Disappearing posts?
 

I've noticed over the last two weeks that posts have been disappearing mysteriously. This seems to have nothing to do with moderation or TOS violations.

For example, a post that I read, quoted and responded to is now gone. See:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...8&postcount=26

I've also been noticing quotes which, when I try to follow the quote link, do not lead to the source post. As in the above example, the quoted portions, at least, do not appear to contain anything objectionable or controversial that might have caused the source post to be deleted.

Also, a few days ago, there was a thread in the AA forum entitled someting like "How many EXP?" to which I responded. That thread seems to have disappeared as well. While it may have been merged, I can't locate it.

Has anyone else noticed this?

posts (and threads for that matter) can be deleted by a mod for any reason-not just a tos violation. it could be that the post(s) in question (and no offense meant :)) could be leaning to opening a "pandora's box" and it was nipped in the bud (i've had that happen to some of mine)

it could also be the the original poster has chosen to delete their post(s) (a lot of that happening now that omni is open to the public) tho i don't know how that affects subsequent quoted posts

as to post counts, i have learned that if a thread is moved to omni, all who posted in that particular thread will have their post count go down by the corresponding number of posts in the "moved thread"

I believe, based on the discussion here, even if you delete your post, if it has been quoted in another post, it will appear in that post.

None of which applies to the post I was referring to. Did you click on the link I provided and then click on the link to the quoted post?

The post that you were referring to above, in an OMNI/PR thread, was deleted by the OP just minutes before you posted.

For whatever reason, he must have decided to retract that statement.

interesting-thanks for the heads up

yes i did and yes i did. i was simply offering thoughts/ideas/suggestions as to what might (n.b. might) have happened (which btw, the second item i mentioned was in fact what did happen as mentioned by Cholula below

I thought only mods could delete a post once it had been submitted. That doesn't usually happen instantly. That is what confused me.

When I make a duplicate post (or one that I want to delete for whatever reason), I've always thought that my only remedy is to edit the post and replace the text with "Deleted" or something similar. Am I wrong? Just curious.

You can also delete your own post and then it disappears to everybody but moderators of that forum. Or maybe the OP can see it as well. You don't have to replace your text with anything.

Try it in a new post in this thread.

Learned something new today!

In OMNI a person can delete his or her post. It is advisable to replace the text first with null text. This will prevent the first line of the deleted text showing up in an OMNI search forever, adjacent to a garbage can icon.

I have tried deleting posts in non-OMNI forums. That also has not worked well. I have found that one could delete and replace text but not the posts themselves. So per Cholula's post, I am going to test it again, in this column. If this post disappears, then Cholula's advice has worked, for this forum at least, and I will go to other forums and test there.

See you on the other side, people! :p

__________________________________________________ ________________________

(ETA: A second or two after saving text above) Test finished: I could delete the above text if I chose, but there are no screen options that say "delete posts." I know that in other non-OMNI forums I have not been able to delete the posts themselves.

???????

__________________________________________________ __________________________

Second try: I logged out, waited a few seconds, logged back in. This was so that the "last edited" line will show up below. Still no way. Will try some of the various icons in the top screen line. I can't find any way to delete this post. I can delete and replace text but, as in the past, cannot delete the non-OMNI post itself. How is this done, Cholula?

OK. I give. How do I delete this? I see the same ol' options listed, none of which is "delete post".

Cholula, did you mean to say that one could delete the contents of the post? That would seem to make more sense than to say that one could delete the post itself. SFAIK, one cannot delete the post itself in a non-OMNI thread--though you are the expert in this matter, and I am just asking.

If deleting contents of a post (as opposed to deleting the post) is what you meant to say, then your comment that one does not have to replace the deleted text with null text might make sense. I am reading your post literally and not understanding it.

Again, for any newbie reading this, the rules are different for OMNI in post deletion. In those, even though OMNI posts can more or less be deleted, one had better delete text and replace it with null text first.

