Nomad Z
Well-known
moderator said:
Well, I come from the days where the phrase "Open mouth. Insert foot. Echo internationally." could be seen at the end of many a post. Then, as ordinary people got access to the internet, mailing lists and Usenet came to the fore, followed thereafter by the web and forums.
Only in the latter were users afforded the luxury of being able to readily delete their own posts, rather than have to deal with means that were tortuous at best, if they even existed at all. Before then, you learned to live with the idea that you've posted what you've posted and there's no going back, which in turn led you to consider whether what you've written is really what you want to say, or be seen to be saying.
GeorgeD
-
Changes to the software would change nothing in this particular case. I believe Dave was banned and therefore had no access to his posts. They were deleted by a moderator at Dave's request, which is/was a breach in the TOS:
"By posting your comments or images on RFF, you are giving permanent irrevocable permission for those posts and images to be used at RFF on the RFF site, even if and when you are no longer a RFF member."
"By posting your comments or images on RFF, you are giving permanent irrevocable permission for those posts and images to be used at RFF on the RFF site, even if and when you are no longer a RFF member."
GeorgeD
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This is already the case. Members should reacquaint themselves with the TOS which all members should have read and agreed to before signing on to RFf.
sig
Well-known
Just keep it as it is. Rff seems to work, why change it? In the few cases an important tread is gone, it can be reopened.
TheGodParticle
Well-known
Fully agree.
It is not uncommon to have some disagreement but this should not mean loss of the entire thread and the work of all the contributors.
Anybody who wants his/her twigs and branches to be deleted should have the freedom to do so but without digging out the roots and felling the tree!
Murchu
Well-known
Curious about what posters feel the powers they should have over their posts, in terms of ability to delete or edit them, I thought to create a little poll and see where people stood: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135494
Not true. The TOS also states " The administrators and moderators of RFF have the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread, post or posted image. "
Stephen
zauhar
Veteran
sepiareverb
genius and moron
I think everyone named Dave was banned.
daveleo
what?
MickH
Well-known
Well put, Helen. It's a shame that when someone decides to throw their dummy out of the pram, the whole pram goes with it. Unfortunately spite isn't restricted to children.
Roger made a dignified exit. Others less so.
msbarnes
Well-known
I thought this was a rumor? I lose track in who leaves these days...
Gumby
Veteran
This is EXACTLY why I have become very scarce around this forum.
You last visited: 4 Weeks Ago at 06:56
There is a specific person who was in the habit of starting interesting threads and then deleting his OP, thus deleting the entire thread, when he has the info he sought or if it went even mildly off topic... or providing opinions he didn't like. That is shameful and disrespectful behavior because the threads had information that would be very interesting for others too.
Gumby
Veteran
... but now that I found out that all "Dave's" have been removed I might return more often!
sevo
Fokutorendaburando
It certainly does not. That said, even forums with a technical a no delete/edit policy do sometimes suffer vanishing posts and threads as members leave - cases like the current probably cannot be stopped, as disgruntled members may threaten the site site owners/moderators with going to court if they do not delete all their posts. And the site owners usually have little incentives to risk fighting it out.
But having the site set up so that the initiator can't delete a thread by himself would stop the far more common and frustrating habit of some posters to delete a thread once their question has been answered to their satisfaction, so that the answers are lost for future reference - in these cases, the effort and knowledge generally is all with the responders, and I consider it extremely rude to outright insulting to abuse the forum members as a personal support hotline.
newsgrunt
Well-known
Couldn't agree more with Helen. Don't want it cached forever, don't post. Didn't really mean what you posted, then you shoulda given more thought before hitting 'POST'.
Cold
Established
Great point.
So why does this site allow other people (the thread starter) to control the content of others?
I don't see the problem with disallowing post deletion, but allowing unlimited editing. Editing will create a timestamp, so if someone goes back to change their story after the fact, this will be duly noted. It also prevents a thread author from controlling the content of those who have replied.
j j
Well-known
I'd rather leave the freedom to delete. But deleting long and popular threads in their entirety is a miserable act.
brbo
Well-known
You can control your content even if forum does not permit post deletion. Just edit your post.
He was not banned in the usual sense of the term. This discussion started as the result of a member asking for his posts to be deleted. I finally agreed. The first step to deleting posts per member request is banning, as it makes no sense for them to continue posting after asking for their posts to be deleted. That also deleted threads which he started, which started the discussion.
Stephen