VIPCOOL wrote:
I don't think this is a very good idea . This is because if the first post of something was deleted, the other posts folowing it would be pointless. Mabye there should be an option to choose whether the whole thread gets deleted or just the post.

This is a risk with all post deletions. If I start a thread, and you respond, and I respond to you, then you delete your post, my second post is pointless. But then it's up to me to decide about it.

And the thing is, it's often not the case. I may make a post about a topic, and you may turn out to have something interesting to say about it that's interesting even if my post is no longer around. And maybe someone else (say, Tahnan) responds to you with a thoughtful answer. Then you and Tahnan get into an interesting discussion that had nothing to do with my original post. Why should I have the power to delete all your discussion?

I don't think giving a choice is a good idea. It's already possible to get rid of the first post in a thread without deleting the thread - just edit it to remove all content. But I don't like it that someone who created a thread can get rid of other people's opinions just because he or she doesn't agree with them. Or because he or she is jealous that other people got into a more interesting discussion that he or she is no longer part of. Or because that person is in a bad mood and wants to delete all the posts they made in this forum (this has happened in the past).

I think no-one other than moderators should have the power to delete anyone else's posts. It's much better to have an occasional confusing thread than to allow people to curtail other people's speech in that way.

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Jatopian
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I like the option bit.
I think this is a titch bit overreactive, eytanz.

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eytanz
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Jatopian wrote:
I like the option bit.
I think this is a titch bit overreactive, eytanz.

Maybe it is, I was a bit annoyed when I wrote it. But the principle holds. I just don't see what good an option would do; you might as well leave things as they are then (which, by the way, is far from terrible, just not the choice I'd like).

This has happened to me several times, some of which were in threads considerably more important to me than the one that prompted this request. Which is partially why I get annoyed at it so much.

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[Last edited by eytanz at 01-21-2008 06:56 PM]

Jutt
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I think Eytanz has a good point here. The fact that deleting the first post deletes the entitre topic is counterintuitive. When something in the Drod game engine is counterintuitive, it's called a bug and the dev team will fix it. Why not do the same for the forum?


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NoahT
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I feel the same way as Eytan. About a couple of weeks ago, someone (I won't say who) started a thread that was almost a copy of another thread they already had posted. Another person posted something constructive, which I tried to mod up, but when I refreshed the page, I found that the topic had been deleted. I must admit that I was annoyed by that, because even though the thread was pointless, the one post was not.

So, my suggestion is this: People should still be allowed to delete their own threads, but it should require confirmation from a moderator, and if said moderator chooses to deny deletion, they can privately tell the topic starter why.

-Noah

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TripleM
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Yeah, I remember when we had about a huge thread with the Battle Chess Royale thing in the forum games, then a few months later the initial post was deleted and we lost everything. Was a bit annoying.

Oneiromancer
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If this were implemented, I would suggest that deletion were only limited when a thread had reached a certain size. Whether it is 5 replies, 10, 25, etc., we need to be able to let people immediately delete topics if they so desire. I know the admins do not want to be called in to delete every single 1-post topic that the author wants deleted.

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coppro
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Oneiromancer wrote:
I know the admins do not want to be called in to delete every single 1-post topic that the author wants deleted.

Lies. All lies.

NoahT
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coppro wrote:

Oneiromancer wrote:
I know the admins do not want to be called in to delete every single 1-post topic that the author wants deleted.

Lies. All lies.

I didn't see any cakes in Oneiromancer's post.

-Noah

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NiroZ
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How about.

If topic has no reply's, they are free to remove it.

If topic has less than 10 reply's, when someone deletes their hold, it vanishes while the admins get around to approving or denying the deletion.

TripleM
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Is it just me, or was one of the funniest threads I've seen in a while (burr's forum games one about pokemon) just deleted? Case in point?

Mattcrampy
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Damn, I missed what happened to it.

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zex20913
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Not just you. The thing was hilarious. I laughed for literally 5 minutes about the thing. Even cut myself while shaving.

Here's what I remember about it:

burrs: Name the Pokemon! emw.

Maurog: Mudkip?

RoboBob3000?: Mudkips like water.

Malorie: This'll be too easy.

Somebody: Something totally unrelated to Pokemon.

burrs: "It was mew."

RoboBob3000: "This thread now belongs in the hall of fame."

Banjooie: Nothing I can say will improve how this thread already is.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

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Beef Row
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zex20913 wrote:

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Here's my best reconstruction. I wonder if anyone guessed after my last post? If you did, step forward and finish the hilarity!


burrs: Name the Pokemon! emw.
Me: mudkip?
Matt: So, I heard you like mudkips? Wait, am I doing this wrong?

