Threads being deleted

April 6, 2023, 5:09 PM · I think Mark has a good point here. Some threads have grown because participants have put a lot of time and effort in replying and some replies form useful resources for other people.

Perhaps the OPs of threads, who want to delete can delete their name and edit parts of the original entry.

April 6, 2023, 5:16 PM · I didn't notice this happening now, but I believe it just happens to work that the creator of a thread can delete it later. It can be irritating to people posting in the threads, especially since a thread can be about much more than the thread author originally intended, but I might think about it like a practice of letting go.

Our very own V.com sand mandala

April 6, 2023, 5:53 PM · Did someone delete their account? IIRC, when an account is deleted, all threads started by that account also get deleted.

April 6, 2023, 5:57 PM · If someone wants to delete their own posts that is fine. Deleting someone else's posts is another matter.

If replies are not valuable, then we can simply not make them. I of course believe that the replies have value, and thus should not be unilaterally deleted.

April 6, 2023, 6:14 PM · I have no idea of what is involved in running an online forum: I suppose the owner of the forum is mindful of all sorts of issues which participants never think of- legal issues, reputational damage, 'bots' etc. That said I do think that some degree of transparency in relation to moderation is appropriate- who are the moderators for example, or why have certain threads been deleted.

April 6, 2023, 7:52 PM · If it's from an account being deleted, it's really more of an issue with the forum software, which doesn't seem to provide a way to delete an account without deleting all the threads that it started.

April 6, 2023, 8:00 PM · Laurie (the site owner) has maintained a policy by which the posters of threads are allowed to delete their post -- and thereby all replies in the thread.

April 6, 2023, 8:07 PM · I was a moderator for years on a well-known large format photography forum. The only time threads or posts were deleted was if they violated the guidelines. If a member closed an account, it was made dormant; but, their posts and threads themselves remained.

But as Andrew observes, participants put a lot of time constructing posts and threads. To delete them in such a cavalier fashion isn't right.

April 6, 2023, 8:21 PM · Yes, and the issue has come up before. It pays to NOT trust that anything that you value on the net will still be there the next time you go looking for it. Vast amounts of knowledge have disappeared in other situations where channels or venues were closed down or forum owners just got tired and quit.

Edited: April 6, 2023, 9:06 PM · This question has come up before. The originator of a threat can delete it entirely, as Lydia has already pointed out. Also I know that a couple of weeks ago a thread was started that was obvious spam, and Laurie canned the user's account, but I don't think that deletes all their posts. Sometimes someone will start a thread, then they might wonder whether they've jeopardized their child's chances for conservatoire admission or whatever, so they delete their thread. Lots of things can happen.

But there can also be glitches. So if you're concerned that a perfectly reasonable thread seems to have disappeared, just ask Laurie.

I think there was a thread yesterday or earlier today asking about practice advice for a child and this thread has disappeared. I wrote a lengthy response in that thread, but oh well, that's the way it goes.

April 6, 2023, 10:12 PM · The deletion of the spam account was interesting, because the thread was deleted, but for some reason all the replies were transferred to another thread.

April 7, 2023, 8:39 AM · Andrew what you are describing is a bug. I sent a note to Laurie when that happened, and I believe she referred that to her husband Robert, who manages the technology on this site. I would guess that the issue is in the part of the code that assigns a number to a new thread. Something is going awry in a linked list somewhere or such. It's been a long time since I've done any coding. :)

I know there are people here who archive their own posts (or even whole threads in which they have made significant postings) in word documents on their own computers. I understand why someone might want to do that, but I can't be bothered.

Edited: April 7, 2023, 9:05 AM · My take on this would depend on how much time had elapsed since the thread was current. It's clearly very bad manners to delete a conversation that someone might still want to contribute to but I never read (let alone wrote!) a post that was so perceptive and wise as to justify eternal preservation.

April 7, 2023, 10:47 AM · I don't know; (as Steve points out) are that many nuggets of wisdom that don't appear somewhere else on the site or on the internet getting lost?

You can kind of pick up the likelihood of a thread getting deleted by the initial conditions of the post. Posted by a teenager? You better believe that thing is going to get yeeted. Posted by an entirely new account? Higher probability. Some contentious evergreen subject? Poster beware!

April 7, 2023, 12:15 PM · I am with Steve on this one. Every deleted post of mine may remove some egg from my face.

April 8, 2023, 7:03 PM · All joking aside, who does moderate violinist.com. its very pleasant and convivial, as online forums go- but there are occasions where more openness might be in everyone's interest

Edited: April 9, 2023, 2:02 AM · Laurie Niles. Hers is very much a "hands off" style that presumes (and generally gets) responsible behaviour from us contributors.

April 9, 2023, 6:57 AM · Martin scroll to the very bottom and click "About"

May 6, 2023, 9:19 PM · I actually haven’t deleted any threads, so it is people deleting their own.