Thread deletion requests...

[Mike121]

I notice a lot of folks simply edit their thread title and message asking mods to delete their posts. I'd like to recommend a better way of handling these deletion requests.

If you think a thread should be removed, please simply report the first post in the thread. There's a "Report" link at the bottom of every post. If you report the first post, requesting it be deleted, a moderator will look at it and determine whether it should be removed, or simply closed.

There are a few reasons why a thread might be better off closed, rather than completely removed.

First, some threads, especially those with pictures or details about specific cards, may be useful years from now. Someone may be looking for information about that card, or a picture of that card, and Google will help them find that post. All images uploaded as attachments here can be searched for in Google images. Folks searching for those images could find this site that way.

Second, it could actually hurt our ranking in Google if Google has a page indexed and the next time they crawl that page the title is "Deleted" and all the post content is gone.

Third, when we delete a thread, everyone who posted in that thread will see their post count decrease.

 

[Loyalty32]

Mike - This is an old habit that I am guilty of. I've probably been doing it since day one.

When I no longer need a thread, I always edit the title to say...

Please delete

and then I edit the first post to say...

Dead thread.

Then I unsubscribe. It started out as more of a way for me to close the thread without bothering a Mod to actually close/lock the thread.

I appreciate all your doing around here!

Thanks
Craig

 

[Mike121]

It's not really a big deal, but the cons for deleting a thread far outweigh the pros, in my opinion. The only thing I could see it hurting to leave the thread is that it will continue to get replies even though it's "finished". If it's reported, and then closed, however, that won't be the case either.

Again, it's not a big deal. It's not like we're losing hundreds of users from those threads being gone. I just think if we can get 1 new member out of leaving it, I'd much prefer we do that.

 

[Rhubarb_Runner]

I'm guilty of the same as well.

I think another potential problem for example is that a thread with cards for trade is no longer valid, but it will still come up in searches, won't it? Is it possible to filter out closed threads from searches? Maybe even make that a default?

 

[Mike121]

I think another potential problem for example is that a thread with cards for trade is no longer valid, but it will still come up in searches, won't it? Is it possible to filter out closed threads from searches? Maybe even make that a default?

I don't think locked threads show up in searches, but I'll have to run some tests to verify that. If it is, I'll try to find a way to make that not happen.

It is worth noting, though, that more recent topics are heavier weighted in the search results, so threads lose their "value" over time where search results are concerned.