Disappearing threads
Not for the first time, I saw a set of three notifications when I logged in this morning: Your Post was Voted Up, then New Post to Forum Thread, then You Were Tagged in a Forum Post, but when I click on any of them I'm told "Item Not Found!" To me this seems to be a remarkably user-hostile design.
If a thread really must be deleted, a better way would be to lock the thread for some time pending deletion, keeping it visible to the people mentioned in the thread but no one else. This would allow the people who were involved with the thread to see any recent changes, including who marked it for deletion, and why they felt they needed to do that.
@john7ux @Anomalia @MelAllyouneedislove
@RarelyCharlie it does sound confusing to get a notification you can't access to! I would think that since the thread could have been deleted for multiple reasons (breaking site guidelines or even per author's request) it might not make sense in all cases to still allow people who was tagged to see it (example: someone posted something they regret after and don't want the people tagged to see it). It do would make sense to me that if the thread was deleted, the notification was also cancelled so there was no confusion! What do you think?
CC: @Laura @Jill7Cups @Anomalia - What do you think? Is this something possible?
I think cancelling the notification makes it worse.
I described the present design as hostile, but you downgraded that to confusing. I do not agree that it's confusing. I think it's hostile to users, as I said before.
I agree with you that the thread could have been deleted for multiple reasons. One of the possible reasons is that someone was triggered by the content of the thread and deleted it in anger. Another possible reason is that someone tried to edit or move the thread and pressed the wrong button in error. Another is that a spammer posted in the thread, and someone removed the entire thread in error, instead of only removing the spam. The multiple possible reasons are precisely why it would be better to design transparency into the system.
By the way, that particular thread was arguably in the wrong forum, but it has not reappeared in the appropriate forum. It asked a reasonable question about a matter that is not controversial. I gave a factual answer and followed up 1-to-1 so there was no need for more discussion in the thread. Before writing this I re-read an archived copy of the thread, to be sure I remember it correctly. I'd say the most likely explanation in this case is that spam caused the notification, and someone deleted the thread in error. However, I really posted here in John's Lab to discuss the general design of the system, not one particular thread.
@MelAllyouneedislove
@RarelyCharlie
I understand your point, but if a thread was correctly deleted, then it would only bring to more hostility if users could still see it. If the thread was removed it was because it broke a rule or it was spam - the whole point of deleting it is so that's not in our forums anymore. So it's part of safety reasons to delete immediatly. If it wasn't correctly deleted or we need to track why a thread was deleted, that's something we can do and we can restore any thread deleted by mistake or see its editing history.
I'm sorry you thought I was downgrading what you said! I think you're making a valid point though to me it usually feels confusing when I get a notification of something that's already been deleted, because I don't know what it said nor why it was deleted - that's why I added that adjective. But I would love to hear what @john7ux has to say about it too!
@RarelyCharlie
I had something similar happen. i posted a thread, got a reply, and as I was in the middle of responding to the reply, a page poped up and said that my post had been deleted! I asked about it and was told that they have no record of the thread ever being posted.
This is frustrating.
Let me see if there are any bugs with notifications happening right now.
is it still going on?
I have not seen it happen in the weeks since I posted here, but it was always a rare thing. It only happens as I described above if the thread is deleted in the short time between when someone replies and I see the reply.
Currently I don't track deleted threads. It's on my list of possible future projects.
I do track deleted and edited posts, and my impression recently is that these are now rare, although information about who made the edit and why is still not always being added. Ideally, I suppose, the system would add this information automatically.
@Laura
@RarelyCharlie
Last I heard there was a possibility of adding in a pre-built "warning" system to the forums that would automatically put down the mentor name in the case of edited posts. I don't have an ETA on that timeline, but in the meantime forum@7cups.com can be used to report posts that were edited (or deleted) with no notification to the user.
@Laura
It has only happened the one time to me. But the thread of mine that disappeared has not been put back up.
@Laura
I was told I could just post it again but, I took a lot for me to get up the nerve to actually post it in the first place. It will probably take me longer to post it a second time.
@OfCourse
I looked through the queue but was unable to find your post :( From the information you've mentioned, it sounds like the site glitched and your post didn't succesfully reach the servers. I understand that can be incredibly frustrating - as you mentioned it takes an extraordinary amount of courage to pour your heart out, and it can be very discouraging to have your post seemingly rejected. I encourage you to try again when you are ready <3 Something that may help in the unfortunate case of it happening again is to copy your post into a word document or something similar, that way you won't have to type it up again. You are also more than welcome to reach out to forum@7cups.com if you feel a post has been wrongfully removed. Best of luck!
@MonBon
Thank you💗
My thread that I posted on December 29th, which dissappeared, HAS RETURNED! Odd???
Now if only the long detailed one would magically reappear!