(So long as I am posting anyway, have been wanting to ask: Is FT working on repairing the vBulletin flaw that makes deleted OMNI posts continue to be displayed in an FT search? The flaw has evidently been known to exist for months? TIA for answering.)

ETA: I just remembered, in the above scenario of deleting text in a non-OMNI post and saving the deletion, it is not possible to save a deletion unless there are at least a few characters to save, hence the logic of typing in some null text. So I'm still not understanding any of this.

OK, I'll leave this to the experts as I had Mrs. Cholula post here and in an OMNI thread, delete the verbiage and enter null characters.

But in both cases the posts still show...you just can't read anything.

The post that was referred to in the first post of this thread was physically deleted by a member who is not a moderator. How that happened I don't know.

The post was in OMNi and a poster can delete his own post but in all the other forums this is not possible.

Well, like I said above, I had Mrs. Cholula post in both an OMNI thread and an OMNI/PR thread. She said that I owe her big time for making her enter OMNI/PR but I digress. ;)

She was not able to physically delete her test posts in either forum. They just looked empty as does her post above.

Not sure what's going on but I think the HOM's or IB gurus need to weigh-in on this.

(post # 8, with bolding added for emphasis)


Chulula, in subsequent post # 14 you say that Mrs. Cholula replaced the text with null text. I am assuming, since her deleted post appears empty, that she replaced it with white letters or whatever. But your original statement is per the quoted passage above. Those are two different statements.

Could you clarify? Is it possible, per your first statement, simply to delete everything in a post and then save it as such? I have never been able to do that. I get an error message that says I have to enter at least a certain number of characters in order to save the changes. Or is your first statement incorrect? Not trying to be sarcastic. I am just trying to understand which statement is correct, since you are a moderator, and you would certainly know more than the rest of us. ;) If you have concluded that it is possible to obtain the appearance of a deleted post by using null text, I don't see that as an improvement to just typing "deleted" as text replacement. I am just wondering if I have understood correctly.

Back to OP: You indicate that a post simply disappeared when you tried to follow a link to it. Try this instead. (I am assuming that you know the name of the poster.) Do an FT search (not a Google search) for that username. The missing post should show up, even if deleted. The text might or might not have been replaced with null text, but you should see the missing post, at least the title of the thread and possibly the first line of text, depending on how knowledgeable (or not) the FTer was in deleting the post.

I don't understand the purpose of your suggestion. If I understand the OP correctly, he read and responded to a post that subsequently disappeared. The OP also quoted the post before it vanished, so he still knows exactly what it said. I don't see how doing a search (on google or on FT) will be of any benefit to him as his questions remain unanswered. :confused:

I think you might have inserted issues that were not in my post. I was commenting (or thought that I was) that posts are still in the FT system even if deleted. It was a general comment on how the system works. That was all.

I was not suggesting that the OP use that method to read the post. In fact, the method I outlined would not help to read the post if the text were replaced. Even if text had not been replaced before post deletion, only the first line of the post would still be available.

I thought the OP and others might find it interesting to know that these deleted posts show up. The issues you bring up are not issues that I intended, or believe I implied.

My apologies. I thought when you said "Try this instead" you were offering an alternative to the OP in hopes it was a solution. I regret I misunderstood your intent.

(I wonder where I went wrong? I'm pretty sure I understand the meaning of "this", so it must have been either "try" or "instead" that confused me. :) )

No need to apologize. ;)

You do understand the meaning of "this," "try," and "instead," but combined--and in context, without a reader's adding an overlay of preconceived interpretation--the clause,"try this instead," refers to the ability to locate (any) post.

Had I said, "try this instead, in order to read the post that you indicate that you want to read," you might have had a point.

It doesn't matter. ^ I just wish that OMNI hadn't been opened to Google so that a lot of us are concerned about those issues now and therefore posting about things to be wary of in deleting posts. That issue is a lot more important than an OT discussion of this sort.

;)

Hmm... I guess I don't understand "implied" either.

