Right then, lets get this cleared up.
Firstly - there is nothing 'usual' about this forum - I don't camp out here all the time waiting for questions. I have a day job, and a number of side projects that I work on, so if a question doesn't get answered - it is not because it is awkward, it is because I am busy.
Now - to missing content. There are two ways that threads or posts get removed.
- By Moderators. There are a small team of people that have mod rights on this site, some of them don't come around very often, others are more regular. Generally, I ask people to moderate the site with a light touch, only really removing nasty comments, duplicate posts or steering a thread back on course. Generally the mods will hide posts rather than delete them so we can resurrect something that should have lived on. Occasionally they move things - it is worth noting that some sub-forums are not visible to non-members, so it is sometimes good to have a contentious thread in there to stop the car crash rubber-neckers having a look. We also move stuff around that is in the wrong place.
If you want to know who the moderators are - look at the staff list under the 'more' drop down at the top of the page.
- By admins. There are two admins on this site, me and the guys that write the software. They don't care about shooting, and could care even less about you lot… so really, its me. I have all the moderator rights, plus the ability to strike someone with lightning, inject them with ebola or approve their membership. I take my duties very seriously, and only log in to the site when my heroin is topped up, less my craving make me angry. Yes I am pretty autonomous here - but I'm also pretty decent and transparent about what I do.
Note - If a thread gets deleted - it actually goes to a special place that only daddy knows about. I do this to ensure that if someone slanders someone I have a backup of the thread to show a lawyer or the police. Yes - it has happened - I have time and massive profits to deal with solicitors and in one case a policeman. So far, after four years, I have actually deleted 14 threads, which shows how tolerant I am. I have deleted and hidden lots of posts with people being nasty to each other - some of you need to check yourselves before you wreck yourselves.
So - there is no conspiracy here - neither is this 'a sad day' on the forum. I expect the missing content you are seeing is for one of three reasons.
- A bug - the software has recently been upgraded and there have been a few bugs, but I don't think this belongs to that.
- A moderator - again, I don't think its that. In fact, I know it isn't because the system logs every moderator action and I can audit everything. None of the team have been running round deleting/hiding things or doing crazy moves , pins, locks or other wrestling moves.
- An admin - here is the most likely reason. The one thing I can do, is remove a user - this is two stage process. Firstly I ban/close the account of the user, sometimes really quickly if they are an idiot/spammer - usually I leave a cooling off period but then close the account. Then, if they have a lot of content, I ask the site software to remove the posts. I hate doing this, because it takes a long time (imagine having to read 200k posts) and secondly it creates weird 'orphans' where someone who started a thread is removed, and the thread starts with the second post, or someone has quoted person X, but when X leaves - the quote remains but the original post doesn't - the whole thing looks a bit twilight zone and I try and avoid it. However, if someone chooses to leave the forum and they ask nicely, then I will do it… if you are a knob, then I won't. We have had two very prolific members leave for their own reasons, as part of that I have been asked to remove a lot of content.
Hope that helps a bit - by rights, I make very few comments on moderation or admin related questions for very good reason that I cannot be arsed, and don't have the time… but there is no conspiracy, other than the smooth and efficient running of the forum platform.
Feel free to PM me, or leave a comment here if you think I am a twat.
