So...just out of curiosity, when are you guys going to make it so someone can't delete their thread after it gets a certain amount of posts?

the good thing about vbulletin 3+ is that while people can "delete" their own threads, they can't really delete them. it's called a soft delete, and while it becomes invisible to us, mods/admins can put it back at any time.

In that case, would the mods please consider bringing back the thread referenced here, http://dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread....94#post6631394 ?

It was started in TV Talk and was called "A vocal Buffy hater is about to embark on watching all 7 Seasons in a row." It was a classic, with over 1300 posts, and was started by Sessa17 on 02-24-05 @ 02:37 PM. If it were archived its URL would be: http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/archive.../t-411331.html .

I have no idea why it's gone, but in my opinion it was a community treasure. I would agree that at a certain point a thread takes on a life of its own and belongs as much to the people who post in it as it does to the OP. I'd also like to see a threshold over which it is no longer deletable.

As far as I can tell the Buffy thread was deleted before a database pruning occurred which would have permanently removed it along with any other deleted threads.

Thanks for the info, X. At least I got to enjoy it while it was here. I'd've saved the dang thing myself if I'd ever imagined that someone would actually nuke such a massive and beloved thread.

I dunno how the archiving system works around here, but I suppose I naively assumed that something like that would be a shoo-in.

Thats sucks. That was a cool thread. Did the OP delete it?

I can't tell now but I can't think of anyone else who could have who would have deleted it.

i can't find the breakfast at tiffany's thread...the one on the new release...any help there

Mods - any thoughts about the OP's original question? I really do think there should be a threshold over which a thread is no longer user deletable. What happened to the Buffy thread (that is, if it was its OP who deleted it) Is a prime example of why. I'd like to know your thoughts. Thanks.

The only way to do this in Vbulletin (without hacking the code) is to use a time table. We can set it so that a user can't edit or delete after a certain time has passed. That could be done here if Geoff wants to implement it.

That sounds as if it would be a reasonable alternative, if Geoff is amenable to the idea. Thanks for the info!

Or just make it a forum rule that you can't delete thread longer than 1 page (or whatever standard).

Suspension on first offense, banning on second. That way the edit/delete function isn't limited for those that don't abuse it.

Deleting is very necessary in the exchange forum, especially because the forum view isn't updated to reflect an updated thread title. If someone sells the items listed in the title, there's no way to change it. I created a thread asking if the forum view can be refreshed, but that was pretty much ignored. When the mods change a title it's updated in the forum view, so it is an option.

If this is done, I think the exchange forum should be exempt from it. Deleting an old FS/FT thread is important before creating a new one, both so the new FS/FT titles have a shot at being viewed, and so any old threads aren't found in a search and titles in that thread thought to be available.

wouldn't an easier method to not include titles in the thread title? Wouldn't it be easier to just start with a generic title and update the first post?

No, it wouldn't be easier. Who wants to click on every single thread because you have no idea what titles are FS or FT?

your right noone would want to use such stupid tool as the search function.

Problem is strife, if I'm looking at buying movies like "Wag the Dog" or "Red Eye" or "Ran", I'm never going to find them by using the search function. For me to know that these are FS or FT, then I'm going to have to go through EVERY FS or FT thread in the hope that it's there.