Malorie: Isn't this too easy? (some random anime face)

Somebody: Something totally unrelated to Pokemon. (Yeah, I don't remember either)

burrs: "It was mew."

RoboBob3000: "This thread now belongs in the hall of fame."

Banjooie: EDIT: Actually, nothing I can say will improve how this thread already is.

Me again: So, since I guessed the first one,
here are the letters: veeee
what pokemon is it?

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NiroZ
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I think if I was burrs, I would have deleted it too.

RoboBob3000
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My stab at it:

burrs: Unscramble the Pokemon! emw.
BeefRow: mudkip?
Matt: So, I heard you like mudkips? Wait, am I doing this wrong?
Malorie: Isn't this too easy? (some random anime face)
Rabscuttle: Mudkip is vulnerable to water. But not electricity. Allowing me to move directly to Magneton Crescent.
burrs: It was mew.
RoboBob3000: This thread may now be placed in the hall of fame.
Banjooie: EDIT: Actually, nothing I can say will improve how awesome this thread already is.

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[Last edited by RoboBob3000 at 01-25-2008 04:37 AM]

Doom
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Beef Row wrote:

zex20913 wrote:

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Here's my best reconstruction. I wonder if anyone guessed after my last post? If you did, step forward and finish the hilarity!

There were at least two more posts.

Meckmeck GRE guessing some obscure "window pokemon" called "Ve[something]" and that I totally didn't get, and someone else following with "eevee".

Dischorran
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Wow. Rashomon meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Portal, all in a single thread. Bravo!

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Tuttle
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Getting back on topic, another forum I use (where I'm a mod) had a series of problems along these lines, and what we ended up with was a time limit -- the Edit button only shows up on posts that are under 15 minutes old. That's long enough to delete double posts etc, but not long enough to be disruptive.

Maybe preventing user deletions of posts after a while (an hour, 12 hours, a day) would do the trick. That leaves open the option of editing out a post's content where necessary, but it's still obvious that there was a post there being responded to.


Edit: Afterthought, that might make it harder to maintain reference threads if someone starts a discussion at the bottom. Maybe only deletion of threads should be limited, rather than deletion of posts.

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[Last edited by Tuttle at 01-25-2008 01:58 PM]

RoboBob3000
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Maybe instead of removing the post entirely, deleting a post could just replace it with the text "Post deleted."

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Someone Else
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Maybe instead of removing the thread entirely, deleting the first post could just replace it with the text "Post deleted."

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[Last edited by Someone Else at 01-25-2008 04:19 PM]

Syntax
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Someone Else wrote:
Maybe instead of removing the thread entirely, deleting the first post could just replace it with the text "Post deleted."

That sounds like the best idea so far.

coppro
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I know that phpBB3 can actually reassign the topic to the next post in line, as if the first post had never existed and the second was the topic starter.

Don't know how well that would work with tForum, though.

Tahnan
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eytanz wrote:
And maybe someone else (say, Tahnan) responds to you with a thoughtful answer.

Ah, crud, now I feel obligated to say something thoughtful.

The truth is, I've deleted threads I started a few times. I can't recall the exact occasions, but one, I think, was when I started a thread that inadvertantly duplicated another one (bug report, maybe?), making mine just clutter.

So my inclination is to agree that threads should be user-deletable when they have n or fewer replies (where n=5? 2? I'm not sure). But I certainly see Eytanz's point about wanton thread deletion.

Syntax
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Or have a vote. All posts in the thread get PM'd with a "Ok to delete?" with original poster's reason with a yes/no button.

A single "no" vetos the deletion of the thread (though the original post is still deleted). If you don't accept PM's, then tough...

zex20913
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Ugh. I still like "Post was deleted" with admins having the power to obliterate, in case there were no replies.

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Oneiromancer
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Syntax wrote:
Or have a vote. All posts in the thread get PM'd with a "Ok to delete?" with original poster's reason with a yes/no button.

A single "no" vetos the deletion of the thread (though the original post is still deleted). If you don't accept PM's, then tough...

Um...no.

I like zex's idea, if he means that deleted posts become only visible to admins or moderators who can then decide whether or not to truly delete them. Most of the time we won't even have to worry about it, and if we miss threads that other people wish hadn't been deleted, then someone will let us know.

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coppro
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I think he means that a deleted post just means that it's replaced with some text like "Original post has been deleted", and the admins can actually perform the complete deletion of a thread.

Syntax
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coppro wrote:
I think he means that a deleted post just means that it's replaced with some text like "Original post has been deleted", and the admins can actually perform the complete deletion of a thread.

Yes, absolutely