Obliterate, Eradicate and Amend

[jstar]

A bit dramatic but I mean delete, erase and modify threads and posts.

Many forums I know won't allow changes to posts anymore after 12 hours or so. And only the mods can delete complete threads.

Very recently I noticed again that a complete thread had been deleted. (Which was a shame since there was some useable information in there for future reference.) Also, some people who (with or without flouncing) have decided to leave the forum, have erased their contributions by deleting or emptying posts. And the possibility to alter one's postings is almost indefinite.

This can be very annoying; it allows disgruntled members to sabotage complete threads. And I think the poster is not the owner of a thread once published. We have discussed this before but I never got a clear answer if the software doesn't have an option to avoid this? Perhaps in an upgrade since then?

[El_Goretto]

The software may or may not have an option for this but it is in the hands of wm and paman, the forum owners and administrators.

We (the moderators) do not condone the deletion of threads by users without a valid reason. And whenever we see a thread deleted by a user, we restore it. Only moderators have the power to completely delete a thread/post whereas a user can only delete a thread/post to the extent of "putting it in the trash" (which can be restored by us).

If there is a thread that you think is missing, please let us know and we will try to restore it.

As for altering the deletion/editing rights of user, suggestions are welcomed by the forum's owners, just shout an email to webmaster (AT) livinginindonesiaforum (DOT) org

[fastpitch17]

No thread should be allowed to be deleted if it has a reply from any other member without those that have joined in that threads permission.

[Jaime C]

This is brought up every six months or so. Whole threads certainly shouldn't be able to be deleted, and having to run to mods to try and get it restored really shouldn't have to be necessary.

[lantern]

Wasn't there a recent thread concerning a photo shoot which had the main body of the original post deleted after several contributions from forum members?

[atlantis]

Whole threads certainly shouldn't be able to be deleted, and having to run to mods to try and get it restored really shouldn't have to be necessary.

Absolutely agree. Years ago, I suggested it to wm who, after discussion with Paman, decided that the status quo was a better option. Not being a techie I unfortunately didn't quite understand the motivation behind it at the time and therefore can't report it here in a manner which would make sense.

This issue has raised his (ugly) head a few years ago when we had a senior poster who, for childish reasons imho, decided to remove one by one the content of his 2000+ posts. We've had to prevent him to do so by banning him:

This is a piece of forum history:
http://www.livinginindonesiaforum.or...ons-to-a-forum
http://www.livinginindonesiaforum.or...-Who-owns-them
At the end of the thread featured in the second link, you will find a statement of wm concerning ownership of posts.

"Recently" (October 2014), we've had a user who, following disagreements with others in "religious threads" (again), decided to waste time to edit, remove all the content of his posts and re-submit them. It certainly takes some time since there were 261 posts, posted in various channel. This action has altered the comprehension of a bunch of threads and has deprived the whole community of potentially valuable information.

I get pretty pissed whenever I bump on a thread selfishly deleted by an OP for whatever reason. I think that all mods feel the same way and we usually un-delete and lock it (to bare the possibility for an OP to re-delete it or to anyone to alter any post - once it is locked only those with mod/supmod/admin privilege can edit posts) as soon as we discover it.

Even though it shouldn't have to be necessary, I would like to strongly encourage any user who think that a thread has been deleted to report to us.

[ten dollar]

yeah.........................poster is not the owner of a thread once published.