Suggestion: Showing deleted threads

[Platinum Lucario]

Hm... there was something I was actually thinking of, when I was taking a look at the deleted posts in a thread... I was actually thinking to myself, "why not we actually have the remains of the deleted thread visible? But make it so that no one will be able to go into the deleted threads, like how the posts show as deleted, but you don't see the words in the post. And having the reason why the thread was deleted.

I also wonder if threads become deleted after being unapproved by a staff member? Or do they just vanish into thin air like as if they never existed?

If threads become deleted right after being unapproved by a staff member, then it would be a good reason to make the remains of deleted threads visible, so that way the member can see why their thread was unapproved

Otherwise if the system is set for them to just vanish into thin air when unapproved, then I guess this suggestion would be useless.

I wonder what you all think about this suggestion, feel free to discuss about it. ^^

 

[Banjora Marxvile]

If I understand certain aspects of this forum, threads don't get deleted unless they are really bad, as in advertising or anything that is morally wrong (like pornography), most cases the thread are locked and still exist if you search for them.

And if threads aren't approved, then why would we need to see them? Most chances in areas where threads are approved or not, the thread creator can try again and improve it if they ask the moderator, so seeing the deleted thread would serve little purpose in this respect.

 

[Nihilego]

There are several reasons why members aren't supposed to see deleted threads and the reasons they were deleted for. We usually only delete threads if there is something banworthy in them like adbots or pornography, or if it's simply trolling. You don't need to see any of these things and simply "joining to advertise" or whatever, which is a common description seen by staff for deleted threads, isn't of very much use or interest to you.

I believe unapproved threads, from what I've seen, are deleted. There are tons of them and it'd be pretty embarrassing for the thread maker to have their deleted thread and its reason sat there for everyone to see, plus it'd get really messy. If you don't know how to make a thread then you have rules you can read and you have moderators you can contact and that should be all the help you need. I just don't really see why members being able to see where threads have been deleted and why is a very useful or appropriate feature.

For reference, this is what we see when there's a deleted thread:

Spoiler:

if you were to see this, it'd probably be without the username and title and of course without the "View" and "Manage" tools, and the information you'd have isn't very useful or interesting from what I can see. It'd literally be "Thread Deleted by Captain Fabio. Reason: Joining to Advertise".

 

[Platinum Lucario]

If I understand certain aspects of this forum, threads don't get deleted unless they are really bad, as in advertising or anything that is morally wrong (like pornography), most cases the thread are locked and still exist if you search for them.

And if threads aren't approved, then why would we need to see them? Most chances in areas where threads are approved or not, the thread creator can try again and improve it if they ask the moderator, so seeing the deleted thread would serve little purpose in this respect.

Yeah, true. But what I really meant was to only show the deletion notice. Of course we wouldn't want to see the threads that are deleted, that's for sure. xD

Just like how the posts that are deleted have a deletion notice.

Edit:

There are several reasons why members aren't supposed to see deleted threads and the reasons they were deleted for. We usually only delete threads if there is something banworthy in them like adbots or pornography, or if it's simply trolling. You don't need to see any of these things and simply "joining to advertise" or whatever, which is a common description seen by staff for deleted threads, isn't of very much use or interest to you.

I believe unapproved threads, from what I've seen, are deleted. There are tons of them and it'd be pretty embarrassing for the thread maker to have their deleted thread and its reason sat there for everyone to see, plus it'd get really messy. If you don't know how to make a thread then you have rules you can read and you have moderators you can contact and that should be all the help you need. I just don't really see why members being able to see where threads have been deleted and why is a very useful or appropriate feature.

Hm... I see your point, I can understand that would get messy, it's just that when I was looking at the deletion notices on posts... it made me think that we could have deletion notices for threads as well, but yes... I guess it can be rather messy. And anyone can just simply ask one of the mods to ask why their thread hasn't been approved, just as long as they wait 24 hours after their thread has been posted.

 

[Captain Fabio]

I would be against the showing of deleted threads, as it would get very messy and we do delete a fair few due to bots and such, so it would just be pointless threads being shown! :(​

​

 

[droomph]

They do actually show it in the mobile skins, but only with the thread type and thread maker, and on the right with a couple lines with who deleted it and why.

edit:

Spoiler:

I think that should suffice if you really really wanted to, and tbqh I use it quite a lot :P

But no, other than that, nope. I disagree. If you're talking about forums like Emulation or Clubs you could just ask the mods to C+V the contents of your thread/post/etc. for you so you can work with it to make it better. I've seen people do that and the mods are fine with it as far as I can tell.

 

[donavannj]

They do actually show it in the mobile skins, but only with the thread type and thread maker, and on the right with a couple lines with who deleted it and why.

edit:

Spoiler:

I think that should suffice if you really really wanted to, and tbqh I use it quite a lot :P

But no, other than that, nope. I disagree. If you're talking about forums like Emulation or Clubs you could just ask the mods to C+V the contents of your thread/post/etc. for you so you can work with it to make it better. I've seen people do that and the mods are fine with it as far as I can tell.

That's a glitch with the style, sir. You're not supposed to be able.to see that.

 

[Nihilego]

Yeah that's a nasty little bug. Thanks for mentioning that, droomph - it's been passed up for the admins to work on.

 

[droomph]

That's a glitch with the style, sir. You're not supposed to be able.to see that.

I know, but take advantage of what you have, no? :P

and I've mentioned something about it, but all they said was like "d00d wtf you're not supposed to see that" and that was that.

Sooooooooo yeah

edit: and fix the report button too while you're at it :P

Sooooo yeah, I think the best way to find out about a deleted thread is to VM/PM a mod about it.

Now that the mobile skins aren't an option anymore :c

 

[antemortem]

For me it comes down to the simple question, 'do you really need to know why it was deleted?' Threads are deleted for a reason, and if you see that a thread that was in a specific forum is suddenly not there the next day, there were obviously some sort of events that led up to the need for it to be gone. If someone really needs to be in the know, they can just ask a Moderator about it. :x

 

[Oryx]

I'm not really against this suggestion because there's nothing wrong with seeing them, but mods do usually do a lot to reduce the clutter of their section to members and viewing deleted threads in some sections (not mine in particular) would be over-the-top clutter that mods couldn't reduce for members. :(

I don't think anyone would particularly gain from it, but no one would be harmed by it either so I wouldn't be against it being shown.

 

[moon]

About those forums where threads have to be approved before they are showing: in the Roleplay Corner, we long ago implemented a stickied and locked thread that the mod posts in every time she goes over new threads. If a thread is unapproved, a line is written in the update stating briefly what should be changed in order to get it approved.

Of course, we're dealing with RPs and have tons of strange requirements to get threads approved :> but other forums where threads need to be approved also have requirements and reasons, so maybe this "check to see if your thread has been approved" thing could be somehow implemented in other sections as well? That way people wouldn't be left hanging wondering what happened to their thread.

Before that thread, the mod used to PM or even VM people about why their thread got denied. Tedious. But perhaps that's what mods in other sections are already doing? Note that I'm like, never in other sections nowadays so if there already are solutions to this, I wouldn't know xD


And on the particular part of letting deleted threads be viewable: um, no. On a forum this large, that would clutter up things and make the boards look untidy.