Topics Just Disappearing . . . Why?

[britechguy]

This has happened on several occasions now, and I hasten to add that I am not referring to topics I've started.

This morning I was responding to a topic on the Wireless Networking forum that I had previously responded to. There was nothing obvious, at least to me, in any of the topic content that violated forum rules in any way. When I went to make another response I got a message to the effect that the topic did not exist, and it didn't, as it appears it had been deleted while I was composing.

Is there some reason that topics are not locked rather than deleted? I realize there are some topics, probably very few and those that could have legal ramifications, that must be deleted. Other topics, though, could very simply be locked.

When they are locked, it would be useful to have a note from the moderator as the last message as to the reason they are locked.

The whole "deleted without warning or explanation" pattern is disconcerting, to say the least, particularly when there is no obvious reason why something would be deleted.

------------------------------------
Addendum: And now the kicker is that it's back: Laptop keeps knocking out the whole apartment wifi connection every few minutes?

While I was giving this feedback it reappeared. Even more peculiar.

 

[13thmonkey]

I think I've got it.

In the background the Mod's approve posts. Some we see several times as each edit will cause it to be resubmitted for approval. Some may only trigger an approval (inexact science) after the edit. Whilst waiting for approval they are not visible to non-mods.

So a post can be written, hidden awaiting approval, approved and made visible, responded to, edited, hidden again awaiting approval, approved and made visible, and so on.

 

[PC Tailor]

Addendum: And now the kicker is that it's back:

Obviously a mod can confirm.

When the OP is modifying the thread content, the thread appears as "non-existent" until they save changes and come out of editing.

This explains why the thread disappeared and then returned, I encounter this all the time.

 

[Colif]

Typical, I go looking for proof and you find solution while I am posting.

That is strange, I cannot see any deleted posts in https://forums.tomshardware.com/forums/wireless-networking.32/ going back to June

I can't see any deleted posts on your profile, all the wireless networking threads you posted in since 23rd are still showing as live

only threads I lock are necro threads (older than 3 months) that have been commented on, so I normally add a comment and close thread, or threads that don't need replies

unless 13th monkey approved it while I was posting, I did look to see if any needed approval

 

[britechguy]

Well, I guess I find the forums software lacking, then.

I've been active on many forums before, and never does a topic disappear because an OP is doing an edit on a topic that already has way more than one message in it.

I've never experienced that before, anywhere, even here. Allowing someone to start a reply, then temporarily ghosting the topic itself if the OP decides to do an edit, is a recipe for utter confusion.

 

[Colif]

it is a spam defense, it alerts us if a post in thread is edited, as often spammers will make an innocent post and then a few weeks/months later come back and edit it, this is our way of seeing the edits. 99% of threads don't go into this state, just some.

 

[britechguy]

If this occurs again, will it "self-correct" if I wait long enough to hit the "Post Reply" button?

It's incredibly frustrating to have composed a reply, get that "topic gone" message, then have it magically reappear.

I understand why it's helpful to moderators with regard to "sneaky spam" to get a notification that something's been edited. I do not understand why it's helpful to anyone to have an active topic go into a "temporarily deleted, for all practical intents and purposes" state, ever.

I realize that you (or anyone at Tom's Hardware) are not responsible for how the actual forums software works. It is still something that's worth complaining about to the folks who are responsible for writing and maintaining it. It makes no freakin' sense.

 

[Colif]

The people who can do something about this do actually read this feedback forum so they might well read this thread.

It appears to be bad timing, if person you are replying to edits thread while you are replying and system does its thing, your reply gets disconnected as thread is hidden from you due to permissions.

I don't know if system clever enough to reattach a reply in this case, Most of time Approvals get done right away, and with about 50 moderators on books, someone is always around to clear the list.

I often unlock them as I often go to answer thread just to find a warning saying

and have to unlock it before I can reply

Look, it happens to us, I have lost replies due to replying to threads that were merged at same time I replied. It is frustrating but it isn't common.

 

[13thmonkey]

odd, I can reply whilst it is unapproved. Not sure about the edit case.