I understand that many are concerned by those issues, but I hope you understand that I'm still curious about the disappearing posts the OP reported. Since that's quite on topic for this thread, I'm not sure why you consider my question to you extraneous. I simply wanted to know how your recommendation helped answer the OP's question. Of course, that brings us back full circle... :)

I just posted in Omni NFL Season 2008

Cowboys go down.


Then I went to edit the message. I press the delete button. Then at the bottom you have the option "Do not delete message" or "Delete message"

Choose "Delete Message" Then at the bottom hit "Delete this message".

I do not see my post anywhere.

Do an FT search (not a Google search) for your username. Does the post show up with a garbage can icon and the first line of the deleted post?

Would it help if you just let the issue go for a few days until you can approach it more objectively? I answered the question.

Yes it does show up with the garbage can icon just like the disappearing post the OP was talking about.

But it does not show up in the thread. So there is no mystery about the disappearing post but the FTer just deleted it from the thread.

Would it help what?

Good to know. That is exactly what you and Cholula both described up thread. Except now there's the question as to why Mrs. Cholula couldn't delete her OMNI posts. Weird...

Good to know. That is exactly what Cholula described up thread. Except now there's the question as to why Mrs. Cholula couldn't delete her OMNI posts. Still weird...

Am I just really stupid? I see no Delete button.

Must be the same glitch that Mrs. Cholula experienced. When I opt to edit an OMNI or OMNI/PR post, I am given the following options:
SAVE * GO ADVANCED * DELETE * CANCEL

Strange, I just get SAVE * GO ADVANCED * CANCEL

I wonder if it's because I'm one of the new Omni members who did not fulfill the former minimum requirements, which the software may be tied to.

Since it appears that also describes Mrs Cholula's situation, I'd say it's a good guess. But then again, what do I know? That's quite a few words strung together; it may be over my head.

To be more accurate, what you had described was the bug in the system. The search bug hasn't been fixed by IB. They've known this bug for many months. I don't know why IB hasn't fixed it. We've covered this discussion in your other thread on this very issue.

If the IB Beta Search had worked as our FT Classic Search, FTers shouldn't have seen any deleted post with the trash icon attached from any search result. Since the Beta Search is still buggy, every FTer (including mods) is currently seeing deleted posts.

Post deletion appears to be an OMNI-specific feature. As a non-techie FTer, I do know the option to delete a post only exists in OMNI (assuming OMNI/PR as well). It seems there's more features enabled/implemented in OMNI. I haven't seen the "delete" option in any of the other fora that I've posted.

Judging from the example post OP had provided, when an OMNI (/PR) post is deleted by the original poster, it loses the place holder in say thread. Before the search bug is fixed by IB, such deleted post will still be viewable (in the form of first two lines of text with a trashcan to the right) to FTers in search result.

Well, in order to test your hypothesis, I suggest you to experiment this "delete" feature in OMNI after December 11, 2008. You should meet the classic 180/180 threshold by then.

Report back so we'll know how your theory holds up. :)

Personally I've enjoyed the ability to see (at least part of) deleted posts in searches, although I'm sure FT/IB are frantically working to get rid of this capability. It sheds light on what the powers-that-be try to keep a taboo subject, and it has educated me a lot as to what really goes on with moderators/moderation. The result had a notable influence on my talkboard votes this year.

Now you are talking!

Let's see if you'll get the attention from the admin this time, so this bug will really get fixed! :p

BTW, Not every deleted post is taboo-related. Some deleted posts are simply spam, duplicate or padded.

Well, my hypothesis was correct, and your test idea was great. The Delete button magically appeared for me today! :)

Thanks for reporting back. It's interesting (to me anyway) to learn why the delete button was absent. :)

Thanks for the update.

Since we have your confirmed "report", I would say this "elusive delete feature" in OMNI(/PR) appears to be another oversight of IB since OMNI was open up on 10/20/08. They lifted the gate but didn't dig deep enough to "update" all the "hidden" features embedded in Classic OMNI.

Aside from search problems and system being slow (or down), I guess it's just one more bug from current FT, proudly presented to you by IB! :p:D