" Delete post: Once deleted the post cannot be recovered"

[ConcertinaChap]

Just noticed this above a post I was editing in the Lounge. If this is a Christmas present from the Powers That Be to the rest of us it's a good one, thank you.

Could I ask what the restrictions, if any, are on the use of this?

Cheers,

CC

[shufflebeat]

And can you do it to other people's?

Nope, apparently not.

( )

[Hugh Robjohns]

No idea why that option has appeared. I thought it was disabled for mortal posters, and only available to mods. I'd ask the team about it but they're all off having a Christmas holiday... We will investigate in the New Year.

Anyway, it does what you think it does... The only restriction is that it will only be available during the editing time period.

H

[ConcertinaChap]

Please, then, treat this as an experimental period. That is, please leave it in place for a couple or three months and you can see whether the forum collapses in shards or whether (as I would expect) no problems arise whatsoever. I think the ability to delete during the editing period represents an elegant compromise between no deletion at all and full deletion at any time and allows second thoughts more readily which can only be a good thing.

Pretty please? And may Santa and the Good Luck Fairy ever bless you and yours.

CC

[Hugh Robjohns]

Not my call to make, but I'll make sure your wishes are brought to the attention of those that make these decisions.

[ConcertinaChap]

Ah, well, many thanks and don't forget to tell them about the Good Luck Fairy

CC

[shufflebeat]

Tea break.

I quite like the idea that a post can be officially "regretted" or even "disowned" by a poster, leaving it in place but flagging up that the poster is now sober or back in their happy place. This would add a whole nother level of nuance to many discussions and avoid many arguments.

(Back to the spuds).

[BJG145]

This feature is a good thing. I would like to see the person who introduced it included in the New Year Honours List (along with their address).

[Forum Admin]

As Hugh says, not sure why this has suddenly appeared but it's always been an available option to anyone who posts.

You can edit your post within a 45-minute period, but you can also delete your post within a 15-minute period (from memory, would have to go elsewhere and check this time setting).

You can not delete anybody else's posts/replies -- that is a power assigned only to Admins and Moderators.

If you need important changes making to a post, report that post to the Mod Team and they'll fix it for you behind the scenes.

Hope this clarifies matters.

Season's Greetings
Ian G

[ConcertinaChap]

As Hugh says, not sure why this has suddenly appeared but it's always been an available option to anyone who posts.

Sorry to contradict but no it hasn't. The x icon that is the delete button (and disappears after a few minutes) was previously always the report button, and I'm very grateful for the change. I just used it. Classic mistake. Wanted to edit a typo in a post, didn't notice I'd clicked the quote button instead of the edit button. Only realised my mistake when I saw the resulting two posts.

As Stanley Unwin would have said: deep joy! I could delete the second post! You are all good people and it's my round.

CC

[Forum Admin]

Well, CC I bow to your better memory. I'll leave things as they are now for a while. I haven't checked all permissions settings for every forum (as it's tedious to do) so some may not have deletion permitted, others may have.

Let's see how things pan out?

HNY
Ian G

[ConcertinaChap]

That sounds grand. Many thanks and I'll be putting in a kind word with the Good Luck Fairy.

Cheers and likewise HNY,

CC

[ConcertinaChap]

Just thought I'd resurrect this thread to say this all seems to be working nicely. Being able to delete posts within a reasonable set of constraints has proved genuinely useful on a couple of occasions without the forum collapsing in shards about us.

Exellent, thanks.

CC

[Hugh Robjohns]